...the ability to lower the windows with the remote on these warm days...
The Mini did this, but you couldn't then raise them again with the remote without putting it in the door (unlike, say an Alfa 147). Better still, if you sat on the remote when it was in your pocket, it would unlock the doors and then open the windows. After a while it would realise you'd not actually opened a door and lock them again. Not much use with the windows wide open though.....
One of my favourite touches is an arrow on the fuel guage showing the side of the filler cap. - Fuel range on the trip computer is a great invention too.
-- Lee .. A festivus for the rest of us.
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The easily accessible gearbox dipstick on Subaru Legacies.
The indicator/lights/wiper controls on the early Citroen CX, all on pods you could reach with one finger with your hand on the wheel.
Non-self-cancelling indicators on Citroens.
The hydraulic suspension on Citroens, especially the earlier ones, nice to be able to increase the ride height for floods or rough ground and so comfortable.
Interior boot and fuel cap releases on many cars.
The big door pockets on Mk1 minis.
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From my Fiat Coupe:
Aesthetic:
Motorbike style filler cap
The badge on the B-piller saying '20V turbo' has a swoosh across it. (that's not the neat bit). The swoosh is body coloured (that's the good bit. You probably have to see it)
FM aerial is the top two lines of the heating element, meaning no scruffy external aerial.
Mrs Bangles bottom (I might have to explain this, but let's see if anyone gets it)
Hidden door handles
Body coloured dash panel
Those wheel arch slashes
Functional:
Gas stay bonnet struts
6th gear
max-defrost setting on the air-con. one switch and it does all the settings for instant windscreen clearing.
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I always thought the petrol filler cap behind the number plate on early 60s Zephyrs pretty neat.
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Renault keyless entry. I thought at first it was just a gimmick but now I wouldn't want to be without it. I find having to use keys on my VW a real bore. Kids love the keyless entry, they rush up to the car to be the first to place their hand on the handle to unlock it and then argue over who gets to press the button on the dashboard...
Now other manufacturers are copying it.
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* One of my Dad's mates bought a Scenic and showed me the card - I was fascinated with it! So yes - that goes in.
* Global closing. Now I should point out, despite mine being a Ghia, Ford decided there were two levels of Ghia - the good one and the bad one. It looks like I got the bad one so I don't actually have this but holding the lock button in would close all the windows and holding the open button down would open all of the windows. That would look pretty cool when walking up to your car.
* The Merc habit of putting that computer in the middle of the dial.
* The Merc habit of pressing unlock and every light in the entire car lighting up
* The Merc habit of on an estate when you press the boot opn button the parcel shelf retracts electronically
* The way the boot button on a Renault is the middle bit of the.."diamond".
*The way on a lot of Japanese cars you have an ignition light to show you where to point the key. You wouldn't think this would be useful but at night, it's great!
* They way on a Merc (estate but I guess the saloon has it) that you can press a button and all of the rear head restraints pop down.
As you can tell, I'm easily impressed!
--
Adam
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I like the way the interior lights come on when I unlock the doors.
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>>so I don't actually have this
I think that's programmable/selectable. Have you checked ?
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I was told you needed 4 electric windows. Being the LX side of Ghia - I don't have them.
I'd be your best friend forever if you were right though.
--
Adam
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>>I'd be your best friend forever if you were right though.
I'm wrong. Really, really, I'm wrong. Please God, I'm wrong.
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> I was told you needed 4 electric windows. Being the LX side of Ghia - I don't have them.I'd be your best friend forever if you were right though. -- Adam
I don't think the all round electrics and global closing were brought into effect until the 2001 facelift mate. Neither was standard CD player, Alloy wheels, or even body coloured handles... :-)
"LX side of Ghia" is probably the best way I've ever heard the old Focus Ghia described!
Blue
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>>
Now other manufacturers are copying it>>
I've been driving various Mercedes S-Class models with this feature for several years.
Love asking people to open their door and, when they can't, watch their faces when I walk up and am able to do so.
The credit card sized "key" can be programmed to allow only the driver's door to be opened or all four, which is similar to the feature on my VW Bora's remote control.
But I do find nearside door mirrors that swivel to show the nearside kerb when reverse gear is engaged extremely annoying....
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Stuart's just reminded me.
I like the lights in the Merc wingmirrors
I like the way the wingmirrors fold in when you get out of the car
That's it....for now.
--
Adam
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Additional functional ones which I'd forgotten:
When you unlock the car the interior lights comeo on, and they stay on until you turn the key in the ignition.
The headlight system, which seems to be common to Italian cars. I have no idea why others don't use this, as it seems by far the most sensible system. If you turn the ignition off, the headlights turn off with it. No intensely irritating buzzer, and no flat batteries. If you want to leave parking lights on, just press a thumb button and turn the key back one extra space, and you can, but it makes it utterly impossible to accidentally leave the lights on, and of course (I can not overstate this) avoids that ANNOYING buzzer.
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My mate's Brava has that.
Needless to say, that impressed me too.
--
Adam
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I always found the chiming quite soothing. Like someone tapping a goldfish bowl when I leave my lights on. Bong....bong....bong....
The only trouble is, it bongs for so many different things I usually just ignore it.
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Having driven a Galant in both the US and the UK, here's something I noticed:
In the US they bong all over the place. If you put the key in the ignition before you close the door (which I do for the sake of somewhere to put the key) they bong to let you know the door's open. If you turn the key to the "on" position before fastening your seatbelt, they bong to let you know your seatbelt is unfastened. If you get out the car with the lights on, guess what?
In the UK there's the headlight warning, but that's it.
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They've had that for ages haven't then.
Beverly Hills Cop 1984 ish? Rosewood in that nice yellow Ford when he's on the stakeout.
Bong! Bong! Bong! Seems it was bonging to let him know he'd opened the door.
I pick up on these silly things.
--
Adam
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The hidden rear door handles of my 156
Also, when you turn the engine off, the elec windows remain active for a minute or so, to close window if you or anyone else has forgotten.
Also, radio goes off with engine but you can then turn it back on without turning ignition back on, simple yet effective.
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Might be simple, but I like the 3 blips of the indicator for one push of the stalk in my Audi. Really struggle in other cars to keep my finger on it.
Couldn't ever have another car without a central arm rest either, although I tend to lean into the middle now.
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My Sony radio beeps at me to remind me to remove the face when leaving the car.
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Mine did that.
I ignored it.
It got nicked.
--
Adam
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Well, the car's going to be in Leeds again this year, so I'll be taking my chances even with the face removed. I didn't bother fixing the radio firmly in place, with a firm pull it'll slide right out.
Theory being I'd rather lose the radio than half the dash.
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It was the same with mine David. Having a stupid Ford stereo, I needed to get the fascia adapter which never sat flush with the dash. The lad tried started with a screwdriver but it would have slid right out without much effort anyway. He did damage the dash before he realised though.
Still - I learnt a lesson. I'll never specify an alarm as an option on any car. It was blazing away and no-one did anything!
--
Adam
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Nah, the ideal security system (if you're very rich) is to set the airbags to deploy if the radio is removed while the alarm is sounding...
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Waste of a good airbag. Simply put spikes there instead.
--
Adam
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What would be the legality of putting something lethal in your car? A bit like the airbag idea but with chlorine gas or something. When a thief is stealing the radio the doors slam shut and the car fills with poison? You put a sign on each window that says "Caution... breaking into this car will release a deadly dose of chorine gas. By breaking in you willfully acknowledge that you are committing suicide."
By providing the mechanism for someone to kill themselves and letting them know that misuse will kill them, are you liable for their death?
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I remember in a Business Studies lesson a few years ago we were given a sheet of silly lawsuits. The closest one I can think of was a burglar scaling the roof of a house he was about to do over.
He fell through and landed on a kitchen knife effectively stabbing himself.
He sued the houseowner and won.
On a different note but more motoring oriented, there was one of a bloke who bought a Winnebago. (no idea how you spell it). Anyway, he's driving along, decides to get up and roast a few chestnuts or whatever over his in-built fireplace. Unsurprisingly, the behemoth careered off the road.
He sued the Winnebago company and won forcing an addition to the manual saying something along the lines of "Please note - DO NOT leave the wheel of the vehicle when it is in motion".
I know I know. Those crazy Americans.
--
Adam
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I remember in a Business Studies lesson a few years ago we were given a sheet of silly lawsuits. The closest one I can think of was a burglar scaling the roof of a house he was about to do over. He fell through and landed on a kitchen knife effectively stabbing himself. He sued the houseowner and won.
That'll be the Occupiers Liability Act then
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The hidden rear door handles of my 156
Now that is one I dont like, interesting that they have gone back to conventional handles on the beautiful 159.
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Re auto dimming rear view mirror, on the Mondeo you can switch it off.
Re radios, I like the way that some switch off if left on, I have put the Mondeo radio/CD on while cleaning the car (no key needed), if I forget to turn it off it switches off after an hour unless adjusted in the mean time, i.e. volume etc, the time frame can be adjusted throgh the menu.
I also thing the random play CD (shuffle) is great, I have that at home and missed it in the car before I got the Mondeo.
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2 on the Xantia, the dipping door mirror on the passenger side and the simple plastic clip on the windscreen surround to hold car park tickets.
The mirror trick is only useful after you remember to look directly behind as well, and not just stare into it----
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One I recently discovered on my 1990 Honda Prelude:
If the electric aerial is up, pulling the internal boot release makes the aerial retract. Then when the boot is closed the aerial reappears!
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Just great if you are listening to the test match while the wife is loading the boot!
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Sounds like a fix for poor positioning of the aerial in the first place ;)
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Never used it - just tested it when I read the manual, but the Punto has "follow me home"
I thought it meant you could not leave it in a carpark, but it really means that when you turn off the headlights, you can pull the light stalk several times, and the more times you pull it, the longer the lights stay on so you can get into the front door safely. Nice touch.
I DO like the "finishing wipe" on Punto HLX's
I quite liked the rain sensing windscreen wipers on the 406, but they would usually go off when I went into a tunnel.. Ah, the fun we had!
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Back in the late 80's (1989?) A friend's dad bought some car from the US of A, brand new and shipped it to the UK. (About 30,000 USD)
I recall it had keypad entry (wow!), dipping rear mirror (hmm), and, the one that got me, automatic seatbelts! On an arm that came from somewhere and belted you one.
Think it might have been a Ford something..
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Heated washer nozzles - should be standard safety eqpt on every car.
On a Focus, little flaps that rotated down from the sides of headrests so that you could go the sleep without getting a stiff neck, so simple.
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On a Focus, little flaps that rotated down from the sides of headrests so that you could go the sleep without getting a stiff neck, so simple.
Urm. Not on the driver's seat, surely?
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The mini sun visor on Audis that fills the gap above the rear view mirror for those times when having both visors down doesn't block out the sun.
I'm also a fan of 'curry hooks'.
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The mini sun visor on Audis that fills the gap above the rear view mirror for those times when having both visors down doesn't block out the sun.
That's in the Octavia too
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>>That's in the Octavia too>>
...and the Bora....
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simple yet effective.>>
Back to my 1999 Bora (and presumably Golfs as well), the electric windows front and rear can be operated after the ignition has been switched off for up to 10 minutes unless a door has been opened (they can also be closed or opened with the key in the driver or passenger's door locks); the Gamma sound system goes off with the ignition, but can then be turned on again with a push of the volume control knob if necessary.
It would seem there's nothing new under the sun but they do make life a little more pleasant...:-)
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One annoying aspect of the Bora - not sure if it also relates to Golfs - is just how low the front air dam is above ground level.
Even a modest speed bump can bring the grinding/scraping of plastic on rough edged speed bumps, no matter how slowly they are taken; using some roads in our area which have the bigger bumps over a fair distance brings undisguised reactions from drivers held up behind as I carefully negotiate each bump.
Trouble is that there's not always an alternative route to get to where I want to go.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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One annoying aspect of the Bora - not sure if it also relates to Golfs - is just how low the front air dam is above ground level.
Sorry to sound like a broken record, but my Octavia did this as well, really annoying and quite unnerving until you realise that it's only the sump guard being battered.
Huge boot though. Massive.
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>>Huge boot though. Massive>>
Yes, but even then doesn't come near the Jetta or the Seat Toledo based on the same chassis - 23cu ft of space.
I sometimes used to have to climb into the boot of two Jettas I had over 11 years to get at small items lodged at the base of the rear seat.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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E34Kid, you're right about American cars "bonging". You get a bong for everything.
What I really like on my Chrysler Pacifica, is you press a button on the key, and the tailgate bongs twice (of course) and then slowly raises itself up. Great when you have a couple of handfuls of kids/shopping.
And when closing it there's no need to slam, you just lower it and you can hear the motors whirring as it closes and locks itself.
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The headlight system, which seems to be common to Italian cars. I have no idea why others don't use this, as it seems by far the most sensible system. If you turn the ignition off, the headlights turn off with it. No intensely irritating buzzer, and no flat batteries. If you want to leave parking lights on, just press a thumb button and turn the key back one extra space, and you can, but it makes it utterly impossible to accidentally leave the lights on, and of course (I can not overstate this) avoids that ANNOYING buzzer.
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I hated this dangerous feature in the UNO
I want to control when I switch off ALL the lights.
I do not want to fiddle about putting side lights back on.
plus why did they leave the dash lights on when using the parking mode. More Italian logic?
I do not want someone ramming me up the tail.
My old Sierra just switched off the headlights when the igition was turned off.
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As a Fiat Coupe owner myself,I know the answer to this one,but promise not to shed any light on it!!
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Sorry BazzaBear,I meant the bit about Mrs Bangle`s bottom.
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Bazza
Mrs Bangle's bottom?
Got to be the shape of those light covers hasn't it?
JS
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