Feelings about the 2026 CX-5 eliminating turbo and physical buttons?

[stickerbush]

Thinking off the top of my head here...is it possible that young people that grew up with smartphones might prefer touch screens? No, they are not a significant segment of the people that purchase new Mazdas now but at some point they will be.

 

[ADS-B]

You're screwed, is what. Some prototypes for the Apple Car had no steering wheel - !! I'll bet pilots have (let's say ...) "strong" opinions about replacing knobs with touch screens. Looking at this pic of the A380 cockpit, I imagine rephrasing that line of Jack Nicholson as the Joker: Where does he get all those wonderful knobs?
View attachment 344005
Beyond that ... buttons / knobs are safer and drivers seem to prefer physical controls (see Wired link I posted earlier -- 89% surveyed "preferred physical buttons.") I imagine that the screen-preference folks are not driving enthusiasts and just want what looks "good" and works well enough, and -- they are used to their phones / tablets. But it wouldn't take long, I'll bet, for those owners to miss knobs for volume, for interior temperature / fan, etc. The idea of digging through menus, noooo...

Future joint venture between Mazda and Airbus, 2040 Mazda CX-A320

 

[DarkskiesIL]

Future joint venture between Mazda and Airbus, 2040 Mazda CX-A320

Hey, I've been patient - where's my flying car? Just keep the knobs

 

[BoomerZoomr]

Thinking off the top of my head here...is it possible that young people that grew up with smartphones might prefer touch screens? No, they are not a significant segment of the people that purchase new Mazdas now but at some point they will be.

I am guessing that the move towards touch screens is because it’s cheaper to manufacture than making buttons, switches and knobs.
Years ago I saw that move with DSLR cameras. I much preferred to be able to adjust something directly on the back of the camera, vs going into a menu.

 

[Trip CX90]

We not only need buttons but good buttons. Something as simple as adjusting the mirrors in my CX90 is frustrating. The controls on the armrest are flat and indistinguishable from each other. I can’t adjust the mirrors without looking down to see what I clicked on. The round knob was so super intuitive to use …. Dial left right to choose side, dial straight down to fold mirrors, and push up down left right to adjust. And it took up lees space.

 

[Gozo]

I am guessing that the move towards touch screens is because it’s cheaper to manufacture than making buttons, switches and knobs.

I agree that the screens are cheaper when dealing with parts count and assembly time. Also, they look all modern and techy. And that stuff sells.
However, being a bit of an old guy, I like to spend most of my driving time looking out the windshield and keeping my eyes on the road, conditions, other vehicles, assorted random animals that might decide to jump out on the road, you know, stuff like that. Once I’m familiar with the car, it’s nice to just reach down without looking to adjust the heat or music or such.
It may only take 3 or 4 seconds to go through a menu choice or two but in that time I’ve missed 300’ or so of road stuff.

 

[N7turbo]

Devil's Advocate: the screen is also for your passenger to operate, and it will be a big upgrade for them.

 

[gazelle]

Years ago I saw that move with DSLR cameras. I much preferred to be able to adjust something directly on the back of the camera, vs going into a menu.

As I understand DSLR world has moved past the touchscreen hype and touchscreen is only used as aux control, like focus control / playback navigation.
This tug of war is everywhere.
Garmin watch introduced touchscreen a couple of years ago. It's not helping in any way, myself and most people I know have it disabled, fortunately all touch screen controls are duplicated with physical buttons.

 

[gazelle]

this is iX3 2026. The most drastic interior UX redesign, they removed the dash completely replacing it with window projection, but still left some buttons. Now that I think about it, these are probably the most critical ones to me. I use volume control all the time, and in winter the windcreen/back window heating is something that requires instant access. BTW wondering if in 2026 the rear window heater is still called "defogger" and turns off every 15 minutes? It's a hustle to keep turning it on like 10 times during my winter drives, touchscreen menu is going to make it even worse. Why can't they make it automatic, like Jag S-type had it 20 years ago?

 

[cz5gt]

After all the years of pushing back against this trend -- I'll bet this was a really intense discussion at the company. I'm sorry the bean counters won, because -- all things being equal, why would someone pick a Tesla'd Mazda CX-5 against a similar interior of another brand that also has a hybrid? It feels like exactly the wrong time for this move. I hope someone kept the molds / designs so it won't take too much to bring back physical controls. In the meantime, enthusiasts will turn to Subaru and others.

Fully agree. Shame on Mazda. I also think their target customer is probably younger generation (genz etc) who adore large touch tablets.
My next car wont be a CX5 thats for sure.

on my other car the screen didnt turn on due to high heat... bye bye AC controls... and it didnt work until the cabin cooled and without an option to turn on the ac or even fan (if they were off).... you get the idea.