If the car has keyless ignition then it'll need a starter button.
Nope, as I said above my FocuST is keyless, not a button like the latest ones, rather a knob where the key would normally be that is only active when the key is within the perimeter of the car, means you can simply walk up to the car and open the door, get in leaving the fob in your pocket and start it.
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Our Scenic had the full keyless operation with a start/stop button. Keep the key on your person, press the clutch, click the button briefly and the car would go through the glowplug cycle (if applicable), crank the engine and fire up completely automatically.
Ours never gave a moment's trouble and I thought it was a really handy feature. As Number_Cruncher says, it's only utilising hardware and technology that has already existed in many cars for a long time, the notable exception being the substitution of the traditional mechanical steering lock with an electromechanical equivalent.
As for concerns about range, the Renault system would only allow the car to be started if the key was either inside the vehicle, or within a radius of about a metre from it. There is no way the engine would start if the key was any further away than that.
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>>substitution of the traditional mechanical steering lock with an electromechanical equivalent.
I tend to view the legal requirement for a mechanical steering lock as rather quaint. Now that cars have much stronger electronic security, what's the point?
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What legal requirement? I thought it was just an insurance thing.
And not all cars have steering locks these days. My Prius II doesn't. (Mind you, it has a transmission lock instead, being an automatic - is that why?)
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I liked the button on my Mk II Daimler V8, but it may have just have been expectation of the noise the engine made when it fired up.
I'd like one on the XJS, rather than that embarrassing Fiesta key. But again, it may just be about the sound of the high speed starter motor and the engine bursting into life. At least I hope it will if I can ever get it out of here again before the Spring.
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My latest 3 series has a button. It looks nice sitting there on the left of the steering wheel. SWMBO has a mini. That's much the same. The problem is not the button. It is the clunking great fob that replaces the key.
My previous 3 series had a key. That key was relatively large as the end you hold was full of electronics - individual memory settings, record of mileage etc for service people etc, but it was a key. That meant is was also supplied with a tiny plastic key. This tiny plastic key lived on my main house-key keyring and served as a back up if ever I lost the car keys. It would open the door and start the car.
Now, this vast fob thing that I have to carry around has a metal key inside it. You can take it out, and it will, in the event of a flat battery, open the door. Then you can stick the fob in the dash and press the button to start the car.
But I have no back-up if I lose the fob thingy! So as far as I am concerned it is a huge backward step, all in the name of being able to have a starter button.
By the way, it is not a real starter button, in that it does not simply turn the engine over. It is connected to the elctroncis, and the electronics decide whether to start the engine or not. For example in this cold weather pressing the button swtiches on the glowplugs. After some time it decides there's enough heating and the engine starts.
That bit is fine - you don't have to decide when to turn the key from "glow plugs on" to "start". The car does it for you.
This car has start-stop as well, which is great, but I will try to get something next time that gives me a backup if I lose the main key, which is bound to happen miles from home.
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Hmm. My 3 series DOES have a plastic backup key, which was supplied new with the vehicle. (Along with two electronic key fob thingies).
I think maybe you have been short-changed here.
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No advantage whatever, as far as I can see.
Early cars had to be started manually using a cranking handle
Then cars started to be fitted with electric 'self-starters' operated by a button.
Ignition keys were then introduced as a security device because cars with electric starters were very easy to steal.
Then some car makers decided make the ignition key operate the starter.
Are there any cars yet where you have to log in with a password before starting? If not, there probably will be soon!
On some old cars (thinking of Morris Minor) with a starter button, the starter worked even with the ignition turned off, although it wouldn't start the engine.
Edited by Sofa Spud on 08/01/2010 at 20:38
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I'll correct myself - it wasn't a starter button on a Morris Minor, but a pull-out knob!
There were 5 controls - from left to right - choke - wipers - key - starter - lights. WHY DO I REMEMBER THAT aaaargh!!!
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"Are there any cars yet where you have to log in with a password before starting?"
I remember a Xantia that had a keypad that required a 4 digit PIN to be entered before it would start. And I seem to remember some pug 306's also had it.
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That was the beginning of Peugeot's slow decline.
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I guess given the complexities of modern "systems" in cars, various ECUs not to mention extremely complex fuel injection systems, having a starter button gives them a moment to prime before the engine is started, with a conventional key you can shove it in and twist giving the car no chance to prime anything that may require it.
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>>No advantage whatever, as far as I can see.
>>
You can leave the fob in your pocket, walk up to the car, open the door, get in, start it and drive off, park, switch off, get out, push a small button on the door handle to lock it and walk away all without touching the fob in you pocket.
At the same time the car adjust various perameters to you preferences saved on the fob in you pocket.
My Focus ST is like this.
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And if this was only an option on your car, rather than standard, then how much would you be prepared to pay for it?
When I bought my car three years ago, this option cost over 400 pounds, and the price has gone up since! Not worth it in my opinion.
Others may think differently. Fine. Free Country (still).
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When I bought my car three years ago this option cost over 400 pounds and the price has gone up since! Not worth it in my opinion.
Surely it's standard fitting on BM's LDO, i haven't driven a new one for a couple of years without the thing except for X3 which has had a normal key in every one i've driven.
Had a 3.0Diesel X3 t'other day, thats got some serious poke and the ability to put the power down.
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didnt realise button starts gave more power
question closed then ;-)
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GB, the start/stop button is indeed standard, but "comfort access" (or whatever it is called) is extra. (This is where you can leave your keyfob in your pocket, and the car doors unlock automatically when you get in range, etc.)
No, I still have to press a button on the keyfob to unlock the doors, still have to stick the thing in a slot on the dashboard, then press the knob (no sniggering at the back, there!)
Yes, the 3.0 Diesel is very strong. I ran a 3 series with that engine for a short while, but it seemed a bit nose heavy - maybe on the X3 it is OK. In real world driving the 2.0 litre seems better balanced and has enough poke for me. The 335 is pretty sensational though. :-)
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"Are there any cars yet where you have to log in with a password before starting?" I remember a Xantia that had a keypad that required a 4 digit PIN to be entered before it would start.
And Citroën ZX.
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My 335d has a button, and as indicated already it only starts the car when it's ready. In this cold weather I've noticed on a couple of occasions it waits for a second while the glowplugs warm up before it starts. While it may be a bit of a gimmick, it doesn't bother me either way. There are more important things to worry about (like driving on ice with 280bhp going to the rear wheels!!).
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