Auto wipers and auto lights are unnecessary and offer no advantage over manual operation, as they are not subtle/fuzzy enough in their operation.

My eye/brain/hand respond more quickly than the 'auto' function on either.

Mine are used manually and I wouldn't actively look for a used car with either those or electrically heated/operated seats.

Good Modern Features:
ABS
Heated Screens (for icy days)
A/C (for de-mist -and occasionally cooling)
Trip Computers (trip distance, fuel consumption and approximate distance remaining quite useful, average speed not…)
Power Steering

Xan – i was using the rectangular button to the right of the steering wheel. the button was about the size of a playing card, sort of.

once more;

to release the 'handbrake' i needed to be in neutral, with my foot on the brake.

if a sensible person had designed it, it would release automatically as i pulled away. but clearly it was designed by a moron. and again i demand to see him beaten to death, with a cricket stump.

clutch in and 1st gear = no release.

where did i leave my cricket stumps?

What I am trying to say is if you press the auto hold button once at the start of the journey the car does exactly what you described. Handbrake goes on when you bring the car to a complete stop and the releases without touching any bottons once you get the car to bighting point. No need to touch the button next to lights ever

can some one clear something up for me pleease 🙂

"when you brake, most cars loose this energy as heat, on the new audis, we save this energy, and use it to recharge the batteries, we call it recouperation" (all said in an apple mac users voice)

question.

WHEN did it become nessecery to recharge a car battery above and beyond the alternator (or dyanmo on a diesel iirc)
if you need to add extra charge to a battery, you need a new battery?

saving energy from the brakes in electrical form, useful in a hybrid, yes.
As useful as a chocolate teapot on a conventional car?

Also, auto handbrake is a solution, to a problem, that doesnt exist.
im gonna file it in the same box as parking sensors, as people who cant park/feel where the corners of the car are, are likely to be the same people who cant hill start?

I think the audi thing is that they don't have an alternator and use this system instead as they know that most audi drivers drive so close to the car in front that they are constantly having to brake 😉

don't like the way my car has one-click to unlock drivers door & two to unlock all doors. It's fine in principle, but the car then locks all doors when moving and when you remove the key from the ignition at your destination it's supposed to have remembered whether you one-clicked or two-clicked and open the correct number of doors. But mine very rarely does and so the passenger door & boot generally don't become unlocked. Which results in passengers trying to rip the door release off until I tell them they have to pull it twice to unlock it. SOunds trivial, but is annoying.

if its a ford, press and hold both lock and unlock on the keyfob for 10 secs. Indicators should flash, then the single-door-lock-thing is turned off

WHEN did it become nessecery to recharge a car battery above and beyond the alternator (or dyanmo on a diesel iirc)
if you need to add extra charge to a battery, you need a new battery?

The alternator uses crank power to generate electricity, and the amount of power drawn from the engine can be altered by the alternator depending on how charged the battery is or what sort of elec loads are present.
And the load on the crank can be quite large, using more fuel.

Audi (and a few other manufacturers) recover braking energy to recharge the battery so that the alternator does not have to take energy from the engine, and hence less fuel is used.

IIRC dynamos haven't been used for decades, a normal alternator will do just fine on petrol or D.

my old 1985 metro had five different speeds of intermittient wipers as well as normal and 'disco'.

I really liked that (Devon has at least twenty speeds of drizzle or rain!) and have never driven another car with it.

My Ford has 7 speeds of intermittent plus normal and fast! But on the plus side it's got the usual heated windscreen which is ace.

if its a ford, press and hold both lock and unlock on the keyfob for 10 secs. Indicators should flash, then the single-door-lock-thing is turned off

I'll try that on my Transit 🙂

the amount of power drawn from the engine can be altered by the alternator depending on how charged the battery is or what sort of elec loads are present

I didn't know that – impressive if that's right.

Regenerative braking is a very old concept – at least as old as electric rail power….. just that the automotive marketeers have been slow (100+ years?) in the uptake.

"I was in a mate car once with electronic fancy whippers "

I don't know whether you should be admitting to that on open forum, juan!

I'm a complete Luddite and look on all this tosh in cars as being more to go wrong and just an unnecessary drain on the battery (OK, I admit the electronics probably don't use much). Not really got over my suspicion yet of this new-fangled electric heater thing on the rear window.

But Volvos – they haven't yet mastered the technology of basic on/off switches, have they…..lights always jammed on…..!

Never liked the idea of electronic handbrakes – i like the fact that the handbrake is a mechanical item that will work if the engine/electrics go for some reason.

First time i came across an electronic handbrake was when i had to drive my boss to a meeting, using his company car – Ford Galaxy. first lights i stopped at were on a very steep (up)hill – handbrake on, to release he said you've got to have the clutch down (it wont release if your on the bite point) and have your foot on the footbrake. blooming difficult to release the handbrake, find the bite point and get on the gas quickly – in a strange car while on a steep hill, without stalling the darn thing.

but the most useless feature was demonstrated to us when me and my mates where on as Land Rover experience day in a Disco3. the instructor demonstrated the emergency brake feature – you hit the handbrake button while moving, and it brings the car to an emergency stop automatically (while declutching too so you don't stall it)
that seemed useless – who, in a emergency is going to remove a hand from the steering wheel, find the handbrake button – rather than just stamping on the brake with your foot?

The problem with automation in cars isn't the automation, it's just that it's so stupid sometimes. Consistently stupid I can deal with.

I didn't know that – impressive if that's right.

It is indeed, for about 30 years they've had automatic voltage regulation where it maintains a set level of charge in the battery and any loads are compensated for, more recently they've added the ability to monitor things like ambient temperature to adjust the voltage expected from the battery due to chemical reaction differences etc.

Incidentally, on the automation thing, my auto wipers are about the best thing I've ever had in a car (unless the window gets greasy, then they go a bit mad). Auto lights are a pain in the neck – I know others have been "flashed" by cars passing through very short tunnels/bridges and under particularly well shaded trees where a normal human would have the common sense to leave the lights off rather than flashing the car in front and/or apparently braking in front of people.

handbrake on, to release he said you've got to have the clutch down (it wont release if your on the bite point) and have your foot on the footbrake.

Never had one myself but my dad has one on his car and it just releases automatically at the bite point. I think the clutch/footbrake bit is just when you start the ignition.

This does raise the point though, that part of the reason some people don't get on with in-car automation (or gadgets in general) may be that they either don't read, or don't understand, the manual.

(I looked for a Ford Galaxy online to check, but naturally Ford charge you for a paper copy, rather than say offering a free PDF download 🙄 )

I know others have been "flashed" by cars passing through very short tunnels…

They do come on when you go through tunnels and big bridges. But they stay on for about 30 seconds after that, so it doesn't look anything like a "flash" IMO.

They do come on when you go through tunnels and big bridges. But they stay on for about 30 seconds after that, so it doesn't look anything like a "flash" IMO.

If you only see it going off it does. However it's more the apparent harsh braking that cheeses me off – gliding down an NSL road with a few other cars, dip under a wide bridge – on come the lights – do you assume they're auto lights and watch for deceleration, or do you just go for the brake for safety. Most would say the latter. And the rest of the traffic is now pointlessly braking for a non-event. Thanks auto-lights.

Mleh, doesn't bother me.

If you have to hit the brakes the moment you think I might be braking then you were far too close to me to start with and I'm happy that you've backed off a bit. Thanks auto-lights. 😈

Nah, I do see your point. but I can't say I've noticed it. The normal rear lights are much dimmer than brake lights and the central one only comes on when braking, so maybe that helps.

Pretty sure on the renaults that it disingages as you pull off. I wouldn't swap my auto dipping rear view mirrors or auto wipers in fact i really miss them when in our outher car that doesn't have them.

Graham – just like to maintain my safe distance, that's all 🙂 Not all cars have a high level rear though either. It's not a major issue, just mildly annoying at times.

I've never really figured out why car designers ever thought that making brake lights the same as the rear lights only a bit brighter was a good design.

GrahamS – Member
I've never really figured out why car designers ever thought that making brake lights the same as the rear lights only a bit brighter was a good design.

And then trust people to turn their fog lights on when it's actually foggy as opposed to drizzly and then importantly turn them off again so the following cars cab actually see the brake lights.

coffeeking – Member
Graham – just like to maintain my safe distance, that's all Not all cars have a high level rear though either. It's not a major issue, just mildly annoying at times.

I thought that it was a euro law for the third brake light now?

And then trust people to turn their fog lights on when it's actually foggy as opposed to drizzly and then importantly turn them off again so the following cars cab actually see the brake lights.

Now that would be a good automatic feature – something that recognises whether it's foggy or not and turns the bloody fog lights off if it's not.

Could it be retro-fitted to all body-kitted Corsas?

Graham – just like to maintain my safe distance, that's all Not all cars have a high level rear though either. It's not a major issue, just mildly annoying at times.

I've never confused brake lights and normal lights I don't think. Also, I don't hit the brakes every time the person in front touches the brake pedal – I find a lot of people spend a lot of time riding the brake pedal without slowing down whatsoever, so I don't brake just because there's a light on, I brake if they are slowing down. If you're too close to do this, or to see what's in front of them so you know what they are doing, you're too close.

Never use the brakes if you don't need to, they use petrol. 😉

I thought that it was a euro law for the third brake light now?

Well Wikipedia reckons a Centre High Mount Stop Lamp (CHMSL) has been required in Europe since 1998 (but I couldn't be bothered checking the citation). So any car with auto lights should also have a CHMSL.

Now that would be a good automatic feature – something that recognises whether it's foggy or not

Or even just a little reminder "bong" every fifteen minutes or so to say "Are you sure it's still ****' foggy?"

Never use the brakes if you don't need to, they use petrol.

On predictable driving I generally slow down using the throttle/gears, but if there is someone behind me I'll also touch the brakes enough for the light to come on, as otherwise I find they drive up my arse because they don't realise I'm slowing down.