Favourite car equipment

Pique

Ok, as above.

What should Car manufacturers fit as standard to all new cars in your opinion?
We all have (or had) cars which had things fitted that are bloody handy and well thought out.

I'll start with:

Auto-dimming rear-view mirror.
Wipers that change to intermittent when stopped.
Automatic central locking when above 10 kph.
Door mirrors that automatically angle down and in when you select reverse to help you in your endeavours.
Windscreen clearing button (fan on full, a/c on, directed at windscreen with the touch of one button)
Ice warning at 3deg C (little beep).
Tyre pressure monitors
Steering wheel controls
iPod/aux dock

What are the ones you lot think should be standard equipment / features ?

dgt

Real drivers don't need any of those distractions :pac:

Anan1

I wouldn't miss most of the above too much, but xenons and ESP are must-haves in my book.

Cill Dara Abu

Tyre pressure monitors would be very handy.

alanmc

I'd quite like a HUD on my windscreen. I reckon it'll be standard on most medium and above size cars in the next few years.

You can get aftermarket ones that connect to the OBD-II, but they look naff. You have to attach a piece of polarising film to your windscreen to stop the double reflection.

A HUD integrated with nav software would be excellent.

Voodoomelon

Pique wrote: »

Door mirrors that automatically angle down and in when you select reverse to help you in your endeavours.

I find this a bloody nuisance. What percentage of reverse manoeuvres actually require you to see the left hand kerb? For the 90% of reversing, you need both of your mirrors positioned normally, I have this silly feature turned off the entire time.

_Kaiser_

Pique wrote: »

Auto-dimming rear-view mirror - meh, for the 2 seconds it takes to flick it manually
Wipers that change to intermittent when stopped. - have this
Automatic central locking when above 10 kph. - I lock the doors when I start the car as a habit anyway
Door mirrors that automatically angle down and in when you select reverse to help you in your endeavours. - never had it to miss. 2 bloody reversing lights might help tho!!
Windscreen clearing button (fan on full, a/c on, directed at windscreen with the touch of one button)- have this
Ice warning at 3deg C (little beep). - and this
Tyre pressure monitors - might be handy
Steering wheel controls - yes this I'd like
iPod/aux dock - yes. My bluetooth kit covers this but would be nice

My comments in bold above - I'll add....

- Cruise Control (a MUST if you do a lot of motorway driving)
- Xenons
- ESP
- heated seats (would be VERY handy soon )

Guy:Incognito

All cars should have integrated bluetooth for handsfree at this stage. Stick €50 on the price of every car if needs be.

robbie_998

Pique wrote: »

Ok, as above.

What should Car manufacturers fit as standard to all new cars in your opinion?
We all have (or had) cars which had things fitted that are bloody handy and well thought out.

I'll start with:

Auto-dimming rear-view mirror.
Wipers that change to intermittent when stopped.
Automatic central locking when above 10 kph.
Door mirrors that automatically angle down and in when you select reverse to help you in your endeavours.
Windscreen clearing button (fan on full, a/c on, directed at windscreen with the touch of one button)
Ice warning at 3deg C (little beep).
Tyre pressure monitors
Steering wheel controls
iPod/aux dock

What are the ones you lot think should be standard equipment / features ?

my car has all that except for auto dimming rear view mirror and auto lock about 10KPH and rear view mirrors change

thought some of these would be quite commen these days !

EPM

Xenons. I couldn't go back after having them. I also wouldn't be without cruise, climate or a proper arm rest.

Eric Cartman

cant live without : cruise control, aircon , ipod and satnav (I just keep fitting kenwood nav units to cars), leather seats, subwoofer, remote central locking, electric mirrors, puddle lights

always get if available but at a push could do without : climate control , heated seats, auto dimming mirror , electric folding mirrors, heated mirrors, headlight washers, heated windscreen, electronic positioning seats

bijapos

A pre-heater or block heater. Uses the petrol/diesel to warm up the engine and or interior before you get in on cold days usually by setting a timer.

Toasty toes and more importantly a lot less wear and tear on the engine as cols starts become a thing of the past. Common on cars in Central and Northern Europe but almost unheard of here.

sean1141

auto dim mirror
rain sensor wipers
arm rest
leather seats
heated seats
auto door lock
cruise control
xenons
air con
climate control

good job my car has all of the above

firefly08

Never understood the fascination with cruise control tbh. I can't relax without my right foot over either the brake or accelerator, so it's completely pointless for me. I literally don't even know how to switch it on on either of my cars.

ABS and airbags are the most important features for me...I suppose they're probably standard across the board now anyway?

HUDs are cool - I wonder when someone will make a retro fit HUD that'll work on any car.

savagecabbages

Things I want in my next car:) : Heated front screen, climate control, memory seats, parking sensors (i know-gimmick), a daycent (preferably BOSE) stereo and bluetooth. Cant think of many more right now...

Heated seats - Aul fellas car has them, I personally never find seats cold when I sit in straight away, and after a minute of having them on they wither make me feel uncomfortably hot or make me fall asleep:rolleyes:
His seats are alcantara suede with leather bolsters, maybe full leather would necessitate them.

Are they really that good? Some of you seem to think they are indispensable.

Northern Monkey

My sunroof is the one thing I am really glad I have on the car. Even on days like today (makes a good escape hatch);)

Eric Cartman

savagecabbages wrote: »

Things I want in my next car:) : Heated front screen, climate control, memory seats, parking sensors (i know-gimmick), a daycent (preferably BOSE) stereo and bluetooth. Cant think of many more right now...

Heated seats - Aul fellas car has them, I personally never find seats cold when I sit in straight away, and after a minute of having them on they wither make me feel uncomfortably hot or make me fall asleep:rolleyes:
His seats are alcantara suede with leather bolsters, maybe full leather would necessitate them.

Are they really that good? Some of you seem to think they are indispensable.

I had a relay hooked up in my old kia sorento for winter , i could use the tailgate glass release button on the remote to turn on the heated seats before i got in the car on cold days , it was the best thing ever

savagecabbages

Excellent.
Though if I tried that the car would end up exploding upon pressing the button:D

The thought of a pre-warmed seat in cold car during cold weather sounds very nice indeed! Its usually only the first 30 seconds I feel the coldness of a seat.

Anyone ever retrofitted a block heater to a car? They were a common enough option on 5 series BMWs in Europe a while back, see the odd one for sale here with one. Also the odd Audi...

CiniO

Pique wrote: »

Auto-dimming rear-view mirror.

I had this in my previous car, and found it both sometimes handy, sometimes annoying.
Now I don't have it and I'm happy.

Wipers that change to intermittent when stopped.

Seen this one in a rented car. I hated it. The same I'm not big fan of rain sensors, as I didn't see a car where it would work like I would think it should work.
Best solution for me is a manual intermittent option, when you can adjust the time.

Automatic central locking when above 10 kph.

I never close myself in the car, maybe except from very rarely scenarios driving in some dangerous area. I wouldn't like it. Better to be in control of locking the car myself.

Door mirrors that automatically angle down and in when you select reverse to help you in your endeavours.

Never seen this, but assume it would be extremely useful, as I lower them manually very often when reversing anyway.

Windscreen clearing button (fan on full, a/c on, directed at windscreen with the touch of one button)

Handy. But will never beat ford's windscreen electric heating.

Ice warning at 3deg C (little beep).

Would be helpful, but can't really trust it.
Sometimes thermometer might show over 3 degrees, and road will be slippery anyway.

Tyre pressure monitors

I wish I had them.

Steering wheel controls

Before I had a car with them I thought they would be very distracting, but now I find the very very handy.

iPod/aux dock

Most preferable for me for today would be SD card reader for MP3s.

What are the ones you lot think should be standard equipment / features ?

I'm missing a ABS disabling button (the same way you have one to disable ESP or TC). I made one myself in Mondeo few years back just by adding a switch to ABS fuse circuit. Worked great, and I could convert car for snow driving and playing around with just one button