Michael Reynolds Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 But the difference is that the BMW gauges actually look good...and not like they belong in a $10,000 Suzuki... That's a matter of personal opinion. Those BMW gauges are nothing to jump up and down about. Keep trying though maybe some day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbalek Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 I just tested the MKS this evening and with the engine running the instruments look great, with sleek, bright white backlighting. The other thing that's great is the huge nav screen which automatically shows the rear camera image when in reverse. I was very impressed with the interior quality, which has soft-touch, luxurious materials everywhere even on the sides of the center stack and console. Even the front of the glove box is high quality soft touch plastic! I felt so pampered in this car. The leather seats are simply amazing. Buttery soft leather! I sat in a Jaguar XF just for comparison, and the Jag felt like a much cheaper car. As we all know, the Jag is the more expensive car! As for those who complain about the Flex gauges. Have you sat in a flex with the gauges backlit? If you haven't then you have no right to complain. I have test-driven the flex and I was VERY impressed with the high-tech, quality look of the gauges. In broad daylight, the needles glow a very cool, bright white and they are nicely textured! (might go as far as to call them iridescent) The needles are definitely a unique, standout feature for Flex. I will agree that MKZ, MKX and Fusion have crappy looking cheap gauges, whether lit up or not. But DON'T put down the new Ford products, like Flex and MKS, they are a totally different animal in EVERY way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmc523 Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 I just tested the MKS this evening and with the engine running the instruments look great, with sleek, bright white backlighting. The other thing that's great is the huge nav screen which automatically shows the rear camera image when in reverse. I was very impressed with the interior quality, which has soft-touch, luxurious materials everywhere even on the sides of the center stack and console. Even the front of the glove box is high quality soft touch plastic! I felt so pampered in this car. The leather seats are simply amazing. Buttery soft leather! I sat in a Jaguar XF just for comparison, and the Jag felt like a much cheaper car. As we all know, the Jag is the more expensive car! As for those who complain about the Flex gauges. Have you sat in a flex with the gauges backlit? If you haven't then you have no right to complain. I have test-driven the flex and I was VERY impressed with the high-tech, quality look of the gauges. In broad daylight, the needles glow a very cool, bright white and they are nicely textured! (might go as far as to call them iridescent) The needles are definitely a unique, standout feature for Flex. I will agree that MKZ, MKX and Fusion have crappy looking cheap gauges, whether lit up or not. But DON'T put down the new Ford products, like Flex and MKS, they are a totally different animal in EVERY way! On the MKS gauges, did you notice that they seemed awkwardly shiny to you, I mean before you started it and they were on. I didn't like how they had a shiny look to them, or maybe I was seeing things. The shiny appearance made them seem like a sticker to me. In regards to the Flex gauges, yes, they do look good, and I believe they're lit all the time, not just when your lights are on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomServo92 Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 You may be right. Looking closer, the Lariat has 2 additional gauges at the top, it's difficult to see if the Taurus also has those two or not. The 3 main gauges of the '10 Fusion and '04 Lariat are arraged in the exact same order. There's absolutely no reason to believe Ford would use a different generic part for each of these new vehicles. If the part is new or not is irrelevant to my point, it's the same shit all over again. Goodbye interiors with the same generic gauge cluster, hello new interiors... with another generic gauge cluster. OK, it appears you might be correct so I'll withdraw my last comment. I was hoping that Lincoln would get their own gauge cluster but it appears to not be the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
V8-X Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 A4 & A8 clusters look very similar, almost identical. Sure some minor tweaks here and there, but not drastically different. The base overall design look is the same, but I think they look good. All the BMW gauges look nearly identical as well. Again some very minor changes between models, but nothing to write home about. Personally, I think the BMW gauges look old and outdated, really need an updating in my opinion. The Ford/Lincoln/Mercury gauges are just like the two references above. A lot of similarities with very minor differences between models. They look decent enough in my opinion, better than the BMW's listed above but not as good as the Audi's. Haven't sat in many of the newer Ford/Lincoln/Mercury vehicles, so can't say exactly the differences and similarities between many of them. Now I do like what Ford did with the F150. Have the base XL gauge, and XLT gauge, FX4 gauge and Lariat gauge. Not sure, but I assume the King Ranch & Harley Editions most likely use the Lariat gauges. Which all look good enough to pass, but are getting a nice update in the '09 models. Of course these are all my opinions, there will be those that I know will disagree. But I could care less about their opinion, I buy what I like and think looks good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ANTAUS Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 There was an article on Ford consolidating trim levels, and considering the drop of F-series sales, I'm wondering how many clusters they will keep around, for a model that might sell 400-500K in the near future. In other words, is it worth it for Ford to have so many clusters on just one model ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BORG Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 (edited) Like most Ford interiors, it looks fairly conventional and familiar, although the gauge funnels are new for them. Lincoln has definitely tone down the avant-garde interior designs to my relief, although I would still like to see something more distinctive than this (and the MKS). I don't have a big fixation on gauges but it seems many do so I've never had an issue with the instrumentation. Personally, I love the way the gurages look in my MKX...I'm not happy with any design elements in my MKZ . The new Fusion interior just looks awful, get that off my screen! Edited August 19, 2008 by BORG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvrsvt Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 The new Fusion interior just looks awful, get that off my screen! WTF are you talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 (edited) WTF are you talking about? He doesn't like the big screen for the Nav system. Apparently his requests for employment by Ford as their 'Goldilocks' of screen dimensions have been turned down, and they will swing from too small to too big without ever being 'just right'. :P Edited August 19, 2008 by RichardJensen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Reynolds Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 The new Fusion interior just looks awful, get that off my screen! Hey you've seen the new Fusion interior? Please post some pics, I think a lot of us are interested in the final product. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BORG Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 He doesn't like the big screen for the Nav system. Apparently his requests for employment by Ford as their 'Goldilocks' of screen dimensions have been turned down, and they will swing from too small to too big without ever being 'just right'. :P It's not the size of the Nav Screen, it's everything around it that I don't like!. I have NO issue with large screens! The Nav Screen surround looks like it came off of a CRT TV from 1984, UGH! Way to go Ford for making a nav screen that looks like it came off of a Karaoke machine. And the fact that a large portion of the Fusion design and trim was carried over for 2010 does not sit well with me. The old interior was lackuster from the beginning. It's not a bad interior, but it's not up to par with the competition or more fully modernized interiors from the Escape and Focus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbalek Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 I like what I'm seeing so far, I think it looks great. Those are actually part of the "Roman War Chariot" package, you know, like the chariots that had the spikes on the wheels to cut peoples legs of (I guess that's what they were for). Did anybody notice, as recent articles (or maybe it was the press release) have said, there's paddle shifters on the steering wheel? That would be a nice touch to make them different, but it's a necessary one (obviously). And I believe the Navigator already has a power tilt (and telescope?) steering wheel. I thought Edge/MKX were to receive an MCE for 2010 too. Maybe as you said, they'll just be later in the year. Yeah, you'll likely see the Lincoln emblem placed on the fender like it is on the rest of the lineup, but as for the chrome strip that extends down the vehicle, it doesn't appear that that has made it to production, at least not with the crease, etc. that the concept has. The MKS does in fact have a power tilt/telescoping steering wheel. The Flex just has tilt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Extreme4x4 Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 If you are trying to compare it to the Malibu, then please show me the Malibu interior with navigation. Thats right, you can't............... they don't make it. Do understand that GM and Ford have completely different interior design language. You like one, and don't like the other. This does not make one better than the other. You have this lovely habit of making definitive statements about some cars, without ever seeing, driving, or even touching............... any part of them. You comment on how they drive, and how the interior is layed out, and on the quality................. and noone has seen the production piece yet. You are bitching about the Fusion interior, based on cobbled up pics of preproduction cars with alot of trim missing. Frankly, you are turning into P lite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hbalek Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 On the MKS gauges, did you notice that they seemed awkwardly shiny to you, I mean before you started it and they were on. I didn't like how they had a shiny look to them, or maybe I was seeing things. The shiny appearance made them seem like a sticker to me. In regards to the Flex gauges, yes, they do look good, and I believe they're lit all the time, not just when your lights are on. I looked at the MKS gauges in daylight today. The black background is not a totally flat, matte finish. I think this is a problem in direct sunlight. They are a slightly glossy black. When the sunlight hits it, the gauge markings will get washed out. I have the same problem with my '03 G35's gauges. In direct sunlight, you lose everything but the red needles! On a positive note, the gauge cluster's white backlight was bright enough in broad daylight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Reynolds Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 It's not the size of the Nav Screen, it's everything around it that I don't like!. I have NO issue with large screens! The Nav Screen surround looks like it came off of a CRT TV from 1984, UGH! Way to go Ford for making a nav screen that looks like it came off of a Karaoke machine. And the fact that a large portion of the Fusion design and trim was carried over for 2010 does not sit well with me. The old interior was lackuster from the beginning. It's not a bad interior, but it's not up to par with the competition or more fully modernized interiors from the Escape and Focus. Again, could you please link or directly show us pictures of the completed Fusion interior? Until then you know what you can do..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spudz64 Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 Looks like it's following the concept relatively closely to me. It sure does! In fact, looking closely at these shots reveals more than we first noticed. To my eye it appears the center stack controls are just ripped from a MKS, lending hope to a much sleeker production design. Evidence of this can be seen if you zoom in and notice the lack of style to the lower center stack, with no area for the shifter even, and nothing lines up in the slightest. I'm hoping the concept's shiny black central pod will make it to production, with an area cut out for the touch screen vs. the flush concept piece of course. The black center stack motif seen in the new MKS kind of implies this may be a new Lincoln hallmark, with wood on the horizontal shelf and leather across the dash. Pretty cool! I Can't wait until it hits the lots next spring! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BORG Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 (edited) I'd preferred to be known as the P-fan without the Panther fixation! Here is the 2010 Fusion dashboard. Edited August 19, 2008 by BORG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P71_CrownVic Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 I'd preferred to be known as the P-fan without the Panther fixation! Here is the 2010 Fusion dashboard. So...are you asserting that the cluster is the same...aside from the clear "Big Gulp" cups around the gauges? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BORG Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 So...are you asserting that the cluster is the same...aside from the clear "Big Gulp" cups around the gauges? Haven't you been reading the thread? I was asked to provide photos of the Fusion dashboard, so there they are! And yes, that is the FINAL dashboard so I don't want to hear this "It's a mule! It's a mule! NO IT'S NOT! It's a production prototype! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P71_CrownVic Posted August 19, 2008 Share Posted August 19, 2008 Haven't you been reading the thread? I was asked to provide photos of the Fusion dashboard, so there they are! Got it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suv_guy_19 Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 (edited) Haven't you been reading the thread? I was asked to provide photos of the Fusion dashboard, so there they are! And yes, that is the FINAL dashboard so I don't want to hear this "It's a mule! It's a mule! NO IT'S NOT! It's a production prototype! And I think it looks really good, worlds ahead of the current interior. See, my opinion is no more or less relevant than yours. Edited August 20, 2008 by suv_guy_19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BORG Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 And I think it looks really good, worlds ahead of the current interior. See, my opinion is no more or less relevant than yours. This is fine if you compare Ford design internally, not externally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 1) Honda ergonomics get a great big power fail, for mixing and matching the HVAC and stereo controls--and for managing to have three different shades of 'nondescript' gray in their motley mixture of textures and tones. 2) The Malibu interior photographs well, and that's about it. Materials quality is worse than the present Fusion 3) The Toyota Camry materials are the same quality as the Fusion's, and the layout is just as 'blah' as the Fusion's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dante hicks Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Is the Toyota flying? Who cares about interiors if a car can fly through the mountains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardJensen Posted August 20, 2008 Share Posted August 20, 2008 Is the Toyota flying? Who cares about interiors if a car can fly through the mountains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.