New(er) car tech that you swore off and now you like it?

Knurled. said:

secretariata said:

Cruise control is my main one.  It was so crappy because it couldn't maintain speed up or down hills.  Ever since I had a car where that problem was solved I can't live without (provided it works properly...some manufacturer's still can't make it work).

Cruise control doesn't work uphill if you need to downshift.  I have had cars that would happily give you WOT with cruise on.  Made it interesting when wanting to accelerate to pass, only to find that the pedal was already crushing carpet.

 

Teh S40 would also, with cruise engaged, happily build max boost with the torque converter locked in top gear.  I'd turn the boost down if I was towing for that reason.  A lot of PCMs will switch to different maps when cruise control is on in ways that increase engine efficiency and decrease the amount of shifting the trans does.  You can often get better fuel economy by "arming" cruise control even if you aren't actually using it.

 

Years back I had a car come in (an OJ Simpson style Bronco) with the concern that the vehicle would speed up downhill with the cruise on.  Verified that, yep, going downhill, the truck would accelerate.  Even if coasting.  No, cruise control will not apply the brakes for you...

Well yes, there are reasonable limits to what one can expect from cruise control.  Standard transmissions will use engine braking to slow on the downhill with cruise on, but do have limitations on uphill due to need to downshift.  Automatic transmissions will downshift (sometimes too quickly and remain in the lower gear too long) on uphill, but don't use engine braking on the downhill as they don't have a direct mechanical link to the engine...

A slight hill causing a 3-5 mph deviation at highway speeds is a real pain in the rear for trailing vehicles maintaining a constant speed...Hondas seemed to be the worst.

How about turn signals in the door mirrors ?

And electric windows are good for the passenger side of the car  only, I can crank my own window !

Plus all that other stuff I never had and probably never will..,..

But to add , what do you want them to add ? 

Maybe Auto dimming windshield for  blinding high beams ,  and if it's warm you can crank up the side window tint with a knob , or turn it off on a nice cool winter day....,

Seats that would adjust to your back and backside ......same with armrests.

and a bit*h slap when you are about to doze off......

Just make it comfortable enough that you are not sore after s 5 hour drive,.,

In reply to Grizz :

I love cruise control.  I use it in my driveway 

Toyota hybrid synergy drive will hold speed going down hill (regen braking) with cruise control. Is pretty nice. 

I like set it and forget it climate control.   I wish my car had that.  I've only ever owned 1 car (not counting wife cars) with it, and it was made in 1991.  Its not even much added complexity.  A well placed temp sensor is all you need in addition to the standard system.

I have to say, I just went from a 1998 car to a 2019 car.  Some things have not advanced nearly as far as expected.

My old car had a crappy aftermarket radio in it I installed in 2012.  It was mostly the same model they had made since 08 I imagine.  With it I could press the call button on the radio, say "Call mom" and my phone would call my mom.  In my new car, I have to be connected via Android Auto for it to work that way - which means plugging my phone into the car via the usb port, which also means unplugging my usb stick full of music.  Dumb.

Another issue I have is that most modern cars I've driven come with an always illuminated instrument cluster that dims when you turn the lights on.  This means its super easy at dusk to not realize you don't have your lights on.  Nothing about an illuminated cluster is superior to a traditional one IMO.*

Aside from those small gripes, the backup camera is helpful (necessary), but everything else just boils down to 'nicer', not any specific feature.  Ignoring the performance difference, 99% of what makes this car better than my previous car is that its new and not thoroughly worn out in every way.

*The S2000 digital cluster had the additional annoyance of dimming enough that you couldn't see with sunglasses on so if you had to turn your lights on during the day you had to reach up and adjust cluster brightness so you could see it again.

OHSCrifle said:

Toyota hybrid synergy drive will hold speed going down hill (regen braking) with cruise control. Is pretty nice. 

I was going to say, on the subject of cruise, CVT + mountains are a real eye opener when it comes to cruise control.  Going through the mountains of Asheville in a 90hp Prius, it holds any (reasonable) speed just fine, something that can be said for no other auto I have ever driven.  And yes, the braking on the downhill is great too.

That said, the comment at the top of the page regarding engine braking... my 1998 Saturn automatic will downshift on a hill if it sees speed increasing without throttle - cruise control or not.

Pretty much everything. Heated seats, adaptive cruise, auto climate control, CarPlay, rear view cameras, etc. I prefer my daily drivers to have every gizmo that was available, then I can choose to use it or not. 

Now the racecar standards are different. Cruise, A/C, and Bluetooth audio are the only things I won’t go without there. 

Infotainment in general. Just mirror my phone if you’re going to do anything. 

I love it all!!!  We drove a crosstrek with lane departure and adaptive cruise and iSight and all that, and it was amazing. The adaptive cruise actually stopped the car in traffic, crept along with the car in front of me, and took off when the light was green, all without me touching the pedal. Amazing. Although the crosstrek is a very uninspiring car to drive

I really like automatic headlights. I don't know why. Everything else I can take or leave. I have no use for heated seats. I also am not too happy with the auto climate controls on the wife's car. I like my heat to go on the windshield and feet. But her car insists on blowing the heat directly in my face which I can't stand. I just turn the auto climate control off when it's cold outside.

Auto headlights, yes, how could I forget? I'm young enough that I expect cruise control. The first time the rain-sensing wipers activated I was annoyed and took over for them but ever since then I've been pleased as punch.

Conversely, I've always ragged on self-dimming rear and side view mirrors as being something stupid that will break someday but now that I have them I hate them even more. Also, speed-adaptive stereo volume. "Oh, P3PPY, you weren't sure you were breaking them loose around that corner? HERE LET ME ASSURE YOU THAT YOU WERE INDEED BREAKING THEM LOOSE YOU DIDNT WANT TO HEAR ANYTHING ELSE TODAY RIGHT??"

still hate having to depress the clutch to start the car.  oh wait that's a nanny device ignore me.

i'm about to close on '12 Versa my newest car by far other than renting a new Golf through Zipcar and it does not appear to have anything fancydamn for me to worry about but I did get a little confussed sic as to how to open the hatch.

my first and only experience of a heated passenger seat was with a cup of 7sleven joe perched between my legs.  I thought it was spilling. 

I still generally want a stripper in every way. There are two modern conveniences that I hated for adding complexity but have come to love. I have always wanted manual and non-electric everything. Really the only things I want to be truly automatic are fuel map and spark map. Berk carburetors on dailies.

I absolutely love having express up and down windows. Why do so many cars, even new ones, have drivers' side express down only? My BMW is 20 years old and has express both ways on both windows.

I also have come to love the fact that unlocking or locking one door with the key affects the other two doors. I can walk up to the trunk to put groceries in the car and also unlock my drivers door at the same time. Yes, central remote locking does that too, but I don't have that feature.

Auto transmission, I guess. Most of them suck but there are a few that I would prefer to a manual. Honestly in a "build your dream car" exercise I'd probably choose a slushbox with a manual override option. Backup cameras are nice, I could do without it being integrated into the head unit. Same for GPS. It's a must-have for me but it has to be a standalone unit. Bluetooth is something I was never interested in but use frequently now. I like keeping my phone in my pocket or the door pocket. Also helps that I installed the bluetooth myself and it only has 6 buttons, making it the most user-friendly infotainment I've ever experienced.

I know that with this utterance I shall be forever anathema round these parts but I'm thinking I should have got a CVT Versa instead of the 6MT as I'll be using it for rideshare duties.  

Knurled. said:

Cruise control doesn't work uphill if you need to downshift.  I have had cars that would happily give you WOT with cruise on.  Made it interesting when wanting to accelerate to pass, only to find that the pedal was already crushing carpet.

Yeah, in this sort of situation CC pairs better with an automatic than a manual.  The CC in my Duramax Silverado is very good.

joey48442 said:

The adaptive cruise actually stopped the car in traffic, crept along with the car in front of me, and took off when the light was green, all without me touching the pedal. Amazing. Although the crosstrek is a very uninspiring car to drive

My F150's adaptive cruise can come to a full stop and start back up again. It makes DC-area commuting in heavy traffic a non-event. Set it to 55 and it'll just handle whatever's going on while you steer (ish, lane keep helps there too). I was doing 25 miles one-way on the heavily-trafficked Beltway each day for a client and it was far more serene than it would've been in an older car.

For me it’s “automatic headlights”. Apparently, many years ago I found out that I’m too stupid to turn on the headlights every evening! It happened after owning my first vehicle with the “auto” feature on the headlight switch. I sold that car and purchased my next DD which didn’t have it and was pulled over several times because I guess I can’t tell the difference when the headlight are or aren’t on!

For her it’s a heated steering wheel. She has a new Audi S3 and you would think for all that $$$ it would come as standard equipment. Nope! No damn fog lights or memory seats either!

Grantmiterko said:

In reply to Grizz :

I love cruise control.  I use it in my driveway 

Me too and my VW has no issues maintaining speed up and down hills, unless the hill is so steep that a downshift is required.

Electronic Ignition.  Electronic Fuel Injection.  Took me a while, but, yeah, I'm fully on board now.

bearmtnmartin said:

Backup cameras are the bandaid solution for poor design choices that result in fat pillars, small windows and tiny rear view mirrors. 

No, backup cameras are for giant trucks to make sure nobody’s kid walks behind you in a parking lot while you’re checking the other side, since you can’t even see an adult over the tailgate.

also for backing up to trailers

My wife wanted the power sliding doors on her Odyssey.  Great for young kids.  I've replaced one center door roller assembly and the other just failed.  May not be a power door thing though.

I got the heated steering wheel option on the Jeep and again on the Yukon.  That's pretty nice when it's frosty.

Cooled seats help prevent swamp butt.  I'm in and out of production plants all year and those seats are nice after cooking for a while. 

lotusseven7 said:

For her it’s a heated steering wheel.

Really? That's one things I've never been able to get used to those. They always remind me of sitting on a still-warm public toilet.

buzzboy said:

I absolutely love having express up and down windows. Why do so many cars, even new ones, have drivers' side express down only? My BMW is 20 years old and has express both ways on both windows..

It's funny, that's one thing I really dislike about modern cars.  I like to have the side window cracked open an inch or two when I drive, but if I get in a newer car I have to fight with the express function to get the window to stop where I want it.

Man, I'm finally getting used to power windows that sometimes work, and cruise control buttons that don't do anything. You lot are spoiled. 

Blind spot detection, backup cameras with guidelines, cooled seats.. By the time any of that gets onto vehicles in my price range, it's broken past what makes financial sense to fix. 

At least thanks to the aftermarket I can connect my phone to my car for trouble code reading, music streaming, and harassing telemarketers because they're the only people that call these days.