Top 10 Scariest New Car Features
10-10-08 | 02:49 PM
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Top 10 Scariest New Car Features
Top 10 Scariest New Car Features
By Kelsey Mays, Cars.com
We like heated seats and high-end stereos as much as the next car shopper, but some of today's automotive features provoke more fright than delight. Take GM's left-hand steering-column stalk: Until recently, this stalk housed the cruise controls in the form of a tiny, three-position switch plus a secondary button. The same stalk also managed high-beam headlights, windshield wipers and turn signals. Twist something the wrong way and the car could turn into a five-passenger R2-D2.
With things like that in mind, we chose 10 not-so-delightful features in today's cars, from chairs that perform pneumatic jujitsu on your back to owner's manuals that could qualify for a summer reading list.
10. Rain-Sensing Wipers
Rain-sensing windshield wipers have crept from high-end luxury cars to everyday models like the Toyota Avalon. They generally use infrared sensors to monitor a certain section of the windshield for moisture or dirt, then trigger the wipers to respond according to a threshold the driver sets. They usually work OK — until, invariably, they don't. When one editor's Volkswagen Jetta tester had its rain-sensing wipers suddenly spring to action one cloudless night, it was mildly frightening, to say the least.
9. Soda Can Cool Zone
Various automakers offer air-conditioned compartments to keep sodas and other sundries cool. Problem is, those cool zones get hot in the summer when the car is off; we had a couple sodas explode in a certain Dodge after a 90-degree weekend. A spokeswoman told us the car's so-called Chill Zone is not intended to be used as a refrigerator. All the same, we came away a bit steamed. And sticky.
8. Smart Transmission
The Smart ForTwo deserves its own category. The minicar's automated-manual transmission shifts gears with its own electronic clutch while the driver sees a traditional automatic setup. Drive the thing and you feel like you're on a bucking bronco. Once you're through first gear, the transmission stutters, shudders and very nearly takes a personal day before engaging second. The same thing happens on the way to third, and fourth, and fifth. Sorry, Smart, but this gearbox is anything but.
7. Power-Sliding Doors
Parents, rest assured the power-sliding doors on upscale minivans employ all sorts of electronic cutoffs to ensure they won't eat your Brownie troop. But we'll admit the prospect of power doors that can do their thing by remote 20 or 30 feet away can be a bit, um, dicey. They can also add hundreds of dollars to a car's out-the-door sticker. If you're feeling the pinch, go with manual sliders and open 'em yourself.
6. Multi-Manual Owner's Booklets
The thought of wading through an owner's manual to figure out how something works is daunting enough. Try wading through 10 of them or more; that's the number of pamphlets, manuals and quick-start guides included in some cars' libraries. With online directories only a click away, do you really need a state-by-state list of dealerships? Memo to carmakers: Just because it goes in the glove box doesn't mean it needs to be a box set.
5. Self-Parking Cars
Lexus' self-parking feature is optional on the LS sedan. Line up the superimposed square in the backup camera with your intended parking spot, gently let off the brakes and the LS will slowly steer around adjacent cars as it backs into the spot. You have to press the brakes to bring the car to a stop at the end. We didn't know Big Brother had a valet job, either.
4. iDrive
Even among the trio of similar dashboard interfaces from Audi and Mercedes, BMW's iDrive is utter knobsense. Directional inputs send you to various submenus, but in most models there are no shortcut or previous-screen buttons around the ****. In many models, street labels sit on a horizontal plane no matter the direction of the street, and if you need to scroll along the map you have to spin the **** to move east/west, then click it down and spin it again to move north/south. If you get the hang of it, you'll be ready for "Survivor" tryouts.
3. Voice Turn-by-Turn Navigation
Navigation systems have been barking out orders for years. With the exception of Land Rover's charming Brit, most of them employ a female American voice whose intonations range from casually disinterested to downright annoyed. Some systems try gamely to pronounce street names, but the result is usually anything but clear: You're cruising along, and she suddenly directs you to turn left on ... what was that? Ah, Fockner Ave.
2. Heart-Rate Monitor
You read correctly. Volvo's Personal Car Communicator monitors the cabin and pulses a light on your keyfob if your car has an unexpected visitor inside. TV ads show a woman approaching her S80 in a deserted parking garage, seeing the warning and hightailing it away. The thought of having this feature is scary in and of itself — not for fear of being carjacked, but because we wonder what sort of paranoia would drive you to want it.
1. Overly Aggressive Seats
Driver's seats run the gamut, from flat benches to the sort of hip-huggers you'd get in an F-15, and some of the more extravagant ones don't sit so well with us. The BMW 7 Series offers a massaging driver's seat, but its throbbing motions feel downright Frankensteinian compared to a real massage. In some of Mercedes-Benz's pricier models, active side bolsters automatically inflate to hold you in as you take a corner. They're convenient on highway offramps and winding roads, but 90-degree city turns can result in sudden rib pinching as the seats go hog-wild to keep up. Avoid large spicy meals beforehand — or wade through the Benz's onboard computer menus to turn the feature off.
By Kelsey Mays, Cars.com
We like heated seats and high-end stereos as much as the next car shopper, but some of today's automotive features provoke more fright than delight. Take GM's left-hand steering-column stalk: Until recently, this stalk housed the cruise controls in the form of a tiny, three-position switch plus a secondary button. The same stalk also managed high-beam headlights, windshield wipers and turn signals. Twist something the wrong way and the car could turn into a five-passenger R2-D2.
With things like that in mind, we chose 10 not-so-delightful features in today's cars, from chairs that perform pneumatic jujitsu on your back to owner's manuals that could qualify for a summer reading list.
10. Rain-Sensing Wipers
Rain-sensing windshield wipers have crept from high-end luxury cars to everyday models like the Toyota Avalon. They generally use infrared sensors to monitor a certain section of the windshield for moisture or dirt, then trigger the wipers to respond according to a threshold the driver sets. They usually work OK — until, invariably, they don't. When one editor's Volkswagen Jetta tester had its rain-sensing wipers suddenly spring to action one cloudless night, it was mildly frightening, to say the least.
9. Soda Can Cool Zone
Various automakers offer air-conditioned compartments to keep sodas and other sundries cool. Problem is, those cool zones get hot in the summer when the car is off; we had a couple sodas explode in a certain Dodge after a 90-degree weekend. A spokeswoman told us the car's so-called Chill Zone is not intended to be used as a refrigerator. All the same, we came away a bit steamed. And sticky.
8. Smart Transmission
The Smart ForTwo deserves its own category. The minicar's automated-manual transmission shifts gears with its own electronic clutch while the driver sees a traditional automatic setup. Drive the thing and you feel like you're on a bucking bronco. Once you're through first gear, the transmission stutters, shudders and very nearly takes a personal day before engaging second. The same thing happens on the way to third, and fourth, and fifth. Sorry, Smart, but this gearbox is anything but.
7. Power-Sliding Doors
Parents, rest assured the power-sliding doors on upscale minivans employ all sorts of electronic cutoffs to ensure they won't eat your Brownie troop. But we'll admit the prospect of power doors that can do their thing by remote 20 or 30 feet away can be a bit, um, dicey. They can also add hundreds of dollars to a car's out-the-door sticker. If you're feeling the pinch, go with manual sliders and open 'em yourself.
6. Multi-Manual Owner's Booklets
The thought of wading through an owner's manual to figure out how something works is daunting enough. Try wading through 10 of them or more; that's the number of pamphlets, manuals and quick-start guides included in some cars' libraries. With online directories only a click away, do you really need a state-by-state list of dealerships? Memo to carmakers: Just because it goes in the glove box doesn't mean it needs to be a box set.
5. Self-Parking Cars
Lexus' self-parking feature is optional on the LS sedan. Line up the superimposed square in the backup camera with your intended parking spot, gently let off the brakes and the LS will slowly steer around adjacent cars as it backs into the spot. You have to press the brakes to bring the car to a stop at the end. We didn't know Big Brother had a valet job, either.
4. iDrive
Even among the trio of similar dashboard interfaces from Audi and Mercedes, BMW's iDrive is utter knobsense. Directional inputs send you to various submenus, but in most models there are no shortcut or previous-screen buttons around the ****. In many models, street labels sit on a horizontal plane no matter the direction of the street, and if you need to scroll along the map you have to spin the **** to move east/west, then click it down and spin it again to move north/south. If you get the hang of it, you'll be ready for "Survivor" tryouts.
3. Voice Turn-by-Turn Navigation
Navigation systems have been barking out orders for years. With the exception of Land Rover's charming Brit, most of them employ a female American voice whose intonations range from casually disinterested to downright annoyed. Some systems try gamely to pronounce street names, but the result is usually anything but clear: You're cruising along, and she suddenly directs you to turn left on ... what was that? Ah, Fockner Ave.
2. Heart-Rate Monitor
You read correctly. Volvo's Personal Car Communicator monitors the cabin and pulses a light on your keyfob if your car has an unexpected visitor inside. TV ads show a woman approaching her S80 in a deserted parking garage, seeing the warning and hightailing it away. The thought of having this feature is scary in and of itself — not for fear of being carjacked, but because we wonder what sort of paranoia would drive you to want it.
1. Overly Aggressive Seats
Driver's seats run the gamut, from flat benches to the sort of hip-huggers you'd get in an F-15, and some of the more extravagant ones don't sit so well with us. The BMW 7 Series offers a massaging driver's seat, but its throbbing motions feel downright Frankensteinian compared to a real massage. In some of Mercedes-Benz's pricier models, active side bolsters automatically inflate to hold you in as you take a corner. They're convenient on highway offramps and winding roads, but 90-degree city turns can result in sudden rib pinching as the seats go hog-wild to keep up. Avoid large spicy meals beforehand — or wade through the Benz's onboard computer menus to turn the feature off.
10-10-08 | 03:17 PM
#2
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 6,231
Likes: 0
From: Los Angeles/Vancouver
pretty good list
but i dont agree with a couple of them all the time
3. Voice Turn-by-Turn Navigation
sure the name recognition feature can annoy but once you get used to it, it is pretty helpful from what i hear from my friend
also my 01 GS300 doesnt try to read out the names
just tells me to turn right at xxx ft or whatever
so the voice is pre-recorded and much more natural and pleasant
not the mention the DING we hear sounds like we are on an airplane (pretty cool
)
also whats wrong with 5. Self-Parking Cars?
its not like the car is sending whatever it sees to the government
or is it?
but i dont agree with a couple of them all the time
3. Voice Turn-by-Turn Navigation
sure the name recognition feature can annoy but once you get used to it, it is pretty helpful from what i hear from my friend
also my 01 GS300 doesnt try to read out the names
just tells me to turn right at xxx ft or whatever
so the voice is pre-recorded and much more natural and pleasant
not the mention the DING we hear sounds like we are on an airplane (pretty cool
)also whats wrong with 5. Self-Parking Cars?
its not like the car is sending whatever it sees to the government
or is it?
10-10-08 | 04:13 PM
#4
Hacked CL to become a Mod
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 6,713
Likes: 9
From: Vancouver >> Hong Kong
the scariest technology on new cars would be the radar automated cruise control...I think that idea makes people rely too much on the car itself. Besides not having control of the car scares the **** out of me
10-10-08 | 04:39 PM
#5
I don't agree with the navigation and power sliding doors. I would also adds FORDs Teenager speed limit cars. Also "Learning" transmissions. These never seem to work when there are multiple drivers driving the car on a regular basis.
10-10-08 | 10:51 PM
#7
I don't agree about the active seats on the 7 and the MBs being on that list. They're so comfortable and supportive. It hugs you while you're turning
With lexus, you can do all the suspension upgrades but you're still holding on to the seat.
With lexus, you can do all the suspension upgrades but you're still holding on to the seat.
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10-10-08 | 11:39 PM
#8
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 3,350
Likes: 5
From: California
Top 10 Scariest New Car Features
8. Smart Transmission
The Smart ForTwo deserves its own category. The minicar's automated-manual transmission shifts gears with its own electronic clutch while the driver sees a traditional automatic setup. Drive the thing and you feel like you're on a bucking bronco. Once you're through first gear, the transmission stutters, shudders and very nearly takes a personal day before engaging second. The same thing happens on the way to third, and fourth, and fifth. Sorry, Smart, but this gearbox is anything but.
7. Power-Sliding Doors
Parents, rest assured the power-sliding doors on upscale minivans employ all sorts of electronic cutoffs to ensure they won't eat your Brownie troop. But we'll admit the prospect of power doors that can do their thing by remote 20 or 30 feet away can be a bit, um, dicey. They can also add hundreds of dollars to a car's out-the-door sticker. If you're feeling the pinch, go with manual sliders and open 'em yourself.
8. Smart Transmission
The Smart ForTwo deserves its own category. The minicar's automated-manual transmission shifts gears with its own electronic clutch while the driver sees a traditional automatic setup. Drive the thing and you feel like you're on a bucking bronco. Once you're through first gear, the transmission stutters, shudders and very nearly takes a personal day before engaging second. The same thing happens on the way to third, and fourth, and fifth. Sorry, Smart, but this gearbox is anything but.
7. Power-Sliding Doors
Parents, rest assured the power-sliding doors on upscale minivans employ all sorts of electronic cutoffs to ensure they won't eat your Brownie troop. But we'll admit the prospect of power doors that can do their thing by remote 20 or 30 feet away can be a bit, um, dicey. They can also add hundreds of dollars to a car's out-the-door sticker. If you're feeling the pinch, go with manual sliders and open 'em yourself.
And Toyota offers a power door standard on the Sienna LE. Honda offers no less than 2 on the Odyssey EX/EX-L and Touring.
10-11-08 | 10:00 AM
#9
Lexus Champion
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 2,854
Likes: 0
From: IL
This list is bunk. This dude is like 14 years old (http://www.metacafe.com/watch/104066...t_impressions/) and I'm positive he has never owned any of these cars/technologies.
Soda cans exploding? Really? This kid buys generic Jolt soda.
Rain sensing wipers scaring you? The wife's MDX will go on for a pass every now and then - and nothing really scary about it. This kid drinks too much generic Jolt.
That power sliding door with auto reverse has a lot less chance of hurting the little one's fingers than the Mom closing the door full force on them. This kid does not have kids.
iDrive - typical journalist (a wanna be at that). If he has driven a car with it, then it was for less than a day (I'm not sure he is old enough to drive). He is technology challenged.
Overly Aggressive seats - these are SCARING HIM? See the Jolt comment. This kid is very edgy. He might be worried that someone is going to figure out his age....
Soda cans exploding? Really? This kid buys generic Jolt soda.
Rain sensing wipers scaring you? The wife's MDX will go on for a pass every now and then - and nothing really scary about it. This kid drinks too much generic Jolt.
That power sliding door with auto reverse has a lot less chance of hurting the little one's fingers than the Mom closing the door full force on them. This kid does not have kids.
iDrive - typical journalist (a wanna be at that). If he has driven a car with it, then it was for less than a day (I'm not sure he is old enough to drive). He is technology challenged.
Overly Aggressive seats - these are SCARING HIM? See the Jolt comment. This kid is very edgy. He might be worried that someone is going to figure out his age....
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