Yeah, it would be good if all the wipers on auto would repurpose the interval time adjustment as a sensitivity adjustment for the auto wipers when in auto mode. Some cars seem to be able to have adjustable sensitivity in this way, some can only change it deep in settings (not good on the fly), and most seem to be fixed sensitivity.
My car (2012 Vauxhall Astra J Hatchback) has 5 front windscreen wiper modes (once, off, interval controlled, medium interval, short interval), controlled by the position of the lever (with fully down being once, which is also momentary, and then proceeding upward in the order above).
It also has a dial on it to adjust the interval when using the interval controlled option. I don't get to control how fast the wipers move in any mode, only the interval between them moving; on the highest setting, the wipers also move a lot faster, as I believe this lever position bypasses the BCM and runs the motors directly. When it's raining I drive on interval controlled position 3 most of the time, with medium interval in heavier rain and I've only used short interval once.
Interval controlled position with the dial on maximum is the same as medium interval position, and the dial on minimum uses the rain sensor.
The same lever also controls the windscreen washers (pull toward you for cleaning the front windscreen, push away for the rear), which also puts the corresponding wipers on medium interval for 5 seconds automatically, and finally has a 3-position button on the far end to control the rear wipers (off, long interval, short interval).
I like this system. You can adjust every aspect of it with a finger and thumb without ever taking your eyes off the road.
Yeah, I mean that sounds like just about every car I've ever personally owned across several different makes. Its fine, and I prefer having a physical stalk dedicated to this input for something as critical as managing visibility. Things like visibility controls are very critical and need good physical controls for quick adjustment and activation. I lump things like headlights, turn signals, hazard lights, and stuff like that in that category. They should be physical, easy to control, and very close to the primary driving input (the steering wheel) not far in the center console.
You know what I like even more? Not even needing to think about touching it like 90% or more of the time. Its now pretty rare on my newer cars to ever need to actually touch the wiper control at all. Its still there, and still just as simple to adjust as my 2000 Honda Accord was, but just leaving it in auto means it just takes care of itself the vast majority of the time.
You could make the controls for a manual AC control in your house really nice and easy to use, but I'd rather just set it to a temperature I think I'd like and have it automatically handle it for me. I could choose to water my garden with a garden hose and a really nice, very comfortable sprayer, but I'd prefer just having an automated irrigation system know if it needs water or not. I don't get why one would prefer to have to manually adjust your wiper if you don't really need to the vast majority of the time, and adding the automation costs a few bucks total.
Its the same thing with headlights. Why wouldn't I just leave it on auto? Sure, maybe there's a slight chance where I might end up deciding I'd like to have them on even though the light sensor thinks its bright enough, but I pretty much never have any good reason to set it to "off".
Yeah, the problem is when the "auto" setting isn't good enough.
Same for the AC, sure you can have it set to "auto", but mine tends to slow the fan down in auto mode when the car reaches the preset temperature. I find that annoying, because it means less fresh air in the cabin.
