# Hottest Family Cars (forbes)



## Desertnate (Mar 11, 2002)

Is that a navagation screen hidden behind the cover between the center dash vents? I don't remember reading about that as an option  

It does look good. I still would like to give it the touchy-feely test for the quality of materials before giving it a big :thumbup:


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## Kaz (Dec 21, 2001)

Desertnate said:


> Is that a navagation screen hidden behind the cover between the center dash vents? I don't remember reading about that as an option


Anything out of Japan will at least have accomodations for NAV. Navigation has been pretty much a given there for almost a decade now. Foreign cars with poor or no nav have no chance in Japan. In fact, BMW Japan must have recognized this, because at least on the E46, the NAV system is an Alpine-based setup completely different than what we're offered.


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## racerdave (Sep 15, 2003)

It's a cubbyhole now, but that's where the NAV option goes... in other markets. Eventually it will get here, but not now.

Marketers... :tsk:

Oh, as for touch and feel, the thing doesn't feel cheap. The interior material quality is good. I'm fairly surprised, but it's actually quite nice.


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## swchang (Oct 5, 2003)

Kaz said:


> Anything out of Japan will at least have accomodations for NAV. Navigation has been pretty much a given there for almost a decade now. Foreign cars with poor or no nav have no chance in Japan. In fact, BMW Japan must have recognized this, because at least on the E46, the NAV system is an Alpine-based setup completely different than what we're offered.


Why is the US so backwards when it comes to tech? No broadband connections, no NAV in our cars, huge cell phones and cameras, etc.


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## Desertnate (Mar 11, 2002)

racerdave said:


> It's a cubbyhole now, but that's where the NAV option goes... in other markets. Eventually it will get here, but not now.
> 
> Marketers... :tsk:


Nice...ala Honda CRV. The CRV has a huge hole in the dash that is for the nav in other markets. The non-nav CRVs get a single DIN radio and the rest is open :thumbdwn:


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## Desertnate (Mar 11, 2002)

swchang said:


> Why is the US so backwards when it comes to tech? No broadband connections, no NAV in our cars, huge cell phones and cameras, etc.


While we might not get some of the gimmic stuff like cell phones the size of a Zippo lighter and wiz-bang navagation systems in our cars, the US is way out when it comes to incorperating technology into everyday life and easy access to that technology. I lived abroad for 4 years (1 year in Korea, 3 in the UK) and was blown away when I came back to the US. I am still adjusting to everything that is available (espicially in the consumer electronics area) some 8 months on.


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## Kaz (Dec 21, 2001)

swchang said:


> Why is the US so backwards when it comes to tech? No broadband connections, no NAV in our cars, huge cell phones and cameras, etc.


Americans are too cheap.

If it's a choice between 'good' and 'cheap' we will usually pick 'cheap.'


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## racerdave (Sep 15, 2003)

Oh, and after seeing swchang's lovely OB ZHP, it reminded me of this pic of the Leg GT sedan, with another lovely color called Regal Blue Pearl...


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## swchang (Oct 5, 2003)

Desertnate said:


> While we might not get some of the gimmic stuff like cell phones the size of a Zippo lighter and wiz-bang navagation systems in our cars, the US is way out when it comes to incorperating technology into everyday life and easy access to that technology. I lived abroad for 4 years (1 year in Korea, 3 in the UK) and was blown away when I came back to the US. I am still adjusting to everything that is available (espicially in the consumer electronics area) some 8 months on.


Well, it is true that in the US, Palm Pilots took off because most people had PCs, whereas they didn't do as hot in Japan because most did NOT have PCs. I wonder if that's still the case, though...


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## swchang (Oct 5, 2003)

Kaz said:


> Americans are too cheap.
> 
> If it's a choice between 'good' and 'cheap' we will usually pick 'cheap.'


Heh, I can identify with that...

I'm still smarting from when I bought that minidisc player in 1998. I thought for sure it would overtake CDs and cassette players.

:tsk: Last time I ever take a chance...


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## swchang (Oct 5, 2003)

racerdave said:


> Oh, and after seeing swchang's lovely OB ZHP, it reminded me of this pic of the Leg GT sedan, with another lovely color called Regal Blue Pearl...


Thanks for the compliment! :blush:

BTW, saw the interior of the 05 Legacy the other night. It was very dark out, but the interior, from what I could make out, looked quite clean and nice. I wish I were a fan of the exteriors and the hood scoops and such, because I think almost everything else about the car is great. (I was just about to say that the situation reminded me of BMWs, but then I remembered that the interior quality of BMWs has slipped as well...)


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## Desertnate (Mar 11, 2002)

swchang said:


> Well, it is true that in the US, Palm Pilots took off because most people had PCs, whereas they didn't do as hot in Japan because most did NOT have PCs. I wonder if that's still the case, though...


I was never in Japan, but I can tell you that in Korea, the cellular telephone market was a similar situation. Unless you lived in a larger city and in a newer apartment, the chances of you having a phone in your house was pretty slim. Even many appartment blocks didn't have them. The cell phone market exploded, because with a cell phone EVERYONE had access to a phone regardless of where they lived. The variety in phones was amazing, to include some that were not much bigger than a Zippo lighter. They had to be dialed with a pen! :eeps: They skipped clear to wireless and never stopped for land line.

The UK was similar in a way also. There are large rural areas of the country that don't have cable TV. The infrastructure just isn't there...then SKY TV rolled in with digital satelite TV came alone and you now find the dishes everywhere. By the same token there is no cable internet. You have dial-up or DSL. If you live in a fairly populous are you get DSL, but there are still large areas where DSL isn't available.

Of course, where I live in Illinois has no DSL either  I had to settle for cable.


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## swchang (Oct 5, 2003)

Desertnate said:


> I was never in Japan, but I can tell you that in Korea, the cellular telephone market was a similar situation. Unless you lived in a larger city and in a newer apartment, the chances of you having a phone in your house was pretty slim. Even many appartment blocks didn't have them. The cell phone market exploded, because with a cell phone EVERYONE had access to a phone regardless of where they lived. The variety in phones was amazing, to include some that were not much bigger than a Zippo lighter. They had to be dialed with a pen! :eeps: They skipped clear to wireless and never stopped for land line.
> 
> The UK was similar in a way also. There are large rural areas of the country that don't have cable TV. The infrastructure just isn't there...then SKY TV rolled in with digital satelite TV came alone and you now find the dishes everywhere. By the same token there is no cable internet. You have dial-up or DSL. If you live in a fairly populous are you get DSL, but there are still large areas where DSL isn't available.
> 
> Of course, where I live in Illinois has no DSL either  I had to settle for cable.


Interesting observations. I guess having the resources to get wired up everywhere has hurt us in the wireless department? Reluctant to try something new when everyone else has been using the "tried and true" methods, perhaps.

BTW, for my purposes at least, cable and DSL have been the same.


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## gojira-san (Mar 1, 2004)

swchang said:


> Well, it is true that in the US, Palm Pilots took off because most people had PCs, whereas they didn't do as hot in Japan because most did NOT have PCs. I wonder if that's still the case, though...


Part of it also was marketing; at first Palms were only sold by IBM with IBM's name on them in Japan. I still use my Japanese IBM WordPad (Palm III) just to freak people out 

I am also impressed with the pictures of that Subaru...


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## bren (Jul 1, 2002)

racerdave said:


>


The two-tone interior does look much improved. I could do without the giant silver colored plastic center stack and the silver trim on the door handles that all cars seem to have now. I sure will be glad when this silver plastic phase is over


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## Desertnate (Mar 11, 2002)

bren said:


> The two-tone interior does look much improved. I could do without the giant silver colored plastic center stack and the silver trim on the door handles that all cars seem to have now. I sure will be glad when this silver plastic phase is over


I'm not much of a fan of the silver plastic either...however, I do prefer the silver trim to wood. Wood is for your house and your funiture, not your car...*ducking*... :eeps: :angel:


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## racerdave (Sep 15, 2003)

bren said:


> The two-tone interior does look much improved. I could do without the giant silver colored plastic center stack and the silver trim on the door handles that all cars seem to have now. I sure will be glad when this silver plastic phase is over


I'm right with you there. :tsk:

I don't know why they think Americans need a silver center console. :dunno:

They get a black one in Japan...
(yes, this picture is flipped... it's really a right-hand drive car, that some bozo flipped to see what it would look like... and I'm too lazy to search for the original.  )


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## bren (Jul 1, 2002)

That is MUCH better. 

The center console storage cover looks just like the euro-BMW storage tray.


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