Car gadgets -when will it end

mete

mete

Joined
Jun 10, 2003
Messages
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I see the Chrysler Sebring has cup holders that are heated and cooled .With the new cars set up for GPS, PCs , MP3, XYZ is there any time left for driving ??. What other gadget would you like ?
 
Have you seen the old 80's show Knight Rider? When I can get a turbo boost in my little Hyundai, then I'll finally be satisfied with my car gadgets...:D

Although I'll admit, heated and cooled cup holders may be a little far now that I think about it.
 
Just more needless stuff to break down on ya.

The older I get the more I have appreciation for vehicles you can actually work on yourself and are not controlled by computers or gizmos.
 
What I would really like to see are tires that really don't go flat anymore, and for someone to come up with a hybrid full size pick-up that really does get good gas milage like 40-60 mile per gallon instead of these 10-22 mile per gallon guzzlers we have today.
 
Bufford said:
What I would really like to see are tires that really don't go flat anymore, and for someone to come up with a hybrid full size pick-up that really does get good gas milage like 40-60 mile per gallon instead of these 10-22 mile per gallon guzzlers we have today.
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Michelin is working on those now, they look like lighter versions of all rubber skid steer tires. They will have to cost an arm and a leg and be made to wear out or the tire companies would loose money
 
I'd like to see:

Automatic jacks that will allow the car to be raised and lowered for maintenance and can also be deployed quickly allowing the car to jump over obstacles.

Special grip tire treads that deploy from a compartment in the wheel well and cover the existing rubber lending tank tread-like traction in mud/snow/vertical driving situations.

A bullet-proof/crash-proof passenger compartment that can be sealed air/water tight and that is supplied with about an hours worth of supplemental oxygen. This will allow the occupants to survive serious wipe-outs, thwart gunfire, and drive underwater. Throw in a periscope, too.

Special headlights that improve vision at night, in storms, and under water.

Giant circular saw blades that deploy from the front of the car, allowing a driving path to be cleared through woods and/or brush during an off-road/off-track excursion.

A small, flying vehicle that can be launched from the vehicle and flown via remote control. The vehicle, no larger than a sheet of paper, can be equipped with various surveillanceand/or messaging equipment. With the touch of a button, the unit can be sent 'home' with a message, if needed.

And for those rare instances when one needs to clear obstacles with some distance, tiny wings that deploy from the underside of the car on each side, allowing the car to gain a little lift when jumping over obstacles, thus allowing for a greater distance to be covered during the jump.
 
What other gadget would you like ?
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My old Lincoln had rearview mirrors that automatically dimmed. That technology is 12 years old, but it seems that most new cars still don't have it.

Ditto the Lincoln's cruise control buttons that clicked. Each click up or down equaled exactly one MPH. The "Push and Guess" system that most cars have sucks.

I don't give a darn about cup holders. Why? Because I don't eat in my car, and neither will anyone else.

One cool thing I saw on a new Miata, a keyless system. You just need to have the car's transmitter in your pocket to start the car - no physical key necessary. Even loaded with toys like that, the car was still very affordable.

I'd like some car companies to stop charging such outrageous 'premium' prices for common technological features. Stupid Toyota wants $3,000 extra for a built-in GPS system that should cost $500. The Avalon should be a nice car for $26,000, the advertised price. But by the time we added the options necessary to make it a nice car, the price was over $40,000. Forget that...

My biggest complaint with Toyota, the lack of colors. The Avalon has only four choices, yeah four different shades of gray/white. Jerks...

My current beef with Honda, why in the heck would they put such a puny radio system in a convertible? You can't hear the radio at all with the top down. If you turn it up loud enough, the sound is so distorted as to be useless.

One great thing the Honda does have, seperate radio knobs mounted on the dash within reach of the steering wheel. It's so you don't have to take your eyes off the road to fool with the radio.

-Bob
 
keyless systems are way over rated, since you can easily destroy the fob with a magnet (way more susceptible than ipods) and they cant be put in the same pocket as a cell phone. They cant be repaired, only replaced (wonder what that costs)
 
keyless systems are way over rated, since you can easily destroy the fob with a magnet (way more susceptible than ipods) and they cant be put in the same pocket as a cell phone. They cant be repaired, only replaced (wonder what that costs)
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I didn't know that. I figured the Miata's transmitter would be as durable as the remotes that every other car uses. I don't know the technical details, but it appeared to be just a tiny radio signal transmitter.

Again, I don't know what a replacement Miata transmitter costs. But to replace a normal car remote, the Lincoln's unit was $45, plus $45 for the dealer to set to that particular car. New battery was about $2.

One other car feature that's really cool, on Wife's Lexus if you hold down the Unlock botton on the remote, all of the windows and the moonroof open. Gives the interior of the car a chance to vent and dool down before you get inside. The rest of the car isn't so great though...

-Bob
 
I went with Nissan over Toyota for that very reason---I can get a loaded Nissan for the same price as a stripped Toyota----even though I thought the Toyota was a nicer car(base) to start with.
 
I went with Nissan over Toyota for that very reason---I can get a loaded Nissan for the same price as a stripped Toyota----
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Wife went with used Lexus instead. But you're on track with the Nissan comment. The new ones are ~much~ improved over the 1990s models I used to drive at Avis. Back then I though "Altima" was Japanese for POS and "Maxima" was Japanese for "barely driveable." I cringed at first when my friends bought a Maxima/Ultima (?) last year, but it's a darn nice car for the money.

My gear-related disappointment with Nissan, I couldn't believe how much extra they charge for a convertible! I was totally into the 350Z, but the covertible option price was ridiculous. Also, wife was completely petrified throughout the entire test drive and said I couldn't get one. :(

-Bob
 
Cadillacs and Lincoln Town Cars with a porta john installed in all seats?
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Excellent idea. My Lincoln had a big tank and got excellent mileage. If you only stoped to wee when you needed gasoline, your eyes would be yellow. :D

-Bob
 
The French Citroen had a pnuematic suspension system that actually allowed one to "lift" a wheel high enough so that one could change a flat w/o the use of a jack. This system was so good that the car could actually be driven on three wheels.

All that from a car that was built in the '70's.

Is it the Lexus that parks itself? And is there a car currently marketed, or soon to be marketed that has a head up display that uses some sort of front looking infrared technology so that one can see through a fog?

Eventually, I'm sure, all of this technology is going to lead to electronic highway systems where one enters the interstate with the destination keyed in, and the car takes over. Whether that's good or bad is a matter of opnion.

In the meantime, it would be interesting if some car designer took a look at the automobile with a completely fresh point of view--sort of like the way Wozniak and Jobs looked at the personal PC back in the '80s. Wouldn't that be something? One could only wonder what that would lead to...
 
And is there a car currently marketed, or soon to be marketed that has a head up display that uses some sort of front looking infrared technology so that one can see through a fog?
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I think Cadillac had something like that years ago, for night driving.

Cadillac also had a sensor that would automatically dim the headlights if there was an oncoming car. Would you guess that was in the 1950s?

-Bob
 
I want a car with a huge engine compartment, and built simple so I can fix it myself. I don't need power windows even. Maybe a stereo.
 
I don't need power windows even.
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Many 'features' are included not as gimmics, but out of necessity. I'd consider power windows on certain vehicles to be in that list. For example, in my truck there's no way that I could reach over far enough to use a manual window crank. In my Honda I don't think there's room for a window crank - you'd smash your elbows into your ribs.

Many of the modern features are also explain why new cars are safer than old cars. Not only are accident rates down, but injuries are less severe. Anti-lock brakes, traction control systems, airbags, modern seatbelts, crumple zones, etc.

Besides all of that, I'm a sucker for toys. Spending thousands of dollars on a car, it darn-well better include lots of 'stuff'. This is the Gadgets forum after all. :)

-Bob
 
A car that sense you are going to slow in the Left lane and pulls over automatically to the other lane.

Or a car that senses other cars in front of you and shut the brights off. Or one that senses rain/poor visibility and turns the headlight on.

Or one that just sense you are an idiot and dont start.:D



Paul
 
A car that sense you are going to slow in the Left lane and pulls over automatically to the other lane.

Or a car that senses other cars in front of you and shut the brights off. Or one that senses rain/poor visibility and turns the headlight on.

Or one that just sense you are an idiot and dont start.
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How about an in-cab air horn to let above-mentioned idiots know they're driving with their parking lights on? :D

And a system to deliver an electical shock through the steering wheel if they don't use their turn signal.

-Bob
 
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