Reflecting on my years of private motoring, I thought about the best feature of any car I've driven.
Could it be the door mirrors that auto-fold on the Peugeot 407 when I lock the car with the remote (for those urban streets)?
Or perhaps the Dolby Surround option on the Volvo S80 stereo (oh, Radio 2 was never the same again!)?
Or the solar powered aircon in the Audi S8 that keeps running after you switch your engine off?
Or the electric boot close button on the inside of the Peugeot 607 (my friends got tired of that party trick, but I didn't!)?
For me, it has to be the electric memory seat systems that store complete seat and mirror and steering wheel settings for multiple drivers. It really makes life simple if everyone in the house uses that car.
Your opinions now...
|
Best feature on my wife's 406 is it's ability to keep it's engine running after the car has been switched off & locked, just in case my wife changes her mind & decides to get back in and drive again or it might just be a fault.
|
My VW, on the door there is this plastic handle thing - you turn it one way and the window goes down. Tur nit the other way and it goes up. Brilliant, can't think why it hasn't been copied by other makes. And it works without the ignition being on.
Renault Megane - keyless entry is brilliant.
|
Quarterlights in my newly acquired MGB. Ideal for smoking small cigars while travelling at speed- all the smoke goes out, you don't get blown around.
Alex.
--
Dr Alex Mears
MG BGT 1971
If you are in a hole stop digging...unless
you are a miner.
|
This is so true - you can turn the quarter lights right round so that a lovely cool rush of air can cool you down in hot weather. They only got rid of quarter lights in cars because scum used to find them so easy to open to break in to the car.
|
|
|
Depends what you mean by a feature.
3 things I really like about my cars are
a) the engine propels them when I put my foot on the accelerator
b) the car changes direction when I turn the steering wheel
c) the car comes to a halt when I put my foot on the brake.
There are other good things, but those three are definitely the best.
:-)
|
I see 2006 brings us a wave of sarcasm ;-)
|
Steering wheel controls for the radio. Yes, I'm that easy to please.
|
Hopefully, the best thing on my new Golf will be that I won't have to visit the Main dealer for a first service until the computer says 'yes' sometime in the summer of this year or until 2 years is up, since new, i.e Dec 2006.
God knows what the condition of the super fully synthetic oil will be like then - I don't care now anyway as I'm only keeping the car until it needs its first MOT!
Yes, after 50 years of driving all I want is a reliable comfortable car and so far, I have it (fingers crossed.......)
|
|
A heated front screen. Invaluable in winter.
A small clean scarf in the glove compartment. Ideal for gagging wife.
madf
|
A clean scarf? You're spoiling her
|
|
|
Had an R type Bentley for a couple of years at the end of the sixties. I couldn't really afford it and treated it shockingly but it was a fine car with many charming features: right-hand gearchange, wonderful, mechanical brake servo, past its best and expensive to maintain, centralized chassis lubrication, wonderful if a bit messy, non-powered steering, excellent and surprisingly light, superlative warm-toned mono valve radio that took two minutes to warm up, lots of cigar lighters and reading lights, beautiful small fitted tool kit, splined 3-piece starting handle and elaborate wheel disc remover, a silk blind on the rear window which the driver could release with a loud bang startling rear-seat passengers. But is it cheating to mention Rolls-Royces?
|
|
|
I see 2006 brings us a wave of sarcasm ;-)
Facetiousness actually ;)
|
|
|
|
I had a Sierra 1.6 like that. You'd turn the engine off, get out and it was still making noises from the engine. What a terrible car that was (albeit reliable)
|
|
|
Has to be heated front seats for the cold winter mornings, best way to keep the old "farmers" at bay.
|
The best feature on one new car is usually superseded by a different feature on the next new car. The best feature on my first new car was the handbrake lever on the right of the driver's seat. The best feature of my current car is the engine's power in relation to it's capacity.
--
L\'escargot.
|
|
Ejector seat for boring passengers:-)
|
Probably something very boring like heated screen, mirrors and washer jets.
Useless for 11 months of the year but fantastic for the rest of it.
|
I love the remote boot opening button on Mercedes key fobs. Not only does the boot unlock but it swings up so you don't need to touch the lid to put your stuff in the boot. Far better than the Volvo version which simply releases the catch and the boot rises by half a centimetre.
I also love heated screens (had one years ago and think they are the dogs) and heated seats which soothe my aching back.
--
Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
|
|
On the Tourvan it has to be the
Boot that wont close, so VW introduced a warning feature. Rather than include it on the doors open warning light like the rest of the doors - The rear wash wipe wont work till you get out and slam it.
Its super winter feature is the steam cloud generator disquised as an aid to warming up the car faster. It hides the Ran in a cloud of smoke and fumes so it cant be seen.
To let you know its been raining outside, it will deposit some water down your neck (with unerring accuracy) to warn you as you leave the car.
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
TourVanMan, priceless and highly true anecdotes, I have to add that the water down your neck occurs far more often when installing the kids into the carseats..
What about the helpful car alarm, which alerts you to your neighbours returning home with their car stereo turned up, or as a traffic calming measure for fast cars as they whip past.
-------------------
VW Bora (51) 2.0 SE
VW Touran (54) 19. TDI
|
|
|
|
|
"Has to be heated front seats for the cold winter mornings"
Yeah, used mine for the first time ever this week and I?ve got to say it?s like sitting in warm diarrhoea. Not for me I?m afraid.
|
There´s a fun game you can play whilst sitting in the front, where you turn on the heated seat of the person sitting next to you and see how long it takes them to notice.
My FiL was squirming for ages before I took pity on him - he was not impressed.
Hours of motorway fun.
|
Interior lights that turn themselves off after 30 mins. Saved me at least two flat batttery problems last year.
|
Interior lights that come on when you press the unlock button.
I know that doesn't sound like much but I remember back in 2000, I was really impressed when we got the car and it did this.
Small things...
|
Interior lights that come on when you press the unlock button.
But why do you need it on before opening the door?
Best feature of my car?it cost £30-I love inexpensive motoring.
|
>>But why do you need it on before opening the door?<<
You don't. However, I was under the impression that it was brought in so that you could see any nasty people hiding in your car waiting to ambush you.
I've never had that problem yet and it's because the lights come on when I press the unlock button.
See? Another small invention that's saved my life.
|
|
|
|
"I?ve got to say it?s like sitting in warm diarrhoea"
Never experienced that myself, but I assume you have? :-)
I like warm leather seats.
But in summer I'd want a refrigeration system for cooling leather seats..
madf
|
Believe it or not, my Dad's mate's Ghia X Mondeo has air conditioned leather seats.
|
|
"But in summer I'd want a refrigeration system for cooling leather seats."
Go commando.
|
Best thing ever were the reclining seats on my fantastic Cortina 1600E. When taking a young lady out, I found them very very handy. In those days one didn't take a girl home to stay the night.
|
AH the chrome levers none of this endless twiddling on the knob.
Perfectly placed, one yank and they were down. The seat back that is.
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
My Dad's (Mazda) has that but only on the passenger seat.
|
|
Perfectly placed, one yank and they were down. The seat back that is.
------------------------------
You've got it, brilliant eh.
Oh for those days again.
|
|
|
Yes my old Citroen GS had those too - no messing about winding them down just one flick of the lever and hey presto !
|
My 98 Honda still has 'one touch' recliners. Just makes me sad to look at them now...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
I'm not sure about the best, probably the push in the back when Toad's turbo comes on song. However, one very good thing was on a Hillman Minx years ago; the heater matrix was permanently hot, and by means of flaps operated by a lever the incoming fresh air could all be passed through, or it could be completely bypassed, or anything in between. This gave one the ability to adjust the air temperature exactly as wanted and almost instantly. (Now we have to footer with climate control, getting some sort of response after a while.)
|
I'm not sure about the best, probably the push in the back when Toad's turbo comes on song. However, one very good thing was on a Hillman Minx years ago; the heater matrix was permanently hot, and by means of flaps operated by a lever the incoming fresh air could all be passed through, or it could be completely bypassed, or anything in between. This gave one the ability to adjust the air temperature exactly as wanted and almost instantly. (Now we have to footer with climate control, getting some sort of response after a while.)
Peugeot 205 diesel inherited from my father was like that too, but it also had the peculiarity that the fan could not be turned off, just down to a silent level, with the result that it lunched itself before one would have expected, with dramatic stench and smoke.
|
My sound system with multi band radio, cassette player and a 5 slot CD player, all in the dash
|
|
|
A most useful feature is the ability to instantly check oil level on the move ( by means of the petrol gauge ) at the press of a button.
What latest model features that, it might be asked....yes there are some I know, MB?, but this feature is found on my 46yo P4!
The most frivolous fun feature that I rarely used was an opening windscreen, yes you heard me correctly, on an early E93A Ford Prefect
----------------------------------------------
One mans junk is another mans treasure
|
Useful in the tropics, those opening windscreens, in the days when people didn't mind a few insects in their teeth. In Ceylon in the late 1940s my father, who worked for the admiralty, had a Humber Snipe with such a windscreen. It also had fat desert tyres, girders for bumpers and a fetching matt-grey finish except on the radiator grille, which navy chauffeurs had lovingly scraped down to polished brass. Went like the wind, handled well by the standards of the day and was by far the best-looking motor I can remember. It was replaced by a Hillman Minx, same sort of windscreen but a big blow to me at age 10.
|
"A most useful feature is the ability to instantly check oil level on the move ( by means of the petrol gauge ) at the press of a button."
46 year old P4.. Humph my 1946 Rover 16 had that.
And it had automatically extended relay operated flashers which extended out from the car making it clear to cars in front, behind or at the side that you were turning direction.. or semaphore indicators...
madf
|
My 1938 Wolseley 12 had a hydraulic 'jackall' system by which, from inside the car you could jack up the front wheels, the back wheels or all four. Very handy for charging the numerous grease nipples; and punctures of course.
|
Never owned one, but loved the transparent thermometer dial with needle, worked by a bimetallic strip in the water, on the radiator cap of I think late-20s and early-30s Morrises.
|
|
Auto wipers gets it for me. I was half way into a 100 mile trip and I was suddenly gripped with this terrible, sickly nausia - hot and cold sweats, closing vision, but there was no hard shoulder, it was pitch black, blowing a gale and conditions were awful. Every truck I passed threw up standing water from the "tramlines", I had no physical or mental energy to do anything but steer and if it wasn?t for the car clearing it?s own windscreen (and regulating it?s own speed) I swear I?d be brown bread by now.
|
My Toyota Carina II had a light around the ignition barrel.
This certainly made life easier in the dark when scrabbling around trying to insert the key.
|
|
|
|
|
|
I love the diesel engine in my new car, the new found ability to drive hundreds of miles on a single tank of fuel and not having to refuel every few days.
|
|
In no particular order, my favourites are:
The extra little sun-visor in the A4, behind the rear view mirror
The electric lifting roller-blind in the E class estate
The two sun-visors for the driver in the E class, so you can cover the top of the side window and the windscreen
The Renault hands-free card
Auto folding mirrors that fold/unfold when the car is locked/unlocked - again MB
Clocks that correct themselves for BST - I think Vauxhall were the first, but others followed
I'm sure there are more...
Peter
|
Well of course I am stupid;I forgot the most obvious best feature of my present and previous car and that is the sole addition that has made motoring civilised for me. Most of us have forgotten about it, or now take it for granted and that is, AIR CONDITIONING in its various guises.
How many of we car owners, with that feature as standard, now remember what is like to drive in a metal can with glass all around, with outside temperature in excess of, say, 25 degrees celcius?
|
A hand throttle!
My 1930 Morgan has one and it is astonishing easy to get used to, and much more relaxed to use. Ok so it would be better if the car had a throttle pedal as well, but we musn't get to decadant! :o)
|
The 3 litre diesel engine that has performance reminiscent of my V8 Mustang GT, with more than twice the fuel economy...the Mustang smoked more too.
Auto wipers. When I first bought the car I dismissed this as a gimmick, but when driving along it helps that the wipers speed up when that puddle you hit covers the windscreen and you don't have to think about reaching over and increasing wipe speed. No dry swipes when the rainfall eases before you get around to reducing or switching off wipers.
The Auto lights are still relegated to gimmick status so I don't activate those.
|
|
Well of course I am stupid;I forgot the most obvious best feature of my present car
>>
Much as I enjoy A/C for the first time in my own car, I vote for..
The safety interlocks of the auto gearbox.
Select Park to release the ignition key. Thus ensuring the gearbox is locked and parked before next starting the engine.
Having to put the foot brake on before moving the selector from Park.
In addition an audible alarm if things are not safe or the correct sequence was not observed.
I like to think I might not need these interlocks but they do reduce the risks of getting things wrong for many many drivers.
|
|
|
|
Auto-dipping rearview mirror. Especially with the height of most SUV headlights nowadays.
Kevin...
|
|
Undoubtedly the powered liftgate on my Chrysler Pacifica. I love plipping my remote (is that a word) and watching it crank up under its own power, filling it with shopping, then "plip" and it closes itself again. Excellent.
|
Best general motoring feature got to be GPS my tom tom one is excelent. Personaly I like the dash board change on most vans and the electric hanbrake on the new disco
|
|
|
It's just a little feature, but I've really learnt to appreciate the function on my Nissan QX to alter the timing of the intermittent wiper setting.
It's so satisfying to get it just right and not be constantly turning the wipers on and off to avoid the awful squeaking noise.
Do most new cars have this now?
|
The best feature of any car I have driven was the 3 litre turbodiesel engine capable of both doing over 40mpg and leaving everyone else on the Motorway for dead, although presumably not at the same time.
|
|
It's just a little feature, but I've really learnt to appreciate the function on my Nissan QX to alter the timing of the intermittent wiper setting. It's so satisfying to get it just right and not be constantly turning the wipers on and off to avoid the awful squeaking noise. Do most new cars have this now?
Yes, almost universal now. A 1980 Ford Escort of ours had it so it's not a new idea at all.
|
|
It's just a little feature, but I've really learnt to appreciate the function on my Nissan QX to alter the timing of the intermittent wiper setting. It's so satisfying to get it just right and not be constantly turning the wipers on and off to avoid the awful squeaking noise. Do most new cars have this now?
My E34 had it but it was a pain to operate. Something along the lines of:
switch on the wipers
push the lever downwards
switch them off again
wait until the amount of time you want between wipes has passed
switch on again
Can't remember exactly, but it was a pain. My Galant now has a little selector on the stalk with 5 settings. Much easier.
I also echo the light around the ignition barrel - it's very useful.
|
Ford Fiesta has programmable intermittent wipe.. so easy even I can remember it..
madf
|
|
My E34 had it but it was a pain to operate. Something along the lines of: switch on the wipers push the lever downwards switch them off again wait until the amount of time you want between wipes has passed switch on again
Yes, that how you set the required interval.... but did you know that the car automatically doubles the "user" set interval time when the car is stationary?
Great detail.
|
Yes, that how you set the required interval.... but did you know that the car automatically doubles the "user" set interval time when the car is stationary? Great detail.
I never noticed that. I did notice that it used to switch from normal wipe to intermittent when I was waiting at traffic lights or something. That was a nice touch.
|
|
|
|
|
I've never had a car with most of the gadgets mentioned here so i'm easier to please but here's a very simple one that still makes me smile
A 92 Granada estate i owned, had a feature where by if the wipers were running and you engage reverse the rear wiper automaticaly comes on. Move on a few years an when bought my present car, a Rover 75 Tourer last year... hey presto it has this feature.. Yes it still brings a smile to my face.... Told you i was easy to please!
|
I once had a Megane that switiched on the bidet automatically when reversing. I always assumed that it was a typical French electrical fault... [ducks]
|
I quite like the 'follow me home' headlights on the Megane as well.
|
|
|
I've never had a car with most of the gadgets mentioned here so i'm easier to please but here's a very simple one that still makes me smile A 92 Granada estate i owned, had a feature where by if the wipers were running and you engage reverse the rear wiper automaticaly comes on. Move on a few years an when bought my present car, a Rover 75 Tourer last year... hey presto it has this feature.. Yes it still brings a smile to my face.... Told you i was easy to please!
I have this on my Berlingo. I don't like it. If I want to put on my rear wiper, I'll do it myself, thanks very much.
I don't like the lights that remain on after I've left the car and locked it. They make me wonder if I've left a light on. I'm clearly a true luddite.
(The one feature my cars don't have that I would like is an outside temperature thermometer.)
|
(The one feature my cars don't have that I would like is an outside temperature thermometer.)
My car has a thermometer, but it doesnt seem to be very accurate. When compared with a thermometer I've got at home it sometimes reads 2 to 3'c warmer, but the one in the house is a cheap one so I dont know which one is more accurate.
Best features for me are heated seats in winter, and air conditioning in summer.
|
|
|
|
Gadgets on my car, and my appraisal thereof:
Climate control - no idea how I coped without it
Heated seats - fun on occasion but rarely used
Electric seats - a pain because none of my passengers can work out how to use them
Cruise control - seems to simply be a Murphy's law activation switch. The moment I switch it on something happens that means I have to slow down
Headlight washers - very handy on dirty roads. I'm surprised they're not fitted as standard
Auto down/up windows - useful when you're approaching a toll booth or something and you have 101 other things to think about
Variable intermittent wipers - a godsend
Remote locking - old technology now, but very useful
Other nice touches are:
A hook on the boot floor so you can clip it up if you need to access the spare wheel
A spare wheel (full size)
A light in the centre armrest cubby so you can see what's in it at night
A closable cubby for coins that's foamy inside so the change doesn't rattle or slide around
My favourite feature though, is the button under the accelerator that forces a 2nd kickdown if you need one.
|
One car comes with a curry bag hook. Anyone know which one it is? Marketing brilliance that one.
|
One car comes with a curry bag hook. Anyone know which one it is? Marketing brilliance that one.
That'll be the '99 on Nissan Almera, currently being debated elsewhere.
Surely other cars have got curry hooks by now?
I remember that the Skoda Superb has an umbrella in a cubby hole in the rear door. How many second / third owners get to see the umbrella i wonder?
|
Global opening / closing. It's a hot day so you poke the remote key at the lounge window, all the car's windows and sunroof open, you get in car 10 mins later and it has cooled off nicely.
You get back home, you leave the sun roof tilted and the windows slightly down, later on you realise that you don't need the car again, no problem, just poke the remote at the car again and all windows and sunroof shut.
|
|
|
One car comes with a curry bag hook.
Ford Transit Connect has one.
|
Audi A3 has one - on a visit to the factory the Germans couldn't understand why the Brits called it a 'curry hook', they call it a 'shopping bag hangar' or something similar.
|
The UK Almera comes with a curry bag hook.
The Italian Almera comes with a handbag hook.
The hooks look remarkably similar.
|
My Nissan Sunny came with an Intelligent Rear Bumper (in othe words, one which was very loosely attached to the car).
This multifunction device served for two important tasks.
The first was that when the rear fog light failed during the MoT test, the garage only needed to kick the loose bumper around a bit before the light came on again. Saved a fortune in reapair costs.
But the really important gain from this advanced feature was in touch sensitive parking. When reversed into a stationary object (wall, other car, bollard, lamp post, etc) the loose bumper responded to the impact with a loud rattle. This was just as effective as those fancy electronic parking sensors they fit on newer cars, and much more reliable.
|
I am truly amazed at all the different features available on cars. Wow!
|
|
> My Nissan Sunny came with an Intelligent Rear Bumper..
Mmmm,
now I understand why you try to defend speed cameras. They don't detect unroadworthy cars do they?
Kevin...
|
Come on Kevin,
creeping over the speed limit is far more dangerous than an entire bumper falling off a car at high speed, smashing into a car behind and casusing a multi-car pile up.
Isn't it?
|
>falling off a car at high speed,..
High speed?
NoWheels would never drive at 'high speed'. Just pray that all the pedestrians can jump pretty high when they see a flailing rear bumper being driven past them at 29mph.
Kevin...
|
|
|
|
Buy 20p hook from Wilko,peel off plastic backing,stick it where you like,instant modernisation of older car:)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Two reversing lights! A godsend for reversing in the dark!
Heated windscreen - a must have.
A carburettor which won't go into limp home mode!
--------------
Mike Farrow
|
errrrrrrrm, best feature any of my cars have had....... was a very accomodating girlfriend! few years ago tho!
|
Not sure it's the best feature, but it's good anyway. Whenever the headlights are first turned on, they always default to the dipped setting. Also, if you're on main beam you can dip the headlights by moving the stalk in either direction.
|
|
|
heated seats, without a doubt.
Or maybe climate control. Ask me again in the summer!
John
|
Heated front screen for me too.
|
The way the instruments all swing a full arc when you turn on the ignition in my Leggy :o)
|
They do that in my Focus but it means the battery's knackered!
|
Centre arm rests. I?ve no idea where my arms used to go, but I hate driving cars without them now.
|
I don't have an arm rest so I just fold mine.
|
I bet you drive along, scratching yourself
|
I do actually.
That reminds me - on the subject of car features, does anyone know of a car that would let me plug my electric shaver into the cig lighter socket? It's becoming really annoying when it cuts out on the way to Uni.
|
Surely the best feature of modern cars is reliability - always starts.
However, the (second) best feature of my car is to be able to get all four instruments with their needles vertical at the same time - Temperature normal, tank half full, revs 4000 and speed 80 (auto, so you can vary the ratio) and the icing is when at the same time as this the miles from the last fill exactly equals the computed forecast of miles left in tank.
I am not quite the techno junkie this seems to make me!
|
As someone who often rides a motorbike, the best features of my car at this time of year are the heater, roof and windscreen wipers.
Instead of all the little gadgets, I'd rather the manufacturers created a number of standard interfaces:
A universal mobile phone dock
A universal mp3 player dock
A universal satnav/GPS dock
...in each case wired to the stereo and (if the car has them) steering wheel/column mounted stereo controls. I realise this means that the electronics manufacturers will need to agree a few standards but it would be worth it to us consumers.
|
|
Another vote for the Dolby Surround stereo systems on Volvo. Just simply fantastic on long journeys.
Oh yes and heated seats (particularly in my open top MX5 as I can still drive in winter with the roof down on frosty mornings), and auto wipers.
|
|
A simple car gives simple features, so here goes:
The heater! Has a similar heat output as a 2000w heat gun and can thus melt your nylon socks in 10 seconds flat. Of all the cars we've had at the same time as the Polo, none have ever had anywhere near the output. All of that at the same time as cool air to the face.
Parcel shelf storage. Unclip rear seat backrest and slide shelf in the resulting gap, re-clip backrest into place. Means you can carry tall objects in the boot as well as rear seat passengers.
erm.....reversible screwdriver in the base of the wheel nut wrench....yep that?s about all of the nifty features...
|
Rust is quite a good design feature because it enhances the global car fleet's inbuilt updating process.
Cheers, SS
|
Rust is quite a good design feature because it enhances the global car fleet's inbuilt updating process. Cheers, SS
Just so, tee-hee, but don't forget the role of the Average Owner who revs cold engines, only does short journeys in town, never changes oil or filters and damages tyres and other bits against kerbs... of course he or she is just an aftermarket add-on.
|
|
|
Best feature or over engineered feature?.For me other than "luxury" items i.e elecctric windows,stereo etc. the best feature has to be Audible "lights left on" warning.Had a few flat batteries in the past.
|
the best feature has to be Audible"lights left on" warning.Had a few flat batteries in the past.
Good point. I'd forgotten about that one
|
|
>>..the best feature has to be Audible "lights left on" warning.Had a few flat batteries in the past.
>>
Unless you have the Ford Focus / Mondeo "design".
This is positioned so that the right knee can turn the switch to the "parking lights" position so no buzzer but the risk of a flat battery reappears.
|
speaking of lights. Best feature I can think of is the foglight switch on VAG cars integrated with the main lights, so that when you switch off the main lights, the fog-lights are automatically switched off.
I'm irritated (and blinded) when I see fog-lights on clear evenings on other non-VAG cars, TURN THEM OFF!!!!!
-------------------
VW Bora (51) 2.0 SE
VW Touran (54) 19. TDI
|
My eight year old Citroen does that.
|
As does mine.
Pity that Ford couldn't make it that you could switch the rear fog lights on independently to the front sporty ones though!
|
Silly Dave. The rear ones on mine are sporty too so I don't have that problem!
|
|
|
|
Well being a typical woman, i have to say that the best feature on my car is the boot space! there's loads of room on my peugeot 306 and it's amazing how much stuff i can fit in it. much more space than my previous cars
|
|