What features / gadgets would you like to see in every car

Cormic

I had a number of things in current / past cars of mine that I would love to see in every car. For example:

Button on drivers door to control child locks on rear doors - Primera
Three lights on the ceiling to indicate status of rear seat belts - Mazda 6
Two sunglasses holders in ceiling - Santa Fe
Super light steering button for parking - Punto

The only problem with this would be that the car could look something like this...



However, what would you like to see?

EPM

A beeper that get louder and more frequent to the point of insanity when a headlight is out.

ThisRegard

Cormic wrote: »

For example:

Button on drivers door to control child locks on rear doors - Primera
Three lights on the ceiling to indicate status of rear seat belts - Mazda 6
Two sunglasses holders in ceiling - Santa Fe
Super light steering button for parking - Punto

Bar the glasses holders, which I could have done with, I have each of those, or a version of them, in our Megane. The button for the rear doors and windows is there, as it is in our Octavia, we get text on the dash telling us how many rear seat belts are on and the light steering is automatic depending on the speed of the car, the slower you go the more assistance you get.

I like the automatic rear wiper if you engage reverse and you have the front wipers on, the choice of being able to automatically close the cars windows or not when locking the doors came in handy during the summer. There's a couple of littler things like that which I can't bloody remember now though. My wifes Vectra has a dash warning when a bulb is out.

Forgot to add, 2 things I use most often, built in bluetooth and aux inputs. Courtesy lights when ignition switched off and doors are unlocked are quiet good and something I rarely use, because I park at the side of the house rather than the front, is the ability to leave the headlights on in various time increments in order to find keys or whatever in the dark.

MugMugs

I'm a man of simple pleasures but a courtesy light that comes on when I take my key out of the ignition would be nice (Passat)

A rear wiper that engages when you put the car into reverse and the front wipers are turned on (Fabia)

Guy:Incognito

EPM wrote: »

A beeper that get louder and more frequent to the point of insanity when a headlight is outthe foglights are on.

FYP

Cookie_Monster

a coffee maker


I like the way my 3 series turned off the head lights when you locked the car, meant you could always leave them on and no annoying buzzer.
wipers that slow automatically when you're stopped at lights

Owen

Every car should have IMHO :

• Aircon (No wonder there's so many accidents on rainy days when cars are completely fogged up and normal blowers can't clear the mist quickly)
• Heated Seats
• PDC (Not because parking's difficult, but because they cost bugger all to install at the factory, and sure why the hell not)
• SatNav - it's cheap as chips now too
• LED rear lights so no more blown bulbs
• Onboard Diagnostics like the XGauge/Scangauge II setup
• Automatic Headlights with Main Beam Assist - No more drivers faffing about with no lights in dim conditions or blinding you with main beams
• Bluetooth - no more phones up to the ear.
• USB/SD interface
• Intelligent mapping - if the wipers are on, the car knows it's raining and adjusts ESP/Performance to compensate for greasy road surfaces for drivers who don't know how to adjust to the conditions. And the ability to switch it off for those that do.
• The ability to switch between an economy map and a performance map for the engine.

Tabnabs

I have a button on my key fob that switches on the internal lights and lights under the wing mirrors (puddle lights) which is great when approaching the car on a dark night or in a busy car park at night.

Auto dimming rear view mirror, another great feature.

(Volvo S40)

david

The only one I really ever miss when driving a lower spec car is bluetooth handsfree - every other "extra" I could live without.

ThisRegard

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

meant you could always leave them on and no annoying buzzer.

I don't think there's anything more annoying, every car I've owned switched the lights off automatically but my wifes doesn't so I'm always greeted by the buzzer in hers.

Automatic door locking can be a good security/safety feature but some may argue about its safety in the event of an accident.

Another that I just remembered is the sound of the car stereo adjusting to the road noise.

Zubeneschamali

Heated windscreen. Brilliant gadget.

Cruise control. Now that we have motorways, this is very useful.

Gas struts on the bonnet: much better than the poxy metal rod on the current car.

Tea 1000

Integrated child booster seats in the back that manufacturers used to put there but for some reason don't anymore. They'd actually allow you to have 3 kids under 12 in the back of a saloon, which can carry them until you try to put in booster seats!
I think the child lock button would be great, I think one poster confused them with a button that just locks the doors, that's different, the kid can still unlock the door.
I have heater strips in the windscreen at the park point of the wipers to keep them defrosted in cold weather, but why has no car got heater elements along the bonnet where the pipes carrying the water to the washerjets are? That always freezes so even if you're water bottle is thawed, the pipes are solid!

ThisRegard

Tea 1000 wrote: »

I think the child lock button would be great, I think one poster confused them with a button that just locks the doors, that's different, the kid can still unlock the door.

Me ? Think so as I'm the only one bar the OP to comment on them. Nope, not confusing them, the button prevents anyone, child or adult, operating the read windows or doors from the inside. The button you think I'm talking about is a different one and that's on the dash itself, or as I mentioned, can be set to automatic once the car goes over 20kkph.

DublinWriter

Wife mute button.

CiniO

I can only think about button for turining ABS off.

Atomic Pineapple

An extremely high standard braking system and a minimum of 150bhp. Better braking and safer overtaking.

hi5

A heated windscreen,I had one in an 88' sapphire,I still miss it:(

HeidiHeidi

A cupholder (Peugeot 307, my third, and I keep swearing I won't buy another one unless they put one in, but I do....). Or preferably two, to be sociable.

And I've always wondered - why are there only rear window wipers on hatchbacks? Surely saloon drivers need to see out their dirty rear windows as well, no? Rear wipers that kick in in reverse are a great idea (if you have them!)

eth0

I prefer a distinct lack of gadgets tbh

Would buy a kit car if they were cheap. A Caterham 7 with the optional heater and maybe a hitch would do me grand. I have driven cars with a fair few gadgets but once the novelty wears off after a few days I don't bother with them anymore.

I have a particular distaste for things that used to be manual and are now controlled by some lousy electric actuator from China. I'd have roll down windows if I could, and I'd never buy an automatic.

coolbeans

A passenger ejector seat.
An EMP pulse especially designed to pop inappropriately used fog lights.
ABS brakes.

ThisRegard

HeidiHeidi wrote: »

And I've always wondered - why are there only rear window wipers on hatchbacks? Surely saloon drivers need to see out their dirty rear windows as well, no? Rear wipers that kick in in reverse are a great idea (if you have them!)

Saloon rear windows don't get as dirty as hatchbacks due to the aerodynamic shape of the different styles. Drive through dirt and rain and the spray gets thrown straight onto the window of a hatchback, it doesn't on a saloon. Having said that, some saloons do have rear wipers.

MugMugs

ThisRegard wrote: »

Saloon rear windows don't get as dirty as hatchbacks due to the aerodynamic shape of the different styles. Drive through dirt and rain and the spray gets thrown straight onto the window of a hatchback, it doesn't on a saloon. Having said that, some saloons do have rear wipers.

To counter snow / rain, I think all family saloons should have a rear wiper.

TheBazman

integrated roll cage

Mr Magners

CiniO wrote: »

I can only think about button for turining ABS off.

I have to ask why you'd want to turn off ABS. One of the best safety additions ever imo.

I think Bluetooth should be standard on all new cars, it's as essential as lights and wipers on modern cars with mobile phone ownership close to 100% I reckon

Eoin

Driver's armrest! One of the most trivial things you could think of in a car, but somehow makes a big difference.

Owen wrote: »

Every car should have IMHO :

• Heated Seats
• SatNav - it's cheap as chips now too
• Bluetooth - no more phones up to the ear.
• USB/SD interface

I HATE heated seats, even in the depth of winter!

The other stuff I wouldn't be pushed about - I actually prefer having after-market sat-nav, USB and Bluetooth interface as I have a choice and not limited to the manufacturer's offering.

Atomic Pineapple

LIGHTNING wrote: »

Any modern car I have driven has had excellent brakes. I would go as far as the last few bog standard faimily saloons I have taken around a track didnt have any problems. You would say the same thing 10/15 years ago.

My mothers Fiesta doesn't!

CiniO

OSI wrote: »

That's probably the only safety feature I would never want to turn off in a car.

Mr Magners wrote: »

I have to ask why you'd want to turn off ABS. One of the best safety additions ever imo.

For two reasons.
1. Reduce stopping distance on loose surfaces like deep snow, sand, gravel.
2. To be able to play with a car making it skid, by using left foot braking, which is impossible with ABS.
3. To be able to train braking without ABS in case I need to drive a vehicle not equipped with ABS.

Zubeneschamali

LIGHTNING wrote: »

All that does is add more weight to already overweight modern cars.

One feature I miss is lightness. My old Seicento weighed just 735 kilos. Our current Mini weighs 1132.

I know, the Fiat would fold up like a bean can in a crash, but lightness adds fun and efficiency. I miss it.

blastman

You people want a chaffeur and a ball massager, in summary.

Mr Benevolent

blastman wrote: »

You people want a chaffeur and a ball massager, in summary.

Nah, Audi drivers will want a prostate massager.

smemon

• Remote start & temperature control from mobile phone - so you can start, heat, turn on lights etc... from your bed 10 minutes before you actually go outside. That way the car is ready to go in all conditions.
  
• That volvo auto braking thing which kicks in when it senses you're going to rear end something.
  
• Integrated sat nav & voice controls, like Siri.
  
• No clutch, just paddle shifters.
  
• Anti rollback on hills.
  
• Foldable mirrors when car is locked.
  
• Auto communication with emergency services if computer detects a collision (sends them your location and force of impact details).
  
• Heated windows (all of them).
  
• Intelligent cruise control, so you can set it to 120km/hr and it'll do that speed and slow down to match car in front when necessary.