The drive-mode button is a huge design fail.

[Droid]

Overall I'm really impressed with the drive modes on the Gen2, but after a year of owning it I still can't believe how poorly Ford designed their user interface.

First, it's just a button which says "mode" on the steering wheel. Not even "Drive Mode", just "Mode". Right underneath the audio controls, next to the mute button and bluetooth pick-up / hang-up buttons. A new user would rightly think this was an audio source selector.

Tap the Mode+ button twice (from Normal) and you're in 4HI with the rear differential locked. Tap the Mode- button twice and it shifts into Sport Mode, which puts the truck in 2HI (even if it was in 4AUTO). A single press doesn't do anything, thankfully...but given that it looks like an audio control, the user is likely to be staring at the stereo when they push it, and when it doesn't fire on the first go, they'll press it again.

Now I have to offer a detailed explanation to anyone who uses the truck (e.g. Mom when she visits) that there's this potentially dangerous button on the steering wheel that if you push it can make it so the truck won't go around corners on pavement. Or that it will silently exit the 4Auto mode you turned on because it was raining and deliver 450hp to the rear wheel with the least traction....and with more aggressive throttle response, snappy shifts, and less traction/stability control.

 

[melvimbe]

While your logic makes sense, are there any example where someone actually made the mistake of switching modes unintentionally that resulted in an accident? The controls had been that way for 4 years. If it was as big of a risk as you're thinking it is, I would think Ford would have made the effort to modify the label at a minimum.

Personally, I don't think of 'mode' and 'source' as synonymous. More accurately, I'm used to working with systems and would expect that a function labeled source in one control area would not be labeled something else in a different control area. I vaguely recall pressing the mode buttons with the expectation that they changed the layout of the instruments screen or something of that nature. Didn't expect it to change an audio source.

Not sure where the button is on the Gen 3, but I would be surprised if it's not more prominent than it is now. Drive modes are rather common now, and it's feature people look for rather than just pleasantly surprised.

 

[GordoJay]

I thought it was just me. I put it in 4L on the freeway once by accident. About the time I saw what I had done, it blinked out and said "Shift in progress". I was going highway speed and it thankfully didn't shift. I'm swerving all over trying to change it before it exploded. Of course it was brand new. Now that I know where the button is and how it works, I'm fine with it. My wife? As long as she doesn't touch the steering wheel, she'll be fine.

 

[CoronaRaptor]

Overall I'm really impressed with the drive modes on the Gen2, but after a year of owning it I still can't believe how poorly Ford designed their user interface.

First, it's just a button which says "mode" on the steering wheel. Not even "Drive Mode", just "Mode". Right underneath the audio controls, next to the mute button and bluetooth pick-up / hang-up buttons. A new user would rightly think this was an audio source selector.

Tap the Mode+ button twice (from Normal) and you're in 4HI with the rear differential locked. Tap the Mode- button twice and it shifts into Sport Mode, which puts the truck in 2HI (even if it was in 4AUTO). A single press doesn't do anything, thankfully...but given that it looks like an audio control, the user is likely to be staring at the stereo when they push it, and when it doesn't fire on the first go, they'll press it again.

Now I have to offer a detailed explanation to anyone who uses the truck (e.g. Mom when she visits) that there's this potentially dangerous button on the steering wheel that if you push it can make it so the truck won't go around corners on pavement. Or that it will silently exit the 4Auto mode you turned on because it was raining and deliver 450hp to the rear wheel with the least traction....and with more aggressive throttle response, snappy shifts, and less traction/stability control.

That's your problem right there (last paragraph): letting people use your truck!! It's a raptor not a toyota corolla .

 

[Syberspace]

Took me a day to figure out that was the drive mode button... I know... RTFM. I hate when I switch from sport or normal and it takes me out of 4A... happened twice in the rain at a stop light and I lit up the tires trying to pull into traffic. Lesson learned.

 

[Antho]

I got screwed up when moving from a 17 to a 19. They rearranged the modes when adding more and i had a habit of hitting mode+ once to get to sport mode. Now that in the 19 puts you in snow/mud. Took a few times to get rid of that habit!

 

[goblues38]

i never give it a second thought. I have never hit the button by accident, and in the rare time someone drives my truck, they can hurt it if they do.

 

[shooters1380]

The OP is spot on here. When I test drove the truck, with the salesman, not even he could tell me how to get the truck into “sport mode” and he kept telling me “it’s on the shifter it’s on the shifter.” I said there is no button other than the shift up and down buttons on this shifter. We had to go back to the dealer and he had to run inside and ask someone.

Driving around my area a couple weeks ago I decided to pop it into sport mode and hit the plus button twice putting it in 4x4. I’m with the OP here. I don’t think it’s a horrible design but not well thought out. I agree as well that placing it in the audio area of the steering wheel is a bad idea and confusing.

Once you figure it out your golden but yeah I could see IF you were to let someone unfamiliar with that truck drive, there could be a potential problem.


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[Sonicsunspot]

I am probably more annoyed that it doesn't stay in the "last mode" I left it in after shutting down the truck.

 

[shooters1380]

I am probably more annoyed that it doesn't stay in the "last mode" I left it in after shutting down the truck.

Yeah that’s a good point to. Why can’t you put in in sport mode and leave it there. I’m certain there’s a safety reason for it but it would be nice to have more control over that function


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