I recently had to visit a client at what must be one of the most up market apartment blocks in London. Off the charts luxury, finishes, detail in design and of course price tag. We parked in the "guest" parking underground garage having been given an access code specific to my registration (supplied in advance.) No old bloke in 2 sweaters hanging out of a slide window shed here, a camera reads the reg similar to NPR technology. Extreme for a residential building but not perhaps MI5. Ah yes, my point...For the opulence and grandeur there was a triumph of a hick up in the carefully laid plans of my client in getting us into the building from there. The touch screen access panel was not having it at all. It was in the first instance almost impossible to read in the light, the sensitivity margins between both numbers and letters was it felt about 1mm and on reaching the final page of data entry, one erroneous finger point reverted us back to page 1. The solution, I called him up and asked him to come down to get us at the front door, which he of course did. It was on entering the building and shaking hands, admiring the hallway and walking to the lift etc that it confirmed my enormous prejudice....I simply loath touch screen relative to "Knobs and Knockers". In cars its quickly becoming the same, the touch screen is whether we like it or not taking over the button/dial/switch at a rather alarming rate. With my mobile I wouldn't dream of jogging/running whilst trying to send an email or call home or text, but Im now expected to or very soon touch screen to adjust the heating to that perfect spot whilst driving and trying not to take my eyes of the road aka texting whilst driving. I love the buttons on the current macan for example especially the turbo, all sat proud and clear for just about any function down both sides of the PDK, once you learn them you could switch off SPE, and heat up the passenger seat without requiring the dexterity of a bomb disposal expert in addition to travelling at 70mph. Perhaps we will pay more for a buttons and dials car rather than a touchscreen car a bit like we do for hydraulic steering versus electric or air versus water. In our rush to tech upscale we may be doing away with the old school charm but crucial ease with which we actually control the many functions our cars offer. If the 992 turns out like the new Panamera or worse still catches the tech bug of the Audi RS5, Im not sure Ill be giving up the dials and buttons just yet.
The Demise of "Knobs and Knockers", Allow me to explain.
- Thread starter Archied
- Start date
Totally agree - nearly impossible to fiddle around with touch screen when driving - and more of that like other manufacturers will be a pain. But what worked for me in a previous car might be the answer and am seriously considering upgrading my 991.1 to include it. Voice control.
Anyone here got it / used it in a 991.1? I've had two Merc's over recent years (CLS and E-coupe) and the voice control in those worked beautifully - press one button on the steering wheel (or a stalk on 991.1) and say what you want. Radio, station radio 4, or navigation, destination home, or jukebox, album next track etc. and instantly worked - no faff with touch screen, one button, and it worked.
But my previous experience with a Range Rover sport was not so encouraging. press the button and say radio, and it tried to navigate me to the nearest Burger King (I'm not kidding), plus many and varied other annoyances!
Has anyone tried the 991 voice option and does it work properly?
Anyone here got it / used it in a 991.1? I've had two Merc's over recent years (CLS and E-coupe) and the voice control in those worked beautifully - press one button on the steering wheel (or a stalk on 991.1) and say what you want. Radio, station radio 4, or navigation, destination home, or jukebox, album next track etc. and instantly worked - no faff with touch screen, one button, and it worked.
But my previous experience with a Range Rover sport was not so encouraging. press the button and say radio, and it tried to navigate me to the nearest Burger King (I'm not kidding), plus many and varied other annoyances!
Has anyone tried the 991 voice option and does it work properly?
ScaredJimmy
New member
I can honestly say that the PCM system is the least used system in my car. I've always been super techie (I work in IT and am an unashamed nerd) and my previous cars have been heaving with assistance systems, super high end audio etc etc, yet my 911.... Well it has all the guff for a fully biffed 991.1, but I use little or none of it.. I don't even have buttons on the steering wheel 
I've always been a believer in setting your Nav destinations while stationary or getting the passenger to do it and would strongly advise anyone to do likewise. PCM seems straight forward enough. Not tried the voice control yet, so will have a go.
I'm rambling, but what I'm saying is "forget the in-car tech, the 'tech' at the back is all that's important"
That said, I'm off to see the new A/S8 soon.. TOYS!!!!
I've always been a believer in setting your Nav destinations while stationary or getting the passenger to do it and would strongly advise anyone to do likewise. PCM seems straight forward enough. Not tried the voice control yet, so will have a go.
I'm rambling, but what I'm saying is "forget the in-car tech, the 'tech' at the back is all that's important
"That said, I'm off to see the new A/S8 soon.. TOYS!!!!
Recently I had occasion to try out voice control.
I had taken my car to OPC for a while you wait fitting of the 6 point harness. After some considerable time drinking their coffee and eating biscuits in the showroom the Service Manager came over to say they were sorry but had hit a snag and needed another part from Reading and the car won’t be ready until the next day.
As this was an unplanned event that could not reasonably have been foreseen there were no P loan cars available but instead I was lent a member of staff’s 17 plate BMW 5 series full of the latest BMW tech. It is 15 years since we had a BMW on the drive and clearly things have moved on in the interim.
I’m reasonably familiar with the road from OPC to home but am easily bored and it wasn’t long before the charms of the 2.0 diesel had worn off. So I started fiddling with switches and buttons to see what sat nav thought of my route. Truth be told I was struggling to find a way of entering my address when I stumbled upon a menu option saying voice control. More in hope than expectation I gave my address. There was silence for a few seconds then my exact address was repeated to me. I may have had to say Yes to confirm but other than that off we went. It could not have been easier. And what is more the route chosen was exactly the way I planned, something no Porsche sat nav has ever managed to discover.
Next day I tried voice control for the return trip to OPC and once more was immediately on track. All in all very impressive.
Reunited with my own car I headed home. At the time the car was still in the running in phase so I needed some distraction to keep me amused. Having already had a few cars with PCM4 I knew it to be a system designed for the Playstation v blogger generation, full of opaque and irritating menus leading to functions that are of no interest to me and all topped off with rotary controls that work in the opposite sense to the previous 3 generations of PCM. This design change by Porsche AG joins the electric hand brake as yet another feature whose counter intuitive operation’s only merit is that it is different.
Depressed by every aspect of touchscreen driven PCM4 I pressed a few proper buttons but it was not long before I lost interest in the seat heating settings and rear screen demist. It was at this nadir in the journey that I saw for the first time a new button situated on the end of one of the stalks. An exploratory press showed it was voice control.
Here at last was something to do. I don’t recall the exact process by which I entered the navigation module but once there I was asked to say my destination. Which I duly did. (I live in the southern half of UK) There was a long pause after which the voice said "Leeds”. I repeated my address. "London, 10 Downing Street” came back the suggestion. After several more incorrect guesses I eventually stopped the car and tried again. Success? Well at least to the extent that we were heading for the right village, the fine details remained a step too far. And of course the route suggested by PCM was hopeless and so as usual I ignored it.
Conclusion. Voice Control works sort of, but in terms of understanding destinations given while on the move the tyre and exhaust noise in a 911 cabin mean it is next to useless.
I had taken my car to OPC for a while you wait fitting of the 6 point harness. After some considerable time drinking their coffee and eating biscuits in the showroom the Service Manager came over to say they were sorry but had hit a snag and needed another part from Reading and the car won’t be ready until the next day.
As this was an unplanned event that could not reasonably have been foreseen there were no P loan cars available but instead I was lent a member of staff’s 17 plate BMW 5 series full of the latest BMW tech. It is 15 years since we had a BMW on the drive and clearly things have moved on in the interim.
I’m reasonably familiar with the road from OPC to home but am easily bored and it wasn’t long before the charms of the 2.0 diesel had worn off. So I started fiddling with switches and buttons to see what sat nav thought of my route. Truth be told I was struggling to find a way of entering my address when I stumbled upon a menu option saying voice control. More in hope than expectation I gave my address. There was silence for a few seconds then my exact address was repeated to me. I may have had to say Yes to confirm but other than that off we went. It could not have been easier. And what is more the route chosen was exactly the way I planned, something no Porsche sat nav has ever managed to discover.
Next day I tried voice control for the return trip to OPC and once more was immediately on track. All in all very impressive.
Reunited with my own car I headed home. At the time the car was still in the running in phase so I needed some distraction to keep me amused. Having already had a few cars with PCM4 I knew it to be a system designed for the Playstation v blogger generation, full of opaque and irritating menus leading to functions that are of no interest to me and all topped off with rotary controls that work in the opposite sense to the previous 3 generations of PCM. This design change by Porsche AG joins the electric hand brake as yet another feature whose counter intuitive operation’s only merit is that it is different.
Depressed by every aspect of touchscreen driven PCM4 I pressed a few proper buttons but it was not long before I lost interest in the seat heating settings and rear screen demist. It was at this nadir in the journey that I saw for the first time a new button situated on the end of one of the stalks. An exploratory press showed it was voice control.
Here at last was something to do. I don’t recall the exact process by which I entered the navigation module but once there I was asked to say my destination. Which I duly did. (I live in the southern half of UK) There was a long pause after which the voice said "Leeds”. I repeated my address. "London, 10 Downing Street” came back the suggestion. After several more incorrect guesses I eventually stopped the car and tried again. Success? Well at least to the extent that we were heading for the right village, the fine details remained a step too far. And of course the route suggested by PCM was hopeless and so as usual I ignored it.
Conclusion. Voice Control works sort of, but in terms of understanding destinations given while on the move the tyre and exhaust noise in a 911 cabin mean it is next to useless.
[FONT=calibri"]Just to follow up on this. ![[FONT=verdana,geneva"]](/forum/styles/default/pcgb/space.gif ". [FONT=verdana,geneva\"]")
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[FONT=calibri"]I was recently at the OPC having coffee and biscuits waiting while winter wheels and tyres were fitted to the Macan. During general chit chat I mentioned that voice control had been fairly useless on the GT3. But how is it on the Macan Sir? Well truth be told I didn’t realise the Macan had such a feature.
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[FONT=calibri"]So heading for the Tunnel I tried it out and I’m pleased to say the voice control lady immediately understood and set a course for Folkestone Channel Tunnel. Once in France it was easy enough to change Country and after a few goes, maybe not helped by my execrable French accent she found the overnight stop. Next morning change country to Switzerland worked first time and only a couple of tries were needed to find our final destination, this time in German speaking Switzerland, where fortunately Schweizerdeutsch wasn’t needed.
[FONT=calibri"]
[FONT=calibri"]In conclusion it would seem that voice control is fine in a quiet cabin such as the Macan as it bowls along on its roly poly winter wheels. But needing to be stationary to make it work in the GT3 seems to rather defeat the purpose.
[FONT=calibri"]
[FONT=calibri"]
[FONT=calibri"]
[FONT=calibri"]
[FONT=calibri"]
[FONT=calibri"]I was recently at the OPC having coffee and biscuits waiting while winter wheels and tyres were fitted to the Macan. During general chit chat I mentioned that voice control had been fairly useless on the GT3. But how is it on the Macan Sir? Well truth be told I didn’t realise the Macan had such a feature.
[FONT=calibri"]
[FONT=calibri"]So heading for the Tunnel I tried it out and I’m pleased to say the voice control lady immediately understood and set a course for Folkestone Channel Tunnel. Once in France it was easy enough to change Country and after a few goes, maybe not helped by my execrable French accent she found the overnight stop. Next morning change country to Switzerland worked first time and only a couple of tries were needed to find our final destination, this time in German speaking Switzerland, where fortunately Schweizerdeutsch wasn’t needed.
[FONT=calibri"]
[FONT=calibri"]In conclusion it would seem that voice control is fine in a quiet cabin such as the Macan as it bowls along on its roly poly winter wheels. But needing to be stationary to make it work in the GT3 seems to rather defeat the purpose.
[FONT=calibri"]
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