Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Congratulations! The fact that you are even reading this makes you relatively tech-savvy. Today's post is all about comparing online configurators for many ultra-luxury cars like Bentley and Bugatti. Often they are much better than the ones for mainstream manufacturers, but some are not and I'll tell you why.
We'll start with Aston Martin because it is my least favorite. Though they started with a good idea, having a 3-D model to show the customer's (or bored guy's) optioned car virtually online, the design process pretty much shorts out there. First of all, you need to use the excruciatingly slow (compared to Google Chrome and Mozilla) Internet Explorer to even access their configurator, and once you get there it's not worth it. The 3-D model they have is very unrealistic and looks like a not-painted-yet clay model. On the interior, you can barely see any change in the colors or trim and it takes forever to load.
Much better is the redesigned Bentley configurator. You can use a faster Internet type, it is straightforward, and most of all, it is high-quality and gives an expensive impression, which is the point. With the Aston-Martin configurator, I got the impression that Tata might use something like it for their Nano. Overall, the Bentley is my favorite configurator.
Bugatti also has a configurator, and it comes off very good-looking, but I have to give it low marks because the interior optioning is not straightforward. It gives about four interior layout options, but no sign how to choose them or if your choice has been applied. Maserati also has a configurator, and it is nice but occasionally complicated in use. picture of Maserati configurator from www.teamstradale.com
