Just for comparison, the 4 cylinder turbo in the RDX is rated at 272hp and 280 lb. ft. (@1600 rpm). I imagine it's a satisfying engine to drive.

 

These are the touch controls from the press photos.

 

That’s for the close ups. They look good.

 

Wish it had a hybrid option

 

Nice interior design language. Unfortunately huge flat plains of cheesy fake wood, although in fairness it's similar in appearance to the non-wood everybody seems to love on the Telluride or Palisade or whichever. If I were to get this car, this is one of the few cars where I'd be tempted to go to those aftermarket vendors who sell real wood panels with sticky-back tape and just resurface all of it.

 

completely generic with tombstone screen and giant bezels.

 

Something can be generic but also be nice. The interior of a family-oriented crossover is rarely distinctive--that's Toyota's and Honda's entire existence.

 

i like the new grand highlander interior more even though the center screen is still too much of the tombstone style.

 

Doesn't your Santa Fe have a tombstone interior?

 

^^ as you can see, the santa fe screen doesn't sit up anywhere near as high as the highlander's.

 

Having the screen up like that in the sightline makes using it much safer, IMO. Thats the one benefit.

 

You shouldn't be using the screen while driving so having it higher up makes it irrelevant, distracting, and potentially more dangerous.

 

Maybe im the minority but all these changes are a big negative for me.

1) No more V6 option
2) No more physical buttons for HVAC and other functions
3) No more gear shifter

 

The screen is a navigation screen, with directions so yes you do need to use it while driving.

 

You're making it sound like you need to watch it every 5 seconds while driving. I can assure you that, while you are indeed a good 7 or 8 years older than me (I'm willing to bet that despite the age difference, we're pretty close in miles driven), I'm here to tell you that there is no reason to stare at the screen constantly for directions.

I've driven in many busy interchanges while trying to find something or to just get to my destination. While I've never used a navigation screen in my life (other than playing around for a few seconds here and there looking at cars at a dealer), I can imagine that if I did have one, I wouldn't feel the need to have to watch it while traveling. There is just no need. Glancing at it sparingly while paying attention to road signs (and realizing that one does not have to rely on some electronic map service so they need to learn to commit directions to memory) is all anyone needs with their navigation screen.

So no... I don't agree that the screen needs to be higher up and made to look like some cheap tablet was plopped on the dash. It looks hideous and terrible.