By Robert Emslie
You’d be surprised at the age of certain automotive convenience features. Auto tune radios, cruise control, running board-mounted dwarf valet, they all go way back. Modern technology – notably the electronic revolution – has accelerated many convenience and safety feature adoptions, but there’s still an empty place that many drivers feel inside, every time they get behind their feature-laden wheels.
Your seat may be powered. It may – depending on the season – either heat or cool your crack. It could even massage your tired back while your in-dash communication system tweets the fact.Yeah, cars and trucks today are almost overburdened with features, so much so that their owners manuals have ballooned to hundreds of pages just in the description of their individual use.
But what, in your mind, is missing? What feature – either convenience, safety, or performance – is going unfulfilled by today’s selection of automobilia? Are you desperate for an in-car bidet – which I just embarrassingly learned is only for after the fact? What missing feature do you think cars today should possess?
Image source: [avism]
Jeff Glucker
I wish every single model ever produced was available in a 2 door manual. no exceptions.
The feature I miss most would be a more efficient transmission. Sure, I love to drive… but the 4 speed slushbox with 226k miles isn't doing my car any favors. Hell, because I use it for a commuter 95% of the time… I'd even take a CVT if it had one. Mainly a manual trans though. Efficiency is my number 1 priority given how many miles I drive. Low stress and easy to drive is #2. When I've not got much stress, even the crappiest car can feel fun to me. That is, as long as I don't feel like it's trying to kill me.
Ballistic Missiles.
I would settle for a lock box for a full size handgun.
Built-in refreshment center.
<img src="http://belly.net/wp-content/gallery/beer-oddities/beer_taps_car.jpg"width="500"/>
oil, coolant, transmission fluid and gear oil. One of my cars doesn't have taps, but I somehow feel like it leaves a little taste of those fluids wherever it goes.
<img src="http://www.a2zscraplets.com.au/images/big/fun.jpg">
Because, sadly, it's lacking in so many modern cars.
If the windshield wipers are turned on, turn on the headlights! What is the downside to this? How hard would it be to do? I can't imagine it would cost even $1 to the manufacturer, especially with cars that already have automatic headlights.
THIS!
Why has this not been done yet?
No thank you. Yet another link between otherwise completely separate systems for no apparent reason. It's crap like this that caused a faulty dome light switch in a friend's '99 Tahoe to cost $150 and three troubleshooting attempts by the mechanic to correct.
What do you mean no apparent reason? This man is trying to save us from the plague of idiots who cannot seem to make this logical leap:
It's raining, so I need to turn on my wipers to see.
I sure wish it were easier to see other cars.
Oh hey, I want others to see my car better, maybe I should turn on the lights.
Most places, it's the law, but I am not sure I've ever seen nor heard anyone pulled over for a violation, despite seeing it all the time.
This, from the ordinarily anti-nanny crew? Yea, let's remove one more thing from the driver's control, just because some other guy can't be bothered to use it correctly.
As my father-in-law used to say, "It's idiotic to think that you can out-think an idiot."
How about this, then?
I'd like to see the wipers = headlights feature on cars typically driven by automatons who derive no joy from motoring.
Cars the likes of us would not buy. Something beige with a 4 cylinder and a torque-converter automatic.
While the law in most states say that if you are using your wipers, your headlights must be on, there are instances that would justify not adhering to the letter of the law, while still following the intent. Just because something is on your windshield doesn’t mean that conditions necessitate, or even warrant, headlight usage, and I’d personally rather someone flout the law to avoid flashing their headlights when they need to clean a bug off of their windshield, or an adjacent car hits a puddle.
The lights wouldn't come on if you use the momentary switch or just the sprayer.
Rationally, I like the idea, allowing for those exceptions, but it wouldn’t work well for me, in particular. I tend to turn the wipers on/off rather than use the mist setting. Then, trying to accommodate that situation, the question becomes what sort of delay would you want between the wipers turning on, and the headlights coming on? Maybe no delay on, but 30 seconds delay off? That way, you’re not flashing lights, and it would ensure the lights stay on in even those rare situations when you’re driving through a misting rain with no visibility issues, but have to occasionally do a single swipe with the wipers.
I’m still not on board, but I will concede that most of my concerns could at least be addressed, whether to my satisfaction or not.
I leave the headlights on my car on 24/7 and they shut off automagically when the key comes out.
I've tried the same thing in the past, but then the car automagically won't turn on the next time I need it.
Too many times to count. 97 subaru legacy.
My '05 Town Car does this when the headlight switch is turned to the automatic setting.
Feature that is missing from all cars and trucks these days.. A real base model stripper vehicke. Yes I know you can buy a base model of any car, what I mean is a car that is not equipped with any nanny or advanced safty features… a true stripper. like a toyota taco that has no modern nannys and a base interior and a row yer own transmission would tick all the right boxes for a whole lot of folks. Also I dont mean no airbags, I mean stability,traction,yaw, blindspot, etc etc etc, anything that dumbs a car down.
So this is what you're looking for?
<img src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1070/619945714_b43b4f13ec.jpg" width=500>
I would not object to a car equipped with those nannies.
Just make sure you bring your own safety features.
Yes, yes I am. Also I'll take a set of those airbags.
By the way, be careful googling "truck with stripper pole" at work. I made sure the filter was on it's strongest settings, and it was still a little iffy.
Brave man
It's all for you guys.
I have it on good authority that if you do happen to have a vehicle equipped with a stripper pole and are cruising around a small town with a girl on the pole, be absolutely certain that she isn't the daughter of the police chief's best friend.
He asked for the stripper, not the whore.
As of the 09 MY, you could still get a vinyl interior wrangler with manual everything. ESC is government mandated now, but it comes pretty damn base and has the perfect height windows for arm restitude.
+1 Bring back the Biscayne! Full sized car with no options, and cheap. These days, to get a large car also means having to get a luxury car.
Isn't that what the latest Passat is?
The Passat has rubber floormats instead of carpet, manual windows, no A/C or radio, vinyl seats, will seat 6 comfortably and is priced around $15K? I didn't know that.
Well, no, but radios and A/C are hardly luxury options in the 21st century.
Chrysler just announced at the Chicago show the SRT8 Core- Like a $5k price drop by deleting the crap that isn't a V8.
Hell Yea.
Everything in this video:
[youtube wUG1GexVz2k http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUG1GexVz2k youtube]
You beat me to the oil slick and smoke screen. However, I had the 8-bit version in mind.
<img src="http://www.skunkworx.org/goa/games/s/spy-hunter/nes/screenshots/oil-slick.png" width="400">
<img src="http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/dangerroom/images/2008/01/27/spy_hunter_smoke_screen.jpg" width="400">
Easily selectable options, a la cart, without having to get packages, and the ability to get all the rebates on a new vehicle without having to "take delivery from dealer stock". There are a few things I would have liked differently on both my truck and the wife's Trailblazer.
I'm lookin at you Fiesta ST HID headlights!
Dear Christ, there's nothing I hate worse than, when perusing a new car's options on the internets using the Build Your Car feature, with this popping up when I request the engine upgrade:
"This selection requires the following:
– WXYZ package, $15,200: includes thermonuclear testes warmer (guarantees female children!), reciprocating seatbelt cleanser, fold-away bumper-mounted toilet seat w/paper roll holder.
– carpeted floor mats, $65"
How about an electric heating element in the dash vents to allow defrosting before the engine is warm. Or, a transparent heating element within the laminate to allow the windshield to heat directly (although that might make windshield replacement a costlier affair)
The Delica has this, albeit confined to the bottom 6" of the windshield. Keeps ice from building up on the bottom.
I've seen on some Subarus (and presumably other cars, too) that have heating elements where the wiper blades rest, so you can keep them from frosting up. Not quite the same, but still a cool feature.
My dad's Subaru has this feature. The only problem is that it caused the windshield to crack on a very cold night, due to heat stress.
Didn't Ford do this in the 90s? I seem to remember Crown Vics & Town Cars with copper colored windshields due to the heating element laminated in the glass.
What happened to those?
There have been lots of times where I wish my car had an electronic signboard it so I could show another driver what I feel about their driving. Just have a few presets for the most common aggravations:
"THE LEFT LANE IS FOR PASSING ONLY, NUMBSKULL!"
"HOW GOOD IS YOUR INSURANCE, BECAUSE I'M ABOUT TO BRAKE CHECK YOUR TAILGATING ASS!"
etc.
I have a friend who has said he wishes you could call up other cars based on their license plate- some sort of car to car communication system, or just dialing their license plate into your phone and their phone rings. His whole reason behind this is so he can cuss out the moron hanging out in the left lane.
That would work too.
As a person who works in internet/phone based retail, it's my life's goal to develop slap-through-phone technology to smack some sense into some of the people I talk to. My idea would work well along with your friend's.
Considering the other things that can be done through a phone- didn't Japan come up with some hugging thing with a special sweatshirt or something like that?- I'm sure a slap-through-phone feature wouldn't be too difficult.
If they have a hugging feature, surely a strangling feature can't be a very difficult modification…
Definitely. If not that, at least a rear horn. Tell me you haven't wanted to honk at someone behind you.
Dodge has the same.. My brother has a 11 3500 diesel crew cab. With vinyl mat vinyl seats power windows and locks a/c and a six gear manual. He bought it new and had to special order it (as he says) because the local dealers didnt have one with both vinyl seats and floor mats. Has abs but I dont believe it to have traction control. I believe the gubment should let us pick if we want our vehicles with all the things that make driving a "no brainer" as your brain should be fully engauged in driving and not relying on the gizmoes.
I always said I wanted a strippo special W/T. Ended up getting one (2004 2500HD), and it even has a manual transmission and a V8. I guess it's the stripper version of a 3/4 tonner.
But yeah, rubber floor, crank windows (which no one can even believe), manual locks…the only options that it does have are A/C, cruise control, and a 4:10 rear gear. I could live without everything but the A/C. Oh, and I replaced the factory AM/FM (no tape deck, no CD player) with an old CD head unit I had laying around.
I think you're right about the traction control being mandatory.
As I have mentioned before, when I bought my 2011 Silverado WT the only options were the CD player (it has the 3.5mm input jack for a MP3 player) and a limited slip diff. Also, I got it in black because I wanted it to match the cheap black plastic grill. I didn't special order, but did get it brought in from a dealership about 15 miles up the road. I was in the market for a Daddy-mobile and after a really bad experience with a used BMW wanted something with a warranty (especially the wife). We are eligible for a GM family discount (wife's grandpa is a GM retiree), I am generally opposed to FWD and Asian cars, so Chevrolet it was. The only thing in my price range that I liked was the Silverado extended cab.
Fog lights that shut off above 20 mph. They're not helping the driver and they're blinding everyone else.
I have a car again with fog lights and I like to have them on more often than I should. It's peculiar, with the way the roads get all cracked-up and pot holed here and the slush now, I think the shadows are more prominent which lets me more easily see what's on the road, plus there is that more light down low to the sides. It might be one of those makes me more comfortable things than anything else (like how my wife likes to see the side of her car in the driver's side mirror) but I like it that way. Do the fog lights really dazzle other drivers? They do not affect me that way when they are down in the lower corners.
I think he's talking about the (very bright) rear fog light.
Automatically adjusting fogs? I feel like I'm blinded by every car on the road anyway due to the ride height of most cars. Headlights are aimed at my eyeballs and I have to use the white line on the right to see where I'm going!
Those are all excellent suggestions. What I'd also like to see is a set of electrodes that self attatch to a drivers testicles if he neglects to indicate a lane change.
Also, A.I in voice control telematics systems so you can ask it to tell you a joke.
From my experience, greater than 50% of the no-signalling crowd lack testicles.
A removable full windshield and top that swaps out for a low racing windscreen.
<img src="http://www.tanshanomi.com/temp/pugette-windshields.png">
And interchangeable hoods and trunklids are great too!
PS: The Peugette should be a hoot to drive.
Why stop at just the hood and trunk lids? How about having interchangeable front and rear doors and fenders, too?
<img src="http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/1960s-amc-concept-cars-8.jpg">
I don't know if you have already seen this, if not it's an interesting read. The picture size is 2048×1600!
<img src="http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4072/4440972708_69658556ee_o.jpg" width="670/">
http://hooniverse.info/2011/01/05/pininfarina-peug…
A small vacuum under the center console that can collect all of the crap that falls in that space where your hand can't actually reach in.
I kind of like this idea, but it doesn’t even need to be a vacuum. Just add a slide out tray spanning the gap. Drop something between the seat and console? Slide out the tray!
A coffee brewing and dispensing machine with reservoir from which I can sip like a greedy hamster.
<img src="http://amandawaltz.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/garth.jpg">
This is less a feature, more of a packaging thing — the ability to order the upgraded engine with a manual transmission, and in the base model without all of the frills you neither want, nor want to pay for.
For those big enough to admit they can't drive worth a Farthing, an optional Roof-top Stig.
<img src="http://stuffpoint.com/top-gear/image/33850-top-gear-stig-lying-on-the-car.jpg">
<img src="http://rr.img.naver.jp/mig?src=http%3A%2F%2Fimgcc.search.naver.jp%2Fjthumb.lookup%3Ftype%3Detc4%26url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fupload.wikimedia.org%252Fwikipedia%252Fen%252F2%252F24%252FLeningrad_Cowboys_Go_America.jpg&twidth=300&theight=600&qlt=80&res_format=jpg&op=r">
Awesome movie.
Accidental downvote. Awesome movie. Here's what some of the dudes from the film were doing in -82. Most f the songs are obviously in Finnish, but this one's in English and involves a Peugeot 404.
[youtube gIgG5yl9pGc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIgG5yl9pGc youtube]
I want an LED sign on the lower portion of my rear window and buttons on my dash that activate it, so I can say, "Thanks," "Sorry," and "Please."
Politeness and humility would probably reduce a lot of road rage. And i figure if we're all happier on the road, etiquette at lane merges and such will flow smoother, thus reducing traffic.
Adjustable spring rates (on non-leaf-sprung cars). It would make daily-driving an autox car so much nicer.
I want taillights to come on automatically along with the DRLs. Here in Canada where daytime running lights have been required for about 20 years, there are an awful lot of people who assume because they can see (dimly) ahead of them, I can see their dark grey car ahead of me, in the rain, at dusk.
<img src="http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z313/ndrwhrnr/2012-09-13164301.jpg" width="600">
One more thing… said taillights should be the full width of the car.
Does the center part light-up? Anyway, DRLs in Volvos from the '90s worked like that. It annoyed me, but there was a screw you could turn to disable that. Maybe that was the right approach.
No. Rear fog lights were placed there in markets requiring them. And before the 1990 facelift, the reverse lights were awkwardly stuck in there too.
I like having cooler air on my face and warm air at my feet in winter. So just some way to do that again would be nice. In older cars there were the windolets, in my S90 it just does that all by itself really well (even documented, so it's not like something else is broken), and 850-ish Volvos had a little air mix dial for the center vents. I have not been able to find a new car that does this right in a long time now. Maybe the new Phaethon?
Decent looking steel wheels with beaty rings and center caps. Full wheel covers are terrible and fly off, and they don't fool anyone
And Convertible.
Be careful what you wish for…
<img src="http://gomotors.net/pics/Nissan/nissan-micra-cc-04.jpg" img> <a href="http://gomotors.net/pics/Nissan/nissan-micra-cc-04.jpg” target=”_blank”>http://gomotors.net/pics/Nissan/nissan-micra-cc-04.jpg
Still more fun than the coupe. Just need a hat and sunglasses. Preferably with a false nose.
How about THIS convertible?
<img src="http://www.ridelust.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/2012NissanMurano.jpg" width="500">
Still better than if it was a coupe. Just like being shot in the head is better than drowning.
A docking station for a phone or, tablet for SatNav or portable Sirius radio. I don't like paying extra for the dashboard hardware when I've already got it waiting to plug right in.
The ability to properly dial in every angle of the seat, wheel and pedals.
At 5'11", 150lbs I flop all over the place in all but the smallest Japanese sports cars. Meanwhile, the wheel-to-shoulder and pedal-to-butt distances are never right.
Bonus points if this is achieved by a preposterous number of manual knobs, levers and dials like some early industrial age steam contraption.
Actually…I'd like a radio equivalent of a DVR. I miss a lot of radio shows and interviews…it would be cool to schedule recordings and play them when I'm in the car.
GM has such a thing, at least in Cadillacs, but I believe in other vehicles as well. It's a pretty cool little feature.
You mean like a tape recorder?
/runs'nhides
An in car monitor that tells me when it's time to do various routine maintenance tasks (oil, plugs, various fluids, belts). I'm bad at keeping track of this. And so was the last owner, so I wouldn't know where to start from. Of course it probably needs everything by now…
I think maybe real new cars (as opposed to the 11 year old car which seems new to me) have this? I know my friend's Patriot tells him when he needs an oil change, and I think it needs to go to the dealer to tell the car it's been done. This is a stupid way to implement it.
Besides being easier, the car can keep track of the way it's being used, and determine the necessity of maintenance better than the uniform by-mileage program.
Yeah, they're kinda sorta there now, but I haven't yet seen one really done right.
The only car that I have/have ever had with the oil change reminder is my GTO. Honestly, I find that I’m changing the oil about twice as often as the car thinks it needs. It seems to always be shortly after every other oil change that the “service engine oil” notification comes on. It’s clearly not monitoring the oil quality, but rather a (probably) simple algorithm using mileage, hours, and average rpm to decide on likely oil degradation. It turns out, with my driving habits, the car thinks that the oil needs to be changed every 8-10k miles. I change it every 5k. Fortunately, the notification reset is a simple DIY (no
special toolstools at all needed)BMW/MINI feature 'Condition Based Service', adjusting the interval dependant on driving conditions such as temperature, highway vs stop & go driving, 'spirited' driving vs passive driving, etc. The countdown to the next service appears in the odometer for a few seconds when you start the car, or by accessing the on-board computer. I'm pretty sure it's that way for Audi and Mercedes also.
Sideways steering.
<img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jL684u6yL0E/TA-_sRbuLjI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/3rmIE1Q3xtg/s1600/buff_the_roadbuster.jpg" width="500">
From the looks of that picture, it was an option on the Porsche 928 then?
Upon further scrutiny, I believe it was was an option on the Porsche 928 and Ferrari F40's love child. Bean Bandit approves.
Windows. Full size windows. Why can't we have them anymore?
Perfection in design is achieved not where there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
Imagine how much the accident rates in this country would drop with these as standard equipment!
<img src="http://www.carbibles.com/images/steering_spike.jpg" />
I would love for cars that would not allow an unsignaled turn (to prevent the situation where you get caught behind someone because they didn't signal a turn until you'd already stopped), but I recognize that's a little impractical and unsafe.
a coin holder that doesn't break! i hate having loose change in the car but ever car with a coin holder/dispenser i've seen has had some flimsy thing that ends up being a broken trim piece and a spring.
also, ITT people bitching about automatic transmissions and cars with too many features again…come on guys, i don't disagree but can every hooniverse comment thread not be about that