Want to improve the cockpit ergonomics of new cars? Get rid all that stuff that's taking up valuable console space. You need the elbow room.

The ideal controller configuration lets you rest the underside of your wrist on a flat, padded surface for support while you're driving and making selections. But the controller has to be far enough forward so you're not bending your arm backward, and also close enough that you're not plunging your arm down at a sharp angle to reach a controller just a few inches in front of the armrest. The console represents valuable real estate that is often home to two cupholders, an ashtray, the shifter, a couple switches, the handbrake lever, a second 12-volt socket, and the cockpit controller.

The ashtray is the easiest to lose. Fewer than a fifth of Americans smoke (even fewer who drive higher-end cars), and smokers can always insert an ashtray in a cupholder. The shifter can be replaced by a dashboard shifter stub, as on the Toyota Prius, complemented by paddle shifters behind the wheel for sporty cars, though a manual transmission needs to remain on the console. And while a center console handbrake looks cool, step-on handbrakes work just as well. Now you've got plenty of room for the cockpit controller.

Having used all the automakers' controllers, I'm convinced the best solution is a big, easy-to-grip control knob with "hard" buttons (meaning one button does just one task) dedicated to the radio, CD/satellite, navigation, a moving map display, setup, and the car computer. Currently, Audi has the best solution, the MMI (for multimedia interface).

Ideally, the controller functions are duplicated by a good voice-recognition system and by console or dashboard buttons for most common tasks. You shouldn't need three separate movements of the cockpit controller to switch on audio or adjust the temperature.

Unless you have a smart controller with hard buttons, workable voice input, and redundant controls: you're not going to have a happy driver. And even then, note that the three cars that took the biggest declines in the most recent J.D. Power Survey on Initial Quality Satisfaction (BMW, Audi, Mercedes) are the three most in love with cockpit controllers.