Best Automotive User Experiences: Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Mustang, Santa Fe, Navigator, Ascent, Jetta

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WardsAuto named the best user experiences, honoring new vehicles for their driver-assistance technologies, connectivity, digital displays, voice-activation systems, intuitive controls and infotainment.

This year’s winners in alphabetical order (with sticker prices as tested):

  • Acura RDX ($48,395) – for the innovative Touchpad.
  • BMW 640i ($84,010) – for outstanding functionality, iDrive, gesture controls and hologram-like HUD.
  • Cadillac CT6 ($76,515)- for flawless Super Cruise, voice commands and touchpad.
  • Chevrolet Equinox ($39,655) for fonts, voice control and ADAS.
  • Ford Mustang ($51,470) with easy phone pairing, SYNC 3, instrumentation and LCD gauge.
  • Hyundai Santa Fe ($36,555) has two USB ports in front and two in the second row, an easy-to-reach center stack with hard buttons on either side and a 360-degree camera view to help get in and out of tight parking spaces, voice commands, HUD and driver assistance tech.
  • Lincoln Navigator ($96,150) has infinite options, high-res screens, a wireless phone charger, excellent driver-assistance systems, third-row USB ports, top-notch voice activation, lightning-fast phone pairing, a WiFi hotspot, standard Android Auto and Apple CarPlay and transmission shift buttons to free up center-console space.
  • Ram 1500 ($66,650) has a 12-in. (30-cm) vertical touchscreen  Uconnect phone pairing, audio and media control.
  • Subaru Ascent ($45,670) offers hard buttons for audio, apps and navigation, the 8-in. (20-cm) Starlink multimedia touchscreen with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, quick smartphone pairing, audio streaming, 3 rows of USB ports and traffic information as well as EyeSight.
  • Volkswagen Jetta ($27,795) has upscale materials, Beats Audio, 8″ screen and driver assistance tech.

Five all-new utility vehicles from Acura, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Lincoln and Subaru make up half of this year’s Wards 10 Best UX list, illustrating that a first-rate user experience goes hand-in-hand with daily functionality in the industry’s hottest growth segment.

For the third year in a row, WardsAuto editors recognize exemplary user experiences with its 10 Best UX competition to honor new and significantly improved vehicles for their driver-assistance technologies, connectivity, digital displays, voice-activation systems, intuitive controls and infotainment.

In July and August, editors evaluated and scored 25 vehicles available in the U.S. with all-new or re-engineered UX features such as display screens, interfaces or apps. There is no price cap, but overall value is a consideration.

Editors pair their phones, use entertainment apps, program navigation destinations and search for radio stations with voice commands and test the functionality of adaptive cruise control, lane-centering and blindspot detection.

1 thought on “Best Automotive User Experiences: Acura, BMW, Cadillac, Mustang, Santa Fe, Navigator, Ascent, Jetta”

  1. my first time reading such article. it was interesting to what regular customers find useful and worth having when purchasing a vehicle.

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