However, i thought touch screens in cars are pressure sensitive rather than measuring changes in capacity? If the press is not registered in my car, i press a little harder. You can also use it while wearing normal gloves.
That said, i use the physical knobs a lot more often, since your finger position will easily follow any moving button and nudges in rotating or shifting knobs feel super satisfying.
Those are actually different technologies, and I'm guessing you got used to the pressure sensitivity on older cars. They use resistive touchscreens which are cheaper. Cheap android tablets used to routinely use those instead of the capacitive touchscreens as well. It's been a while since I had to use a resistive touchscreen, and I'm glad for it.
It depends on the car. Mine is resistive (like yours I think) and I can just press harder, I also don't have to use my fingers, something like a capped pen works perfectly. Though these kinds of screens are considered low-end compared to capacitive touchscreens because they require a heavy touch and usually don't support multitouch, I think these are the best for cars (if you don't have physical controls).
But many modern cars (ex: Teslas) use capacitive screens like on smartphones.
That said, i use the physical knobs a lot more often, since your finger position will easily follow any moving button and nudges in rotating or shifting knobs feel super satisfying.