ridiculous optional extras

uber soldat said:
It very rarely rains enough to have them on constant, but even if it does it is only an extra click, no big deal and certainly not worth paying silly money to be lazy and not have to do it.
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It's nothing to do with lazyness, driving a Motorway journey for example in variable weather is so much better with rain sensing wipers - you just turn it on and forget about it. No need to keep faffing about the wipers every time you pass a truck or something.

Besides, £200? They are standard fit on most cars surely :confused:
 
I have to admit, I get quite pee'd off with having to change the wipers when the rain is on and off, with spray from lorries etc. I like the idea of auto wipers but the auto headlights that the OP mentioned...a step too far?
 
No matter what inventions come along there will always be somebody in an E registered Fiat Uno with windup windows and no PAS explaining how he doesn't really want new features anyway because he's a real driver and its more to go wrong. It's the law of the internet.
 
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People who say "there's more to go wrong" should be punched in the face, their car confiscated and be given a push bike.

You'll always find at the top end of the market features that we think are silly, but in the coming years they will be more common among more everyday cars. I'm sure people thought electric windows and mirrors were silly but now they are just things you'd expect to have in a car. The same will happen with Auto Wipers/Lights etc.
 
[TW]Fox;13692802 said:
No matter what inventions come along there will always be somebody in an E registered Fiat Uni with windup windows and no PAS explaining how he doesn't really want new features anyway because he's a real driver and its more to go wrong. It's the law of the internet.
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Its you young whipper-snappers with your automatic chokes and electric starters that take the fun out of driving !

Pretty soon everyone will have forgotten how to start their cars !
 
[TW]Fox;13692802 said:
No matter what inventions come along there will always be somebody in an E registered Fiat Uni with windup windows and no PAS explaining how he doesn't really want new features anyway because he's a real driver and its more to go wrong. It's the law of the internet.
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Its more natural if you have to do everything yourself. It takes away control from the driver. Its for lazy people. Cars will soon be driving themselves. Who needs it? Its crazy money. Etc etc ad infinitum.

High beam assist is very handy - flick on the full beams and don't worry about it. If you're driving anywhere with more than a smattering of traffic it is a major hassle saver.
 
jamief said:
Its more natural if you have to do everything yourself. It takes away control from the driver. Its for lazy people. Cars will soon be driving themselves. Who needs it? Its crazy money. Etc etc ad infinitum
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Things I enjoy about driving, and enjoy being part of:

a) Steering
b) Accelerating
c) Braking
d) Picking the right gear

etc etc.

Things which do not add anything to the interesting/pleasurable side of driving, and thus things I like to be automated:

a) My windscreen wipers
b) The exact temperature in the cabin
c) Whether the wheels spin or not on a greasy road

etc etc.
 
[TW]Fox;13692912 said:
a) My windscreen wipers
b) The exact temperature in the cabin
c) Whether the wheels spin or not on a greasy road

etc etc.
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lol you can't compare C with A and B. C is a safety issue, whilst A and B are totally unnecessary.
 
Having auto lights, wipers, climate control, and things like that i find are good for when you are driving as it means that you have less to distract you whilst you are driving, which means you spend more time concentrating on the road.

Also it feels much nicer driving a car with a lot of automated things than it does with not much at all, as i found out when i drove my parents car over christmas
 
[TW]Fox;13692912 said:
c) Whether the wheels spin or not on a greasy road
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Ive got a right foot and a pedal which varies the throttle depending on how much I use my foot to move it, its fantastic :D



PS im aware Traction Control etc have there merits and can be useful.
 
flat-6 said:
I read the Telegraph review of the new E class, their test car had Adaptive High-Beam assist. What does that do you ask? If you are driving along single carriageway at night it will knock off the high beam when a car is coming and put it back on when it passes.

Really? Is this what the motoring public needs? How hard is it to pull the stalk on these rare occasions? This is part of the reason modern cars have little interest to me, this and rain sensing wipers seem like totally redundant extras which as just bound to fail some time in the future.
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This (high beam assist) is not a new feature and has been available on the s-class since 1998. Its a good feature and all part of a luxury driving experience where the driver simply needs to steer and control the vehicles speed.

I for example have absolutely no desire when driving a daily hack to control the wipers, the lights, the dipping of my lights, the gears, wind manual windows, manually lock my doors, manually control the speed with the pedals, etc etc. The car should do everything and take me to my destination with as little input as possible.
 
[TW]Fox;13693195 said:
Out of interest, what do you drive?
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A Peugeot 206 1.4 which no doubt being a BMW snob you will dismiss as being a "Hairdressers car" :p If there was an option to have had rain sensing wipers when I bought it I would not have had them although it certainly was not a standard option when I bought it (05)
 
A friends 206 GTI has these rain sensing wipers and the problem occurs when there's very little rain they continue wipe thus dragging across a dry screen, and when its very rainy he usually has to switch it to fast speed manually as it doesn't keep up, he's had this from nearly new and its always done it. I also drove a hire Clio and found the same problem, these were two examples were auto = more hassle than it's worth. Maybe some manufacturers have got it to work better.
 
lucasade1 said:
I actually think it would be quite nice not to to be forever clicking the stalk forwards and backwards. But that's probably me just being lazy.
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The thing is, you as a human will be able to look for reflections or the tell tale illuminations from a car coming around the corner, whereas this thing will wait until you're burning the other driver's retinas out ;)

I must admit, a few times I've been chatting to a passenger and forgot to turn the main beams off and thought "oops, what a numpty" as I've blinded some poor sod.
 
uber soldat said:
A Peugeot 206 1.4 which no doubt being a BMW snob you will dismiss as being a "budget car"
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Fixed

beermonster said:
A friends 206 GTI has these rain sensing wipers and the problem occurs when there's very little rain they continue wipe thus dragging across a dry screen, and when its very rainy he usually has to switch it to fast speed manually as it doesn't keep up, he's had this from nearly new and its always done it. I also drove a hire Clio and found the same problem, these were two examples were auto = more hassle than it's worth. Maybe some manufacturers have got it to work better.
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To be fair, these are low-end french cars. Their engineering excellence and avant-garde technology isn't what they are known or purchased for.

Solari said:
The thing is, you as a human will be able to look for reflections or the tell tale illuminations from a car coming around the corner, whereas this thing will wait until you're burning the other driver's retinas out ;)
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I reckon that the same was probably said of ABS and seatbelts and airbags and ESP and climate control and auto-tuning radios when they first came in. Things evolve and in a few years will be standard and work more effectively than most humans on average. I say on average because I don't doubt that a good driver, with full concentration could stop quicker without ABS, but the majority of us when we're daydreaming on the motorway will just stand on the brakes and hope.


Pete19s said:
Ive got a right foot and a pedal which varies the throttle depending on how much I use my foot to move it, its fantastic
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This and your other comment just show that you've never driven a car (and had the chance to get used to it) with these features, so you just dismiss it as unneccesary. I bet you use your remote central locking. How hard is it to just put the key in the door and turn it?
 
I like my Cosworth with it's auto wipers, auto lock on go, traction control, ABS, reversing sensors, climate control etc, one touch windows, heated screen/mirrors/washer jets, cruise control, heated seats with full electrics and 3 memory settings, puddle lights, stereo that gets louder when you hit the motorway, trip computer etc. It's nice to drive around and have things just "work" (and that's on an 11 year old car so ignore the "more to go wrong comments"). TBH it doesn't change the driving pleasure and it suits the car and I'm very happy with it.

On the other hand, I love driving the Westfield and that doesn't even have ABS (or doors or windows or a stereo!).

I'll never moan about a car coming with "extras" - you don't have to use them after all.

And if it stops the "sorry, I couldn't stop as I was trying to switch the wipers off" (true story) bints from running into the back of me then I'm all for it!
 
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I have to agree, ever since passengering in a car with rain sensing wipers, driving along in light drizzle with manual wipers is nothing but a pain. On then off, on then off. Too little rain for full wipers, too much for intermittent. Auto wipers are the dogs.
 
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