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[calistan]

Here's an interesting article about how a lot of the gadgets and driver aids in modern cars are either superfluous or not particularly welcomed by drivers. Passenger-side 'infotainment' screens, removal of physical controls, lane-keeping tech, etc.

A lot of new in-car tech is “not necessary,” survey finds

Partially automated driving systems scored particularly poorly.

arstechnica.com

I don't need to own a car where I live, so I only ever drive rentals - which means I generally get a different model each time, with a wide variety of tech that ranges from actually useful, to cool-looking toys you rarely use, to confusing and possibly dangerous.

- Handbrakes replaced by buttons. In manual shift cars, I've had maybe one physical handbrake in the last 10 years (Audi). The button versions all function in slightly different ways. Some you never need to touch, while others (damn you, Vauxhall) need to be pushed or pulled to prevent the car rolling backwards while holding on a hill.

- Key fobs that can activate things in the car when it's parked outside. One time I sat on the fob for a VW, not knowing that pressing all the buttons together would wind down all the windows. Which I learned about the next morning, after it had rained all night.

- Lane-keeping assists. I've seen many types, and none of them have been massively useful. Sometimes it's a gentle nudge the other way if you try to cross a line without signalling. Other times it's an audible warning. Mercedes has a terrible one that taps the brakes and makes the car give out a grinding noise that sounds like the exhaust has fallen off.

- Touch screens. Navigating those while moving seems like a bad idea. Some cars have dials or trackpads where the handbrake used to be, but you still have to take your eyes off the road.

- Self-parking. I've never used that, given that these are not my cars and I have no idea effective the different versions will be.

Does anyone actually need this stuff?

 

[Hrk69]

The only thing a modern car needs is a good paint job so I can scratch it the fuck up

 

[poppabk]

Most of the tech I have is pretty useful, lane keep assist being probably the least useful. I don't have extravagant stuff like screens just for the passenger though.

 

[Quasicat]

I have a Hyundai Tucson and I love the lane assist feature. It keeps you in your lane without rumbling or giving any alarms. I also love the adaptive cruise control, where I just set it and I follow the same speed as the car in front of me. The one feature, that I turned off, was the driver alertness alarm. There is apparently a camera somewhere watching my eyes making sure they look forward. I kept getting an alarm that I’m tired and need a break...so I turned that one off. I also like the blind spot sensors and alarms. Those are very convenient.

 

[jason10mm]

CRuise control is nice, but the adaptive one that trails the guy ahead of you by x distance drives me nuts. It's always braking or I'm just overriding it anyway.

The mandatory one is the sensor that detects when a car moves in front of you at a light and then beeps to get you off your phone. Wish every car had that one!

No need for lane assist, or the worst one is the "hey, you awake?" Chime my wife's mazda gives every 20 min or so, makes a long drive goddamn intolerable.

 

[Mistake]

I miss when cars were metal and I could hit whatever I wanted

 

[BlackTron]

I'd take a backup camera but I don't want anything else mentioned here.

 

[BadBurger]

Handbrakes are the only things I really miss. In an emergency I want to be able to pull that handbrake, not fumble around trying to find a button I have probably not pressed, let alone located, since I took the initial test drive at the dealer.

 

[chromhound]

The things i need : a screen for android auto/carplay, heated/cooled seats, Blindspot monitoring and a backup camera

 

[diffusionx]

I got a car in 2021 after living in NYC for years and was blown away by the technology. It made driving so easy. Blind spot, lane detection, and the rearview camera are all must have. I love it.

 

[lmimmfn]

Auto dimming headlights are great along with auto non flare rear view mirror, auto wipers and reversing camera/sensor

The rest I wouldn't care about.

 

[Trogdor1123]

The lane assist is pretty great imo. Touch screens are good too.

There is definitely some wasted tech though imo. Electric parking brakes as an example.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

- Handbrakes replaced by buttons. In manual shift cars, I've had maybe one physical handbrake in the last 10 years (Audi). The button versions all function in slightly different ways. Some you never need to touch, while others (damn you, Vauxhall) need to be pushed or pulled to prevent the car rolling backwards while holding on a hill.

- Touch screens. Navigating those while moving seems like a bad idea. Some cars have dials or trackpads where the handbrake used to be, but you still have to take your eyes off the road.

JESUS CHRIST THIS SHIT RIGHT THERE.

Listen, it's very simple, handbrake is your "oh shit, hold the power button for 5 seconds" thing, it needs to be simple. Pulling up on the handle is simple.

Touch screens - doesn't help the infotainement of car manufacturers is absolute shit. The other day I got a rental car (I also don't need them where I live and I am so not paying for parking + insurance + other fees). I did not know how to stop the in-car navigation, how fucking hard can it be?

 

[Pejo]

Add me to the list that hates buttons for parking/emergency brakes.

 

[Gp1]

I fell that cars are on that point of the "product lifetime" that every single innovation feels superfluous and a cashgrab unless is something really disruptive.

The e-handbrake is one of those things. And I was surprised to learn that some models don't even have a manual release. Good luck towing, moving or jumpstarting your car without battery.

The touchscreen is another, bad UI etc... i never understood this need to fill cars with touchscreen/infotainement etc. Here you can get a ticket for using your mobile while driving but you can navigate the damn touchscreen on the dashboard with that awful UI.

 

[calistan]

According to the article in the OP, reversing cameras are mandatory in new cars. I like those, they’re useful.

Another terrible idea - how about electrically operated doors? To open the rear doors in some Tesla models, in the event of power failure, you have to lift the carpet to locate the manual release. Hope the passengers know how to that quickly after autopilot has steered you into a tree and you’re waiting for the battery to explode.

 

[Facism]

Hate lane assist. For shit drivers.

 

[Thaedolus]

I love lane assist. Am shit driver

 

[6502]

I got a cheap eastern European car. Inside is closer to a prison cell than the luxury of my old French car. Even the wing mirrors are manual. The most advanced tech in it is the radio. But there is F all to go wrong and I have a big car for half what I paid 10 years ago for the shiny tech laden one. I love it.

 

[ClanOfNone]

I don’t want or need 95% of the new tech they put in cars. I need my car to do two things: get me from point A to point B, and have cold blowing AC (fuck the Florida Hellswamps).
Make cars cheaper, not more expensive.

 

[T-0800]

My car was made in 1998. It doesn't even have electric windows.

 

[TheUsual]

The tactile feeling of buttons and knobs for basic functions like adjusting the volume, tuning the radio, controlling heat and AC are infinity superior to a touchscreen adjusting all that.

Probably because I've driven that way my entire life but you don't have to fumble through a touchscreen for all that.

 

[Von Hugh]

I prefer a touch screen. Go take a look at any Toyota and try to figure out what each of those physical buttons do. There can be 100 of them, and I wouldn't know what half of them do since they are not placed logically, and they only have the icon on them or next to them. At least in a Tesla and its touch screen you get context (placement, icon, text, menus, whatever) that what the button in the UI does.

And no, you are not touching the screen 99 % of the time you are driving because you don't need to. You actually drive the car. If you need to adjust any setting, you most likely do it while parked anyways.

 

[nightmare-slain]

my car has nothing fancy. it's about 8 years old now. the most advanced thing it has is a small touch screen and carplay support. it has cruise control which is useful sometimes.

the touch screen is annoying to adjust when driving so i couldn't imagine these more modern cars that have a lot of the controls based on the screen. that said, i couldn't live without the built in screen for carplay especially when using maps. cruise control i could live without.

i don't ask for anything else.

 

[kruis]

I don’t want or need 95% of the new tech they put in cars. I need my car to do two things: get me from point A to point B, and have cold blowing AC (fuck the Florida Hellswamps).
Make cars cheaper, not more expensive.

It's funny how we're all supposed to go green, care about the environment and reuse more of our stuff instead of throwing everything away. All these modern cars full of electronics and completely dependent on software will all become unreparable in ten years or so, while older cars will continue to work,

 

[bitbydeath]

Don’t think I’ll go back to a car that doesn’t have a 360 degree camera view. Otherwise having auto-lights and the ability to play Spotify and i’m set.

Can’t think of much else, heated seats and power windows are nice but not as high on the list.

 

[poppabk]

I prefer a touch screen. Go take a look at any Toyota and try to figure out what each of those physical buttons do. There can be 100 of them, and I wouldn't know what half of them do since they are not placed logically, and they only have the icon on them or next to them. At least in a Tesla and its touch screen you get context (placement, icon, text, menus, whatever) that what the button in the UI does.

And no, you are not touching the screen 99 % of the time you are driving because you don't need to. You actually drive the car. If you need to adjust any setting, you most likely do it while parked anyways.

As someone who drives a lot, physical buttons are far preferable to putting those controls on a touchscreen. Cruise control you obviously need multiple tines in a trip, Air conditioning is something you may need to access multiple times in a journey, and for most people skipping tracks and adjusting audio volume. Even Teslas I would hope have most of that stuff on buttons on the steering wheel.
All I want from my touchscreen on a trip is to give me access to Android Auto.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

When driving, you’re supposed to fucking pay attention to the road.
If you need a nanny car to do that for you, you shouldn’t be driving.
All these electronics are there mostly so that small-peepee people can boast their car’s useless functions (that they don’t know how to operate or turn off anyway) so their humble city car feels special ve another humble city car from a different manifacturer. Oh, and to burn more fuel, of course.

Some functions are useful, true, but we all know all of this won’t bring road deaths down to zero because, at the end of the day, there’s a human behind the wheel. And if humans still haven’t achieved zero road deaths, maybe the solution isn’t adding more tech to cars.

 

[AJUMP23]

Modern car things that we don't need. They all shut themselves off at a light or when you come to a stop. I hate it and would take it to a shop to change it.

Cars made after 2027 have to have remote shut off technology so the government or police can deactivate your car anytime they want to.

Those are the technologies that bother me.

 

[Dural]

Adaptive cruise control is a life saver on long trips. I've driven to Orlando from northern Illinois twice in the last year (~1200 miles each way) and without that the drive would have been much worse (especially in Tennessee where everyone sits in the left lane right at or below the speed limit and doesn't get over). It actually saved me when someone decided to suddenly change lanes and almost hit me, the cruise control braked before I could.

 

[Minsc]

Isn't the same true of phones? Taking pictures, sending texts... all it needs to do is make phone calls.

 

[Dacvak]

- Lane-keeping assists. I've seen many types, and none of them have been massively useful. Sometimes it's a gentle nudge the other way if you try to cross a line without signalling. Other times it's an audible warning. Mercedes has a terrible one that taps the brakes and makes the car give out a grinding noise that sounds like the exhaust has fallen off.

Lane assist + auto braking/accel cruise control is a must for me. I use it almost every time I drive. It just makes longer trips on the highway so much easier. I’m all for fully automating as much of the driving experience as I safely can.

Edit: To be clear, the lane assist doesn’t really help all that much since I’m paying attention to the road anyway. But I love auto cruise control.

 

[poodaddy]

Only feature in my car I utilize is the back up camera, and even then I'm still leaning out the window out of habit sometimes. My wife likes the heated seats, I couldn't give a shit about em.

 

[Calverz]

My car has limited self steering. It’s actually really good when you can’t be assed stuck in traffic.

However it will play an audible warning everytime you go over the speed limit. The only way to stop it is to turn traffic sign recognition off everytime you turn the car on. It’s a pain in the ass and apparently it’s a new EU thing since January this year.

 

[Alebrije]

Considering most of Cars these days are just tablets with wheels , Yep a Lot of stuff is useless and Frankly find more distracting controlling all on a touch screen that just have a dedicated button for a función.

When You Buy cars for a company usually look for the basic cheapest version because is a working car , those cars do the job without all the jinggles and gimicks more expensive versión have. They event do not have radio /m3p player, hands free or electric Windows.

 

[Days like these...]

I've got 2 older cars that I'm going to drive till the wheels fall off. No screens no nothing. I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to get another car. Give me a real dashboard, radio and AC and I'm good.

 

[kevboard]

I am still so perplexed by the fact that touch screen controls in cars are legal during driving.

remember when using your phone while driving was ruled to be distracted driving and could get you in trouble?
how on earth is is then acceptable to have an iPad glued to your center console that is the only way to turn on and off sometimes main functions of the car?

aren't Teslas these days using the touch screen to shift into reverse? HOW IS THIS LEGAL?

how is it legal to have any function that isn't tied to infotainment only accessible through a touch interface that shifts your view even further off the road than holding a phone in front of your face for 5 seconds?

this might be a hot take, but in my opinion any driver facing touch screen should either turn completely black or be not interactable the moment you're driving faster than 10 km/h

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

Considering most of Cars these days are just tablets with wheels , Yep a Lot of stuff is useless and Frankly find more distracting controlling all on a touch screen that just have a dedicated button for a función.

When You Buy cars for a company usually look for the basic cheapest version because is a working car , those cars do the job without all the jinggles and gimicks more expensive versión have. They event do not have radio /m3p player, hands free or electric Windows.

Problem is, basic versions are all missing some features that it’d be really nice to have, like automated AC.

 

[Forsete]

Lane keeping assist I don't mind, it's nice to have on the highway while on longer trips.

I don't use the touchscreen when driving, it's a hazard IMO. I select CarPlay, select the Spotify playlist before I get going. Using the touchscreen is very-very distracting.
My car thankfully has physical buttons for everything important, like climate control, heated seats and so on. The touchscreen is only for entertainment stuff.

I could do without the f##king stupid EU mandated speed warning though, that shit is more dangerous than it helps because its annoying.
It can be turned off, but it will automatically turn on once the car is restarted. I can't wait for a hack for this filth.

Also one feature I really love is adaptive cruise control, I use it all the time. We have a lot of 2+1 roads in my country so you always catch up with someone, having the cruise control adjust the speed is fantastic.

 

[T8SC]

People don't drive cars anymore, they get driven. Watch people get in, they spend 10 mins fucking about getting Spotify working, charging their phone, checking their hair etc.

I genuinely think if you put a new driver in a 20-30yr old performance car which doesn't have all the gadgets and gizmos that their new Fiesta ST/Abarth has (lane assist, parking sensors, stability control, traction control etc etc) they'd crash within 50 miles on a B road.

 

[HoodWinked]

most of the stuff feels half baked. and while it works most of the time you just know it's going to fuck up that one time.

 

[Durien]

I have a Telluride and can do without all the sync my phone, buttons everywhere, etc.

The one thing I will never buy a car without is heated seats. It is the one thing I never knew I needed. One of the heating mechanisms is right on my lower back. 10/10 would buy again.

 

[Pagusas]

Isn't the same true of phones? Taking pictures, sending texts... all it needs to do is make phone calls.

I'd argue the phone aspect of modern phones is the LEAST used thing on them.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

No shit.

 

[ReBurn]

I like the tech. I like being able to remote start my vehicle using my phone. I like the adaptive cruise control that adjusts my speed if some moron cuts me off. I like the hud that helps me keep my eyes on the road and warns me if I go over the speed limit. I like the adaptive headlights that automatically manages high beams on really dark roads. I also like the cooled seats that keep my back from sweating against the leather and keep my nards cool at the same time. It may not be necessary but I like it.

 

[Trilobit]

JESUS CHRIST THIS SHIT RIGHT THERE.

Listen, it's very simple, handbrake is your "oh shit, hold the power button for 5 seconds" thing, it needs to be simple. Pulling up on the handle is simple.

Touch screens - doesn't help the infotainement of car manufacturers is absolute shit. The other day I got a rental car (I also don't need them where I live and I am so not paying for parking + insurance + other fees). I did not know how to stop the in-car navigation, how fucking hard can it be?

I have a button for the handbrake and I hate it. I've learned to start in uphill by slowly releasing the handbrake while I press the gas. It'll be far more challenging in the future.

 

[BadBurger]

The tactile feeling of buttons and knobs for basic functions like adjusting the volume, tuning the radio, controlling heat and AC are infinity superior to a touchscreen adjusting all that.

Probably because I've driven that way my entire life but you don't have to fumble through a touchscreen for all that.

My car only has physical / analog knobs for climate control. I didn't realize how much I missed tactile controls in cars until recently when my car computer or whatever started having issues. Just give me that old early 2010's in-car experience, please, when there was a smart system in place and backup cams and all that, but all of the basic stuff was still controlled with physical knobs and buttons. Those were the days. I miss my 2012 Mini Cooper so much some times.

 

[Facism]

People don't drive cars anymore, they get driven. Watch people get in, they spend 10 mins fucking about getting Spotify working, charging their phone, checking their hair etc.

I genuinely think if you put a new driver in a 20-30yr old performance car which doesn't have all the gadgets and gizmos that their new Fiesta ST/Abarth has (lane assist, parking sensors, stability control, traction control etc etc) they'd crash within 50 miles on a B road.

Most of my driving is leisure on fast country roads. Would love one of those cars to throw around the countryside. No modern nonsense and being able to feel the road through the car is key for me.

 

[farmerboy]

Lane assist and adaptive cruise control are nice. Emergency braking has saved me one accident, so a tick there too. Blind spot warnings are also handy. Everything else is superfluous

As for controls, physical is always better than touch. Always.

 

[Lunarorbit]

According to the article in the OP, reversing cameras are mandatory in new cars. I like those, they’re useful.

Another terrible idea - how about electrically operated doors? To open the rear doors in some Tesla models, in the event of power failure, you have to lift the carpet to locate the manual release. Hope the passengers know how to that quickly after autopilot has steered you into a tree and you’re waiting for the battery to explode.

The US requiring backup cameras is the reason we can't get the Toyota hilux. It's the truck that the taliban throws giant machine guns in the bed and drives around being assholes. I think it sells well in se Asia too in part cause it's a barebones truck with knobs that regular people can afford.