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

I'm firmly in the "leave the keys in my pocket" camp. Give me mechanical tumblers or give me electronic key detection, but don't make me carry around a bulky sensor key that I have to shove in a key hole. 

Cooled seats are great, heated seats are becoming necessary for old me on long trips. 

Adaptive cruise is great on an auto car when it incorporates braking. Takes a bit to trust it. 

I like backup cameras enough that I've added them to cars. I want to put one on my truck. I got an Escalade loaner once that had the 360 camera. I'd pay for that if it was available on a car I wanted to buy. Watching the dog run circles around the truck when I couldn't see her through the windows let me know how much I can't see. 

ProDarwin said:

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. 

My 2004 Subaru and my wife's 2011 Mazda will alternate super hot heat and air conditioning in the winter if you leave it set to auto temp.

The 4Runner isn't that bad. The 4Runner will shut off the heat when it thinks it has reached the desired temperature, then turn it back on if it drops below a threshold.

Automatic headlights. And heated seats. 

mazdeuce - Seth said:

I'm firmly in the "leave the keys in my pocket" camp. Give me mechanical tumblers or give me electronic key detection, but don't make me carry around a bulky sensor key that I have to shove in a key hole.

Picture it:  Cleveland, 2018, about 32.0001 degrees and raining.  No jacket because it got dirty.  Had to pull a Z4 into the building overnight.

Dammit, won't start.

Push in the clutch... nothing.  Yes the trans is in Neutral.  Push the clutch so hard that my foot's in the radiator... nothing.  Dammit WTF.  Lock and unlock doors with the key fob, waggle shifter, clutch into the front bumper.... Nothing.

Five minutes later.... OH!  BMW.  You have to put the key fob into its little dash receptacle for the keyless ignition to work.

(You mean you have to use your HANDS?  That's like a baby's toy!)

Later, after I did the required work to it (295/30R20 runflats are fun to mount...) I had to drive it around for a bit.  "You think you hate it now, but wait until you drive it!"  BMW somehow managed to completely berk up drivability with a manual trans, unless you are a fan of extreme driveline lash and throttle lag.  "Ultimate Parking Machine" indeed.

T.J. said:

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

This is very convenient.  Especially for car thieves who carry RF repeaters so they can get into your car as you walk away from it, and start it while the repeater still has a hold on the signal from your fob, and drive away with your car without any effort at all.

Hmm.  Okay, maybe BMW has a point.

Curtis said:

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.

They do.  I have personally worked on Mercedes that had them, and I attended a tech seminar that suggested that Mopar was using them in some of their cute-utes.  Just a little grid across the heater core, for more heat before the engine warms up.

Really, though, with good heated seats, I rarely even use the HVAC heater. Pop the sunroof a bit in the morning so fresh-from-the-shower personal humidity doesn't make the windows fog.up.

Crap.  Okay, I like having a power sunroof for this reason.

I've only had one car in the family with heated seats and I don't recall ever using them by choice.

My opinion would likely be different if I lived where it was colder and I parked my car outside.

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.

I like to run it at 85 for the first 15 mins if my drive in the morning. But then I back it off to 70 or so for the rest of the day, adjusting up and down a degree or two for comfort. 

mazdeuce - Seth said:

I'm firmly in the "leave the keys in my pocket" camp. Give me mechanical tumblers or give me electronic key detection, but don't make me carry around a bulky sensor key that I have to shove in a key hole...

I like backup cameras enough that I've added them to cars...

Ditto. I’ve had my eye on an aftermarket Bluetooth backup cam for my jag. And after four years of keyless entry, when I walk up to unlock car without it I pull the handle and am puzzled why it doesn’t just open. 

joey48442 said:

I like to run it at 85 for the first 15 mins if my drive in the morning. But then I back it off to 70 or so for the rest of the day, adjusting up and down a degree or two for comfort. 

 NO!!!!!!

That the way my wife would set it.  It warms up at the exact same rate whether you have it set to 70F or 85F.  Her car was always set to either 60 or 85 when I got in it.  In my own car with that feature I just left it at 70 +/- 2

ProDarwin said:

I've only had one car in the family with heated seats and I don't recall ever using them by choice.

My opinion would likely be different if I lived where it was colder and I parked my car outside.

You're missing out! In the colder months, I'll run with the sunroof open, heated seat/steering wheel on, and HVAC set to 80°/floor vents. It's so nice.

Nothing that was added in the last 20 years. The G35 has heated seats. I don't use them. It has Bluetooth connectivity, but I seldom listen to the radio or talk on the phone while driving. The traction control is the first switch I push after starting the engine with a key. Sometimes I forget it has cruise control. Most of the other nannies it doesn't seem to have and I'm fine with that. 

Put me in the camp of no thanks. I was actually looking at a new F150 to replace my Colorado. Looking at all the crap they come with, I've decided to stick with what I have. Just the auto start and stop alone would drive me batty. I'll pass. 

I struggle to come up with a nanny I haven't adopted. No, not all of them are necessary, but I like them. 

Lane departure is annoying IF you can't turn the chime off. That is about it for a DD. Oh, keyless start. That is annoying ONLY because the damn fobs are so big. I would much prefer to have a small fob (how small can they get? I'd assume pretty damn tiny) with a metal key for my keychain for emergencies. The fobs take up too much space in my pockets.

ProDarwin said:

joey48442 said:

I like to run it at 85 for the first 15 mins if my drive in the morning. But then I back it off to 70 or so for the rest of the day, adjusting up and down a degree or two for comfort. 

 NO!!!!!!

That the way my wife would set it.  It warms up at the exact same rate whether you have it set to 70F or 85F.  Her car was always set to either 60 or 85 when I got in it.  In my own car with that feature I just left it at 70 +/- 2

In my wife's car 73 will melt your face off. 72 will freeze your soul. It's ridiculous.

Both our cars have auto headlights. Love it.

Hers has auto power windows, all of them, mine only has auto driver window and I am jealous.

Adjustable lumbar support. She has, I do not.

I dimly recall being 16 and swearing I'd never have anything with fuel injection because "they can shut you down from a satellite, man." Different story now.

ProDarwin said:

joey48442 said:

I like to run it at 85 for the first 15 mins if my drive in the morning. But then I back it off to 70 or so for the rest of the day, adjusting up and down a degree or two for comfort. 

 NO!!!!!!

That the way my wife would set it.  It warms up at the exact same rate whether you have it set to 70F or 85F.  Her car was always set to either 60 or 85 when I got in it.  In my own car with that feature I just left it at 70 +/- 2

When it's cold out, I like it warmer in my car than 72. When it's hot out, 72 is fine. It has to do with how your body feels the heat compared to how a temperature sensor does. A temp sensor only picks up the air temperature and can't sense the radiant heat loss from all that cold glass around you. With a sickly weak stream of lukewarm air blowing out of the floor vents (what the car will do once the cabin is "warmed up"), 72 feels cold when it's 20 degrees out.

Oh, I just noticed - Winston-Salem NC. Not a lot of 20 degree days in your life.

In reply to dculberson :

Some of the nicer auto climate systems take outside temp into account and some also have a light sensor near the windshield so they can adjust based on how much sun the car is getting.  Both of my cars with auto climate have both.  The Jeep system is decent, but I do typically end up with it set to 68 - 70 in the summer and 74 - 75 in the winter, sometimes a little higher in cold weather on a long trip.  The BMW system seems a bit better about just getting the temp right.  I don't think I've changed it from 72 since I got the car.  

My 1991 Z had a sensor to detect sun load.  It helped, but I honestly don't know that it performed any better than other climate systems that don't have it.

Anyway, I understand that 74 is more comfortable when its 20 outside and 70 may be more comfortable when its 80 outside.  That makes sense, unless you like to dress warmer when its cold out and vice versa.  I generally have the temp lower in winter and warmer in summer because I'm dressed in a jacket/pants or shorts & t shirt.

Setting it to 60 or 85 makes no sense to me.

Push button start

Door handle unlock? Not sure what it's called, but I just touch the door handle and it unlocks, then get in and push the start button and never have to touch my keys.

Heated seats. I like to have the windows and/or sunroof cracked when it's cool, but run the seat heaters at full tilt. 

BRZ had these (no sunroof), and the 135i has them.

I also much greatly prefer the Harmon Kardon stereo in the 135i do anything else I've ever owned with a factory stereo.

I'm the resident troglodyte and generally dislike any of the electronic "nannies" that modern cars are infested with.   However, technology ain't all bad.  As long as it helps, without distracting, or annoying the driver, I'm ok with it.  

   I do enjoy these trappings of the modern world:

*Back up cameras on larger vehicles--(SUVs, sedans and Minivans)  having one on a Miata is just silly......but regulations.....

* Heated seats / cooled seats

* Bluetooth connectivity

* auto up and down windows

* ABS and traction control

The other "features" mostly annoy me.  (adaptive cruise, shift-match tech, lane centering, etc, etc, etc)  

I recently had the opportunity to mess with a new $89,000 Mercedes E450 4Matic, and immediately, this thread came to mind.

Here's three things I can talk about that this thing did:

The seats: They are heated and air conditioned, front and rear. Not only that, but the front seats were RIDICULOUS. They had adjustable, active side bolsters that have multiple settings. If you crank up those settings, it will inflate the bolster that you lean to when you take a hard corner, keeping you right where you want to be.


Not only that, but these things will also massage you in a multitude of ways. The high intensity heated back massage I got while we whipped around corners and the bolsters were doing all sorts of grabbing was a VERY strange sensation for sure. Did I like it? HELL YES I DID. Other than those two things, the standard seat controls moved the seats in all sorts of ways. Even the headrests were powered! All of it was so unnecessarily ridiculous and I want them in every car. 

Self-Driving Mode: This car had an option that would self-drive the car for around 30 seconds before it yelled at you to take the wheel again. It does take small turns as well. We tested it at highway speeds, and we didn't die, so I chalk that up as a success. That said, I've used Tesla's Autopilot before in a Model S P90D, and it does it better and for longer periods of time. It's kinda cool if you need to take your eyes off the road for a second, but I still don't trust it to do the bulk of the driving.

Active Scent Dispenser: Another over-the-top option this had that has apparently trickled down from the S-Class is a jar of perfume that lives in the glovebox that somehow secretes atomized scents through the HVAC system at certain intervals. You think I'm kidding? It's real:


This one made the car smell like when you walk by the perfume counter at Macy's around the holidays when everyone's spraying all the samples to figure out which one they should bring home to the wife/girlfriend/mistress/etc. It definitely smells better than bunkus farts, but these jars cost $125/ea ($88 on Amazon!) so I'd rather just stick with a $2.99 pack of Little Trees or a "manual mist" bottle of Febreeze. 



 

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. 

Eh, I've put 50k on my gen 2 prius (its at 276kish) and I don't really agree with any of that. The only brake weirdness i've ever experienced is that the rear drums get grabby when it's wet out. Mine tops out at 105. Lots of 400hp pickup trucks can't go that fast (stock) which is pretty damn funny when you pass them.  It is a slow car by modern standards, or a fast car by old standards. It's a lot faster than my 87 Montero which is one of my favorite vehicles to drive. 

At one point I did want a faster hybrid and ended up with a GS450h. 0-60 in 5.2 ish, 165mph top speed iirc. My '99  Porsche 911 would inch away from it on the highway. Ended up giving that one up in a breakup. Now I have an 06 Porsche Cayenne S which is vastly slower but still a pleastantly quick vehicle that gets half the mpg. Ironically, I also just picked up an 06 Toyota Highlander Hybrid 4wd. It gets poor mpg by modern hybrid standards, but wouldn't you know it, it's almost 10mpg better than a Porsche Cayenne from the same year, and very nearly as fast. 0-60 in ~6.6. So if you want a faster hybrid, buy one. But, having done that twice (so far), i personally still enjoy my Gen 2 Prius. 

Joe Gearin said:

 

*Back up cameras on larger vehicles--(SUVs, sedans and Minivans)  having one on a Miata is just silly......but regulations.....

Let me introduce you to my good friend the Miata RF. 

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.

 

Not always true. My 2017 Grand Caravan will shift up and down to maintain speed and not kick out of cruise control.

For me, the tech I never thought I'd love so much: remote start.  My 2017 GC has it and I use it a lot.  Pretty much every day.

Cruise control and A/C are not even considered options to me anymore. Hell... I want both in my classic cars. 

Ian F said:

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.

 

Not always true. My 2017 Grand Caravan will shift up and down to maintain speed and not kick out of cruise control.

They made Grand Caravans in 2017 with manual transmissions.... interesting