The instrument panel may be the best aspect of the roomy interior. Sheathed in burled walnut, the panel fits perfectly through the steering wheel, curved at the top to the same shape as the steering wheel. So you look through that portion of the wheel that fills the pie above 10 and 2 o'clock, and clearly see the tach, fuel, temperature and turbo boost gauges. And it may be the boost gauge you end up watching the most, as the power responds more to boost than revs.Big buttons for the sound and climate systems are located in a large rectangle in the center console, and are easy to understand. The radio buttons are very intelligent, in that they hold your finger! Ironically, almost disappointingly because they are so neat, you don't need to use them that much, as there are also controls in the hub of the steering wheel. The Aero has a nice leather-wrapped four-spoke wheel with the rim the correct diameter. It's pocked for better grip, between 2 and 4 o'clock on the right side and 8 and 10 on the left. The gearshift knob, leather-stitched and kind of pear-shaped, has a matching good feel. There's a really cool cupholder in the dash next to the radio, which flips out from a vertical slot the size of a CD. And there's another fixed one in the console. The far end of the passenger sideview mirror is convex, which allows you to see two lanes over. It's not a bad idea, but it can be difficult to determine the location of the approaching car at quick glance. There are excellent interior lights, including one map light in a rotating directional ball like an airplane light. Little things like the gauge placement, cupholder, radio switches and map light make you aware that some real thought went into the interior. The glovebox is small, however, and the cruise control switch, located on the end of the turn signal stalk and hidden by the steering wheel, is inconvenient. The tick-tock wooden metronome sound of the turn signals is a nice touch, even if it was copied from Jaguar. Our leather interior was brown and beige, with the seats all beige. They weren't bad, but more bolstering definitely would have been nice, given the road-hugging capability of this car. It was very quiet on the freeway. We noticed only the slightest hiss of wind noise, which went away when we closed the blind over the sunroof. The light on the dash indicating when it's time to upshift is mostly just annoying, in principle if not actively. The computer that controls this light has something on its mind that you most likely don't have on yours. It wants you drive in the manner that's fuel efficient, but you know something it doesn't: you know what's coming in the next hundred yards.
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