Really, all the car reviews bleat on about soft touch plastics... do people spend their commutes feeling up the dash or does it just feel nicer when they are licking the windows?

Beats plaggy plastic

Nothing worse than cheapo plastics

I suppose those that spend 4 days a week polishing every square inch don't want hard plastics wearing out their rags, but as for humans, I don't think it matters what the dash feels like unless you're in  a crash and aren't wearing a seatbelt.

The dash on my LEAF is completely hard plastic and feels terrible to touch.

Fortunately I'm usually holding onto the steering wheel.

 

Good comparison is new Octy and Rapid.

Both dashboards look quite similar at the top, but the Octy is nice and squishy and the Rapid is hard.

You could say they do the same job.

 

Possibly a softer one reduces noise bounce in the car?

Possibly a softer one reduces noise bounce in the car?

And face bounce in a crash...

And face bounce in a crash...

 

I'd hope the airbags and seat belts help a bit there.

If you like to see lots of scratches on your dash then hard plastic is a clear winner...

It makes a huge difference imo.

My door pulls, dash, center console and knee rests are all soft. In my polo and Fabia (and maybe golf?) it was all hard and much less pleasant to interact with. It's only a little thing, but it makes a big differenc I find.

Works for Mrs Tom Jones.

Helps with reducing cabin noise.

Scratchy plastics tend to creak and rattle.

 

It does make a difference to how the cabin feels but I think it's almost subconscious. A bit like how the door closing sound on most cars is actually engineered to take away the old fashioned clang and sound more like a substantial thunk. Old human perception of weight = quality.