RE: Out of touch: Speed Matters
Discussion
Dale487 said:
I disagree on keyless entry - when you're carrying out a baby & all the assorted rubbish you need all the assistance you can get.
The feature I can't understand is electric tailgates that take forever to open & close plus the even more useless virtual pedal!
I quite liked the auto tailgate on the 5 series touring, press the button on the remote and the boot opens. Can't see why I would need it mind, but is was quite fun. No slower than manually doing it. The feature I can't understand is electric tailgates that take forever to open & close plus the even more useless virtual pedal!
I don't like or trust keyless go though. Like to have somewhere to put the key and some reassurance that signals aren't being intercepted by thieves.
RenesisEvo said:
Mark Benson said:
And that's just the radio - if you want to change any settings on the move you're in for a real challenge.
I think the intention is that you aren't meant to fiddle with the settings on the move. I know realistically that doesn't happen (myself included), but being sensible, if it requires more than a prod or two there's a strong argument for not doing it when moving, or getting a passenger (if available) to do it.I wonder if you could have a system that detects two hands on the steering wheel, which then 'releases' full functionality for the system for a passenger to use, but otherwise presumes it's the driver when one hand is on the wheel and speed >0mph, and limits the complexity/bumps up the icon size accordingly.
But there is no doubt the temptation to fiddle, there's a g-meter buried somewhere which I imagine the "Watch this" brigade would love for instance and even if you just want to go from Radio to Nav for instance, it's a case of 'aim and shoot' your finger at a small area of glass.
The 2 hands on the wheel thing is a good idea. The exercise equipment I use at the gym has metal contacts to detect heart rate that use both hands, so a device to measure resistivity across the wheel is, I imagine easily within the capabilities of car manufacturers.
The touchscreens are just a reaction to the number of functions you can control getting beyond what you can reasonably assign physical controls to.
Whether it's necessary for cars to have so many controls is another matter. As is whether you ought to be fiddling with them when the car is in motion. I think it would be sensible to implement anything you might reasonably need to use while driving as a physical button or voice command and leave the touchscreen for all of the configuration stuff.
Whether it's necessary for cars to have so many controls is another matter. As is whether you ought to be fiddling with them when the car is in motion. I think it would be sensible to implement anything you might reasonably need to use while driving as a physical button or voice command and leave the touchscreen for all of the configuration stuff.
Mike335i said:
evosticks said:
Blue&Me in my Abarth 500 is (was, the head unit is now in the bin) an absolute abortion of a 'solution'. Whoever signed that off as being a good idea really needs to reconsider their career choice.
Whilst it connected to my phone OK (the one time I used the phone in the car) the MP3 functionality was s
t. Rather than showing MP3 tag(s) in the radio display it showed them in the speedo cluster, and then only for a fraction of a moment. MP3 files had to have the title tags encoded with the track name at the start of the filename (I think, I gave up after a shortwhile) otherwise nothing played in order - great when listening to MP3 rips of mix CDs. There's no ability to fast forward or rewind tracks either.
And just to completely cripple stuff they didn't build in AD2P functionality so to play stuff of a phone it needed a cable, welcome to 2005!
Agreed! A worse system is hard to imagine, I use a USB stick in our alfa for music and half the time it won't read it or it takes an age to load. I noticed that there isn't a button to end calls with either, which seems to be an omission... Whilst it connected to my phone OK (the one time I used the phone in the car) the MP3 functionality was s
t. Rather than showing MP3 tag(s) in the radio display it showed them in the speedo cluster, and then only for a fraction of a moment. MP3 files had to have the title tags encoded with the track name at the start of the filename (I think, I gave up after a shortwhile) otherwise nothing played in order - great when listening to MP3 rips of mix CDs. There's no ability to fast forward or rewind tracks either.And just to completely cripple stuff they didn't build in AD2P functionality so to play stuff of a phone it needed a cable, welcome to 2005!
te. In contrast, the missus' Hyundai does all that stuff really well, simply. I can play off my phone and line in. Or I can usb to the phone or memory stick and play from the console. Or I can Bluetooth the phone and play via the console. TBH All I've ever wanted is a line-in socket, because simple. But apparently manufacturers don't generally think that way.
fblm said:
Does anyone actually use OEM nav systems? Don't see the point personally.
I chose the non nav option when I bought the MX5 purely cos I'm a tight git! The option was going to cost £600 and they were only offering updates for three years and no indication of update costs after that. Seeing that you can get apps for free so easily or even a TomTom type box from Halfords with free lifetime updates for less than a ton it was an easy choice. Dunno if that will put off a future buyer not having a nav in the car??Twoshoe said:
Automatic wipers are fine, but I think automatic lights should be banned - it just encourages the mindset that drivers don't have to worry about them, and therefore won't think to override them when there's fog for instance.
you really don't have to worry about them though, don't think I've ever had to manually activate mine in any of my cars ever (aside from fog, once or twice)also most cars have daytime running lights too these days and I think people are aware that they can't detect fog and activate the fog lights automatically
Twoshoe said:
Automatic wipers are fine, but I think automatic lights should be banned - it just encourages the mindset that drivers don't have to worry about them, and therefore won't think to override them when there's fog for instance.
I was really impressed with my auto lights on my Merc C204. Driving on dark roads, it adjusts the oncoming cars and cars I'm following in exactly the way I would manually switching between full beam and dipped.WCZ said:
Twoshoe said:
Automatic wipers are fine, but I think automatic lights should be banned - it just encourages the mindset that drivers don't have to worry about them, and therefore won't think to override them when there's fog for instance.
you really don't have to worry about them though, don't think I've ever had to manually activate mine in any of my cars ever (aside from fog, once or twice)also most cars have daytime running lights too these days and I think people are aware that they can't detect fog and activate the fog lights automatically
Jex said:
I was driving along one evening and it was getting dark. I switched my lights on (not automatic - Mk2 Escort!) - a car pulled out of a drive just in front of me. I can only assume when he saw my lights come on that he thought I was flashing for him to come out. That is why I don't like automatic lights (as well as the fog thing)
You could assume that, or alternatively that you hadn't turned your lights on soon enough and the car pulled out because they hadn't noticed you?Automatic lights do tend to turn on well before they're needed, so they may have actually prevented that incident, just for the sake of argument
otolith said:
fblm said:
Does anyone actually use OEM nav systems? Don't see the point personally.
Nope. The BMW and Mercedes both have it, but my phone is better. fblm said:
Does anyone actually use OEM nav systems? Don't see the point personally.
When it comes as standard on the car, why not? Never had issues with any I have had (Seat, Audi), but I do know the one in the Merc is naff having seen it send us off the A1 into a traffic jam for 10 minutes to then send us round a roundabout and back on to it.fblm said:
Does anyone actually use OEM nav systems? Don't see the point personally.
No wires trailing all over the place (less of a problem if you're driving an automatic), no SAT NAV falling of your windscreen because it's too hot/cold for the mount, larger screen plus secondary screen in the middle of the dials.legless said:
Dale487 said:
my Škoda drove me nuts having to unlock it twice for anything other than the driver's door, plus it didn't auto lock when you drove off.
On all recent-ish Skodas I've driven, both of these things are configurable through the settings menu in the car. Mike335i said:
Dale487 said:
I disagree on keyless entry - when you're carrying out a baby & all the assorted rubbish you need all the assistance you can get.
The feature I can't understand is electric tailgates that take forever to open & close plus the even more useless virtual pedal!
I quite liked the auto tailgate on the 5 series touring, press the button on the remote and the boot opens. Can't see why I would need it mind, but is was quite fun. No slower than manually doing it. The feature I can't understand is electric tailgates that take forever to open & close plus the even more useless virtual pedal!
I don't like or trust keyless go though. Like to have somewhere to put the key and some reassurance that signals aren't being intercepted by thieves.
Keyless entry is the one thing my Leon is missing & figure it would make my life easier - but I've always had the security concerns you've voiced.
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