New Cars are awesome part 1

So we made it to Hilton Head on Saturday. I got to learn some really neat things on the nicest and newest car we have, the wife's '14 Forte Koup. First thing I ran across was that on cruise, going downhill it will downshift from 6th to 5th to hold speed automatically. Pretty cool little feature I guess. Helps the brakes long term. 

The second neat feature was something I knew honda and Acura were doing with the turnsignals. The one touch, 3 blink lane change feature. Neat little things that I just didn't expect in a $7k car for sure. The bluetooth connection to the phones for audio was really nice little touch as well, less cords. 

We averaged 35.5mpg for the 800 miles calculated by hand running 70-75mph. The car showed about 1-1.4mpg less per tank than actual. Comfy, quiet, efficient, with neat little convienence features. God I love this little car. 

Picture since all threads are worthless without them. 

yes, I love the "three blinks" per touch that the Abarth has too. It is a really nice feature that I didn't know I needed.

I don't know what engineer decided that 3 blinks are "enough", the optimal number is clearly 5.

My 2018 Elantra GT Sport has the new Hyundai infotainment (Same one as the stinger). I'm not sure why but I can adjust how many blinks I get 3-5-7, it's my choice...

The Germans have been doing that with blinkers for a couple of decades now.

Okay, I'll disagree with everyone.  I hate the three blink "feature".  I've driven a couple vehicles with that and it drives me crazy.  I can turn a blinker on and off just fine on my own.

My other turn signal pet peeve is the Mustang's sequential blink.  Hate it.

bigeyedfish said:

Okay, I'll disagree with everyone.  I hate the three blink "feature".  I've driven a couple vehicles with that and it drives me crazy.  I can turn a blinker on and off just fine on my own.

Yeah, I'm with you. All my recent new cars have had it, and I still don't like it. I drove my son's 2002 Exploder last week with the old fashioned style, and it was much better.

But anyhow, I certainly agree with the premise of this thread. Another great thing about newer cars, especially this time of year, is cooled seats.

red_stapler said:

I don't know what engineer decided that 3 blinks are "enough", the optimal number is clearly 5.

You sir are WRONG! It is clearly written in the Holy Book of Driving:

---------------

Now did the Lord say:

First thou touchith the turn signal.

Then thou must count to three.

Three shall be the number of the counting and the number of the counting shall be three.

Four shalt thou not count, neither shalt thou count two, excepting that thou then proceedeth to three.

Five is right out.

Once the number three, being the number of the counting, be reached, then turnith thou the vehicle in the direction of thine desired lane.

I'm fully on the new car bandwagon, even though I just bought a 2001 for my DD. My wife is in the brand new 2017 Sedona though. 

Cooled seats. Love them. Blind spot warning--saved my ass twice. Parking sensors. Love them. Don't really care one way or the other for the blinks, but I can see either side. But everything just works, and it is nice. EDIT: Forgot, BACK UP CAMERA. Love this thing. 

I think that in the late 80's to early 90's we reached a new plateau in vehicles--safety, reliability, creature comforts, etc. Well, sometime around 2013-2017 we reached another--things that Mercedes debuted in the late 90's were now standard on everything. The next one is either plug-in hybrids or self-driving vehicles, or some combo thereof. I think this next generation is coming faster than the last one. 

bigeyedfish said:

Okay, I'll disagree with everyone.  I hate the three blink "feature".  I've driven a couple vehicles with that and it drives me crazy.  I can turn a blinker on and off just fine on my own.

My other turn signal pet peeve is the Mustang's sequential blink.  Hate it.

Translated:

GET OFF MY LAWN!!!!!

bigeyedfish said:

My other turn signal pet peeve is the Mustang's sequential blink.  Hate it.

How could you feel this way?

My '11 fiesta had all of these features as well as my '13.   The turn signal feature was selectable.

 Don't recall if 5 was an option.

I think my '18 FiST will not down shift from 6 to 5 when on cruise.

What's considered "new"?

I agree though. Creature comforts are the best. Don't get an S-class you'll feel spoiled!

Ok, I'll admit, I have no idea what a sequential blink even is. Keep in mind that none of my vehicles are new enough to even know what blue teeth are.

When I am going to be turning, and this is typically on a two lane road with no turn lane, avg 50mph, I will manually signal one blink every 5 sec or so as I am approaching the road, then turn the blinker on for "full blink action" once I get within 50 ft of the turn (usual traffic speed is 50mph regardless of the speed limit). I have found this to be very effective at getting people off my bumper as I am approaching a turn off, vs the usual method of just turning on the blinker. Is this a sequential blink?

In reply to EastCoastMojo :

Sequential blink

Dad's '67 Cougar had them. They're not new. 

In reply to NoMini :

Ah, ok. I've seen those. I think they are pretty cool,  but did not realize that they had been around that long. 

Also, '67 Cougar, berkeley yeah. 

I first noticed that sequential blink feature on BMWs (and Minis) about 10 years ago. It made me a little sad as a long-time Bimmerphile because BMWs always had the best feeling turn stalks. Perfectly weighted with a nice thunk to them. Shame to see a small bit of tactile driving pleasure lost for no good reason. 

LanEvo said:

I first noticed that sequential blink feature on BMWs (and Minis) about 10 years ago. It made me a little sad as a long-time Bimmerphile because BMWs always had the best feeling turn stalks. Perfectly weighted with a nice thunk to them. Shame to see a small bit of tactile driving pleasure lost for no good reason. 

I think it's great, light touch = lane change, slightly stronger touch 'click' = it's on.

I can't comment on cars but I rented a brand new GMC pickup (about 8000 miles on it)  from U-Haul yesterday and it was really impressive.  Quiet, smooth, ran up to 75 with no effort at all, it was really nice.  

NoMini said:

In reply to EastCoastMojo :

Sequential blink

Dad's '67 Cougar had them. They're not new. 

Neat side fact - the reason they came back to newer Mustangs is because the late 60s Shelby Mustangs had the sequential blink - because they used the tail lights off the same year Cougar as a "custom" touch. The Cougar was generally forgotten but the Shelbys became hero cars, so the sequentials were remembered as a Shelby thing.  Aftermarket companies offered kits for late model Mustangs because SHELBY!!! and somewhere in the later S197 platform Ford started making them standard. 2007 or 2008 maybe? My '05 doesn't have them.

I drive a lot of different vehicles at work, and one feature that I just cannot get used to is the momentary contact turn signal switch on Ford trucks.  Hit the switch, it returns to center.  First reaction, "Why didn't that work?  I must not have pushed hard enough."  Click switch again.  Well, that turns it off.  I have managed to stop turning the wrong signal on when trying to turn it off after a lane change now, most times.  Counter intuitive to move the switch left to turn off the left signal.

I'm sure it wouldn't be an issue if I drove only that type of vehicle every day, but different is not necessarily better, and I think this is one of those cases. 

ultraclyde said:

NoMini said:

In reply to EastCoastMojo :

Sequential blink

Dad's '67 Cougar had them. They're not new. 

Neat side fact - the reason they came back to newer Mustangs is because the late 60s Shelby Mustangs had the sequential blink - because they used the tail lights off the same year Cougar as a "custom" touch. The Cougar was generally forgotten but the Shelbys became hero cars, so the sequentials were remembered as a Shelby thing.  Aftermarket companies offered kits for late model Mustangs because SHELBY!!! and somewhere in the later S197 platform Ford started making them standard. 2007 or 2008 maybe? My '05 doesn't have them.

A very good friend of mine claims to NOT be a contrary, but I think he only says that to be contrary.  Anyway, it took him quite a bit of time to rewire his 95 Mustang tailights to flash the wrong direction.  Instead of from the center out, they flash from the outside in.  "That's the way they should be!" he says.

He is wrong.

In California I learned the "signal and dive", basically as soon as the turn signal gets turned on you change lanes. 

LanEvo said:

I first noticed that sequential blink feature on BMWs (and Minis) about 10 years ago. It made me a little sad as a long-time Bimmerphile because BMWs always had the best feeling turn stalks. Perfectly weighted with a nice thunk to them. Shame to see a small bit of tactile driving pleasure lost for no good reason. 

The one-touch three-blink is one of the things I hate about our Mini; five would be better I guess, but fundamentally I don't like that the lever always just re-centers. Canceling becomes a matter of timing; if you cancel slightly too late you re-engage the signal, or turn on the opposite signal, depending on which direction you went to try to cancel. I prefer to just hold with fingertip for a lane change, releasing when done, and physically engage the click if I want to leave it on. Canceling then becomes intuitive.

I'm pleased to report that the newer loaner I just got when mine was in for service had returned to proper mechanical function; BMW has apparently seen the error of its ways and canned the "virtual toggle".