Progress? Or not?

[Vista]

Hire car in Italy last week compared to my older toy things.  Bloody thing needed a masters degree in technobabble to do anything! Kept trying to steer itself with no clear way of turning lane keeping off, headlights flashing on and off full beam uncommanded, irritating bongs with no plausible explanation as to what they meant. Hateful piece of 💩! 

Progress in terms of comfort? Yes, grudginly. But in other respects? All of the others pictured are more fun to use and more rewarding to drive.

 

[Nige65]

I agree, my job requires me to use hire cars and I hate them, had a Kia Sportage recently that kept telling me what I was doing, put the wipers on so the rev counter would disappear and in it's place a message that I had 'put the wipers on' etc, etc., no handbrake either!

Last car was a small Peugeot (can't even be bothered to learn what model it was), like other cars, the rev counter was on the wrong side and it operated anti-clockwise.

Like you, the more simple the better, my 65 Focus ST is just at my limit of technology, I only need what is required for me to be in control, none of this automatic stuff!

Rant over, glad I got an older car to play with, details to follow 😉

[Ray]

1 hour ago, Nige65 said:

 

Like you, the more simple the better, my 65 Focus ST is just at my limit of technology, I only need what is required for me to be in control, none of this automatic stuff!

Rant over, glad I got an older car to play with, details to follow 😉

from where i sit, glad to remember the older car was fun back in the day, youngsters today just dont understand that bit

[Vista]

1 hour ago, Nige65 said:

I agree, my job requires me to use hire cars and I hate them, had a Kia Sportage recently that kept telling me what I was doing, put the wipers on so the rev counter would disappear and in it's place a message that I had 'put the wipers on' etc, etc., no handbrake either!

Last car was a small Peugeot (can't even be bothered to learn what model it was), like other cars, the rev counter was on the wrong side and it operated anti-clockwise.

Like you, the more simple the better, my 65 Focus ST is just at my limit of technology, I only need what is required for me to be in control, none of this automatic stuff!

Rant over, glad I got an older car to play with, details to follow 😉

 

21 minutes ago, Ray said:

from where i sit, glad to remember the older car was fun back in the day, youngsters today just dont understand that bit

I think what really grips my  is that these cars are full of crap that nobody asked for. Self parking? Lane following? Auto high beam? TV sized touch pad thrown on the dash like an after thought? Massage seats? This all adds to the purchase cost and all up weight and ultimately is just another thing to go wrong.

In fact the only modern gadget that I've thought useful is adaptive cruise control. Perhaps emergency braking on a safety basis too.

[Rally Pack 2000]

Your treading on one of my big pet peeves of the car world. When I had to look into buying another car to replace my mums old Camry last year  I had no idea how much i hated the new cars till i started to test drive them. From their restricted letterbox views with blindspots that needed to be corrected with cameras to the most basic of controls buried in computer menus. The government likes to set up mobile phone cameras now so you don't take your eyes of the road but its perfectly acceptable to have you constantly looking down at computer screens trying to navigate menus to turn the air conditioning on. My sisters new 4WD ute truck has a multiple colour display and she finds it hard to see with red illumination but never been able to figure out how to change it to green just so she can clearly see how fast shes going at night.

You can keep your two foot deep dashboards and your A pillars as thick as Nelsons column, give me an older car with a view and functional toggles switches any time.

https://cleantechnica.com/2022/07/27/software-you-who-actually-owns-that-new-car-you-are-driving/

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/features/353545/truth-about-car-touchscreens-do-they-help-or-hinder-drivers

[Miniliteman]

No wonder there is a shortage of computerchips.

[Vista]

9 hours ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

Your treading on one of my big pet peeves of the car world. When I had to look into buying another car to replace my mums old Camry last year  I had no idea how much i hated the new cars till i started to test drive them. From their restricted letterbox views with blindspots that needed to be corrected with cameras to the most basic of controls buried in computer menus. The government likes to set up mobile phone cameras now so you don't take your eyes of the road but its perfectly acceptable to have you constantly looking down at computer screens trying to navigate menus to turn the air conditioning on. My sisters new 4WD ute truck has a multiple colour display and she finds it hard to see with red illumination but never been able to figure out how to change it to green just so she can clearly see how fast shes going at night.

You can keep your two foot deep dashboards and your A pillars as thick as Nelsons column, give me an older car with a view and functional toggles switches any time.

https://cleantechnica.com/2022/07/27/software-you-who-actually-owns-that-new-car-you-are-driving/

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/features/353545/truth-about-car-touchscreens-do-they-help-or-hinder-drivers

I got a monthly use report from my mobile phone the other day, included in it was the below statement:

"Includes 90 minutes use whilst driving".

Errrrrr, hello, I do travel in cars as a passenger too you irritating spying b'stard in my pocket!

[Rally Pack 2000]

3 minutes ago, Vista said:

I got a monthly use report from my mobile phone the other day, included in it was the below statement:

"Includes 90 minutes use whilst driving".

Errrrrr, hello, I do travel in cars as a passenger too you irritating spying b'stard in my pocket!

That's downright scary. That information could be used to accuse you by police.

One of the scary things in one of the articles i linked above is plans by Tesla and others to subscription limit the accessories on your car. If you want your heated seats to work you have to pay a yearly fee. You want Auto High Beam and you have to pay a yearly fee. To access the larger capacity of batteries in your EV you have to pay a fee and when you sell the car the new owner gets battery limited till he pays the fee also. The car computers systems from now on a going to be ransomware! get you hooked on these gadgets then start charging huge fees. Photobucket sold its model to the car industry.

[Vista]

1 minute ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

That's downright scary. That information could be used to accuse you by police.

One of the scary things in one of the articles i linked above is plans by Tesla and others to subscription limit the accessories on your car. If you want your heated seats to work you have to pay a yearly fee. You want Auto High Beam and you have to pay a yearly fee. To access the larger capacity of batteries in your EV you have to pay a fee and when you sell the car the new owner gets battery limited till he pays the fee also. The car computers systems from now on a going to be ransomware! get you hooked on these gadgets then start charging huge fees. Photobucket sold its model to the car industry.

BMW are already doing that. £15 per month for your seats and £10 for your steering wheel? Seriously?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-62142208

 

[Rally Pack 2000]

2 minutes ago, Vista said:

BMW are already doing that. £15 per month for your seats and £10 for your steering wheel? Seriously?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-62142208

 

Its Ransomware pure and simple!

[Miniliteman]

Not long and you will have to pay CO2 tax because you are breathing.

[Rally Pack 2000]

30 minutes ago, Miniliteman said:

Not long and you will have to pay CO2 tax because you are breathing.

They are planning a cow fart tax already to deter people from eating beef cause cows contribute to climate change with excessive gasses.

[Vista]

1 hour ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

Its Ransomware pure and simple!

It's a pretty good incentive not to buy a BMW too.

[deltamal]

In my early cars a heater was an option and a luxury...........

[Rally Pack 2000]

On 17/12/2022 at 20:54, Vista said:

 

 

BTW never seen a Brown RS steering wheel before!

[Rally Pack 2000]

15 hours ago, deltamal said:

In my early cars a heater was an option and a luxury...........

Oh those dry summer days with no Evaporative Coolers or Air Conditioning

[Vista]

5 hours ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

BTW never seen a Brown RS steering wheel before!

I had it retrimmed to match the rest of the interior.

[katana]

7 hours ago, Rally Pack 2000 said:

BTW never seen a Brown RS steering wheel before!

Its not a 'real' one - proper is three spoke, those four spoke ones are after mk2's finished. I'm sure i've got a brown interior picture with a proper brown wheel - i'll check later.

[chinkamon]

I would say I'll stay out of this as drive a fully electric van. But it has none of these ipad screens an digital rev counters etc. It has good old fashioned needle style Speedo an charge guage ( same as fuel but battery power instead)

It's most exciting thing is cruise control and speed limiter, granted it is a fleet model so more basic than the rest but the full fat versions don't have anything different. Except for heated seats etc but I have seen in some of these new cars an wow they look frightening with the huge amount of screens and shite going on.

[Daddio]

On 18/12/2022 at 10:11, Rally Pack 2000 said:

That's downright scary. That information could be used to accuse you by police.

One of the scary things in one of the articles i linked above is plans by Tesla and others to subscription limit the accessories on your car. If you want your heated seats to work you have to pay a yearly fee. You want Auto High Beam and you have to pay a yearly fee. To access the larger capacity of batteries in your EV you have to pay a fee and when you sell the car the new owner gets battery limited till he pays the fee also. The car computers systems from now on a going to be ransomware! get you hooked on these gadgets then start charging huge fees. Photobucket sold its model to the car industry.

just wait till your favourite car grasses you to the fuzz for doing 40 in a 30....

Stay oldskool

[deltamal]

I will keep my 10 year old X3, not too much computerie stuff and does what it says on the tin, high milage though, up to 20,300 ish now.........😄

[Vista]

4 hours ago, deltamal said:

I will keep my 10 year old X3, not too much computerie stuff and does what it says on the tin, high milage though, up to 20,300 ish now.........😄

10 years already, wow! I remember when we went up to the OSF Christmas party just after you bought that. How can that be 10 years ago already??? 

[Vista]

Same shit different day.

Today I have a VW hire car to rant about.

It was actualky quite a nice drive but cruise control when selected gave me a message saying it was deactivated, then the crowning turd in the punch bowl! WHen I tried to make a voice activated phone call, I got a message on the dash saying to contact VW shop to activate this feature!

Really VW? You cheapskate b'stards!

 

[Mk2Jo]

Just more things to go wrong eventually in my opinion. All these cars are ok when new but in the future the second hand market could end up paying big bucks to replace failing technology I fear.

[Vista]

9 hours ago, Mk2Jo said:

Just more things to go wrong eventually in my opinion. All these cars are ok when new but in the future the second hand market could end up paying big bucks to replace failing technology I fear.

Possibly,  but this kind of thing happening immediately pisses me off far more than things possibly going wrong in the future