useless gizmos and annoyances in modern cars

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ilovemusic

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Topic # 147294 15-Jun-2014 12:50

rant thread !

what annoys you about modern cars ?

let's start with...

multiple drive modes - hate 'em; if i want a sports car i'll buy one and not expect my humbolt extreme suv to have sports, sports sharp or other dopey choices.
a recent drive in a new alfa romeo showed just how inept such features are - it had a 'dna' switch - dumb, numb, awful

likewise new cars that allow you a zillion choices in setup, usually none of them right.
don't car designers have strength of conviction on their design choices any more ?

sports suspension - why does a car like a porsche 911 (supposedly a sports car) need the option of sports suspension ? shouldn't it already be sporty ?

electric parking brakes - arghhhhhhh
plus no more handbrake slides :(

non-defeatable traction control/esp/nanny systems.

awful steering wheel designs - rims that are too fat (mr bmw) or too smaller a diameter so that the instruments are obstructed (mr peugeot).
steering wheels festooned with buttons - vw, audi, ferrari

keyless start - what's so hard about inserting a key and turning it ?

please add more !

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Reply # 1065961 15-Jun-2014 13:06

Love the keyless start/door unlock. Saves taking a key out of your pocket. Keys are not really keys anymore, well not the old fashioned style anyway.

What I liked about a friends car is being able to start the car from the kitchen and let it warm up and ready for him to give it the boot when he got in.

One feature I also like is once you've setup your seat/steering wheel as you like it, it will remember it and you can switch back to it if someone else uses the car.

Drive modes are great, especially if you just want to go down to the shops and not get shaken to death on the speed bumps/pot holes. Save that for the track or motorway.

Blind spots is the worse thing about newer cars, especially the a-pillar which are getting fatter and fatter because of multiple air bags etc. So when you come up to a round-a-bout you can't see cars coming to your right.

Oh and seat belt sensors in the seats, especially the rear seat.... beep beep..... don't go putting a very heavy box on the rear seat.. damn Hyundais :-)

But at the end of the day I can only just afford a 10+ year old car so don't have any of these gadgets, so I miss out. I just get to try them out on the company cars :-/ Miss my switchblade key from VW :-/

alasta

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Reply # 1065967 15-Jun-2014 13:14

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I actually really like modern cars and don't find any major annoyances with mine, but when I was hanging around a Ford dealership a few weeks ago I was surprised to see that some models have a small rocker switch on the side of the transmission lever for manual gear changes. This seems like a very awkward design compared with most other modern vehicles which have either a separate gate which allows the lever to be thrown up or down, or steering column paddles.

It does also bug me a bit that Asian and European cars have the indicator stalk on opposite sides.

Wade

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Reply # 1065990 15-Jun-2014 13:51

The flappy paddles in my honda work well, in drive mode i can override the auto program and drop it down or up a gear without going into sport mode which is a nice touch

Ever improving automotive technology is great though, I drive a 275hp V6 that can return 10L/100km fuel consumption, has a 5 star safety rating and provides sufficient levels of comfort and performance, at the end of the day it's nothing special, just a run of the mill Japanese family sedan

CYaBro

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Reply # 1065995 15-Jun-2014 14:13

I love the push button start and keyless entry on my new Suzuki Swift, it was one of the reasons I chose this car over the others I was looking at.
Key fob stays in my pocket all the time now.

The only annoying thing in this car is the loud seatbelt warning chime that doesn't stop even if the car stops moving.
We have a fairly long driveway with a farm gate at the road that you need to open and close so I don't put my belt on on the driveway and this sound is rather annoying!

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MikeB4

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Reply # 1065996 15-Jun-2014 14:14

Keyless entry and start etc is brilliant for a disabled driver.

Traction, Stability control etc should be compulsory on all vehicles and only able to be over ridden on SUV vehicles

Smaller steering wheels are great also the thinker grip makes it way more comfortable and controls on the wheel are safe as there is less need to remove hands from the wheel

Adjustable suspension works great if you drive on different road condition something we encounter a lot in NZ

Mike
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ilovemusic

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Reply # 1066001 15-Jun-2014 14:25

thanks for some reminders;

flappy paddles are generally hopeless when used manually - too slow to respond and most of the time over-ridden by the grand nanny master brain.
after the initial novelty value has worn off you're better off just leaving the gearbox in 'auto', especially with the awful cvt 'boxes.

blind spots everywhere !
modern crash standards mean thick chunky pillars.
stupidly placed and huge side mirrors cut off valuable side vision.

this thread is getting derailed by all you modern car lovers !

more gripes needed !!!

just thought of some more...

modern cars are generally over-tyred - too big 'n wide.
low profile, painted on tyres bad for ride quality and also bad for handling - car makers become obsessed with sheer grip to the omission of agility, driver feedback.
while cars with steamrollers generally have high limits, they tend not to reach those limits in a progressive manner.
Eg. compare a modern fast Audi (the epitomy of driver unfriendliness) with a genuine good handler like a mazda mx5 or toyota gt86.

cars are getting too fat !

afe66

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Reply # 1066003 15-Jun-2014 14:28

Trying to sell inbuilt navigation systems as a feature deserving paying more for...

Give me Google maps in the phone..

A.

ilovemusic

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Reply # 1066004 15-Jun-2014 14:29

alasta: I actually really like modern cars and don't find any major annoyances with mine, but when I was hanging around a Ford dealership a few weeks ago I was surprised to see that some models have a small rocker switch on the side of the transmission lever for manual gear changes. This seems like a very awkward design compared with most other modern vehicles which have either a separate gate which allows the lever to be thrown up or down, or steering column paddles.

It does also bug me a bit that Asian and European cars have the indicator stalk on opposite sides.

the side switch is typical ford penny pinching on their dual-clutch transmissions.
cheaper to use that type of switch than steering wheel paddles.

which brings me to some more gripes...

auto tranny cars that offer manual shifting but with a backwards gate action, i.e. push forward to go up a gear instead of the correct pull back action.

and bmw's with non-manual gearboxes that don't give you a full width brake pedal !

grrrrrrrrrr

MikeB4

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Reply # 1066006 15-Jun-2014 14:31

My wife's car has paddle shifts and it's great, I have not seen any lag. If driven properly a CVT box is fine and it saves fuel. Couple CVT with electronic handbrake, hill start assist and its fantastic.

Mike
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The views stated in my posts are my personal views and not that of any other organisation.

It's our only home, lets clean it up then...

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MikeB4

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Reply # 1066008 15-Jun-2014 14:36

one pain with modern cars is the UV filtering glass, whilst it is a great health feature it does mean my glasses don't darken when in the car so getting out into bright sunshine can be a pain.

Mike
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The views stated in my posts are my personal views and not that of any other organisation.

It's our only home, lets clean it up then...

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raytaylor

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Reply # 1066011 15-Jun-2014 14:38

I have a brand new Korando SUV and I love it
Except for two things

1) The seatbelt alarm overrides the reversing alarm
This means that you cannot tell how close you are to a wall when reversing without the seatbelt on.
Solution: Unplug the drivers seatbelt wire

2) The tiptronic control on the gear shift doesnt do what you tell it to
The instruction manual (which is in very good english) tells you that you can slow down when coming to a stop sign by using the engine breaking. However when you switch it into tip mode, and then use the buttons on the stick to switch down a gear, it will switch up instead to maintain the current speed.
Solution: use the buttons on the steering wheel instead - they do what they are told.

It was very easy to get sign written though

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raytaylor

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Reply # 1066019 15-Jun-2014 14:46

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afe66: Trying to sell inbuilt navigation systems as a feature deserving paying more for...

Give me Google maps in the phone..

A.

3 months ago I went and looked for a brand new car.
I tested the Mazda cx-5, Kia Sportage and SY Korando and didnt bother with the nissan quashai because no diesel.

The scores were based on a points spread of features I made, not what the manufacturer gave.

The only way that the mazda and kia were able to gain a lead was they had inbuilt navigation.

So i got the korando for $10k less and a tomtom from DSE

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Lurch

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Reply # 1066062 15-Jun-2014 16:27

I have a tiptronic box but don't use it often, although if you want to force it into a gear it's handy to have. Also have auto dip on the mirrors when you place it into reverse which saves fiddling around, and the heated mirrors help on a winter morning :-)

blakamin

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Reply # 1066064 15-Jun-2014 16:34

Lurch: Also have auto dip on the mirrors when you place it into reverse which saves fiddling around, and the heated mirrors help on a winter morning :-)

Mine has those... and heated door locks, heated windscreen washer nozzles, heated seats, electric heater to demist the windscreen...

Mind you, my car is 21 years old and euro spec'd

A rental Camry I had last year had paddle shift and that was a complete waste of time.

raytaylor

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Reply # 1066065 15-Jun-2014 16:39

Lurch: I have a tiptronic box but don't use it often, although if you want to force it into a gear it's handy to have. Also have auto dip on the mirrors when you place it into reverse which saves fiddling around, and the heated mirrors help on a winter morning :-)

Thats pretty cool
My wing mirrors just retract in when it locks - so you can tell if its locked or not just by looking at it.

Ray Taylor
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