What Technology Are You Glad Your Car Doesn’t Have?

BLUETOOTH!!!

2007 LR3

I own three cars at the moment. E46 Touring, E21 and an E30. My first and only car for 5 years was the E46, which I never felt lacking something or having something redundant. Last year I got the E21. Non-power assisted steering – best thing ever (unless you try to poke your phone while manoeuvring around a tight car park), manual windows – after applying some silicone lubricant they roll up and down with ease – will last forever, No ABS – teaches you to become a better driver and respect the car, No – ESP or TC – pff, I never used those on the E46 as well, so nothing to share here. In general, the E30 is the best middle ground. Still light and nimble like the E21, but more refined and quieter if you need to daily drive it

First and foremost , a turbo , also an electronic e brake and all assosiated stuf , like hold assist, If you wanna be a driver you have to learn how to properly execute a hill start from start from a standstill on a hill .Also , digital cluster , Automatic transmission and a traction control that can’t be turned off

Power steering..
I currently daily drive a 106 Xsi. It has power windows and mirrors, central locking and an efi system. Thats more than enough stuff.. Before I drove a fiat panda which had power nothing ( not even brakes). That was a reliable car!

I love my 4C just for what it doesn’t have: No power steering, no touch screens, and no ‘technology’ package. Oh, and no digital climate control — just basic A/C w/ fan speeds and big simple, analogue dials. I am also glad it requires the rewarding motion of inserting and turning a key to fire it up.

What I don’t miss:
Electrically adjusting seats
Lane control/distance control/traction control
Automatic gearbox
Fancy on board computer
Digital gauges

What I miss:
cruise control
manual windows (I have electric windows)

The main reason why I dislike all these technologies is: what you don’t have, can’t break, but also they take the focus away from actual driving. I’d only use cruise control for long highway runs, but that’s about it.

My current rides are a ’73 Spitfire, ’92 Mercedes 300e, and an ’06 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited, All of these vehicles require manual control! All of the newer cars seem to have features that disconnect one from actually driving! I like driving the car!

I frequently work on my collection of cars outside my home. ’73 BMW 2002tii, ’83 320i s pack, ’69 Datsun 510 and ’72 240Z, ’75 Triumph TR6. I had a lady comment the other day as she walked by…”My, you certainly have fancy cars don’t you” I replied,…”yes, in fact they’re so fancy that none of them have AC, power locks, heated seats, infotainment centers or computers of any sort, and you have to shift the gears yourself and roll the windows with a crank…now…. how “fancy” is your car ?”

I drive a 2001 FIAT Seicento S
No electric windows
No electric mirrors
No steering assistance
It has just the basics and I love it. I never needed any of the modern day technologies.
Ok sometimes I wish it had central locking…. 🙂

I use to drive old cars, so I don’t need almost nothing electronic or music ( old cars need all my atention). In fact, I had an A&R 33 permanent integrale a pair of years ago and It was SO weak : It has abs, traction control and permanent 4×4, and It melted like snow in my hands. I’m afraid that nop, I don’ t need electronics cars.

I’ve been driving a 1971 Citroen DS for the last four years, very similar to the one in the photograph (it’s white too).

A fantastic car. The suspension is like nothing else on the road. But overall, the car is VERY simple and easy to maintain. Hand crank windows, minimal electronics with good wiring and no plastic plugs, just simple one-to-one male/female copper fittings. The suspension is crazy complicated, but so well made that if you keep driving it, it’ll seemingly last forever. My whole hydraulic suspension is going on 45 years old and for the most part, it’s all original and functions perfectly. The engine is a simple, robust 4 cyl cast iron block. The transmission is a 5 speed on the tree. The brakes are huge, robust disks and the pads a half inch thick. Roller bearings are as big around as your thumb.

Everything was built well and well engineered.

Every body panel can be unbolted quickly and replaced, or you can drive it with no body at all… Everything just bolts to an internal frame.

I replaced the whole interior in a weekend with minimal tools.

I think most people are afraid of the Citroen DS, thinking it’s a nightmare. And i can be. If it’s rusted badly or it’s been sitting for years, it’s probably a lost cause. But keep it dry and drive it and you’ll always have a smile on your face.

The overwhelming industrial trend in automotive industry nowdays is that cars are turned into entertaining centers. Its all about “fun”, vehicle performances are at the back seat. Even safety is not any more under the spotlight. Take VW latest models, its all about sound. No-one talks about drivability, or drivers’ car any more. Cars are nowdays caracterless, perishable mass product, ment to be consumed in few years and recycled.

I have been driving a 2cv because of the economic crisis I have for two years.. I don’t need anything else since any other modern car easily gets you a speeding ticket. It can consme a bit more petrol/gas but service intervals are so much cheaper and fast that it really pays me off. What we aren’t aware of is that the communication buses are so cryptic that it is impossible for anyone who is not an official dealer to service a modern car. Perhaps Ford who claims it has an open CAN communication bus is out of this discussion, but it is quite worrying. Freedom is priceless.

We run a 2008 Range Rover Vogue and a 1983 Mercedes-Benz R107 280SL. The R107 is a joy – it has electronic ignition, so it starts, but the radio is an old Becker Europa, and the car has heated nothing, no aircon and the wipers barely work. This is all fun for high days and holidays, but when you need to climb the local hills in ice and snow, it is very, very cool to have everything that the Range Rover can throw at the problem, and still be able to listen to Radio 4 in crystal clarity.

Now bikes, on the other hand … I run a 2006 Honda CBR600RR Movistar MotoGP replica, and it was really the last bike Honda made with no ABS. It has no rider modes, no cruise, no heated grips, no quickshifter, no slipper clutch. I adore the connection I get with the road on that thing.

So, really, you kinda need both in your life – one technological masterpiece for the day-to-day, winter and touring, and on or two stripped out toys to remind you what life is about.

I’m a huge tech fan who also happens to be a music fan and car fan. That means an awesome nav/infotaiment system with parking and blind spot cameras and 10 speakers are a big YES with me. Also, leather is nice when you live in a tropical zone and love the beach, as are heated seats and steering wheel when you hate cold. What I DON’T want:

-Automatic transmission: Self-explanatory
-Internet Access: No, I don’t want my passengers checking their smartphones and tablets, I want them screaming and grabbing where they can (not literally)
-Electronic aids: if they’re there, off should be the default position.
-Cruise control, lane departure, adaptative speed systems: Did I mention that I actually love driving?
-AWD: No, I don’t want to go cross-country, the road is just fine, even if it’s unpaved…

Less is more in my eyes, got nothing but electric windows in my NA mx-5 and couldnt ask for more =)

One more reason NOT to connect the infotainment system and the car itself, keeping the driver as interface between the two : http://www.wired.com/2015/07/hackers-remotely-kill-jeep-highway/

“I have a little list, and they’ll none of them be missed …”

Well, quite a big list actually; but the thing that causes me most annoyance these days is the heated seats in my wife’s car, especially when she’s left them on and it really isn’t all that cold.

For a friend of mine though it would have to be the immobiliser in his Audi, which on several occasions has malfunctioned and left him with no option other than to call the tow truck. I think he would probably prefer, all things considered, to have the car stolen!

In a light enough car, with just enough tire, power steering. The feel that the Burman Box on an Alfa provides is sublime.

It’s probably easier to start from the other end. I’m going to sell my newest car and bring my 74 GTV out of storage. The only dealer modifications I will keep are air conditioning – in Dallas, that’s not a luxury – and the Webers because I’m too lazy to switch back to SPICA.. Ironically, my newest car would be considered bare-bones by modern standards, but I’m still tired of hauling out the scanner and scope to debug problems.

Electric parking brake is a big negative, drove me crazy when i got my heavy trailer licence.. Start stop button, hmm, its a bit odd but if ONLY has the function of turning the starter motor and you need to turn a key, i don’t mind it. Then there are som unnecessary stuff that never will get removed such as the traction control or stability control. I drive a basic 1992 MB 190E 1.8 and there are only a few thing i miss, nothing i want to remove. Heated seats is something i want, when its -25C and your going to work, it is comfy. Stuff i don’t need is powered seats (waste of weight, SAWC!), powered sunroof (makes it so weak people can’t open it), alarm (must be a mess, especially from the 90s), electric gaspedal control (its probably in every new car but i remember volvos going full out and blowing engines cause the electronics failed…).

My first one is not so much a user feature but an add-on that is invisible to the driver; EDR’s Event Data Recorders. I want the option at a fender-bender to say, “Of course I was driving within the speed limit.”
I have to chime in with many here and say the climate/ info-tainment systems. Just adjusting the temperature in many cars involves a dangerous starring contest with a slow witted touch screen.
Seats that adjust automatically when you enter/exit. I rented a 2015 Fusion last week (dynamically a nice car with the 2.0 Ecoboost even though it was missing the third pedal) and every time I shut off the car my seat would pull back into the rear-most position. My backseat passenger didn’t appreciate reenacting the trash compactor scene from Star Wars whenever we stopped. Am I supposed to be so fat that I can’t escape the car any other way?
Floppy paddle automatic transmissions. Look, if you can’t drive a stick shift then let the car do the thinking. I rank this feature right up there with putting a windshield wiper on the inside of the window to wipe the spit away when you are making race car noises with your mouth.