Covering shiny bits on dashboard and steering wheel

[PeterWestSussex]

Oh dear - sorry; this has gone off topic! But to explain. Stop/Start was fine on our manual up! Depress clutch in readiness to engage gear and engine started - ready to pull away. No problems with that!
But with DSG it's a different story. So why disable it every time with DSG?
1) At a roundabout in heavy traffic, one is waiting to make a quick (and safe) move - but with an engine that has switched off. And this is something the Daily Telegraph reviewer of the new Polo DSG describes as a "horrible" feature. (Same with all automatics I assume; my brother has same issue with his Jaguar).
2) Moving into N and handbrake on when stationary - the engine re-starts! So why let it stop in the first place? So need to keep footbrake depressed.
3) Keeping footbrake depressed means blaze of stop lights at night (and the Polo SEL has quite an array of red lighting!)
4) Keeping footbrake depressed means 'hot spots' on disks (see my earlier comment re that).

So, I'm not convinced they've got it right with auto gearboxes and Stop/Start. On that note, our brand new DENNIS engine buses now stop at every bus stop and traffic light. Drivers are finding this crazy (so my Metrobus driver friend tells me), How long, I wonder, before the idea behind this is shown to be invalid - rather like the 'directive' that meant that my last 3 company cars had to be diesels.

[Mike Austin]

Oh dear - sorry; this has gone off topic!

Well, yes and no. The original post was about being able to focus on the topic in hand (i.e. driving) by subduing the off-topic distractions from the dashboard and steering wheel.

[d-ash]

Are the shiny bits of trim really so distracting? I don’t find them an issue at all, and I like the illusion of quality they impart compared with a dull plastic finish.

Each to their own I guess !!

[Ricmondo]

Thanks for explaining why you turn off stop start. Being old school I similarly try to avoid dazzling people behind me and opt for handbrake and N.

I too drive a DSG but I have not experienced the sort of problems you describe nor dazzle from my brightwork.

I’m not aware that I have changed driving style to cope but perhaps unconsciously I have.

On those cars where I have had dazzle problems I’ve always found black graphic artists masking tape handy, although it doesn’t work on a first series Jaguar E Type where the whole top of the transmission tunnel is covered in gleaming aluminum.

I hope you can find a satisfactory solution.