A Functional and User-friendly Multi-function Steering Wheel
As the car’s nearest interactive tool to the driver, a good multi-function steering wheel can make the handling of the vehicle more convenient. Looking back 10 years, a multi-function steering wheel was on the top of many people’s wish list. The bare and ugly steering wheel of the 6th generation Golf was an eyesore. Even if it only had one or two buttons, it would make driving more enjoyable and show off a sense of luxury.
In recent years, with the rise of domestic cars, many practical configurations, such as multi-function steering wheels, seat ventilation, and seat heating, have been offered to consumers at reasonable prices. This has forced joint venture cars to make their configurations richer as well. A multi-function steering wheel is indeed a powerful tool to enhance the satisfaction of car owners. Today, let’s talk about the all-new multi-function steering wheel of the 2021 Idean ONE and see if it can handle everything.
The steering wheel of the 2021 Idean ONE is made up of four paddles and two rollers to primarily interact with the vehicle by moving up or down the paddles, sliding up or down the rollers, or pressing the rollers. The left function area of the steering wheel includes music control, volume control, voice control, and phone control. The right function area of the steering wheel includes driving assistance control, automatic parking control, and custom control. The joint control of the steering wheel buttons includes switching the instrument panel card and restarting the on-board computer.
Detailed Introduction to the Left Function Area of the Steering Wheel
- Music Control
The inner left paddle of the steering wheel controls the logic for switching songs online. Before experiencing the 2021 model, the logic of flipping up for the next song and flipping down for the previous song was a bit confusing. However, during the actual use of the car, this did not have any substantial impact. After getting an understanding, the operation can be completed very smoothly.
- Volume Control
Controlling the volume through the left roller is praiseworthy. The volume is divided into 20 levels from 0% to 100%, with each slide increasing or decreasing by 5%. This is enough to meet everyone’s needs for volume adjustment. The texture and damping of the roller are well done, and flipping it is enjoyable for the fingers. Short-pressing the left roller can achieve mute function, and in the process of playing music, it is also equivalent to the pause button. Pressing it again after pausing will resume playback.
Translate the following Markdown Chinese text into English Markdown text, in a professional manner, preserving the HTML tags inside the Markdown, and outputting only the result.
During the process of volume control, there is an awkward situation where multiple audio sources, such as navigation guidance and music playback, are working simultaneously, and adjusting the volume always fails to select the target. You can go to the vehicle settings – sound – volume – steering wheel adjustment audio source type in the car system and select [media and call]. This way, the navigation volume can be locked, and no matter how many audio sources are sounded, only the volume of listening to music or Bluetooth calls is adjusted.
- Wake up the intelligent assistant
Turn the paddle on the left side of the steering wheel outward and upward to wake up the intelligent assistant. If you are not used to calling it, it is more convenient to wake it up directly by turning the paddle. This position is almost the most frequently used and convenient position I have used, and leaving it for the intelligent assistant has a profound meaning. I have already experienced the beta version of Ideal Student 2.2 in advance these days. With the help of this frequently used wake-up button, the actual feeling is indeed good. When version 2.2 is officially launched, I will write a detailed usage explanation for you.
- Bluetooth phone
Turn the paddle on the left side of the steering wheel outward and downward to wake up the Bluetooth phone interface or answer a call. This function is recommended as it guarantees driving safety and avoids violations. We suggest that you keep Bluetooth phone connected to your phone at all times.
Explanation of Right Steering Wheel Functions
- Assisted driving speed control
Adjusting the assisted driving speed through the right scroll wheel is good-looking and of high quality, and the adjusted granularity is in units of one kilometre per hour. This is more delicate than the adjustment span of five kilometres per hour each time with the right lever. Currently, the short press function of the right scroll wheel has no matching function.
- Automatic parking
Turn the paddle on the right side of the steering wheel inward and upward to start the automatic parking. Note that the automatic parking can only be turned on in the D gear position, and cannot be turned on in other gears. However, after turning on the function, you can switch gears.
Setting up a shortcut operation on the steering wheel for automatic parking is definitely having high expectations for this function. In terms of vehicle positioning, there is indeed a certain degree of difficulty in parking for medium and large sized SUVs. Solving this problem will also improve the owner’s satisfaction with the vehicle. Based on my experience with the visual parking function these days, it is indeed useful and can basically replace manual parking, but you should be careful of some irregular obstacles or irregular columns near the parking space, such as hanging fire hydrants, slanted electric poles, etc.
- Custom function setting
The * symbol on the steering wheel represents the custom function, which can be turned on by turning the right-side inward paddle downward.
## Translation
The custom function can be selected in the car settings – steering wheel – custom key. Compared to the 2020 version, there is one less custom key, and we recommend everyone to choose the 360° panoramic image as it is a frequently used shortcut function during my one year of use.
NOA function control
The steering wheel’s right-side outer paddle is used to control the future NOA function. Paddling upwards is an OK key, while paddling downwards is the return key. These two functions will be explained in detail after NOA is online.
Steering wheel button linkage control
- Instrument cluster card switching
Switching the information card on the instrument panel is simple through the pressing and sliding operation of the scroll wheel. The operation method is to press and hold the left scroll wheel for about 2 seconds. The left instrument card will show 7 options, slide and select via the scroll wheel, and press the scroll wheel briefly to confirm. The right scroll wheel follows the same method.
The 7 selectable information cards are media, energy consumption, weather tire pressure, rear window and air conditioning, compass, navigation, and simplified navigation. I personally recommend the left side for mileage and energy consumption, which can be viewed together with the battery level, fuel level, and remaining mileage. The right side is recommended for navigation, which is convenient for viewing real-time route information. Of course, everyone can freely match according to personal preferences.
Also, when adjusting, the cards on both sides cannot appear at the same time, so pay attention to allocating the left and right sides.
- Restart control
The way to restart the 2021 Ideal One car interface is still through the steering wheel, and at the same time, press and hold down both the outside paddles on the left and right sides of the steering wheel for more than 10 seconds to restart the central control screen and the co-pilot entertainment screen, and for more than 20 seconds to restart all screens.
Generally, restart is only performed in special circumstances, and it is not recommended for daily use. It is only for understanding and in case of occasional needs.
Conclusion
The above is the function detailed explanation of the 2021 Ideal One multifunctional steering wheel. After a period of use, the new steering wheel does cover more functions, and the interaction is more convenient.
From the driver’s habit, most people hold the steering wheel with their left hand and place their right hand on the central armrest. Therefore, the overall layout of the 2021 steering wheel considers usage habits and sets high-frequency functions such as volume adjustment, music control, Ideal classmates, and Bluetooth phone to the left side for easy operation. From the layout point of view, the auxiliary driving lever, steering wheel’s speed control, and NOA function button are grouped on the right side for unified operation.In terms of key feel, the scroll wheel operation is efficient and has a high-quality texture, and the knob damping also has an advanced feel. One thing to get used to is that it can be a bit slippery when shifting downwards if your hands are sweaty.
In terms of styling design, it looks more advanced from a local perspective, but from a holistic visual perspective, I personally prefer the 20-model steering wheel. This is a matter of personal preference.
With the useful multi-functional steering wheel and the ideal partner, you can basically eliminate the need to touch the screen with your fingers. Therefore, the development of technology is making us more “lazy”. If you have any good suggestions regarding the interaction logic of the steering wheel or the key functions, you can share in the comments. If you want to see other content, you can also let me know. Welcome everyone to share their experiences in the community and make driving simpler.
This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.