What In-Car Invention don't you want?

[DrFfybes]

After the thread of "what do you want?", I wondered what people don't want/use.

Along with most on here, I am not of the Playstation Generation, and consequently think that some technology is only there for the sake of it.

OK, I like aircon, cruise, auto sensing wipers (when they work properly) and electric windows, but electric seats are a pain (especially non memory ones that take ages to slide forwards when you're stood in the rain waiting to get into the back), auto headlights can go if they're like the BMW ones that don't come on in the fog, and self dipping rear mirrors (I don't think they dip enough, MrsF never dips hers) are all solutions to a problem that doesn't exist.

I've also mentioned the irritation of the 'keyless start' on my sister's B-max, where you still need to get the key out to un/lock the car with the remote, then have to put it somewhere when you get in as there is no handy ignition barrel to store it in.

However it seems some 'passive keyless entry and start' is actually a problem to a solution that doesn't exist (yet).

The 'relay theft' allows the theif to extend the range of the keyless entry system, thus able to start and drive away.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-4213280 ... -on-camera

Ironically on of the suggested solutions is a modern 'crooklock'

I think the next step will be kit to clone the keys from the owner's pocket, and then you could stand in a car park and take your pick.

Paul

[Watis]

I don't want auto headlights and have never used them in my car that is thus equipped.

I see oncoming car's headlights come on when passing under a bridge or heavy tree cover in daylight and know they are shortening the life of their bulbs for no good reason.

This feature means that, as soon as there is a cloud in the sky, many, maybe even the majority of motorists have their lights come on. Apart from being a distraction, it robs motorcyclists of their advantage of being the only lit vehicles, as their headlights get lost in a forest of others.

I'll decide when my car needs its lights on, thank you!

Watis

[redsturgeon]

I don't want auto headlights and have never used them in my car that is thus equipped.

I see oncoming car's headlights come on when passing under a bridge or heavy tree cover in daylight and know they are shortening the life of their bulbs for no good reason.

This feature means that, as soon as there is a cloud in the sky, many, maybe even the majority of motorists have their lights come on. Apart from being a distraction, it robs motorcyclists of their advantage of being the only lit vehicles, as their headlights get lost in a forest of others.

I'll decide when my car needs its lights on, thank you!

Watis

All cars made after 2011 must by law be fitted with daytime running lights that operate when the vehicle is in motion in daylight in the UK.

John

[bungeejumper]

All cars made after 2011 must by law be fitted with daytime running lights that operate when the vehicle is in motion in daylight in the UK.

Indeed, but I think the poster may have been referring to headlights that decide to switch themselves on whenever it gets gloomy. Not generally the same thing as daylight running lights, which are mainly separate LEDs, or sometimes glorified sidelights.

I'm often surprised at how many post-2011 cars I seem to see without their DRLs running. How does that happen?

My Toyota came with fairly deep-tinted 'drug dealer' glass on the rear doors and the tailgate, and I was a bit surprised by that. It was only when I took a quick tour of a car park that I realised just how many cars have them these days.

The advantage of drug dealer windows is that they're cooler in very hot weather, and that children in the rear seats seem to find them more relaxing; the disadvantage is that you lose just a smidgeon of rear vision (I have a fitted reversing cam that largely obviates the problem in tight spots). And that the guy behind you has no way of seeing you. Which, oddly, seems to increase the likelihood that he'll pick his nose at the traffic lights.

BJ

[Redmires]

Car systems that think they know what is best for you. In both my car and my wife's car, if I put the air recirculation on because of driving in heavy traffic and I don't want diesel fumes in the car, the thing switches itself off after 5 minutes. Yes, I understand that the car is worried about my health, the levels of oxygen in the car etc but it's my choice and that's what I want. Bring back the old sliding levers !!!!

[richlist]

The previous post has just jogged my memory.

I'd like a car where the engine stop/start defaults to OFF instead of on. Every time I turn on the ignition, the stop start is active......I'd rather I had to make the choice of turning it on rather than have the manufacturer deciding that for me.

One can reset/choose the settings on virtually every function of the car but NOT the stop /start feature. ITS SO ANNOYING.

[bungeejumper]

One can reset/choose the settings on virtually every function of the car but NOT the stop /start feature. ITS SO ANNOYING.

It's your eco-nanny state, innit? I expect you'd also like to get rid of that helpful little 'change up' reminder on your dashboard that tries to tell you to go into fifth every time you exceed 29 mph, even if you're going steeply uphill at the time?

Well, forget it. The assembled tree-huggers of the world have decreed that it should be an un-turn-offable feature of your car. I can tell you that the Golf GTI owners' forums of the world have been working at it day and night for the last eight years, and nobody's cracked it yet.

BJ

[richlist]

My cars are automatic so the gear change warning light doesn't exist.

I did a search on the web and hey Presto.....

The Range Rover can be 'tweaked' to ensure the stop start is disabled and I will be doing that tomorrow.

On the Mercedes AMG the web says when the sport setting is selected the stop start is disabled automatically. I didn't know that cos tight old me just drives it in economy setting.

The wife drives a Ford Eco Sport which for some unknown reason doesn't have a stop start feature.

Happy days

[UncleIan]

The Range Rover can be 'tweaked' to ensure the stop start is disabled and I will be doing that tomorrow.

On the Mercedes AMG the web says when the sport setting is selected the stop start is disabled automatically. I didn't know that cos tight old me just drives it in economy setting.

I'm confused. You drive your AMG in economy setting, but you're tweaking your Rangy so the stop start doesn't work?

Not sure I've ever had a car with enough features to want rid of some.

[richlist]

What's confusing ?

Two cars with stop start features that are not wanted.

Two cars requiring different actions to permanently disable the stop start function.

Which bit don't you understand ?

[ten0rman]

On my car there are some features which are of use, some which are not, some which I don't want but have to put up with, some that I've never found a use for, and at least one that is just plain silly. In order then:

Automatic door locking when the speed gets above 12mph. A good security idea I think, although I hope to never be in a position to need it. Can't remember what they are called - those sensors that beep if you get too close, especially when reversing.

Electric handbrake. I really don't see what was wrong with the old style. Also, I'm not too sure about ABS. I've only once experienced it in the last 10 years or so. Generally, if you activate it, it suggests to me that you are going too fast for the conditions.

Daylight warning lights. ABS.

Traction Control. Never used it, and in any case I can, and have done many times in the past, control traction by means of my right foot.

A switch to disable the electric windows. Ostensibly to prevent the kids from falling out. Trouble is, only the front windows are electric.

[Watis]

What's confusing ?

Two cars with stop start features that are not wanted.

Two cars requiring different actions to permanently disable the stop start function.

Which bit don't you understand ?

I suspect the confusion arises from saying, on the one hand, that driving economically is important to you, yet you want to disable a feature that contributes further to economical running.

My Yaris has clocked up more than a day (nearly 30 hours and counting) of not idling fuel away thanks to the stop-start feature.

Watis

[bungeejumper]

Multi-function steering wheel with 17 buttons. Only one of which (the audio mute) is actually useful, but they've hidden it away between a lot of other buttons so that I can't find it without looking down at the wheel. And that's not a good idea either.

16 other buttons, then. Select a radio band, scroll through the tracks on your USB thingy, inspect the history of your CD track plays, connect a Bluetooth device, choose which version of the trip mileometer you want to see, make a hands-free phone call, adjust the settings on your climate control, and read your emails. (I may have made one of those up.)

None of which is the kind of thing that most people should attempt to do while driving along. (I'll make an exception for setting the cruise control, although there's another perfectly good toggle on the side of the very same steering wheel for doing that as well.)

Having a yoke like the Starship Enterprise might suit the seasoned road warriors who have nothing else to do all day but sit and play with their buttons (fnarrrr), but all I want from my steering wheel is a horn push, thanks. And a great big mute button that I can actually find when I really need it. Harrumph.

BJ

[bungeejumper]

The 'relay theft' allows the theif to extend the range of the keyless entry system, thus able to start and drive away.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-4213280 ... -on-camera

Ironically on of the suggested solutions is a modern 'crooklock'

Fortunately those ingenious Aussies seem have come up with a slightly lower-tech way to take your keys off-grid:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11 ... ereabouts/

BJ

[ten0rman]

Now there's an interesting idea. Protecting your contactless cards perhaps?

ten0rman

[DrFfybes]

Now there's an interesting idea. Protecting your contactless cards perhaps?

ten0rman

My current pet hate in the car is an external temp sensor in the mirror, that the ECU uses to calculate fuelling, and that is wired through the mirror stem, down the door, into the cabin, back up behind the dash, where it connects to the loom.

A remarkably reasonable £11.00 for the part, plus VAT. 1.5 hours labour to fit.

Paul

[bungeejumper]

My current pet hate in the car is an external temp sensor in the mirror, that the ECU uses to calculate fuelling, and that is wired through the mirror stem, down the door, into the cabin, back up behind the dash, where it connects to the loom.

So if some idiot clouts your door mirror, your car doesn't know how to calibrate your fuel mix any more? How very Italian.

BJ

[Satsuma]

I really loathe DRLs. Well, more specifically I loathe the ones that only seem to work on the front of cars, not the rear lights.

Almost every day now a car will loom up out of the dusk with no rear visibility, but its only when I pass I see their front lights are on.
The driver is in their little cocoon with the dash lit up so they *think* their lights are on, all is well and their brain switches off from having to actively consider the onset of darkness as needing proper headlights.

I have been driving two brand new cars recently, as well my own oldie. It really feels to me like the new features stop drivers from using their brains quite so much - auto-everything removes/abdicates responsibility(? is << that the right word? I'm not sure and i don't mean to insult anyone!). One of them even had automatic handbrake. On what planet is putting a handbrake on a chore that should be automated? When the penalty for forgetting once you move to a different car can be quite bad!

They keyless entry is useful for the odd occasion that you have your arms so inextricably full you can't possibly press a button (or in my case turn a lock!), but as you say, then where does it go when you don't have a handy ignition to store it in! On the plus side to that OH can now leave the key buried at the bottom of his work bag so there's no risk of it accidentally falling out!

Am also not that impressed with the screens in between the gauges on the dashboard. One of the posh cars had a compass that would distractingly flail about as you went. I not yet needed to navigate by the stars when driving but if I do... (On both cars I have settled on a digital speedo as the least distracting option, even though that means I have two such displays side by side!)

On the whole the new cars are supremely comfortable and soothing little cocoons of armchair driving. While my old beast is a much more spartan but mind-engaging drive. I do yearn for heated windscreens and mirrors on cold mornings though!

Sats

[redsturgeon]

I really loathe DRLs. Well, more specifically I loathe the ones that only seem to work on the front of cars, not the rear lights.

Almost every day now a car will loom up out of the dusk with no rear visibility, but its only when I pass I see their front lights are on.
The driver is in their little cocoon with the dash lit up so they *think* their lights are on, all is well and their brain switches off from having to actively consider the onset of darkness as needing proper headlights.


Sats

I have to admit to being guilty of this at least a couple of times in the past 18 months. Both times it happened after the car had been into the main dealer for work. I usually have the lights switched to auto so that as dusk falls, all lights come on. of course as soon as it goes into the dealers they find it necessary to turn the lights to off which means that the DRLs are on but at dusk the rear lights are absent.

I agree that new cars make driving easier and it is much easier to switch the brain off.

John

[Slarti]

Flappy paddles on a CRV automatic!

For some unknown reason, not only do I have the ability to lock the gears down with the stick, but my car has flappy paddle gear shifters on the steering wheel.

In 5 years I've only overridden the auto box 3 times. Once to see what it was like and twice going down steep hills in Wales behind slower traffic.

If you are the type of driver who wants boy racer gear changes, would you have a CRV gearbox in the first place?


A crazy mix of functions.

Slarti