The only std feature I REALLY want is a MANUAL TRANSMISSION. Yes, I know automatics are good these days, as gas efficient as manuals, etc. BUT nothing drives like a manual on snow and ice, of which we get lots here in Wyoming. It seems Ford no longer makes Rangers with manual transmissions. So, I know at least one long-time Ford Ranger buyer who will be switching to a Nissan Frontier when his current Ranger reaches the end of its life. This issue thoroughly disgusts me. American car makers continue to screw the pooch!
I have to agree. It’s become really difficult to mount a roof rack on the current rail-less vehicles. My wife’s Jetta wagon has a built-in rack that feels sturdier than most, but even so I wonder about the strength of the mounting.
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Stability control. YES! Probably more useful where I live (Great Lakes), but even warmer places can have wet and slippery roads. And don’t get me started about the ice storms in Dallas when I visited last January! When you need this you REALLY need it. So does everyone around you.
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Safe distance tech. Why? How distracted do you have to be? Maybe if it could alert me that I’m 1 foot from the car I’m backing toward when I’m parking…
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Blind spot monitoring. Maybe. Despite mirrors, every vehicle has blind spots. Modern design seems to encourage them, and make checking the blind spots more difficult (what happened to low beltlines and lots of glass?). This is substituting technology for more user-friendly design, but OK.
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Alert sounds for low oil and/or high temp. Why? Give me an oil pressure gauge, or make the light come on before the loss is catastrophic. I have a temperature gauge; all I have to do is read it.
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Adjustable pedals. Yes, though this would be acceptable as a low-cost option. I’ve known a surprising number of people who had issues with getting a proper driving position. Pedal reach adjustment would be one more way to get the fit right.
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All-around cameras. Might be useful for larger vehicles. For my Golf I don’t see the point.
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Sleepy driver alert. Could be useful - a lot of accidents happen this way. Not sure of how to do it, but loss of attention tends to be one of those things where by the time you recognize the problem you’ve been in the danger zone for a while.
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Headlight covers. Don’t know. My current car is the first to have headlight covers, and they aren’t old enough to have damage. If it costs hundreds of dollars to replace them I’m going to be pissed.
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Auto-shutoff lights? My last 3 cars have beeped at me if I tried to get out with the headlights on. What more do I deserve?
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Yeah, I’ve had times when I could’ve used a “SORRY!” sign. I suspect most of us have.
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No. I think the electronic key on my current car is too smart already. Parents of teenagers will have to get this one as an option…
I’m with Matt on this, though my commute sometimes reminds me why many people DON’T like a manual trans. I find most automatics too laggy for my taste. The only one I’ve driven that I actually liked is the DSG gearbox that VW and Audi use on their cars. Shifting is quick, and the manual-shift mode changes gears hen you tell it to. Still doesn’t give you the disengage for snowy roads, but better than most… All of my cars have had manual shift. I’m just retro that way…
Here are a couple ideas of mine:
(1) very low tech, if you don’t have sonar to detect vehicles that you might bump into: a stick-on wide angle mirror for the driver’s side or even the passenger side. Cheap and easy and very helpful.
(2) fuel consumption readouts like in my Prius, that give instantaneous mpg numbers, as well as the same over the course of 1 minute, 5 minutes, or between fillups. This might just lighten your foot, lower your cruising speed and acceleration, and increase your mileage and your safety. Yes, even in a Prius it pays to take it easy.
Way back in the 70s I hitched a ride from a guy in a muscle car, and he had installed a gauge that showed his fuel economy, roughly. Every time he put the pedal down, so did the gas mileage, dramatically. Never saw anything like it until I got the Prius.
(3) And would it be too draconian to have an ignition shutoff that detected texting?
Glad I’m not the only one who noticed the safety-crat ‘just drive stupid we’ll make the crashing better’ thought process from Tom and Ray. The government is always trying that on motorcycles too. I’m sure Tom and Ray would shudder to know that I also ride a (where’s the protection for you) motorcycle.
I agree we have differing opinions. I disagree about me making a fool of myself by responding to your sarcasm with a little of my own. Works both ways, my friend.
This has been proposed before. The flashing of lights in big city freeway traffic jams would drive you out of your mind.
Standard bumper height for all vehicles.
Not more than about a half dozen designs for personal transportation vehicles of each of the following:
- Disk brake pads.
- Brake disks.
- Oil filters.
- Engine intake air filters.
- Cabin filters.
- Drum brake shoes.
- Automatic transmission fluids (3 max).
- Headlight lamp bulbs.
- Non LED trunk lamps, clearance lamps, brake lamps, turn signal lamps, dash lamps etc.
- Fuel filters.
- Tires of each wheel diameter size.
- Lug nut patterns.
- Struts.
- Shock absorbers.
A little late to get into this, so maybe these have already been suggested … but here goes:
I have long thought it would be great to have a front brake light that lets pedestrians in a crosswalk know whether your foot is on the brake or not. Reduces ambiguity and hesitation by the pedestrian, less time waiting for them to cross. If the light isn’t on, can save a life. Maybe it should be a color not in use already, like purple.
Another vote for backup cameras (or the bird’s eye view camera).
Headrest height should be adjustable down, as well as up, for shorter drivers.
Seat backs should be shorter so shorter drivers can see over the headrests when turning around to see backing up, and the seat back should be in sections so that if taller drivers need a taller seat back they can move it up, like the headrest.
Another version of this is to simply allow drivers to choose from two or three seat sizes to install into their vehicle. Mix and match “tall”, “medium”, “short” with “narrow”, “average,” “wide.” Could make seats interchangeable so the driver and passenger can exchange actual seats, depending on who’s driving. One for big and tall man, another for short tiny woman, click here, click there, switch places. Each would be more comfortable, and maybe even have better visibility and safety.
In-the-dash location for portable GPS devises, to avoid placing on top of dash or in window area, where it’s illegal in several states. Or a mounting location next to the rear view mirror, an electric plug for it in the rear view mirror area.
It seems that simpler things would add safety - like cruise control and windshield wipers in a standard location, buttons large enough so fingers on big hands can activate them, and cars that are high enough off the ground so they don’t get hungup in snow.
I would like a glove box big enough to hold more than the book that comes with the car.
I’m with the people who think they should be able to buy a car that’s not so computerized and overrun with electronics etc. I, who used to change my own oil and brake pads, couldn’t find the battery in my new car (It’s in the trunk) when trying to give someone a jump start.
Enough already!
cindie
Polarized glass in windshields to prevent blinding glare when the sun is low in the sky. If it was affordable I would go so far as to make the glass automatically dimming. Affordable means one hundred bucks.
Another valuable idiot light: a small red light on the dash that comes on with the brake lights. Cheap electronics would turn it off after two seconds and cause it to flash after ten seconds. This is for left foot brakers. Are those obliviots slowing down or just riding the brake with the wrong foot? Perhaps the new accelerator pedals that cut the engine power when you step on the brake will solve this problem. And a beeper that goes “ding!” when your turn signal has been on for thirty seconds. Annoying yes, but most people would get used to it quickly.
Automatic turn signals. Sooooooooo many people don’t use their signals at stop lights, intersections, or even turning off the road onto a side street or driveway.
blind spot mirrors, heated mirrors, sokind of headlamp cleaner, rear camera, adjustable pedals, auto off headlamps, audio alarms for gas,temp and low oil.
GM already does this. They have like 3 or 4 alternators (pretty much from small to large -- it wouldn't make sense to have a 200 amp truck-sized alternator in a Cavalier after all), and sensors are interchangeable throughout the line. i think you'll find they use the exact same temperature sensor for intake air, coolant, and ambient air for instance. I can't comment on car cos that superflously change the parts every year, but some don't.
Also -- electronic connectors are being standardized. A lot of new cars use the CAN bus. I don't know about the brake parts, struts, and shock absorbers. In theory it sounds great, in practice you'd then up with a choice between the car co "rounding down" and having shocks and struts that are not up to the job, or "rounding up" and having them oversized so the vehicle doesn't handle. Of course sometimes they do anyway -- my Chevy Corsica had the worst brake fade I've ever seen 8-)I’d like for it to be standard that the “convenience outlets” (formerly “cigarette-lighter sockets”) remains hot when the engine is switched off. I don’t smoke, but have a couple of chargers and other gadgets that reset to square one when power is cut.
How about a rear facing proximity sensor that, linked to your vehicle’s speed, would sense when another vehicle is following too close and turn on the rear hazard warning flashers?
A seemingly good idea but in order to be useful, turn signals need to signal what the driver intends to do in the near future. We don’t need turn signals to tell what a driver is doing right now, that is obvious.
For automatic turn signals to be useful, they would have to read the driver’s mind.
I would really appreciate it if drivers ahead signaled their turns far enough ahead of time so that I have time to either change lanes or coast down to a lower speed and not have to nail the brakes to avoid rear ending the turning driver. Turn signals turned on at the last second before the turn do me almost no good.