How distracting is your car touchscreen? Full test results

Measuring and comparing the ‘distraction’ potential of competing car touchscreen systems can never be an exact science, because in real life there’s always going to be a subjective or inconsistent human factor in the mix: the driver.

Different people have a range of intuitive responses to graphics and menus; they may be more or less exact with their touchscreen inputs or simply require longer thinking pauses while responding to prompts provided by the system. And of course, some eyes are better than others at identifying smaller icons and letters. That’s why we selected a trio of drivers for our test to provide a range of responses, allowing us to generate a series of average times that are broadly representative of the majority of drivers.

Having completed the test, and before calculating the results, we asked our drivers for their off-the-cuff feedback on the systems they’d just driven. Their individual top-10 listings, based only on their ‘distracted’ driving laps, closely mirrored the calculated results shared here – especially for those cars at the top and bottom of the table.

Individual drivers will, of course, make different demands of their touchscreen systems, but we’ve provided our average task times for each car to help you to make your own judgements based on the touchscreen functions you find most important. These are the best – and the worst – touchscreen systems for distracted driving, based on our exclusive test.

Times

Touchscreen distraction test results

1. Skoda

11

Congratulations are due to Skoda for providing the least-distracting touchscreen set-up in our test, helped by a win on both the lane-keep assist and sat-nav tasks. The Skoda’s old-school ventilation dials were liked by our test drivers; that put the car right at the top of the pile for the cabin-temperature task – but the Genesis just pipped it to pole position there. The times for the heated seat and radio-tuning tasks were middle-of-the-road, so there were no real areas for criticism – a fact reflected by an overall score that was a chunky two seconds better than our runner-up.

Read our Skoda infotainment review...

2. Mercedes

11

Testers liked the clarity and size of the Merc’s touchscreen, as well as the helpful shortcut buttons, and found it responsive. The car came second in the lane-keep-assist task, but was victorious in the radio-tuning task. However it wasn’t all rosy for the Merc, because it finished equal last with the Peugeot on the cabin temperature-adjustment task, which took an average of nearly seven seconds. The fourth place for the heated-seat task was interesting, because there’s a physical switch for it on the door, but the time taken wasn’t far behind the leaders.

Read our Mercedes infotainment review...

3. MINI

11

The latest MINI touchscreens combine funky design with generally straightforward operation, with our testers complimenting the system for having most of the major functions on the home page, and therefore easy to find. That said, the MINI only managed to break into the top three on the cabin temperature and radio-tuning tasks. A sixth place for the sat-nav task was disappointing, but there were some relatively slow loading times for drivers to contend with. The MINI also finished second when it came to the closest lap times when driving focused and ‘distracted’.

Read our MINI infotainment review...

4. Volvo

11

Our testers found this touchscreen system straightforward and logical, although the sat-nav task was hit by slow loading of Google Maps. The car’s best result was third place on the lane-keeping assist task, with the control just one sub-menu click away from the home screen. Its worst effort was sixth place in the heated-seat task – it’s just one touch for the passenger side, but the driver’s seat control throws up the option of selecting seat or steering-wheel heat, costing valuable time and focus. That said, it was the Volvo that completed distracted laps closest to the undistracted times.

Read our Volvo infotainment review...

5. Tesla

11

The brand that disrupted dashboard tradition to kick off the touchscreen trend only manages a mid-table ranking. Our testers were generally positive, though, saying menus were logical and that the size of the big central screen was a help. The Tesla’s best results were fourth places for both the radio tuning and sat-nav tasks, although the nav loading times came in for a bit of criticism. Elsewhere, there was less enthusiasm for some of the menu navigation, and Tesla came last on the heated-seat task. It also took a hit in the ‘distracted’ lap times, with drivers losing more than half a minute.

Read our Tesla infotainment review...

6. Renault

11

Our testers were generally positive about the system’s responses, but said it felt complex initially and that more time with it – and greater awareness of some of the programming features, such as the one-touch switching for lane-keep assist – would have seen it score higher. That same degree of familiarity may not be as important with some higher-ranked systems, they felt. Even so, the Renault came second and third in the sat-nav and heated-seat tasks respectively. There was a fifth-place finish in the cabin-temperature task, but the Renault recorded the slowest ‘distracted’ lap-time.

Read our Renault infotainment review...

7. MG

11

The average for task times was 3.8 seconds behind the best in the test, and our judges tripped over some potentially distracting ‘quirks’ in the MG’s touchscreen system, including a camera set-up that activates during turns and overrides the menu you might want. There’s also an ‘are you sure?’ button to press when switching off lane-keep assist, which judges deemed unnecessary. In other respects, the system was responsive and quick, but the small screen meant some controls were difficult to select accurately. The MG’s best result was a third place for the radio-tuning task, and its ‘distracted’ lap time was fifth best.

Read our MG infotainment review...

8. Ford

11

Our test Mustang with the latest Ford touchscreen system came home in a disappointing eighth place, with judges blaming slow processing speeds for some of its problems. Some testers liked the expanding windows within the screen menus more than others, but generally a potential better performance was denied by laggy screens at critical moments. That seems to be confirmed by a decent fourth-best ‘distracted’ lap time, whereas the Ford came dead last in the sat-nav task as drivers waited for screens to load. The Mustang provided the fastest heated-seat task time, but its touchscreen failed to impress elsewhere.

Read our Ford infotainment review...

9. Peugeot

11

The eye-catching suite of screens in front of the Peugeot’s driver certainly looks impressive, but our distraction test scores suggest the French company could have spent a bit longer finessing the way they work. Our test drivers complained of temperamental responses to touch or swipe commands, laggy load times, complicated 
menus and just ‘too much going on’. The result is a huge gap in the ‘distracted’ lap time compared to the best in the test, although the Peugeot did manage second place for the heated-seats task thanks to its additional row of ‘mini touchscreen’ shortcuts that make life much easier.

Read our Peugeot infotainment review...

10. Genesis

11

If there’s a prize for ‘most distracting touchscreen’, the Genesis clinches it, with a system that our testers admired for its visual style, but found significantly wanting when it came to some aspects of functionality. In particular, testers found it difficult to navigate from one part of the system to another, because of unintuitive menus and an overly sensitive screen. The 22.6 seconds it took to turn off lane-keep assist is a good example of this. A BMW iDrive-style wheel controller was a positive, as was a win in the cabin-temperature task, thanks to an easily accessible dial control. Otherwise, the numbers paint a pretty bleak picture.

Read our Genesis infotainment review...

Our view

Sadly, most drivers have limited opportunities to try infotainment systems before choosing a new car, and most appear feature-packed and come dripping with showroom appeal.

Our own touchscreen test scores mirrored the perceptions of our judges on the day, and as a result we don’t think the latest Skoda set-up can be beaten for distraction-free driving. Mercedes, MINI and Volvo are also to be commended.

However, it’s clear that individuals respond differently to particular systems. So although we’ve highlighted some of the problems inherent in a variety of manufacturers’ systems, and commended others, what we’re really recommending is a thorough system test-drive of any car you’re thinking of spending the next two or three years with. That’s the best way to try to ensure you get a set-up that you’re comfortable with – and doesn’t distract you unduly, putting you, your passengers and other road users at risk.

Best car infotainment systems: head-to-head test

• Best car infotainment systems test intro
• Ford SYNC 4 review
• Genesis ccIC review
• Mercedes MBUX review
• MG iSmart review
• MINI Operating System 9 review
• Peugeot i-Cockpit review
• Renault OpenR Link review
• Skoda Navigation review
• Tesla UI review
• Volvo Android Automotive review
• Best car infotainment systems test results

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