Now we have two vehicles in the long-term fleet with pictogram climate controls: the Volvo XC60 and the Hyundai Sonata. They don't work in exactly the same way, however. The XC60's directional man has separate buttons to direct airflow to the head, body and feet. The Sonata's directional man (or mode man, perhaps, seeing as how he's labeled as such) is comprised of just one button; his head is just for display. The way he works is that pushing the button cycles through the various air flow modes. 
I'm preferential to the Volvo's directional man since I can get what I want immediately; I don't like having to push a button a bunch of times to call up what air flow I want. That said, I do like the Sonata's big arrows that show air flow and the fan speed/temperature knobs, which are rubberized and feel nice to the touch.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor
rod_stewart says:
12:09 PM, 07/21/10
Disapointing, makes it seem like Hyundai imitated the Volvo look without caring about function...dummy switches are annoying no matter what but especially when it's a dummy head thats only there because of Volvo!
chochmastergen says:
12:14 PM, 07/21/10
It should have been a rocker so you can go back and forth without having to cycle through all of them if you miss it.
ptcdawg says:
12:47 PM, 07/21/10
I prefer an AUTO AC...set it at 72 and cruise.
yellowmiata says:
12:56 PM, 07/21/10
I love it! Mode Man!
eldaino2 says:
01:20 PM, 07/21/10
i like the little man concept too ,but upon my test drive, i was dissapointed to know that it was just a toggle switch and not 3 seperate buttons. its like they wanted to go for the same look as volvo, but missed the important part: the functionality.
ed124c says:
01:33 PM, 07/21/10
Another chink in the Sonata's armor. Except for styling it is looking more and more like an eveyday Camry.
stingray454 says:
01:42 PM, 07/21/10
It's OK, I guess, but it solves a problem that didn't exist in the first place, sort of like push button start. I mean was anyone really confused with the previous controls on most cars for airflow? "floor" and "vent" and "defrost" were all clear to me. Even when they used arrows and pictograms instead of words, I was never confused as to what they meant.
feloniousmonk says:
03:27 PM, 07/21/10
Does this remind anyone of a swap-meet product? You know, one of those odd Chinese products that kinda looks and sounds like something you know, but the price is too good to be true until you try to use it, after which the price makes perfect sense. Like a Canyon camera or a Pippin u-fone or Soby television. If "imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" then half-assed emulation without most of the function is the truest mode of bootlegery. When I test drove one it saddened me to realize that Hyundai hasn't yet exorcised all of it's slapdashery.
allthingshonda says:
04:24 PM, 07/21/10
The Volvo's "mode man" is better because it is teamed with an Auto climate system. The mode man in this setup should only be used when the driver wants to manually override the system. In the Hyundai mode man should have been a knob since the system is not automatic and it would have fit in better with the fan and temp knobs.
prndlol says:
05:18 PM, 07/21/10
I would press that damn head 'button' all day until SOMETHING happens!
johnmarco says:
05:21 PM, 07/21/10
I think both are pretty silly. What was wrong with a dial that pointed to different fan/vent configurations?
saxdogg says:
06:59 PM, 07/21/10
@PRNDLOL
I press that button every day and NOTHING ever happens. Wait...are we still talking about cars?
hybris says:
09:18 PM, 07/21/10
This is why 3 knobs are the best HVAC controls ever made.