I've been getting over my yearning for a more tactile instrument than a set of buttons, but it just occurred to me that the Kona's selector pad is particularly hard to get used to because it's not logically laid out. Surely Forward (D) and R should be in the spots now occupied by P and N. It's much more intuitive having D and R mounted fore and aft than to the left and right of one another. N could be in the spot furthest from the driver as it's seldom used, leaving P by itself on the driver's side rather than paired with N. Any ideas why Hyundai might have preferred the current layout?
I would imagine they put little thought into it other than visual symmetry from a graphical design perspective. Aside from N, I rarely use P either as turning the car OFF does that. I think other cars avoid buttons on a horizontal surface like this due to the slight risk of inadvertent activation (eg, from pets) while on the move, even if nothing very dangerous happens. I'm getting used to it but sometimes hit the gas when in R and thought I was in D.
I dont think they want a person to use the D/R swiches in a rocker fashion as the quick action might damage the drive. As for spacing, i would think its safer because if you miss the d or r, you would just hit N or P.
I always try to visualize the D or R etc on the Dash. This thing in Reverse can hit almost up to 50km. Hehehe
When that happens to me its usually not timing the brake petal application with the shift into drive button depression
