The thread on electrically operated doors has made me wonder whether there is a limit to the range of toys that can be provided for a car.
In theory, every additional toy that is fitted is something else that can go wrong. Thus, there is a trade-off, in that the car is made more desirable by the toy's presence but less desirable in that it may be less reliable and more expensive to repair.
Long ago when cars were basic, the addition of (say) a radio must have seemed unequivocally good in that the benefit was large, the risk small, and if it broke then you were no worse off. Now, the marginal benefit seems to be getting smaller, and the downside of failure might be worse - vide the electric doors (do they have a mechanical backup?).
Anyway, I wondered what toy the BR thought was most pointless, in that its benefit was minimal and the downside risk too great?
My vote is keyless entry systems. Frankly, the extra effort of having to press the plip button on the keyfob is not going to worry me, even in the rain. The risk of it not working and leaving my pride & joy unlocked or (worse!) resolutely locked would worry me more.
Any other suggestions?
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I tend to think that the law of diminishing returns applies here and the potential for complex and hideously expensive and/or inconvenient failures increases disproportionantely given the marginal benefits afforded by many such gadgets/gizmos. Of course we should have the choice and he who wants gadgets should be able to buy them. What I don't like is having little or no choice but to go down the route of yet more complicated and (IMO) largely unnecessary electronics for little or no perceptible benefit.
As for my nomination for the useless gadget award....
... well that goes to the electric seat.
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...the back massager in the rear seat of an LS430.
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Couple of problems I've had.
Nearly new Lancia on a freezing cold evening (blizzard conditions) I had a 25 miles drive ahead and put the driver's electric window down to clear snow off the mirror. The window mechanism failed at that instant (fully down position!).
Just-out-of warranty Rover Sterling with electric seats. LEaving home to go to urgent business appointment. Wife (who's a lot shorter than me - I'm 6' 3") had put the seat right forward. I jump in to find that the motor has failed and the switch is burnt out. 3/4 hour later, surrounded by spanners, I managed to move the seat back and set off for my meeting....
New motor - £170; new switch £77 (1993 or thereabouts prices).
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Automatic windscreen wipers & headlights. (On a Megane.) They just made me giggle!
Audi Autocheck on my Audi. It tells me that sometimes I need new brakepads (I don't) & sometimes that the system is OK.
With a good old fashioned system firstly if it irritated you too much you could just take out the bulb for that fault. Secondly it didn't have complex electronics to go wrong.
And the windscreen washer fluid low signal is an irritating moving graphic that personally I find distracting. (I cannot stand computer screensavers for the same reason.)
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Anything over what is fitted as standard to my Lightweight Landrover.
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winch?
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Rain sensing wipers.
Because it is so difficult to know when i need to put the wipers on myself and the column stalk is very tricky to use.
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Pneumatic tyres. Need constantly topping up with air, drive over a nail and and it goes flat and needs repairing or replacing, what a pain. Ok, so the ride could be a little harsh with good old solids, but they were a real fit and forget. New fangled rubbish, you can keep it.
Sorry. Second puncture this month. Just needed to get that off my chest.
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New golfs got this gadget where if you operate the windscreen washer while the air con is on, it temporarily switches it off so you dont have to smell the washer fluid!! I mean come on, no wonder even the base golf is 1300kg, too much pointless crap.
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Well, some drivers seem to think that indicators and headlights are pointless features.....
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Anything over what is fitted as standard to my Lightweight Landrover.
As I recall the seats were extras . You sat on a bit of sack. Wimps could buy a 1/2" foam cushion. Other options were side screens and a canvas roof. Heaters were a luxury item only available later.
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>>and the column stalk is very tricky to use>>
Don't know what make you are referring to, but my Bora (and doubtless other VW/Seat/Skoda/Audi marques' models) merely require the intermittent position for auto rain sensor operation.
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>>Anything over what is fitted as standard to my Lightweight Landrover.
Does that include suspension?
Cheers, SS
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Re. - Anything over what is fitted as standard to my Lightweight Landrover.
Here are the 5 best accessories for a Lightweight Land Rover:
1) Secondhand Range Rover chassis, shortened, with 3.9 V8 engine,
2) Roll cage.
3) Wheel arch extensions to cover wider track
4) A tame skilled welder/fabricator.
5) A respray in gloss Land-Rover green, navy blue or maroon.
Cheers, SS
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"windscreen washer fluid low signal is an irritating moving graphic"
Probably the same as on mine, which I initially interpreted as overheating! Much embarrassment at the Audi garage when their mechanic patiently explained that it wasn't a picture of steam coming out the top of a radiator...
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1) Top of my list is electric windows - no great advantage if they work, major problems if they don't. What really worries me is that it is getting increasingly hard to buy a new car that doesn't have them.
Curiously, a mid-size rental vehichle I drove in the US last year (what they call a 'compact'), actually had manually operated windows, which was a pleasant surprise. Just hope it's a sign of things to come.
2) My Citroen refuses to let me squirt washer fluid on the windscreen without first having the wipers go over the screen, smearing whatever muck is on the screen. Can't see any point at all in this.
Tyro
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Front fog lights.
--
Terry
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BMW I-drive?
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The nut behind the wheel of the average autobahnstormer
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Front fog lights. --
I tend to agree but Ford in their wisdom have a light switch that operates the front fog light first and then the rear fog lights. It must be decades since I needed front fog lights but my current car came with them as standard.
So I will be one of many with front fog lights on when I only want the rears to warn those following.
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Heh. The switch is the same on my 525i - but then it's a BMW, and there's a law somewhere which says I have to drive it on sidelights and front-fogs at all times.
Actually - the front fogs are handy for flashing at oncoming idiots who have their front fogs on. Of course I never find out if my 6-light salute gets the message across.
Urm... how can I bring this back on topic and avoid launching into another front-fog related rant? Um... how about those DVD player screens in the back of the front head restraints. As far as I can work out they're simply there to point out how much money the car's owner has.
Ooh... and lambda sensors. My car's had to have 2 replacements in recent years. We coped without them for decades, and now they exist simply to make you car idle a bit funny.
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IMO, the Citroen C5 has the very pointless and irritating feature of closing all the windows when you put the wipers on. Even if they're only open a crack it closes them.
A classic example of a car trying to be too 'clever' for it's own good.
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Sounds handy if you're reversing up the drive with your head out of the window and you accidently flick the switch!
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Oh for an edit button!
Accidentally.
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Can you not even switch that off? That would get very irritating. I'd expect that from Microsoft, or even Airbus. But not from Citroen.
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Glove compartment lights that only work when the sidelights are on.
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driver operated headlamp beam adjustment on a car that is clearly too small to tow anything........why lord why?
and why cigarrette lighters these days?
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"and why cigarette lighters these days?"
Only a smoker can envisage the anguish of putting a ciggie in their mouth and finding they have nothing to light it with.
That's why.
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>>Only a smoker can envisage the anguish of putting a ciggie in their mouth and finding they have nothing to light it with.
All the way from Devon to London in the pouring rain in the middle of the night having recovered my sister's Reliant with a full packet of cigarettes, no way of lighting it and noting on the 303 open.
Agony.
As for pointless features, I don't think there are many. There's quite a lot I wouldn't want or wouldn't pay for - electric seats for example - but there always seems to be someone who thinks they're the best thing since sliced bread.
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>>All the way from Devon>>
You could have bought a box of matches at a service station..:-)
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driver operated headlamp beam adjustment on a car that is clearly too small to tow anything........why lord why?
Try putting 3 people and their luggage in the back of a Ford Fiesta and see what that does to the throw of the beam. They're not just for towing.
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Front fog lights. -- Terry
Rear Fog lights.....
:o)
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Patently
I reckon the most useless feature is traction control on a 1.4 golf/focus etc.
I mean, as if....!
Others could include:-
Double glazing on an \'S\' class Merc.
The altimeter fitted in my Shogun.
Headlight jetwashers.
Cars with a starter button, rather than using the key.
Oh, and a 7 series BMW in about 10 years time when the 4th owner can\'t afford main dealer servicing and the i drive goes pear shaped. Ho Ho.
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OK, I'm changing my vote. Keyless entry at least has a use, even if trivial - it does save that 0.000001 calories of effort required to press the keyfob.
But an altimeter??
OK everyone, let's save huge amounts of cash and make little stickers for our car dashboards - here's one to copy & paste:
CURRENT ALTITUDE
Exactly 0 feet
above the road
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Tosh, patently! My father kidnapped (I think he paid a shilling for it) a spare altimeter when he left the Air Force after the war. The hours of fun we had as children looking ta the altitude when in the car. He'd even fitted it to the dashboard of one of his early cars - entertaining when crossing the Alps in a Hillman Minx.
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Are you able to set the QNH or QNF on these altimeters? If not then what is the point, and how many people understand what millibars are in any case?
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>> QNF QFE surely?
can't even blame that on a typo can I? Q Field Elevation hardly translates into QNF.
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Oh I dont know, I managed a QNH of about 4 feet over a hump back bridge once
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>>I reckon the most useless feature is traction control on a 1.4 golf/focus etc. I mean, as if....!>>
It just might surprise you how useful it can prove in winter even with a 1.25 Fiesta...:-)
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Just collected an E60 5 Series courtesy car. At first I thought there was something causing an irritating reflection in the windscreen. Then I realised it's the "Head Up display". I actually love the gadgets in modern cars, especially sitting in a traffic jam and discovering yet another hidden feature in I-Drive. But this one really doesn't solve any problems as the display requires you to refocus your eyes to read it.
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Parking sensors on the front of cars. May be OK when you are actually parking, but cars aren't clever enough to distinguish between you parking or coming up to a queue of traffic or stopping at lights. I don't need them going off every time I stop!
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Cup holders in a drawer mounted directly above or below the stereo or air conditioning.
Stereo low on the centre console behind gear stick. Every time you want to change station when in 5th gear on motorway you have to do all kinds of hand gymnastics to reach tiny buttons without causing major accident.
Air blowers that have settings for "feet and windscreen" but not for "front and windscreen". What's with the foot fetish?
Passenger headrests that are mounted too far to actually rest your head on them.
Middle space armrests that are to short to rest your arms on but high enough to knock your elbows every time you change gear. Also door mounted armrests that are too low to put your arms on them and still keep palm on a wheel (Peugeot 306 would a good example)
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>>Pointless armrests
Does roadcraft mention the use of armrests?
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>Passenger headrests that are mounted too far to actually rest your head on them.
Nope, cos they are head restraints to prevent a broken neck in an accident, not pillows for sleeping on.
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>Nope, cos they are head restraints to prevent a broken neck in an accident, not pillows for sleeping on.
But... if they're that far back, they're not much use in an accident.
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Parking sensors on the front of cars.
No, the new 3 is missing those. The old 5 had them and I wish I could have kept them.
Your problem is with the Merc system of switching them on when speed falls below a preset minimum. This is a pain in the neck. BMW's system activates them when you go into reverse or when you press the button - much better IMHO.
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Not knowing much about these things, I am wondering what is the logic of front sensors that activate when you are in reverse?
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Not knowing much about these things, I am wondering what is the logic of front sensors that activate when you are in reverse?
Say you plan to parallel park. Draw up alongside the space, reverse into it, straighten up by moving forward. Now you need sensors at the front, lucky the car turned them on when you went into reverse.
Agreed though, at first sight it looks silly. I also forgot to mention that once activated (by whatever means) they stay on until a certain time elapses or a certain speed is reached.
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With regard to sensor operated headlights and wipers, well they are OK if the work properly. On the C5 both can be overridden, although there is not another option for an intermittent wipe, just a flick wipe. A manually adjustable intermittent wipe might be a better idea.
The headlights are a good feature, as I have lost count of the number of times I have seen cars driving in heavy rain with no lights on and also at dusk, in very dim light. However, as I say, they have to work properly.
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There's a Hum-Vee in the Tyneside area with a pointless feature - Keiron Dyer. Have a pop over to his Ebay auction if you fancy a laugh :D
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Harley Davidsons have an interesting 'feature' where the indicators are on a time switch, so the rider doesn't forget to cancel them. My mate often complains about the painful phsyical actions he is asked to perform by irate motorists after turning without a signal because it cancelled after he had to wait in a queue and didn't realise he had lost his signal because of the noise of the engine.
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Ah! All has become clear. Thankyou.
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Cupholdeer in the centre console lid of my C70 - oops there goes another coffee.
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Start buttons? pointless? NOOooooooooooo
Its a joy to jump into a car, press the start button, put your seatbelt on, light a fag and gasp in wonder as the engine springs into life on its own.
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Its a joy to jump into a car, press the start button, put your seatbelt on, light a fag and gasp in wonder as the engine springs into life on its own.
Press the button, then have time to put seatlbelt on, extract fag from packet, light it, and engine finally kicks into life? Is that 'cos the glowplugs are at work first, or is the car just a bit slow in the morning, like me?
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is the car just a bit slow in the morning, like me?
More of a nightbird then NoWheels?
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With the laguna its the glow plugs. No idea what lights your fire in the morning NW ;)
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I'm surprised - unless I've missed it - that no-one has mentioned alloy wheels.
- surely the weight saving is minimal
- some of them are a real pain to clean
- much more expensive than a plastic cover if scraped on a kerb (what a good thing my daughter's Yaris is the one car we have without them!!!)
They seem to be purely pose value. I suppose they increase the retained value of a car because posers demand them.
Can any of you actually tell, if you didn't know in advance, as with a courtesy car, whether you are driving a car with alloy or steel wheels? Perhaps there are some cars where it makes a difference to the handling? If so, I'll stand corrected.
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I'm surprised - unless I've missed it - that no-one has mentioned alloy wheels.
Avant, I really couldn't agree more - virtually zero technical merit, lots of cost and aggro, especially when they start leaking as they corrode with age.
Since the time when Ford began to market essentially the same car, but with a range of options - the Cortina - manufacturers have been taking us for a ride, selling us rubbish we don't need. What is worse, we buy it!, we fall into the trap every time!
How much of a typical new family car's price is made up of non-essential spam? My first guess estimate would be 15%
What do you think?
number_cruncher
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How about cigarette lighters? (the bit that gets hot, not the 12V outlet). Absolutely useless to most people, and those that do are a danger and menace to other road users.
One hand on the wheel, suffering the intoxicating effect of the drugs in the cigarette, possibility of setting alight to their clothing or bits of the car, and responsible for the litter when they throw it out the window.
Have you noticed how someone who is holding a cigarette never says thankyou? I'm surprised there isn't an insurance premium for smokers.
One other useless feature on my Xsara, and my brother's Megane: when you unlock the doors with the plip, the interior lights come on. Except they would have come on anyway when opening the door. I suppose it would light up anyone hiding inside the car though.
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One other useless feature on my Xsara, and my brother's Megane: when you unlock the doors with the plip, the interior lights come on. Except they would have come on anyway when opening the door. I suppose it would light up anyone hiding inside the car though.
>>
And in addition, in my Mondeo, the footwell lights come on I guess to show up anyone hiding by the pedals or under the glove box.
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"One other useless feature on my Xsara, and my brother's Megane: when you unlock the doors with the plip, the interior lights come on. Except they would have come on anyway when opening the door. I suppose it would light up anyone hiding inside the car though."
Exactly why they do it. On a very dark night I find it a very thoughtful feature.
Oh and I smoke, in the car.
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Jesse,
You are the second poster to mention cigarette lighters and I'll answer yours too.
I do not agree with your selfish decision not to smoke, therefore depriving the exchequer of much needed revenue, or even your obsession with living as long as you can and scrounging off the state for all the years you go beyond sixty five but I would wholeheartedly defend your decision to lead your life as you please, however anti social.
I would like you to take the same attitude to my desire to occassionally set alight to my clothes whilst intoxicating myself on lethal drugs, which incidently cost a fortune because I am subsidising your tax when I pay for them.
And I always say thank you. (Except when I'm lighting up, no hands to spare, you see.
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1. Wheel trims that overlap the rims as the vast majority do.
The Ford original trims on my Sierra did NOT overlap the rims so the odd misjudgement of the kerb only cost a little time in removing the steel burrs from the rim and a dab of silver paint to restore things.
2. Wheel trims that have to be tied on to stop them falling off. How many do you see by the roadside?
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I'm a convert to electric windows as you can control all the windows from the driving seat whilst on the move. I've experienced a winder motor failure, which was inconvenient. But If Rolls-Royce, in the days when electric windows were only found on luxury cars, provided a handle that could be inserted to operate the windows in the event of motor failure, why don't mass manufacturers do that now?
My pet hate is car alarms. Maybe there was a time when they were useful, but now if I hear one I take no notice. None of our cars have alarms so I know I'm not the culprit. Alarms are usually set off by: Air turbulence from passing large vehicles, pedestrians brushing against car, cat jumping on bonnet, thunderstorm, inherent electrical fault or driver inadvertently setting off alarm of borrowed/hired car!
Cheers, SS
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Bring back the sit-up-and-beg Ford 'Pop'! Experience its side-valve engine, 3-speed gearbox, non-independent suspension at both ends, mechanical brake linkage, opening windscreen and vaccuum operated wiper (driver's side only on basic version), all this with a BMW style grille on the front!
None of that fancy gadgetry found on the Lightweight Land Rover, note! Nothing like selectable 4-wheel-drive, Hi-lo transfer gearbox, quick detachable bodywork sections etc.
Cheers, SS
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The best car alarms are the ones that trigger a separate alarm on the key ring if the main alarm goes off, within, say, a 1km range. I saw one some time ago, but can't remember what it is called.
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The best car alarms are the ones that are fitted & adjusted CORRECTLY.
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The trouble is, you can hear a car alarm go off somewhere and have no idea whether it's your car or not. I suppose the purpose is to discourage the thief rather than get your attention...
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\"I\'m a convert to electric windows as you can control all the windows from the driving seat whilst on the move.\"
Still seems pointless to me. I can\'t see why I would want to do this more than, say, half a dozen times a century.
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SS:
You missed the no water-pump thermo-syphon cooling system church candle headlights. 2 girls and 2 boys had a great camping holiday in the West Country in one of those (JNJ 989). Puffed a bit struggling up Porlock Hill, otherwise never missed a beat. 6 volt electrics and a starting handle. Brown bakelite interior dash fittings de rigueur.
Splendid little car. Pointless features: none.
What was that rhyme we used to sing at school "Piece of tin, piece of cord, put 'em together and there's a Ford..."
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whoops. That quote seems to have slipped thru my fingers. My last post should have read:
\"I\'m a convert to elecric windows as you can control all the windows from the driving seat whilst on the move\"
Still seems pointless to me. I can\'t see why I would want to do this more than, say, half a dozen times a century
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Oh dear. I suppose I'll get the hang of this some day. You can see why I'm technophobic. Here goes . . .
>>I'm a convert to electric windows as you can control all the windows from the driving seat whilst on the move.
Still seems pointless to me. I can't see why I would want to do this more than, say, half a dozen times a century.
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>> I'm a convert to electric windows as you can control >> all the windows from the driving seat whilst on the move.
Still seems pointless to me. I can't see why I would want to do this more than, say, half a dozen times a century.
I like to wind down the rear near-side window when I'm driving. It creates a lovely breeze when the sunroof is open. The air circulates round the car and then leaves via the sunroof. Can you imagine me winding down a non-electric rear window from the driving seat at 60mph? More to go wrong, yes, but worth it in this case IMO.
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Sunroof.
I mean.
Tried mine a weekend or two ago - all windows down & sunroof open. (Lots of exciting buttons to push to make that all happen.) All I felt was that my head was getting hot, in the direct sunshine.
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Tried mine a weekend or two ago - all windows down & sunroof open. (Lots of exciting buttons to push to make that all happen.) All I felt was that my head was getting hot, in the direct sunshine.
Tilt on a summer's day. Slide on a warm night or overcast day. Well, I like mine anyway.
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>>Tilt on a summer's day. Slide on a..
fair point. Somebody, somewhere, recently posted that a pillarless coupe with the sunroof open & windows down feels almost like a cabriolet. I tried it, and decided that I probably wouldn't like a cabriolet!
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fair point. Somebody, somewhere, recently posted that a pillarless coupe with the sunroof open & windows down feels almost like a cabriolet. I tried it, and decided that I probably wouldn't like a cabriolet!
I've considered a cabriolet myself, but then my thoughts turn to my close-cropped haircut and the agony of scalpburn. I'd be one of those idiots who drives round on a glorious day with the hood up. Perhaps I won't bother.
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Cars (virtually all these days) designed with bodywork curves and bootlids that ensure that, in the event of recent or current rain, when you open a door, window or the bootlid, water pours into the vehicle.
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So that's a feature then, Stuartli? :)
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Yes, a built-in feature...
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Surely the most pointless feature is air-con.
I can't imagine why HJ is always saying don't buy such and such a car unless it has air-con. It's not pleasant sitting in traffic surrounded by HGVs, I must admit, but at any other time it is nicer just to open the window. (The windows on my old Lada Samara didn't open - couldn't find the spares - so everybody must have thought it had air-con on hot days!)
Think of the extra expense too. One more thing to go wrong.
Give me a sunroof anyday. Much better than sitting in a fridge with windows.
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Surely the most pointless feature is air-con.
Can't see how anyone could say such a thing in 21st century for any other reason than trolling.
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Hmmm. a bit strange unless you have actually had it.
Good for de-steaming windows in winter. I would rather give up electric windows than aircon.
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"Trolling"
(Consults dictionary)
Would that be as in fishing, singing, or (homosexual slang) "To stroll around looking for sexual partners"
I'm afraid I can't connect air-con to any of the above.
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Trolling: posting comments on an internet forum that you may or may not personally believe to be true with the intention of sparking an argument.
Actually, I used to share madux's view on aircon "Why would we need that in the UK?" but now friends and family have aircon in their cars I can see the beauty of it. I love my own car, but my one bugbear with it is that it doesn't have aircon. I wonder what it costs to retrofit.
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I used to think that electric windows were for lazy people, until I bought a car that just happened to have them.
I still think they are pointless, apart from being able to open the nearside window from the driver's seat.
But they do keep breaking down!
How much do they cost to unfit?
(Note to self: Buy new dictionary)
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Somebody else who has just asked the same question today..:-)
www.theinquirer.net/?article=18048
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Returning to the electric windows and air conditioning argument, surely one is more important without the other. If my car has been standing in the sun for hours, I like to open the electric windows to get rid of the stagnant hot air. I can even do this before I get into the car by holding the key in the lock. The ability to open other windows from the driver's seat is also useful to allow the air to blow through.
Another argument for electric windows is safety. Pressing a button while moving at speed isn't particularly dangerous. Moving your arm and upper body sufficiently to wind a handle could be.
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Air con certainly isn't a pointless feature, because it does have a point - to cool the car down on hotter days, which it does very well. I think the people who don't like it are those who have never owned a car with it.
Although it is questionable how often in Britain you actually need it...
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I find that since having a car fitted with AC I find it hard to travel any distance in cars without. I said this to a friend of mine a while ago and he would not belive me. However he recently bought a car fitted with AC and recently informed me that he now understood just how comfortable it made a journey. Opening windows, for me , is just not an option as I find that the traffic and wind noise is far too loud and distracting and the quality of the air you get is poor.
As for keyless entry/ignition apart from being convenient, not having a bunch of keys just where your knees are in an accident is surely a benefit. As far as I know Saab are the only manuafacturers to address this with centre console mounted ignition keys.
Automatic headlights and wipers have their place too, if they work, I find them most convenient, not essential, but convenient.
As for electric vs manual windows, every car i've ever had with conventional windup windows failed at least once, a Chevette I had would frequently mangle the complicated cable operated mech, whilst the electric windows never failed.
It is enevitable that these things will appear on vehicles, if advances were not made we'd all still be using Flint tools.
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Some of the Smart cars you put the ignition key next to the handbrake.
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I've been in cars with air conditioning - great for long motorway trips in hot weather. But in normal driving I've got very attached to my electric sliding sunroof, which is open most of the time when it's not raining or freezing!
What does bother me is people, usually men, sitting in supermarket car parks with the engine running, the aircon on and all the windows shut just to keep cool.
Maybe it's no different than running the engine to keep warm while parked in cold weather, but it seems wasteful.
Cheers, SS
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Britain has a damp horrible climate most of the time. Air con clears the condensation rapidly as well as cooling / warming the car. Climate control is even better of course, set the temp and forget it.
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Headlights that stay on 'to guide you to your front door' Experienced this on a Peugeot 407 the other day.
Nearly had the bonnet up disconnecting the battery thinking a switch or relay had packed up in the 'on position.
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>>>>>>Headlights that stay on 'to guide you to your front door' Experienced this on a Peugeot 407 the other day.
Not so sure about this one being pointless. Growlette has it on her car and finds it a comforting security feature late at night for a woman.
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I agree growler I have these on my micra and they are a real comfort to a young lady alone at night. As is the interior lights coming on when you unlock the car with the fob in the dark, as mentioned above somewhere. Think the makers of little 'ladies' cars' like this are very thoughtful, these are not pointless features.
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Cruise control. Anyone actually use it in UK?
Oz (as was)
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>>Cruise control. Anyone actually use it in UK?
Yes, a lot. And the aircon.
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Of all the features in a car, most are suitable for different stages in life. If you have snall children, you want four electric windows with a rear off switch.. Childred will always play with windows manual or otherwise.
Air-Con - a must
Cruise - very useful north of Preston (seriously)
However there are some features that I'm not bothered about - say front parking sensors.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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I agree, air con is great (even if sun roof fitted). Great also for its de-misting effect. Air con needs also to be run regularly for its own sake, to keep system lubricated.
I do have cruise control, but seldom find that it's practicable owing to constantly changing traffic conditions. Sure it's usable, but often makes driving more stressful rather than less stressful.
Oz (as was)
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I do have cruise control, but seldom find that it's practicable owing to constantly changing traffic conditions. Sure it's usable, but often makes driving more stressful rather than less stressful.
I drive a MK II Mondeo auto and a manual Focus both with cruise control. The Focus is a little jerky but the Mondeo is smooth.
What I do not like about the Mondeo is that the control buttons have a loudish click when used. I often use the buttons to tune my speed rather than brakes / gas. It is a little disconcerting for the front passenger as it appears I am a not relaxed and smooth at the controls.
Now I just have to remember where the brake was.
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>>The Focus is a little jerky but the Mondeo is smooth.>>
The fact that the Mondeo is an auto is the clue to the smoothness.
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