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

Patrick said:

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

Even the mini-utes nowadays have beltlines in the back that are ridiculously high.  This is by design, so that DOT headlights and rear-facing child seats are co-compatible.

I find backing up to a trailer is super easy, open the trunk and fold down the rear seat and you can see it just fine.  Can almost reach back and snap the latch from the driver's seat

stuart in mn said:

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.

Cars with two position rockers (well, four I guess) work just fine.  Subaru figured this out in the 1980s.  Sometime after that, a beancounter realised they could save money by having a simpler switch and making the express function "context sensitive".

When you need to operate a touchscreen to roll the windows up and down, that is when the torches and pitchforks will come out, I'm sure of it.

I totally understand the new features of modern cars and why people want them.  Rear view cameras, lane departure warning, auto braking, etc.  I just fear that people will become more dependent on them before they are 100% controlling.  Watched a guy a few months ago get in his car, put it in reverse, stare straight at the dashboard camera and pull straight back.  Never looked to see if there were cars coming down the parking lot.  That's an example of trusting the tech a little too much in my opinion.  Lane departure warnings are exactly that, a warning, not an absolute to be dependent on.  We want to use the conveniences because it gives less to worry about, but just fear we're trusting it a little too much a little too early.  :(

But, things like bluetooth, satellite radio when traveling, heated seats, heated steering wheels, auto down windows just make traveling so much more comfortable.  Whether in bumper to bumper traffic or on long trips.  An old car that has none of those conveniences are fun for a weekend or for that once in a while drive to the office, but for a day to day, are just a chore. 

With all of that, I still find myself wanting less and less of the "extra" stuff, but that's more from my dad always telling me that the more stuff a car has on it, the more things there are to break.  I guess, however, if you're replacing the car every few years, I guess it doesn't matter as much.

-Rob

Fuel Injection. Took me years and a Honda to figure out. Go on. Laugh nervously. 

LED Headlights. Thought it was a less-effective fad... it was. But now its amazing in the correct application (do not retrofit projectors fyi). The NDs lights are beyond amazing. And they steer like a frikkin citroen. 

Rev Matching. Noob bullish I said. But in traffic, it is nice to shift smooth every time. Suspect it will build bad habits if I had it on more than one car. 

Ecu controlled throttle butterflies... just kidding. Still hate them with a passion. Until combined polling, processing and servo reaction time are sub 5ms, it will continue to bother me. I concede the injection timing is still an issue for slower ecus, but the effect is much less pronounced. But posted here fof if/when my opinion changes.

My jury is still out on brake-based torque vectoring. Felt terrible on the fist I drove, but seems like it could be good if properly applied. But brakes activating under wot in a turn was not ok, no matter how it affected the cars balance. 

Backup cameras still seem application oriented. Hitch? Yes please. Tiny sportscar? Nah. Manufacturers just need to learn to intergrate them better ffs. A backup camera thats not ugly is not a problem to those that perfer not to use them, and vanishingly cheap to implement. Also, required now in the usa? 

In reply to Nugi :

Electronic throttle is a mixed bag.  I've driven some cars where I couldn't pick out anything bad about it and others where there was an incredible amount of lag to allow the system to smooth out driver inputs and reduce twitchy inputs to help emissions (I'm looking at you Toyota). 

In reply to rslifkin :

Without a doubt my scion is the worst, so your toyota dig carries some weight. But even the better ones are noticeable to me. Mostly looking for quick input changes when driving manuals fast down windy roads with small displacement engines and light flywheels.  That means larger than epa approved throttle fluctuations for sure. To most drivers, even performance drivers its a non-issue, but it bugs me particularly as someone who used to enjoy tuning carbs. With an automatic transmission, I would be hard pressed to notice a difference. I suspect larger displacement engines that respond more to smaller butterfly openings are less effected by servo speed. I really should start doing some actual testing to that effect. 

When we bought our 2018 Mazda CX-5 last April, it came with all sorts of tech and safety nannies, and I wasn't so sure about them. Honestly, I've come around on a lot of them. I spent a lot of time this year piloting the car in and out of the city when the wife was sick, and I was able to sample all of the tech for long periods of time. 

Blind spot monitoring: Thought I'd hate it, but I don't. It's very helpful, especially navigating on crowded highways.  It saved me a few times!

Impact warning: This one works, but if you have someone turning slow in front of you, the car starts freaking out, even if you aren't in danger. That's annoying!

Radar cruise control: It's really nice. You set a distance of how far behind the next car you want to be, and the cruise automatically adjusts itself. I dig it. 

Backup camera: It helps more than I thought it would. It also helps in crowded parking lots when people are walking around aimlessly stuck to their smartphone screens and aren't paying attention to cars backing up. 

Heated seats: I've had this in other cars, but it's nice. I want this in my next vehicle. Cooled seats are similarly... well... cool. Heated steering wheels? Only experienced it once, and it was weird. 

LED headlights with auto high beams: My eyes have gotten worse with age, and driving at night can be tough in certain vehicles. These things RULE. Auto high beams work well, but sometimes sign glare or some street lights will trigger them to shut off, which can be annoying. 

Auto wipers: Not a fan. It never seems to wipe when I want them to. Never seen a car with this that works well. 

Bluetooth infotainment: This is great. It not only keeps phone calls hands free, but I can stream music with good sound quality as well. Hard to find a new car without it now, but all my older stuff (and future older stuff) will be retrofitted. 

Traction Control: This can be a mixed bag. It's fine in most situations, but some cars are completely useless in snowy weather with it turned on. In my Mazda 3, it completely cuts power so I can't get traction in the snow, so it stays off when the white stuff is on the roads. As long as you can turn it off, I'm ok with it. I haven't gotten into a situation with the CX-5 where it's negatively impacted driving. 

C/N: I like fancy tech. It's not all bad! 

ProDarwin said:

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 hate this. I used to like being able to manually get the blend doors where I want them in the winter so that the correct temp air would come out. With auto climate, it seems to blast super hot air, then turn on the AC to cool it down, repeat.

Digital clock is pretty handy.  But I miss the unique style of each cars analog clock

I've never gotten factory Bluetooth in any car to work right. But I put a Pioneer receiver that had it in a car and it works great, and as such is now used every time I get in that car. Both for music streaming that lets me do things like skip and pause songs with buttons on the radio instead of having to unlock my phone, and for calls as well. Of course the down side is the vehicle I put it in has fairly loud exhaust and lots of wind noise, so the microphone has it's work cut out for it. 

Keys that you can leave in your pocket and doors that automatically unlock if you have the key in your pocket. 

I adjust my mirrors so that I have no blind spots.

 The rear view camera is nice when parking on the street.

The lane minder thing is somewhat redundant around here as most roads now have rumble strips in the center.

I like the automatic heat.  Set it and forget it.

The automatic headlights are OK, esp. when you turn the wipers on.   NYS has a law.

rslifkin said:

In reply to Nugi :

Electronic throttle is a mixed bag. 

It's amazing how that's true even from similar year cars from the same marque. I found an e36/8 with the M54B30 to have a terribly disconnected throttle feel while the e39, same engine, felt like drive by cable.

buzzboy said:

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.

You sit on your steering wheel? ;)

It's the whole thing, always used to say I'd never drive an auto, and not I have the whole kit in an auto.

The funny thing about reverse cameras to me is that what they actually do in effect is make me a lot more willing to get 1.432" away from something. I do like them and wish front cameras were more common as well. I havent used a car with a 360 camera feature yet but from all the Youtube videos i watch it doesn't seem like they will be all that helpful in getting 1.432" away from something, so meh. I mean, the cameras are definitely better than parking sensors where i used to ballpark that maybe 6" after the beeping turns to one solid screech, i was close enough. I also love using them to line up trailers myself although some cameras are far better for that than others. 

Old news but auto up/down windows are excellent. 

I really hate auto wipers IF they don't have a setting that's sufficiently slow for me. I dislike them if I feel like they are overactive. 

Heated seats are pretty great but now i've become spoiled because my Porsche Cayenne has 5 settings and my Lexus had 3 and when i get in this Highlander i just bought with its one puny setting i'm slightly miffed. Still, cooled seats are on a higher level than heated seats for me. Probably best luxury feature I've ever experienced. 

Overall I'm pretty thrilled that new cars have required ABS/Stability/Copious Airbags for the past decade plus. I think those are a major net benefit to society. I guess when autonomous cars have proven that they just don't get into wrecks anyway we can take all that stuff back out again, right? 

Brett_Murphy said:

ProDarwin said:

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 hate this. I used to like being able to manually get the blend doors where I want them in the winter so that the correct temp air would come out. With auto climate, it seems to blast super hot air, then turn on the AC to cool it down, repeat.

 

Hmm, I haven't driven any like that.

I will say I would prefer full manual control over the blend door, but it seems most modern cars that door is electronic so the difference in the two systems is really minor. 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

I am on my third car with traction control.   Even in upstate NY winters I have yet to see the need to turn it off.   Maybe winter tires.

I used to make fun of people who drove hybrids.

Now I'm stalking 04-09 Priuses (Prii) with leather, navigation, HIDs and keyless entry. I can't find any reason a Prius is not the perfect tool for my 70 mile per day commute. It's hard to argue with 48mpg. The Synergy drive system fascinates me and I'm kind of a nerd.

In reply to stanger_missle :

Test drive the Gen 3 (10+) Prius as a comparison point.  Supposedly the lack of power and annoying throttle / brake behavior is better in those (haven't personally driven one).  As far as I'm concerned, the Gen 2 is a good appliance for putting around a traffic filled city at 30 mph, but to drive on the highway or anywhere else, it's absolutely awful.  It's one step above dangerously underpowered at highway speed, the brakes are annoying (grab too suddenly and then a half-second later you get a violent slam of regen braking), the steering is light and twitchy, etc.  And on top of the lack of power, when you do put your foot down all the way, it takes nearly 2 seconds at times for the thing to slowly wind the engine up and get around to delivering full power. 

I'm still learning to embrace EFI.  Seriously.

Heated seats are neat.  The rest (in my old-school opinion) is just another piece of electronics waiting to fail.  It's one of the reasons I like to wait and buy used stuff.  I don't want to be that sucker who buys a new car only to find out in 4 years that the blocks like to crack (Northstar) or the injectors will fail and cost $3500 to replace if you're out of the warranty (LB7 duramax).

I fully embrace the fact that they might save lives and they are all part of the progression of vehicle advancement, but I'm happy to sit on the sidelines for a few years and let the internet let me know how they eventually held up in the real world.

Brett_Murphy said:

ProDarwin said:

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 hate this. I used to like being able to manually get the blend doors where I want them in the winter so that the correct temp air would come out. With auto climate, it seems to blast super hot air, then turn on the AC to cool it down, repeat.

Truth.  I never had one work as planned.  And it seems like every single user of the auto climate control gets in and sets it to the minimum in the summer and the maximum in the winter anyway.  Its rare that someone just leaves it at 70 degrees.  They try to outsmart it thinking that setting it to 90 degrees will somehow make it warmer faster.

Curtis said:

Brett_Murphy said:

ProDarwin said:

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 hate this. I used to like being able to manually get the blend doors where I want them in the winter so that the correct temp air would come out. With auto climate, it seems to blast super hot air, then turn on the AC to cool it down, repeat.

Truth.  I never had one work as planned.  And it seems like every single user of the auto climate control gets in and sets it to the minimum in the summer and the maximum in the winter anyway.  Its rare that someone just leaves it at 70 degrees.  They try to outsmart it thinking that setting it to 90 degrees will somehow make it warmer faster.

And on this topic.... a side note:  Why haven't automakers incorporated an electric heat helper?  I realize that a 20A heater is only 250w or so, but on a cold winter day, that 250w might let it start blowing 45-degree air right away and get some of the frost melting faster.  Seems better than waiting 10 minutes for the coolant to make it to above freezing.

In reply to Curtis :

I'm pretty sure a few vehicles (VW TDIs, not sure what else) do have electric heat grids like that.  They only operate under limited circumstances, but it's not an unheard of idea. 

They should use a heat pump design instead of just one-way cooling.  In the worst of winter, cold startup, you could pick up some heat from a valved tube that runs along the exhaust manifold or down pipe, then pump that heat into the cabin.  It would be toasty in minutes.  Additional cost to build would be very little.  A couple steel freon lines, some valves and the slightly smarter control unit.