Electronic driving aids - love, hate or indifferent?

[gbb]

My Mazda isn't festooned with electronics such as lane control etc but things I like...
Speed warning....let's me automatically know as I reach the speed limit. Also let's me know if I overdo it by 5mph.
Navigation system is quite good.
Headlamps that sweep as you turn corners...moderate benefit but no biggie.
LED headlamps, wonderful spread of clear light.
HUD, essential info right in front of you including next turn required if you were using navigation.
Reversing cam and distance markers, very useful.
Keyless start, no real opinion, its no big advantage.

All of mine has been flawless so far, no issues at all. Some of it is tech for techs sake tbf.

The ones mine doesn't have lane control and automatic braking when collision detected ?
They are options but can't think I'd be bothered with it. Colleage has them on his Jaguar, windscreen was very expensive, I think the sensors are integrated then it needed dealer calibrating. All very expensive when it goes wrong.

 

[biggs682]

Great till they need fixing out of warranty

 

[mustang1]

Are software engineers immune from making mistakes? I think I would prefer to be in charge of my own safety rather than delegate it to a spotty geek in Silicon Valley.

Yours grumpily,

slowmotion

But it's not the same calibre of software engineer that writes code for consumer electronics. Those guys who program safety systems (in cars, space shuttles, or medical equipment)are a bit different to those write code for a dating app on one's mobile phone.

I know you can give the example of Boeing 737 Max software but even so...

BUUUUT generally speaking, I definitely preferred a simpler time. I recall when my friends were making fun of me for buying a car that had no dipstick then years later he had a car with no dipstick either.

Actually I was surprised that so many cars are still available with a manual transmission.

My preference is for the old stuff but perhaps that's just a way for me wanting to feel young again, a reminder. The modern stuff really is better but my heart isn't in it. I think electric cars are as interesting as refrigerators (I thought that word had a 'd' in it) but they're still really good.

 

[Arrowfoot]

Love innovation for convenience, added safety and joy of driving but not keyless, electronic handbrake etc. Small confession though - its brand, colour and design that are deciding factors.

 

[Venod]

I generally like all the aids etc, wasn't keen on the electric handbrake on the Qashkai, as we are now only running one car I appreciate the electric memory seats programmed to each key, the reversing camera is a big improvement on not having one, cruise control and speed limiter are handy as is the satnav, the auto box is also very good, can use it in sport mode and change gear manually if you wish.

 

[cougie uk]

I'm very much looking forward to when all cars alert the driver to breaking the speed limit. That's not far off is it ?

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Even the most basic of cars come with an array of safety systems that are beneficial. Some are obvious eg airbags, some are intermittently obvious eg abs and some simply get on with the job unobtrusively - traction control, electronic diff lock, electronic stability control, electronic brake force distribution, brake assist etc. They are tried and tested safety aids, NCAP rated/approved and I trust them to do their job if I screw up or the gods of chance decide to give me a potentially bad day.

My gadget loaded car doesn't seem to suffer from much beeping. It'll beep if I was to forget to put my seatbelt on - that would be a very rare occasion. The parking sensors beep, they do have a kill function and the volume can be changed too but I like them - very handy if eg you have to reverse on a tight country lane in fog or mist; not unusual where I live.

Automatic lights, wipers and auto dipping rear view mirror are nice to have. Self levelling headlights make sense too. LED's are fantastic. Not had a car with auto dip headlights so cannot comment. I like coming home lights and their polar opposite.

Don't like electronic handbrake.

Central locking, alarm/immobiliser, sat nav, integrated phone, music apps etc all great.

Heated seats are a must have for me, never had a heated steering wheel.

ACC takes standard cruise control to another level and is great for maintaining an average speed on longer journeys and helps with fuel consumption too.

Pedestrian, cyclist etc avoidance system - good to know it is there. One loose dog owes it's life to this in a previous car of mine.

As a 'Techie Fanboy' 😁 I see most of these things as huge improvements over the death traps that I owned early on in my driving 'career'.

On the other hand those printing presses and new-fangled weaving machines... 😛

 

[Alex321]

Nobody has mentioned the bloody irritating beeps with which "clever" cars constantly assault your ears. Is this progress? Techie fanboys probably think so.

Oh dear.

Possibly because most cars don't have frequent beeps.

Mine hardly ever beeps at me. There are a few, such as when the fuel warning light comes on for the first time it will beep. But not many, and my car has things like electronic handbrake, auto wipers, auto lights (but not auto-dip), so is a reasonably "clever:" car.

I suspect some other warnings would also beep if they came on while driving, but it happens infrequently enough to be actually quite useful when it does.

 

[Jameshow]

My Kodiaq has, and I don't like;
1. an electronic handbrake
Sometimes (for example) approaching traffic-lights, you're practically stationary, & the lights change, it will engage, & has to apply in order to disengage
It (like others, I assume??) operates the brake-lights, when it's engaged, after stopping via the footbrake, shing straight at the driver behind
I don't like that happening to me, so I guess others don't!

2. keyless/push-button start
Sometimes it'll take 4 or 5 attempts before it starts
What was so wrong with a normal key?!??

I'd like it to have;
1. full LED lighting, including headlamps & interior

2. I hope not to need it, but a matching spare-wheel, the road-wheels are '235' section, & the spare is a '215'

3. reverse camera & dashcams (f & r) integrated into the touchscreen

Your spare is likely a lowe aspect ratio so 75 Vs 65 so as to save space. But will be same diameter.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Your spare is likely a lowe aspect ratio so 75 Vs 65 so as to save space. But will be same diameter.

More than likely, given that the Haldex (viscous) couplings aren't fans of differing diameter tyres, for extended periods

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Okay & agreed but a tad pedantic - I think you got the drift though. 👍

I think the problem is that if drivers believe their electronic aids can do all of that , and effectively feel invulnerable, it puts more vulnerable road users at risk. I didn’t notice a single aid that brakes you as hard as possible if you take you eye off the road or haven’t noticed a vulnerable user or try and use your phone.

 

[AlanW]

"Lane Assistance" on BMWs and probably fitted on other cars as well. You can adjust the severity at which the steering wheel vibrates and also how hard it subsequently attempts to keep the vehicle within the white lines, and providing you indicate before moving lanes or crossing over a white line, either overtaking or returning to your lane after overtaking, then the "Lane Assistance" does not come into play.

On a long motorway journey, on the whole I think its quite a good idea as when the dreaded "noddy heads" bestow you and on the odd occasion that you may start to drift over the white line on either side of the road, then trust me, the car will certainly let you know! In this application its useful as a bit of a fail safe mechanism. But is there a danger of drivers now adapting the attitude we can now drive further because if the driver nods off then the car will wake me up?

However, when you are on a nice open stretch road and enjoying shall we say a spirited drive and you dare breach a white line on a sweeping bend, then the car thinks that you are falling asleep and will try and steer you back into your lane. The faster you are going the more severe the resistance is to keep you within the white lines, it can be very off putting to say the least!!

 

[a.twiddler]

You should try a bicycle to appreciate the true beauty of simplicity. I triple guarantee that Elon Musk's slaves won't "upgrade" the engine remotely overnight.

The very idea! On a cycling forum too. Perhaps for the ultimate simplicity, it should be a solid tyred unicycle.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

"Lane Assistance" on BMWs and probably fitted on other cars as well. You can adjust the severity at which the steering wheel vibrates and also how hard it subsequently attempts to keep the vehicle within the white lines, and providing you indicate before moving lanes or crossing over a white line, either overtaking or returning to your lane after overtaking, then the "Lane Assistance" does not come into play.

On a long motorway journey, on the whole I think its quite a good idea as when the dreaded "noddy heads" bestow you and on the odd occasion that you may start to drift over the white line on either side of the road, then trust me, the car will certainly let you know! In this application its useful as a bit of a fail safe mechanism. But is there a danger of drivers now adapting the attitude we can now drive further because if the driver nods off then the car will wake me up?

However, when you are on a nice open stretch road and enjoying shall we say a spirited drive and you dare breach a white line on a sweeping bend, then the car thinks that you are falling asleep and will try and steer you back into your lane. The faster you are going the more severe the resistance is to keep you within the white lines, it can be very off putting to say the least!!

My lane assistance does a lot of wheel-tugging when on unmarked roads and it doesn't like it when parked cars force me over into hatched areas or over the dotted line. I can switch it off but, irritatingly, it switches itself back on by default when I next start the car up.

A minor irritation is when I stop close to the car in front - common in stop-start urban driving. It starts bleeping and the only way to stop it is to take the car out of gear, which of course means I'm not in full control of the car.

 

[Deleted member 26715]

No, its a motor.
Switch operated, supply goes to motor, actuates the brakes. Disengages by reversing polarity, retracts brakes?
I have it on my Mazda, its neither here nor there, I can't feel any advantage or disadvantage. If it goes wrong, I don't doubt it will be more expensive to repair but having done a couple mechanical handbrakes in my life, they could be difficult to access anyway, no fun in them either.
I don't hanker after the past particually, its progression, some we definitely benefit from, some we don't, its not going to change for me or anyone else so why bother...getting bothered.

I disagree, it still has cables going from the unit to the brakes.

In the main the most sophisticated computer in the car is the one in the drivers seat, we all know how bad & unreliable they are so there's no hope for the plethora of other computers dotted around the car. Personally I think there are far too many gadgets on the cars these days, they are far too safe, take them all away & make them dangerous again, that way people will engage with them again instead of allowing the mind to wander off to other stuff whilst the car does it for them.

Back in the day when you had your 1.3 Escort doing 70mph you knew you were doing 70mph & had to have your wits about you, now a 1L shopping trolly does 90mph with ease & no drama.