Joy! - and what could still be improved...

[DangerousDoug]

I had the update done today, and the car is SOOOOO much better! Others have detailed the changes in the upgrade, so I'd like to document the things I'd still like to see changed. As can be seen, apart from the first one, these are fairly minor, so hats off to MG for fixing the major issues!

Here's my list in order of importance (to me ):
1. delay in the infotainment screen changing to display the heating control settings, when the heating controls are turned. This delay can be up to 3 seconds! - it's REALLY DANGEROUS to take your eyes off the road for 3 seconds, to see what the heater settings are set to, so you end up simply turning the control blindly. This really needs to be fixed as I believe it's a safety feature (distracting the driver from the road).
2. When the driving mode is changed (between Normal, Sport or Eco) a useless graphic comes up for 5 seconds, obscuring the centre screen. There is no need for this, as the driving mode is always displayed on the centre screen (except of course when it's obscured by a useless graphic!) and obscuring the centre screen is annoying.
3. Cruise control doesn't use regen - I know MG is working on this, so I only mention it for completeness.
4. Driving mode should be persistent (remembered) across restarts. The regen setting is remembered, but the driving mode isn't. This seems inconsistent to me and could be annoying if you habitually use a driving mode other than Normal (which the car currently always starts in).
5. The outside temperature guage (YAAAAYYYYY!! we finally have a temperature guage!!!) shows tenths of a degree, but that digit is always Zero - either remove the tenths digit or display tenths of a degree correctly, please.
6. the two most used centre screen displays are the first (road speed, with the vertical screens showing useful range info) and the lane assist display. these are separated by a completely useless screen that no-one needs or uses (as far as I can tell, anyway). Can't the two useful screens be put together, so you don't have to keep pressing the arrow keys twice to switch between them.

Am I just being fussy? - once again, I'm so delighted that MG has fixed the major issues (or most of them), but then again why stop now?? )

 

[Paulie68]

Your number 1 & 3 drive me nuts too... but especially 1!

 

[DangerousDoug]

Your number 1 & 3 drive me nuts too... but especially 1!

I'm glad it's not just me

 

[Keith]

Number 1 & 3 drives me nuts as well, but especially 1.

 

[Oldfatgit]

I totally agree, plus it would be great if, when using speed limit recognition, it stayed on the last recognised limit, or updated from the map in the navigation system, rather than just give up. Also if using the recognition modes for speed limiter or adaptive cruise control, it allowed one to set a manual setting until the next sign was recognised.

 

[DangerousDoug]

Great point! - I forgot to mention the shortcomings of the speed limit regognition; especially it's inability to differenciate between national speed limit on normal roads (60) and dual carriageways/motorways (70)! The satnav knows the difference so surely it can simply get the limit from the satnav via an API! Also, as you rightly say, simply deleting it's current speed limit when you turn into a junction is just poor programming!

 

[ARvanHAS]

That's a list I can agree with, but in all it is rather short for a new car, isn't it?

I've posted a feed about updating the media system yourself.
There was one of totally two updates which updated the media system itself. After doing that, I found that the mentioned delay (first point) in the screen is somewhat solved. In fact the whole system is up to par in responsiveness, compared with what it was before it's rather quick now. But I wouldn't mind if I could disable this screen info completely because the icon on top of the screen is enough info for me (could be a bit bigger).

About the speed limit detection: navigation get's that from the map data andrelative GPS position, the speed limit detection gets it from the radar/camera combination reading the area ahead. It are two totally seperate systems as far as I know, so I don't think it is possible to get, let alone to use, the data from the one into the other. Would be nice if it could be done, though.

 

[Dave S]

Good list, DD.

Can I also add the annoying 30-60 second delay in the Seat Belt Warning Light going out? Why?

 

[DangerousDoug]

Thanks for all the comments, folks. One tip for mitigating the seatbelt warning is to plug in all three rear seatbelts when the rear seat is not being used (leave them plugged in permanently). Then only the driver and passenger seatbelts are relavent - if you're quick in plugging your seatbelt in as you turn the car on, you don't get a warning at all .
As for the heating control delay, I was given a fossil ZS for a day as a courtesy car by my dealer a few weeks ago, and the software has some interesting differences (mostly horribly inferior!!). However, on the fossil ZS, there is no separate screen that comes up to display the heating controls, but instead the small icons at the top of the screen are much more informative, as they're actual dials which reflect the position of the heater and fan knobs. This I found much better, as you can always see at a glance what the controls are set to, and they respond instantly to knob adjustments. Given that this code is already written, why on earth doesn't MG simply implement these icons on the EV??? Rather than the somewhat lame and useless thermometer icon which just goes blue, white and red when the knob moves over the centre position!

 

[Paulie68]

Now I've had the update, I'm pretty much happy with mine, the one thing that is really unaceptable though is the lag from touching one of the heating controls to it bringing up the heating display. It's just terrible, and then it goes off almost instantly whilst still adjusting it!! Really poor.

 

[DangerousDoug]

Absolutely - number one on my list! I believe this to be a safety issue, as the temptation is to watch the screen for the 2-3 seconds it takes for the control screen to come up - taking your eyes off the road for 2-3 seconds is REALLY DANGEROUS!!! This does need to be fixed ASAP as a matter of safety, and as a safety issue must be treated as a recall, NOT a chargeable "comfort" upgrade!