Well, I did rent it while in Texas.
I often wonder why cars are not designed with a âpreferencesâ panel, like our computers and phones have. You could setup many parameters to your liking and would make us all happier with our cars. Certainly auto designers are smart enough to see this (I hope), so why do we not have this?
Such as:
Auto-off disable
Seat setting
Sensitivity of auto headlights on/off
sensitivity of auto high beams
Auto door lock on/off
Transmission shift points
Stability control on/off
Disable turbo
Airbags disable
ABS disable
Suspension sports mode on/off
Freezing alert disable (warning when temp drops to 37ÂșF)
Hill hold disable
steering sensitivity
and Iâm sure there are tons of others. Some may not be a good idea because of safety issues, but are useful for debugging problems. Others are usually available as separate controls somewhere.
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Lots of them are. Theyâre usually accessed via the nav screen or the information display in the gauges.
That is a very good safety feature as it has been proven it increases the doors remaining closed in an accident that also helps with the crumple zone.
Again , why would you want to disable that ?
Iâd like seat heating to be optional. Living in Florida, I neither want it nor want to pay for it.
As for sensitivity of auto headlights on/off, thatâs often spelled out in statute rather than a matter of discretion. Floridaâs driverâs handbook used to call for headlights from an hour before dusk to an hour after dawn. I think itâs a matter of being seen more than a matter of being able to see.
Is there such a thing as auto high beams? Interesting. Maybe that would explain why other vehiclesâ headlights seem so bright at night. Does this really need to be automated? Are drivers that bad that they canât manually control them?
If a driver chooses to disable his stability control, I think that should come with increased liability. I get that we all think weâre as skilled as professional stunt drivers, but weâre not, and I think there should be a heavy penalty if disabling a safety feature leads to someone elseâs injury or death, or even damage of property. Iâve written in this forum that Iâm not a fan of ABS on cars, but if I have it and choose to disable it, I better be darn sure it doesnât cause a collision, or I could be on the hook, as it should be.
As for disabling the airbag, many cars offer that feature for times when youâre putting a baby seat where there are airbags, but if youâre talking about a driver disabling his own driverâs airbag(s), doing so should pre-qualify the person who does it for a Darwin Award.
Florida not really needed, but if you were to go north in the winter you would soon discover what a nice feature it is. Also for people who have back problems while driving or even riding a short time of heat can make a difference .
Yep there are always trade offs. I remember my seat getting hotter and hotter and discovered I bumped the seat heater switch. I donât like it but the wife does. Same thing with steering wheel heaters. In the old days though when you bought a car, you would have to go down a long list of every option you wanted at additional cost. Now manufacturers have found it more cost effective to just provide a standard set of options. You take the good with the bad. With Acura I think there are only a couple of option packages to choose from outside of AWD of FWD. Then you get all this stuff whether you want it or not. Going back to the days of choosing every little $100 option might end up costing you more than just taking the standard package. So seat heaters it is, whether you live in the sun belt or not, but it probably ended up costing you less to have that option.
I do agree with VDC though that it is time we quit thinking in term of black and white. Either for or against the EPA, business, etc. There is a whole range of choices in between that can be chosen that will not inhibit freedom of choice and still accomplish broad public needs. My experience though is many bureaucrats have a negative view of the public and believe they must be forced into what they believe is the correct course of action.
It seems to me though that our numbers here are shrinking and lots of folks donât come here anymore. Maybe thatâs because it has become a black and white battle with no room for honest discussion. Just too frustrating. A simple thing like start-stop feature and it becomes an us against them.
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BMW and the other German luxo-brands still do the nickle-and-dime thing. Itâs actually kind of infuriating. Want extending sunshades that come standard on cars like Fords and Hyundais? Thatâs gonna cost you extra at BMW. Absurd.
Hotels, too. Do you want WiFi at an expensive hotel? An extra $10 per day will get it. Want WiFi at a Holiday Inn Express? Itâs included in the much lower nightly fee. Same thing for breakfast, too. Oh, and parking, too, just to keep this car related.
The Prius was introduced in 1997 in Japan and sold only there for 3 years. Gas has always been a lot more expensive there, and they did it to reduce gasoline use. Gas was about $1.25 when the Prius was introduced here in 2000, but climbed to $2 in 2004. Iâm sure that big jump had a positive effect on Prius sales, but not as much as the climb over $4 in 2008. Prices stayed between $3 and $4 until 2015. Toyota used the base they built with the Prius to create other hybrids for people that wanted the gas savings but wanted a different vehicle. I think it was high gas prices that drove the popularity of hybrids. Note that prices for gas are approaching $3 again. Maybe cars with good gas mileage are going to make a comeback soon.
Where is that happening? I just paid $2.39/gallon today in Vero Beach, FL.
Also, Toyota and Honda tend to introduce new vehicles overseas before they bring them to the U.S. They donât want to tarnish the reputation theyâve built producing reliable long-lived vehicles by introducing new models in the U.S. before theyâve worked out the bugs overseas. I imagine thatâs what they did with the original Prius.
Having driven a relatively early U.S. market Prius at work, I can tell you the experience wasnât impressive enough to make me want one. Itâs a heavy vehicle for its size, and I canât imagine putting a hybrid on the market that doesnât automatically come with cruise control, even if that only applies to the cheapest model. Every hybrid and âecoâ model available should come with cruise control. That should be a no-brainer.
I canât speak for other areas, but in NJ, my local Costcoâs price for Top Tier regular gas is currently $2.28, and it has only fluctuated upward or downward by 2 or 3 cents per week for at least one month.
California, last November I paid $3.14/gallon at Costco in Irvine, Ca. Other gas stations in the area today are $3.35 to $3.55.
around me (south-central PA) itâs been between 2.67 and 2.78 regularly. Granted we have the highest gas tax in the nation (combined with the worst roadsâŠ) so weâre always way above norm. In the metro areas like Philadelphia and surrounding areas Iâll be theyâre already around $2.90-$3.10 or higher
The gas prices are average for the USA. Prices around me climbed from about $2.10 to about $2.50. I remember when I used to travel to Florida a lot for business that prices there were a lot less than at home. I shop for cheap gas. There are stations near me thatâs charge almost $2.90.
The only hotel that ever charged me extra for WiFi was Hotel 6, and they donât have breakfast either, plus they arenât that much cheaper than hotels that have complimentary WiFi and continental breakfast in the lobby.
I used to travel a lot for business and stayed at a wide variety of hotels. We have special pricing, and I get to stay at higher priced hotels because of that. Ten years ago, the lower priced hotels all had free wifi and free breakfast. The higher priced hotels in the same chain did not, even though they charged more for the rooms. I always thought the customer should get more for their money. Apparently the hoteliers did not. Now when I travel on business, the higher priced hotels have free breakfast and wifi too.
Now youâll get me started on hotel breakfast. Really now, Wifi has become just an expected feature like a TV or pillows. You just canât run a hotel without it. Breakfasts though, I dunno. Those free lobby breakfasts leave a lot to be desired. If you are lucky enough to get a spare waffle machine, and the orange juice machine is not empty, and the hard boiled eggs are fresh, and the scrambled eggs are still hot, OK. Those little muffins and dried out rolls are not too bad. Really though a lot of it is the commotion from all those people hanging around in a tight space. But itâs fast usually, and free. But compared to a restaurant with a breakfast buffet, and reasonable seating, and some quiet-I guess you get what you pay for.
Mercedes may be required to incorporate that function in order for the car or their fleet to pass EPA emissions or mpg requirements.