mmarshall

I don't know how tall you are, Jill, but, depending on where one has the drivers' seat adjusted, left-foot-pedal-brakes under the dash can be difficult or awkward for tall people and/or with long legs. I fit that category myself, and, since I like to sit with the seat fairly close to the wheel and my knees bent a little, I sometimes find lifting the left leg to use the foot-pedal hard to do. I mention that, in reviews, if applicable.

The pull-up hand brakes on the console, of course, solve that problem, although some small crossover SUVs have the brake-handle, like the shift-lever, protruding from the dash, which is convenient, but can cause injury in a crash, even with air-bag deployment.

BippuLexus

I'm sorry bit, but your logic is slippery slope and makes no sense.

Power steering, power brakes, power windows, power seats, a/c, anti-lock brakes, air bags, cruise control, power locks, power mirrors were all solutions that made something "better".

My point was - you can live without electric e-brakes.
You can't live without power steering. Have you drive a car without power steering?
You can't live without power windows. Have you drove a car without power windows? How do you open passenger windows manually while driving?
You can't live without A/C. Have you drove a car without A/C? Or broken A/C? How do you avoid the windows from steaming up? Sometimes - window being open isn't enough.
You can't live without airbags.... Literally - you can't live without it.
You can't live without cruise control. Long trips is a huge plus. It rests your leg.
You can't live without power locks. It allows you to open the door, for you and your passenger w/o you having to go around doing so. Have you driven a car with no power locks?
You can't live without power mirrors. It allows you to change mirrors on the fly and adjust at a light - so you dont manually have to walk over to change it. Have you driven a car with no power mirrors?

My point is - everything above provides a benefit that is dramatically good. While an electric e-brake (without auto function) literally does nothing but changes the way an e-brake is applied.
My point is - the electric e-brake with no auto function is a feature that cost more to repair and replace to do the same thing an a manual e-brake can do.

I have driven a car without Power steering, power windows, broken AC, no cruise control, power locks or power mirrors. It was my first car. My dad gave it to me. I can tell you right now - all those features are more important than an "E-Brake" design.

Like I said previously - its a electric e-brake (with automatic function) is good to have and is nice to have e-brake set and unset for you. However - the cons outweigh the pros especially for a car that doesn't have "auto" e-brake.

Toys4RJill

Doesn't an e-brake give you the option of having the brake-hold feature in traffic as well?

Just so you know, the manual emergency brakes sometimes needs repair as well. Manual e brakes are not at all infallible.

Sulu

Per your argument, the newest electric assistant, the electric parking brake, also makes the parking brake better. It takes up much less space than the manual lever between the seats or the awkward pedal in the outboard driver's footwell.

The mechanical parking brake cable can seize or freeze, meaning you cannot disengage it. It can stretch, requiring regular adjustment. It can snap and break, meaning no parking brake.

The electric parking brake can be programmed to engage in so many different situations:

• when you stop, put the transmission into Park, it can automatically engage, meaning the driver will no longer forget;
• when you stop on a hill, it can automatically engage, allowing for smoother restart from stop;
• when you open the driver door with the transmission in gear for any reason, even if just to allow yourself easier access to an parking access card reader or to take an parking entrance ticket, it can engage to prevent a roll-away.

Yes I have. It was much easier to drive on the highway because the car tracked straight ahead, without wandering.

Yes I have. If I was driving alone, I really only need to use the driver's side window so I did not worry about the passenger windows; if I had passengers, they could open their own windows. If I needed to open the other windows because it was particularly hot and I needed the extra ventilation, I did so while stopped, before I started off or while stopped in a convenient and safe location. Not a major life-altering problem.

Yes I have. I never had a problem with foggy windows. If the windows started to steam up inside, I set the ventilation to defrost mode and/or cracked open a window. Again, not a life-altering problem.

Yes I have. I never had a situation where the airbags would have activated.

I lived without cruise control for 8 years while driving my car that did not have any of the other modern electrically-assisted features. And I regularly drove 500+ km (300+ mile) trips in summer, winter, in good traffic and bad. Again, it was not a life-altering problem. When tired, I rested.

Yes I have. I opened the car with the key, in the driver's door or the passenger door if I had a passenger; and I locked the car with the key. Locking the car with the key gave me assurance that the car was locked before walking away. If I was already in the car and had to open a locked passenger door, I reached over to open it. Again, it was not a life-altering problem.

Yes I have. Mirrors, both inside and outside, are set-once-and-forget items. I spent time while parked to set them once -- alone or with help -- and seldom had to adjust them again. And I was taught to use the mirrors when reversing so I used them religiously, and I made sure they were set properly before starting off.


Yes, all of the modern electrical assistants make life easier but you can easily live without them. It could be argued that "making life easier" is a first-world problem. And without all of these electric motors, the car would be more fuel efficient.

arentz07

You can definitely live without power windows. When I was growing up, my parents' first few cars didn't have power windows. I think the first one we had with power windows was our Plymouth Voyager, unless my father's Blazer had them and I just don't remember. I was really young.

Idk what the "you can't live without" stuff is about... To be fair, our standards for new cars dictate that the vast majority of them will have these features, but you can still buy cars without them. For example, the Nissan Versa S still has manual windows.

mmarshall

The only thing they usually need is an occasional tightening or adjusting of the cable linkage, to take up slack as it stretches over time. Most technicians recommend a tightness of two clicks when you pull up the lever. That can easily be done when the car is up on a lift for an oil change brother service.

Toys4RJill

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

what's an oil change 'brother' service?

peteharvey

We live in a motorised world.
The motor vehicle is motorised.
The auto tranny is motorised.
The parking brake motorised.
Power steering electric assistance.
Brakes servo assistance.
Motorised trunk lid.
Central locking.
Power windows.
Power sunroof.
Electric adjustment of seats, steering wheel and wing mirrors.
Automatic temperature control.
Seek and scan on the radio, and MP3 player.
Sat nav.
Auto Bluetooth cell phone connection.

Back in the days of 1IS, the hand operated parking brake was fine.
Today, the 3IS is some 700 lbs heavier, hence the use of the foot operated parking brake.
An even bigger and heavier 2020-27 4IS with a motorised parking brake is just around the corner.

My previous 3GS and older Mercedes, on a steep hill and despite being pressed all the way to the carpet and having been serviced regularly, the foot operated parking brake would still have a slight amount of "slippage".
Nowadays, I find the new 4GS's motorised parking brake is very good - there is virtually no slippage at all.
It makes great sense to have the parking brake automatically engage/disengage in Park mode.

mmarshall

Sorry, LOL.....a typo on my part. I meant other service.

But, to answer your question, other services that are often performed with oil changes (depending on the mileage and local laws) are tire rotations/balances, alignments/adjustments, safety or emissions inspections, and routine inspections that are called for in the Maintenance Schedule. GM's On-Star, for instance, for those who have subscriptions, keeps track of time/mileage, service-requirements for that vehicle, and sends reminders to owners via E-mail or text.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Gotcha, thanks.

Sulu

The use of the foot-operated parking brake is not because of a heavier vehicle; it is used to free up space in the centre console area of the car. I have driven vans (much heavier than the normal passenger car) that have a hand-operated parking brake lever.

Moving the parking brake lever actuator from the long and bulky lever in the centre console to a pedal in the outboard driver's footwell frees up a lot of width in the centre console, making that space available for a driving-mode selector, (larger) cup holders and/or a larger console bin.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

peteharvey

Certainly very true, and so much nicer to have a front center armrest with an useful front central console bin - though why is it that I don't like Mercedes freeing up the space in the center console by relocating the auto tranny selector with PRND to the steering column?

coolsaber

Dont know how ebrakes and the ILX coincide, but, personally this new upside down GIGANORMOUS face implants Acura is doing on their old models does them no favors. Its still a terrible design, the duplex center stack....smh, and love the "let me add some red bucket seats so it adds an additional 25 HP each" is a reach. However if it sells well, then who cares right?