In November of last year I wrote a first-impressions review of my new Mazda3 Touring Hatchback, and while I mentioned the rotary control knob in passing, I wanted to go back and talk about it some more. Because I think every car should have one like it.
Touch screens are near-ubiquitous in modern cars, yet many people agree they’re simply not perfect. Having to look away from the road to play your favorite music or change some setting or other is not ideal in the first place, but perhaps that can’t be helped. It’s far worse having to physically reach for the touch screen at the same time to navigate the infotainment system.
Even in cars that have neither touch screens nor rotary knobs, reaching for buttons on the main console is a problem. My previous car had a simple display on the dash and a set of buttons beneath it, as well as a single knob in the middle. Reaching for these was not just a nuisance while on the road but a danger. The very act of looking and leaning to the side makes you want to steer, not to mention the whole not-looking-at-the-road bit.
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The rotary knob, however, is perfect. It’s located in just the right spot, about where a handbrake lever would normally be, allowing me to casually drop my hand from the steering wheel and navigate the Mazda3’s menus without having to lean or stretch my body in any way. It feels very natural.
The system is quite clever and intuitive as well: you scroll through options by twisting the knob, select options by pushing it down, and navigate tabs by nudging the knob right or left. There’s also a “back” button where your thumb naturally rests while operating the control, and a few shortcut buttons just above it. I never need to look down to see what my hand is doing or where my fingers need to go.
Photo: Mazda
The display in my Mazda3 is touch-sensitive as well, but I never use it. There’s just no reason to when the rotary control knob exists. Though clearly, some designers feel differently. Mercedes, Lexus, and BMW all use rotary control knobs, but most mainstream brands don’t, and Mazda is perhaps the only one to offer a touch screen and a knob.
Yet it seems almost impossible to me to make touch screen operation safer than using a rotary knob. To start with, it requires more finger dexterity and it forces you to pay more attention to the screen. But perhaps more importantly, it dictates that the display should go in a place that forces you to look even further away from the road.
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A touch screen must generally always be integrated within the dashboard. If you put it on top of the dash, it will be too far and thus inconvenient, not to mention extra-unsafe, to operate as you constantly reach for it, like in my old car. However, placing the display in the dash forces you to look even further away from the road. With a rotary knob, you can place it wherever you please, and as it happens manufacturers like Mazda and Mercedes have opted to place it on top of the dash, probably because it allows your eyes to travel the smallest distance away from where your focus should be.
Ultimately, I can’t see any good reason not to have a rotary control knob in every car. If a Mazda3, one of the most affordable cars you can buy, can have both a knob and a touch screen, then surely it’s not a question of cost.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.
