Following on from the thread about terrible parts of modern car designs…

What are the basic features that you think a current or future small car (2 seat, IQ/Smart segment or smaller) should actually have?

The aim here is to get a feel of a minimum configuration that would actually attract people.

NB power steering may well not be necessary on such a light vehicle.

Heated leather seats.

Heated mirrors.

Park assist. I’m bloody hopeless at parallel parking.

heated windscreen

automatic wipers
automatic headlights

Structural glass A, B and C pillars to manage to problem of modern cars where rollover safety has been improved at the expense of visibility.

Other safety features would include:

A head’s up display that shows the face of a child when you’re driving like a moron.

cup holders

Double sun visors. Already on my old Saab and a touch of genius on a windy road in low sun as you don’t need to constantly move a single visor from side window to windscreen. Good safety feature too!

automatic wipers
automatic headlights

pisstake? or are these one of those items that seem like a bloody stupid idea (and they really do) but then you can’t do without once you’ve tried them?

agree with OMITN our little car has some chunky pillars in the wrong place for trying to see around corners.

ABS? Not been in any really dodgy (slam on or crash) situations in ours but on frost/snow there’s been a few slidey moments when applying the brakes

definitely see-thru pillars

as well as heated seats, screen and mirrors, heated steering wheel and gear knob for when it’s -17 outside

Heated windscreen

Adaptive cruise control.

Park assist. I’m bloody hopeless at parallel parking.

That’s just a skill which can be acquired. A bit like riding a bike.

Anyway, the future small urban car will need something to cope with our increasingly potholed roads. So something like this:

DAB radio

I’d like to see heater controls on steering wheels. If it’s possible to raise and lower volume, change channels and stations, pick up, dial my phone. then how come I have to reach down to turn up my heating a bit?

Thinking a bit more deeply, things I’ve had on cars that I’d want on any replacement:

Heated mirrors
Cup holders
Electric windows
A way of playing MP3s – USB/SD card/Aux input/Bluetooth. Don’t mind which.
Aircon

Nice to have rather than essential:
Sat nav
Heated seats
Remote central locking

Stuff I’ve got but wouldn’t miss:
Cruise
Auto lights, wipers
Auto dimming mirror
Parking sensors
Phone integration

pisstake? or are these one of those items that seem like a bloody stupid idea (and they really do) but then you can’t do without once you’ve tried them?

Driving a Japanese car where these things* are standard, they’re super. Rain comes, wipers wipe. Light low, lights on. Both just left of “auto” setting.

It’s

*as well as keyless central locking and ignition, auto-dim rear view mirror, steering wheel stereo, phone and sat nav controls, bluetooth voice activated phone, built in satnav, heated windscreen, heated seats, heated mirrors, start-stop**, a decent stereo, rear parking sensors, cruise control excellent handling***, and a modicum of go. All for £17k. Styling isn’t great though.

**broken. Well known fault.
***Good, but not nearly as good as Mrs North’s Mini Clubman, which is like a go kart!

Park assist. I’m bloody hopeless at parallel parking.

Have seen 2 people need to take 3 attempts at parking a Smart car. One reversing in to a bay in a multistorey 3 times (at work, so embarrassing to say it was a colleague!), and the other trying to parallel park in a bay big enough for a mondeo, that needed the passenger to get out and give guiding instructions on attempt 3.

And both were male 30’s-40’s, so can’t even use some stereotypical excuse about women drivers or grandma’s with cataracts.

So yeah, park assist.

Seat adjustment that has been properly thought out. Lots of seats are adjustable in different planes but there doesn’t always seem to be thought given as to what that plane of adjustment is supposed to achieve.

A really good flame effect paint job

Personalised custom tyre treads so you can write your name on muddy grass verges

andytherocketeer

Have seen 2 people need to take 3 attempts at parking a Smart car. One reversing in to a bay in a multistorey 3 times (at work, so embarrassing to say it was a colleague!), and the other trying to parallel park in a bay big enough for a mondeo, that needed the passenger to get out and give guiding instructions on attempt 3.

So yeah, park assist.

They shouldn’t be allowed on the road if what you say is true. If they’re so hopeless at parking christ only knows what kind of a liability they are in other scenarios. These are probably the same people who brake to merge on a slip road. Gadgets will only help so much.

Personalised custom tyre treads so you can write your name on muddy grass verges

soo cool, right up until the point this happens

Bing Bong on doorbell

You : “yes officer, how can I help you?”
Policeman: ” Are you maccruisekeeeeeeeeeeeeeen? About that skid you did last night”
You: “curses”

Sliding doors. Maybe not so much on a small car but they are great in tight car parks when needing to get small people into their small person seats.

WOW THANKS – feel free to keep the ideas coming.
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What if I told you this needed to cost £7k or less? What might you forsake in the name of simplicity and extended range [lightweighting – all this stuff adds up].

Thanks!

as well as heated seats, screen and mirrors, heated steering wheel and gear knob for when it’s -17 outside

but if it’s -17 outside wouldn’t you be wearing gloves?

anyway, things I’ve had on previous cars that I wouldn’t do without now:
Cruise Control
Remote controls for radio etc
central locking
decent sunblinds
parking sensors. I don’t need the assist, I can manage parking thanks, but the sensors certainly allow you to get closer to the wall / vehicle behind without actually touching

things that are handy or nice but I could do without:
heated seats
Aux/USB input for stereo system
central locking that automatically locks once you’re moving over 10mph
electric windows all round
split opening tailgate

They shouldn’t be allowed on the road if what you say is true.

Absolutely true. Just wish I’d got the phone out to youtube it.

In which case…

Google Driverless Automated driving.

A big +1 for JimJam.

I also like the childs face idea. Could also use pictures of kittens when the car senses the driver is getting a tad stressed.

Must haves:
Heated windscreen (this morning, the landy was good to go in less than 2mins, bliss)
Seat rails long enough to accommodate a 6’6″ driver
USB charging ports 2x in the front 2x in the back. Get rid of the ciggie lighter hole.
DAB radio/USB Aux/BT
Rear parking sensors. Everytime I jump in Mrs Stoner’s 2010 Passat I expect it to beep at me when Im reversing. It doesnt have a rear sensor so the silence is not in fact the all clear I expect it to be 😳

Must NOT haves:
Electronic handbrake
seat belt alarm. Just shut up will you.
Gear change advice. **** off, I’m driving, and just how well do you think this thing pulls at 30mph in 6th FFS!

Agree- with alot of the above.

Especially heated leather seats, heated mirrors, auto-lights are a boon.

The only issue is with alot of optional extras now- its alot more stuff to go wrong for a secondhand owner.

I think at that price less is more. I hire lots of cars and the company I hire from is also a dealer and the hire fleet is often made up of the top spec versions of any given model that the punter won’t pay the ticket price for – they put them on the hire fleet for a few months then sell them as nearly-new. Means I get to drive a £50k V-Class for the price of a zafira, which is nice.

The down side of that is after a 1000 miles theres always something that really irks you and its alway an add on. The electric doors on a V Class are funny once – then they really start to piss you off because they’re so slow.

One day I had to hire at short notice and stock was really low and ended up with a base model Micra (it was either that or cars that would be too expensive to fuel for the trip)- handed it back 5 days / 1000s miles later…. absolutely nothing to complain about – hours on the motorway, hours in london traffic – nothing made itself known.

Seat rails long enough to accommodate a 6’6″ driver

Not just the rail length – being able to tip the seat base down too, its not the distance from the pedals its getting support under your legs, if you can drop the rear of the seat then you’re sitting the the seat rather than just sitting on your arse. Not found a car with this feature since I had 1994 Polo

Automatic – as most folk struggle with just paying attention to the road so anything that takes away a ‘task’ is a benefit.

And 5 seats, ‘cos while mostly there is only 1 or 2 of us in there, I’ve 3 kids.

Must have
Climate control – happy to have it fixed at 18C, mind. I just like it that the screen never ever mists up.
ABS
Heated mirrors and screens. Electric passenger mirror & window. Quite happy to have manual drivers side & rear ones.
Auto dip rear view mirror.
Manual gearbox
Central locking (not bothered if it’s not remote)

Likes
Leather
rear wheel drive
Good stereo with steering wheel remote control & ipod integration. Not fussed about bluetooth, as I’d rather just not have any kind of phone stuff to deal with whilst driving.
Good, sharp, communicative steering.
Drivers side leccy window and mirror.

Very happy without.
Electric seats, cruise control, auto wipers & lights. I want to be forced to concentrate on my driving and immersed in it, not for it to feel like I’m sat in front of a boring TV program with the sound turned down and I’m about to fall asleep. Piloting a tonne of metal at 70mph should feel scary.

b r – Member

Automatic – as most folk struggle with just paying attention to the road so anything that takes away a ‘task’ is a benefit.

I disagree. In the same way that I never use cruise control, I find automatics result in a disconnect. I’m not saying automatics or cruise control are inherently dangerous but I personally find that I have to concentrate doubly hard on motorways to stop myself “zoning out” slightly for want of a better expression. Cruise control and autos makes the business or driving more comfortable, and less involving.

If you can drive a car at all, changing gear is not a distraction that takes away from the task, it’s intuitive and natural. It reminds you you’re driving.

In terms of toys or gadgets I’d have in a car I was speccing, well not many really. Heated windscreen. Remote central locking. Ipod connectivity. Power steering. ABS maybe, depending on the brakes and tyres. That’s about it really.

wheels?

i like out work VW up. there are no toys in it – its great.

oh, cup holders is the only thing i’d add to my t4.

i hate electric windows.

I disagree. In the same way that I never use cruise control, I find automatics result in a disconnect. I’m not saying automatics or cruise control are inherently dangerous but I personally find that I have to concentrate doubly hard on motorways to stop myself “zoning out” slightly for want of a better expression. Cruise control and autos makes the business or driving more comfortable, and less involving.

This – abso-bloody-lutely.

I think there would be a market for a small, light and simple car, especially for old folks.
If you put a small, efficient petrol engine in the rear then, with narrow tyres, you could dispense with power steering. By keeping it light, you could reduce the thickness of the pillars, so improving visibility. ABS is a must, but they fit it to motorbikes nowadays so it is clearly possible to make a light, efficient system. Likewise airbags- they can be made very light, no excuse for excessive weight.
As for all the extras – most are unnecessary and unwanted. Nearly everyone I talk to dislikes auto wipers and lights and everybody despises automatic handbrakes – “the answer to a question nobody asked” was how one old boy I talked to put it.
I just realised I have described a modern day Hillman Imp, or perhaps the car the new Twingo should be.

Steering wheel controls
Dab (FM is dead to me man)

Heated leather , climate control and 150+ bhp

Thinking back to my old ’96 basic spec Astra estate on which the only ‘feature’ was power steering. It had no A/C, C/L, E/L. Having had some slightly better spec’d cars since I would say those three are what I would miss most now. Not even bothered about power steering on a small car, didn’t find it an issue on my ’98 106. While that also didn’t have A/C or E/L did have C/L, which arguably would have been more useful on the 5 door estate than the 3 door hatch.

I find automatics result in a disconnect. I’m not saying automatics or cruise control are inherently dangerous but I personally find that I have to concentrate doubly hard on motorways to stop myself “zoning out” slightly for want of a better expression.

Disagree.

IMO, for town driving, auto is safer since both hands can always remain on the wheel as you’re performing manoeuvres and coming in and out of junctions etc.

For motorway driving, you’re in 5th/6th gear all the time anyway, so why would a manual be any more involving?

My last car was an auto and my current car is a manual. I prefer an auto for all but “interesting” roads or when it’s icy/snowing.