Expansion at Gaydon
Discussion
Neil1300r said:
Merc are working closely with AM on new electronics, infotainment systems etc.
Or as Mercedes-Benz like to call it;
Brake Assist
Stability Assist
Parking Assist
Night Vision Assist
Active Lane Keeping Assist
Attention Assist
Steering Assist
Voice Activated Entertainment Assist
Economy Assist
Should I dread what is coming?
Some of us just like to use our own driving skills when in a sports car, and listen to the beautiful exhaust sound for 'infotainment'.
Jon39 said:
Some of us just like to use our own driving skills when in a sports car, and listen to the beautiful exhaust sound for 'infotainment'.
In the words of the joke, we've already established what we are, and are now haggling over price.
Well I for one will be more than happy to have Mercedes be involved in a bit more of the electronics. Look at the quality of the Mercedes ICE and switch-gear......then look at Astons !
I'm sorry, people will shoot me down I'm sure, but when I pay £100k+ for ANY car, I expect supreme reliability of all aspects, including every switch. Lets be honest, hand on heart that's not exactly what you get in an Aston is it. Yes it's getting better, but come on....
As for assistance taking over the car...........I'd happily have an SLS any day of the week. Yep, not necessarily the most beautiful car by a long stretch, but christ on a bike does it drive well !
I'm sorry, people will shoot me down I'm sure, but when I pay £100k+ for ANY car, I expect supreme reliability of all aspects, including every switch. Lets be honest, hand on heart that's not exactly what you get in an Aston is it. Yes it's getting better, but come on....
As for assistance taking over the car...........I'd happily have an SLS any day of the week. Yep, not necessarily the most beautiful car by a long stretch, but christ on a bike does it drive well !
Jon39 said:
Or as Mercedes-Benz like to call it;
Brake Assist
Stability Assist
Parking Assist
Night Vision Assist
Active Lane Keeping Assist
Attention Assist
Steering Assist
Voice Activated Entertainment Assist
Economy Assist
Should I dread what is coming?
Some of us just like to use our own driving skills when in a sports car, and listen to the beautiful exhaust sound for 'infotainment'.
The Astons are more reliable and better built than some £100K cars and demand a certain level of driving ability to extract all the performance. May as well get a chauffeur if much of the driving is being done for you.
V12woollie said:
It'll be a sad day when an Aston has all those aids in it. If I want that then I'd buy a Mercedes. Apparently I have auto lights and auto wipers, both of which I never use.
The Astons are more reliable and better built than some £100K cars and demand a certain level of driving ability to extract all the performance. May as well get a chauffeur if much of the driving is being done for you.
Don't worry, Google will sort that out for you soon The Astons are more reliable and better built than some £100K cars and demand a certain level of driving ability to extract all the performance. May as well get a chauffeur if much of the driving is being done for you.
I don't understand how I do more 'driving' in an Aston? I drive it just like I drive an Elise or a Mini or a Punto, turn the wheel at corners, and change gears every now and then.
I don't see how the Mercedes aids reduce the skill required, they're just different versions of what all cars have.
Brake Assist...I don't know what Brake Assist is but I presume we all have ABS, so that's some assistance there.
Stability Assist...I already have traction control or DSR or whatever that thing is called that kicks in when you're weaving wildly.
Parking Assist...mine came with rear parking sensors, they don't bother me.
Night Vision Assist... I have lights - whatever this is, it probably makes you safer. Not seeing at night can't be a test of my driver skills, surely.
Active Lane Keeping Assist...sounds a bit fancy, but hardly a big deal, and I already use rumble strips on the motorway.
Attention Assist...presumably a robotic hand slaps you every now and then. It's like night vision, staying awake is not a test of my driver skills, or not one I want to be tested on.
Steering Assist....we have power steering or hydraulic something, I presume? So we can't pretend we're not already steering assisted.
Voice Activated Entertainment Assist... irrelevant to my driving.
I'd understand if having a manual car was considered more 'drivery' (no that selecting the right gear requires much intelligence, but fine), but these aids seems like variations on what we already have. And in any case the driving I do is pretty easy, I'm not drifting down a Japanese mountain.
I don't see how the Mercedes aids reduce the skill required, they're just different versions of what all cars have.
Brake Assist...I don't know what Brake Assist is but I presume we all have ABS, so that's some assistance there.
Stability Assist...I already have traction control or DSR or whatever that thing is called that kicks in when you're weaving wildly.
Parking Assist...mine came with rear parking sensors, they don't bother me.
Night Vision Assist... I have lights - whatever this is, it probably makes you safer. Not seeing at night can't be a test of my driver skills, surely.
Active Lane Keeping Assist...sounds a bit fancy, but hardly a big deal, and I already use rumble strips on the motorway.
Attention Assist...presumably a robotic hand slaps you every now and then. It's like night vision, staying awake is not a test of my driver skills, or not one I want to be tested on.
Steering Assist....we have power steering or hydraulic something, I presume? So we can't pretend we're not already steering assisted.
Voice Activated Entertainment Assist... irrelevant to my driving.
I'd understand if having a manual car was considered more 'drivery' (no that selecting the right gear requires much intelligence, but fine), but these aids seems like variations on what we already have. And in any case the driving I do is pretty easy, I'm not drifting down a Japanese mountain.
One thing I hope the Merc & Aston tie up does produce is better damn MPG.
I mean, in this day and age building a production car which only gets 19mpg if you're an absolute saint isn't really on is it. Even the new Cali T will get high 20's.
If Mercedes can get nearly 29mpg out of a 5.4 SL63 with 537bhp, then if they can get some of that technology into the new Aston engines then it can't be a bad thing.
Money aside, I think more and more people are becoming more conscious of the world we live in, I've had some people say that although the Vantage is gorgeous to look at, how can I justify driving something that round town does 14mpg
I mean, in this day and age building a production car which only gets 19mpg if you're an absolute saint isn't really on is it. Even the new Cali T will get high 20's.
If Mercedes can get nearly 29mpg out of a 5.4 SL63 with 537bhp, then if they can get some of that technology into the new Aston engines then it can't be a bad thing.
Money aside, I think more and more people are becoming more conscious of the world we live in, I've had some people say that although the Vantage is gorgeous to look at, how can I justify driving something that round town does 14mpg
Big Ry said:
One thing I hope the Merc & Aston tie up does produce is better damn MPG.
I mean, in this day and age building a production car which only gets 19mpg if you're an absolute saint isn't really on is it. Even the new Cali T will get high 20's.
If Mercedes can get nearly 29mpg out of a 5.4 SL63 with 537bhp, then if they can get some of that technology into the new Aston engines then it can't be a bad thing.
Money aside, I think more and more people are becoming more conscious of the world we live in, I've had some people say that although the Vantage is gorgeous to look at, how can I justify driving something that round town does 14mpg
+1I mean, in this day and age building a production car which only gets 19mpg if you're an absolute saint isn't really on is it. Even the new Cali T will get high 20's.
If Mercedes can get nearly 29mpg out of a 5.4 SL63 with 537bhp, then if they can get some of that technology into the new Aston engines then it can't be a bad thing.
Money aside, I think more and more people are becoming more conscious of the world we live in, I've had some people say that although the Vantage is gorgeous to look at, how can I justify driving something that round town does 14mpg
montecristo said:
I don't understand how I do more 'driving' in an Aston? I drive it just like I drive an Elise or a Mini or a Punto, turn the wheel at corners, and change gears every now and then.
I don't see how the Mercedes aids reduce the skill required, they're just different versions of what all cars have.
Brake Assist...I don't know what Brake Assist is but I presume we all have ABS, so that's some assistance there.
Stability Assist...I already have traction control or DSR or whatever that thing is called that kicks in when you're weaving wildly.
Parking Assist...mine came with rear parking sensors, they don't bother me.
Night Vision Assist... I have lights - whatever this is, it probably makes you safer. Not seeing at night can't be a test of my driver skills, surely.
Active Lane Keeping Assist...sounds a bit fancy, but hardly a big deal, and I already use rumble strips on the motorway.
Attention Assist...presumably a robotic hand slaps you every now and then. It's like night vision, staying awake is not a test of my driver skills, or not one I want to be tested on.
Steering Assist....we have power steering or hydraulic something, I presume? So we can't pretend we're not already steering assisted.
Voice Activated Entertainment Assist... irrelevant to my driving.
I'd understand if having a manual car was considered more 'drivery' (no that selecting the right gear requires much intelligence, but fine), but these aids seems like variations on what we already have. And in any case the driving I do is pretty easy, I'm not drifting down a Japanese mountain.
The problem is that each and every one is just another electronic component to fail. You quadruple the number of black boxes/functions and you quadruple the failure rate since they all have some inherent MTBF (mean time between failure). I really don't need something to detect closure rate/distance and apply the brakes for me (Brake Assist), or something to control my steering to parallel park my car (Park Assist), or yanking the steering wheel if I drift across the centerline on purpose (Active Lane Keeping Assist), etc. etc.I don't see how the Mercedes aids reduce the skill required, they're just different versions of what all cars have.
Brake Assist...I don't know what Brake Assist is but I presume we all have ABS, so that's some assistance there.
Stability Assist...I already have traction control or DSR or whatever that thing is called that kicks in when you're weaving wildly.
Parking Assist...mine came with rear parking sensors, they don't bother me.
Night Vision Assist... I have lights - whatever this is, it probably makes you safer. Not seeing at night can't be a test of my driver skills, surely.
Active Lane Keeping Assist...sounds a bit fancy, but hardly a big deal, and I already use rumble strips on the motorway.
Attention Assist...presumably a robotic hand slaps you every now and then. It's like night vision, staying awake is not a test of my driver skills, or not one I want to be tested on.
Steering Assist....we have power steering or hydraulic something, I presume? So we can't pretend we're not already steering assisted.
Voice Activated Entertainment Assist... irrelevant to my driving.
I'd understand if having a manual car was considered more 'drivery' (no that selecting the right gear requires much intelligence, but fine), but these aids seems like variations on what we already have. And in any case the driving I do is pretty easy, I'm not drifting down a Japanese mountain.
Big Ry said:
One thing I hope the Merc & Aston tie up does produce is better damn MPG.
Sometimes people ask me, "Does it use a lot of petrol?"
To which I reply, "No not really, I last filled it in January".
Most of us do quite low mileages, so harm to the Earth during the course of a year, might be less than a Prius.
Jon39 said:
Sometimes people ask me, "Does it use a lot of petrol?"
To which I reply, "No not really, I last filled it in January".
Most of us do quite low mileages, so harm to the Earth during the course of a year, might be less than a Prius.
That's just sad. People need to drive their cars more. According to Aston, the typical owner in the US only drives their car about 2,617 miles per year and many people drive them even less. Not filling up since January is too long. Our cars need to be driven.
Our cars need to be driven. Edited by KarlFranz on Wednesday 28th May 21:50
montecristo said:
I don't understand how I do more 'driving' in an Aston? I drive it just like I drive an Elise or a Mini or a Punto, turn the wheel at corners, and change gears every now and then.
Enjoy it while you can. Electronic aids are arriving fast.
'Black boxes' will soon be widespread and probably compulsory. Speed and location constantly recorded for insurers and police to study.
Those will be followed by 'Throttle Assist', which will limit a car's speed to the speed limit.
montecristo said:
I don't see how the Mercedes aids reduce the skill required, they're just different versions of what all cars have.
Parking Assist...mine came with rear parking sensors, they don't bother me.
Night Vision Assist... I have lights - whatever this is, it probably makes you safer. Not seeing at night can't be a test of my driver skills, surely.
Parking Assist...mine came with rear parking sensors, they don't bother me.
Night Vision Assist... I have lights - whatever this is, it probably makes you safer. Not seeing at night can't be a test of my driver skills, surely.
PA - Not sensors. The car assumes that you are not skillful enough to park a car, so it will do that for you.
NVA - You will not need your HID headlights. Night vision cameras show the road ahead on a dashboard screen. Will probably be an MoT failure when a component fails. The RAF might be able to fix it though.
KarlFranz said:
That's just sad. People need to drive their cars more. According to Aston, the typical owner in the US only drives their car about 2,617 miles per year and many people drive them even less. Not filling up since January is too long. Our cars need to be driven.
Our cars need to be driven. Quite right, I must 'get out more'.
In fact it was worse than January, because she was off the road this winter.
Until recently, the previous fill was actually November 2013. We did have the wettest winter here since records began though, so would not have been able to enjoy the car much anyway.
I take your point. Will try harder.
KarlFranz said:
That's just sad. People need to drive their cars more. According to Aston, the typical owner in the US only drives their car about 2,617 miles per year and many people drive them even less. Not filling up since January is too long. Our cars need to be driven.
Don't worry Karl, I'm keeping the average up in the UK, 2.5k in the last 5 weeks Our cars need to be driven. Edited by KarlFranz on Wednesday 28th May 21:50
Gassing Station | Aston Martin | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff