A friend called round the other evening, in his newish Ford Fiesta Ghia. He was worried that an unmarked warning light came on, and as he had not studied the manual well enough, was puzzled. The car was going well, and there was the frost warning light on. It turned out that the yellow light was telling him there was a message on the LCD panel near the speedo, and this was yet another reminder that the weather was cold. Three things to let you know it's a cold evening.
He asked his father if he ever managed to ride his BSA sidecar outfit in the cold, and he said he always knew when it was cold, and that there was a possibility of ice on the road. I cold tell if I was riding my motorcycle on black ice, because the tyres went quiet. By looking at the layout of the road and the country around you can surely guess where there is a frost hollow, such as on the A1 going down to the services near Grantham.
Is mankind becoming more and more dumb ?
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my last cmax had a very annoying habit of making a dong noise about everything. but the worst was in the cold when the noise was every minute and god forbid if you then let the fuel go low and let the washer bottle go low as id get a noise every 20 secs or so and was one of the main reasons it had to go. i really hated that car with a vengeance
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When I returned to the UK the first Volvo I bought had an outside temperature guage. I found it soo useful that I have had one on every car since. Postie has overlooked the difference between riding a bike and sitting inside a car with a lovely warm interior.
I remember detaching the brake cable to my sidecar wheel in snowy/icey conditions the early '50s When it was working the combo tended to skid sideways. Without it the skid would be in a straight line. With a bit of foresight that was enough to keep you safe (i.e., watch where you are going).
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O,
yes, and taking less responsibility for their own actions. Sounds like the frost warning light is a distraction though. My Passat goes "bong" and then leaves a discrete snow flake symbol showing next to the outside temperature. It does go off at 4C though which seems excessive. My Xantia used to shout at 3C. It's basically a good idea but it sounds like Ford have over egged it. How did we ever manage in Morris Minors and Hillman Imps and the like? Oh yes, we looked at the road and felt the steering and brakes! Falling over on your way to the car was a bit of a giveaway too.
JH
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My car has none of that nonsense - but it has a fuel light that silently comes on when you turn right with a quarter-tank left, and goes off again when you turn left - absolutely useless. The most useful light is the one that comes on when one door isn't properly shut - the increased roadnoise obviously isn't a clue to some people. My girlfriend's Clio however bongs every time you manoeuvre at 2mph without a seatbeat on, but doesn't seem to bong when the fuel gets low(!!). People come to rely on their car going bong whenever something wrong - I say remove everything except the fuel & temp guages, oil pressure and charging lights. Then watch all the idiots on the hard-shoulder because their car didn't tell them to fill it up. ;-)
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I suppose a light that came on to warn you that you were an idiot would be bad for sales, unless it was called something else. The 'vehicle anxiety warning' perhaps.
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Lud,
interesting idea. If a car can adapt to your driving (whizzy Porsches and the like with their adaptive this, that and the other) then maybe they can work out that your driving is, errr, not up to scratch, tell you so, go "bong" and switch off?
JH
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driving is, errr, not up to scratch, tell you so, go "bong" and switch off?
Oh yes - what an idea !
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Oh crumbs, delete it before someone in the government reads it. Bu then, they've probably thought of it already :-(
JH
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Oh crumbs, delete it before someone in the government reads it. Bu then, they've probably thought of it already :-( JH
They have of course JH, or as good as, or the safety wonks BACKED BY MEMBERS OF THIS FORUM have, by giving any credence to the idea that cars should be speed-limited by satellite dictatorship as and when they arrive in a lower speed limit area.
Yes I was shouting, for good reason.
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driving is, errr, not up to scratch, tell you so, go "bong" and switch off? Oh yes - what an idea !
Too late, already fitted. Its called the "Traction control" light, or ESP to some.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Well at 26 I seem to be a lot dumber than most of you. On my pushbike I have fallen down about 10 times due to frozen roads but then again, that was 5 years ago, when working at Bassets and had to be in for 6 AM. I still have a scar on my thumb where I cut it falling off on an icy road. All I have to say is thank god for 4 wheels. When on a bike when 2 wheels go you are a gonna, in a car all 4 wheels must go. That did not stop me from doing a 270 in a cavalier about 4 years ago which scared me a little though. My next car will be speced with ESP after going down a very slippy road after a cold night and skidding down a hill. - Yes the next generation is stupider.
Torque means nothing without RPM
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>>>My next car will be specced with ESP>>
Does that mean Extra Sensory Perception? Very handy!
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My works car a couple of years ago had lights and bongs for anything and everything.
My cars have the mandatory lights for fuel low, brake, door ajar and, quite a useful one which MANY manufacturers omit, which lights up when the screenwash is about to run out (this is far more useful than any temperature gauge light, as it's a safety item and one where the first you know that you're running short normally is when you run out, and I use the jets all the time as I am picky about the windscreen being spotless). And pretty much nowt else.
I really can't say I miss the on-board computer telling me everything.
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So, why is it then that some manufacturers load their cars with so many sensors and displays, and then miss something as obvious as the screenwash example above? Baffling.
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Wasn't it a Triumph that had a switch to turn on all the warning lights so that you could see that they were all working.As for screenwash,a number of cars fail MOT because of lack of screenwash.
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Yes - the Triumph's warning lights were a work of automotive art. The circular dial, bang in the middle of the dash with pie shapped warning lights of different colours (with beautiful proper English graphics), a true ergonomic design. Briliant bit of kit.
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The choke light was a bit bright though Pugugly {P}
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Ah but that was the beauty of it ! SWMBO had a twin carb'd version, never used the choke, prime the carbs by floorig the throttle a couple of times and it always started regardless of the weather.
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