"Secret" car features.

[Vladimir]

If you leave the missus in our camper for half an hour, out pops a nice meal. Magic.

And if it gets cold while sleeping in it, press the remote heater plipper and a few mins later, your toasty. Still finding new bits on it even after a year!

[Gad-Westy]

Anybody have any idea why a lot of these (some of them useful) features are seemingly kept secret? There is stuff that BMW's keyfobs can be programmed to do that is simply not known about outside of owner's forums. Just wondering why manufacturers go to all that effort then keep it all hush hush?

[threadlock]

Waugh-terfall said:

C6 Audi A6 and probably any other Audi with Climate Control. Press and hold the ECON/OFF button after running the car and it'll turn the unit on for ten minutes to either keep the car cool or warm as you nip into the shops.

This works! Thanks for this one - I'll be using that.

[edo]

Most things are secret in TVRs

No internal or external door handles for starters!

Button on the bottom of the wing mirror..

[Krikkit]

M4cruiser said:

driverrob said:

While first gear crawling in a traffic jam in my old Mitsubishi GTO TT, I discovered that it senses extra demand for the air-con by increasing the idle revs slightly. A handy low speed control: air-con off, economy mode, full auto = 3 diff speeds.

The Nissan Primera mk2 does this too (only 1 speed though) - just switch the heater fan on to position 1 and the idle speed increases a little, handy for slow speeds.

Standard stuff really - lots of cars do it, it makes sure you don't overload the engine at a low idle.

[Podie]

pincher said:

molineux1980 said:

On our mk 5 Golf GTI, if the windows and sun roof are left open, holding down the lock button on the fob shuts them.

Another one is if you turn off the ignition, and tap down on the wiper stalk, it parks the wipers in a vertical position.

My E39 does the same, as have several other cars I have owned over the years. What I didn't know though, was that holding down the unlock button on my E39 key also opens all the windows.

I found this out when crouching down, changing the wheels on my TVR - was a bit puzzled at first when I turned round to get my cup of tea off the boot of the BM

"Global open/close" as it's called - usually a feature listed in the depths of a spec sheet.

[Podie]

edo said:

Most things are secret in TVRs

No internal or external door handles for starters!

Button on the bottom of the wing mirror..

Unless it's a Griff, S, Wedge, early Chimaera...

[Sonic]

northandy said:

Bmw 1 series f20 - they have an additional 12v socket under the glovebox area. Not mentioned anywhere in the spec or the manuals.

I spent the best of 30 minutes trying to find it in the eurotunnel carpark... no luck, but the mrs was getting annoyed sat in the passenger seat

[Podie]

petrolsniffer said:

Heres one for some ford owners I think it works on most late 90s-2000s fords mk1 focus,puma mk5 fiesta might work on others quite cool ive used the digi rev counter a few times on a hoon

Ford Puma Digital Dash Unlock: A. Insert Key but do not turn on. B. Press and hold Trip Meter Reset Button. C. Holding the Reset Button, start car and continue holding Button. D. Within 10 seconds, display should change to "Test" in LCD Screen and Dial Needles will do a full sweep. Release Button. Pressing Button will now cycle through different modes: 1. Shows Gauge Sweep. 2. Shows all 8's on LCD (LCD Test). 3. Illuminates Dash Bulbs. 4. Displays hexadecimal value for ROM level. 5. Displays hexadecimal value for EE level. 6. Shows DTC (Diagnostic Trouble Code). 7. Digital Speedometer – Mph. 8. Digital Speedometer – Kph. 9. N/A. 10. Digital Tachometer. 11. Fuel Volume. 12. Engine Coolant Temperature. 13. Battery Voltage. 14. ABS Fail. 15. Electronic Brake Distribution (EBD) Failure. 16. Illumination. 17. Crank Sensor.

When you switch off the ignition, everything reverts to normal.

Works on most Fords with the digital odo. Technicians use it for diagnostics.

[DanielJames]

My Honda Integra has a magic oil rejuvenation device

Instead of doing oil changes every 10k like on a normal car, it magically disposes of oil, and you just keep topping it up, giving an unlimited supply of fresh oil

[Hudson]

PistonSmegs said:

It also activated the hazard lights if you braked extremely hard

Mine did that, i thought it was just an electrical glitch...

[Uncle John]

Discovered just the other day through the owners forum that my Focus RS has a sneaky armrest.

It's the cubby box between the two front seats and the top half of the lid slides out to give you an armrest!

[alangla]

wildcat45 said:

A lot of Volvos I owned had the ability to fold the front passenger seat flat and then move it forward tucking the headrest under the glove box.

Useful for very long loads.

Not particularly secret, but the front seats on the Skoda Estelle were set up so you could remove the headrests, run them forward to the front of their travel then recline them flat, the seat becomes a single bed & the read seat cushion was your pillow!

[Morningside]

On the Scenic using a variety of press codes you can turn off the internal ultrasonic alarm sensors. Very handy if you leave the dog in the car and stop the thing going off every 2 minutes.

[Pork]

Lots of cars (not all) have a very subtle arrow next to or as part of the petrol gauge pointing to which side the petrol tank is on. I only learned this a few years back and no one I've asked since has ever known it!

[Shaw Tarse]

Pork said:

Lots of cars (not all) have a very subtle arrow next to or as part of the petrol gauge pointing to which side the petrol tank is on. I only learned this a few years back and no one I've asked since has ever known it!

I knew that!

[g3org3y]

varsas said:

there's a 'hidden' menu on my E36's on board computer, you can get real fuel level data, raw sensor readings, calibrate the fuel computer...stuff like that.

You can also switch the TC into a third mode (i.e. not just on or off), where instead of cutting engine power and then applying the brakes it only applies the brakes to the spinning wheel without also cutting the power. Very handy in the snow. Not a million miles away from how a modern electronic diff works.

None of these are documented in the owners manual.

How do you do access this?

[Accelebrate]

ModernAndy said:

Had to laugh at the Audi secrets. I worked for Audi a few years ago and there are so many extras that 95% of drivers have no clue about. Here's a new one to the thread; you can open and close the roof on some cabriolet models just by using the key in the door lock. I forget the exact procedure but its something along the lines of turn the key one way for a couple seconds then the other way and hold.

Surely you can do it remotely from the key fob? You certainly can on the 3 series convertible and similar.

Pints said:

I discovered a secret glove box in my MINI a couple of months ago - it's just above the normal glove box.

Very useful for leaving gadgets in, although not all of them have it (I think it's a void for a CD changer).

Also discovered follow me home lights on the MINI after about 3 years, activated by pushing the stalk backwards once the engine is off.

Windows and sunroof can be opened to let heat out by holding the unlock button, but annoyingly can't be closed by holding the lock button. More of a hinderance than a feature, often go outside to find I've sat on my keys and left the car wide open all night.

Edited by Accelebrate on Friday 10th May 11:06

[monthefish]

Perhaps not so much a secret, but it was 6 months before I reaslised that the central vent on a Saxo pulls out to direct the airflow

[YesItsARover]

Brilliant thread!