Useless features in a car

[akj53in]

I agree with sgiitk. Both fog lamps & ACC are very useful features.

 

I also rejected Honda City as it did not have these and many other required features.

 

SG @ Please go for Altis AT. I have completed 1100 kms., and it has proved to be a very good car

[dtandon]

IMO - No point in debating on the useless/usefulness of a certain feature. Individual preferences and needs vary and we'll get nowhere

The perfect example is the rear windscreen demister.

Useless for -

- Someone who always parks in a closed garage. His rear windscreen is never going to be opaque with mist in the morning.

- Someone who has a rear view camera/sensors installed. He's not going to worry that he can't see thru his rear windscreen.

But its useful for -

- People in very damp environments where the glass tends to fog up from the inside.

- People who have to park in the open and then back out the car first thing in the morning.

What we need is more choices - These features should all be available as options and not be forced upon us as the equipment list for a particular variant.

Case in point - Say you want a Swift with ABS but don't give a hoot about power windows,etc.

Why shouldn't you be allowed to get ABS with a car in Lxi trim? (as far as I can tell - ABS is currently not an option on the Lxi or the Ldi)

The customer needs to be the king.

[rssh]

Well its time that manufactors become more consumer focussed and give custom kind of option for not so useful accessory.

I think the mud flaps and carpet mats are standard thing and should not be optional .

[goenkakushal]

Hey guys what do you think about features such as

1. Headlamp washers.

I think head lamp washers are useful only when you are driving right behind a car for long time in rain dats when your headlamps get dirty... but at the same time these washers are not powerful enough to clean the headlamp if these were accompanied with the wiper found in old mercs it would be useful

     2. Auto headlamp (which switched in headlights automatically if dark)

Auto headlamp does not make sense at all, as I think I know very well when I need to switch on the head lamps.

 

      3. Fog lamps (which are regular bulbs and not the real fog lights)

OEM fog lamps are no good as they do not have advantage in fog they are called fog lamps just because they are small and placed in the bumper. Only if u have proper yellow fog lamps it makes sense

[sgiitk]

      3. Fog lamps (which are regular bulbs and not the real fog lights)

OEM fog lamps are no good as they do not have advantage in fog they are called fog lamps just because they are small and placed in the bumper. Only if u have proper yellow fog lamps it makes sense

What exactly do you mean. Yellow lenses are not kosher with Halogens! The main difference between a fog lamp and a head lamp is the totally different light spread patterns. Fogs should be placed as low as possible to reduce the glare to the driver. The closer they are to the drivers plane of view the more is the potential for glare. I find OE ones excellent and much better than the el cheapo after market ones. Good rally ones are a different matter altogether.

[goenkakushal]

well I dont really know the technical part of it, but i have stated this as per my observation. It turns
out that light with short wavelengths scatters more than light with long
wavelengths (short to long:  violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange,
red).  So, a long wavelength light will be best.  There's another thing to
consider, too:  our eyes are not equally sensitive to all colors.  It turns
out that we are most sensitive to yellow and green light.  So, our best
compromise between sensitivity for our eyes and a long wavelength for least
scattering is yellow light. hence i was talking about the yellow lense light.

Thats why you would have heard magazines recommending to stick yellow plastic sheet on the headlight  when going on hills.

[speed]

Fog lamps should ideally be installed at the lower most position as in O.E/stock fitment in various vehicles.

The principal behind this setup is that fog gets denser/thicker as we move up, so the light from headlights gets scattered.

Whereas, as we get closer to the ground, fog is minimum/thinner & light can travel further. Also, showing us the road ahead.

[5u3zEr0]

Cup / Drink holders come to my mind, with our state of roads and unruly traffic, you are not going to be keeping the drink for long without spilling it.

Cooled glove boxes like on the Astra, with our kind of harsh heat it could not even stop a chocolate from melting.

[325i]

@sgiitk

Have driven extensively in North India and rallied there too. Lived in Delhi for three years and went to the hills in winter as well in very thick fog. (done countless recces for the Himalyan Rally) I can tell you that the fog there feels like bright daylight compared to sitting in a thick cumulo-nimbus cloud in the monsoon up in the Western Ghats (Mahabaleshwar).

Have rallied in fog too and that really tests how well you can see. I have felt most comfortable with main lamps on dip and a pair of auxiliary lights placed slightly off centre to illuminate the earthen shoulders of the road. Integrated fogs don't do that and are more ornamental than functional

 

As far as climate control goes. I agree there is merit in setting the temperature within half degree C but I love the car to be in an ice box and always go for the coolest setting and don't bother with adjustment.

 

Thought of another useless feature - side skirts - do they really serve any purpose? It's often the first point of contact with a nasty speed breaker.

[afterburner]

true - we need cloud lamps in India not fog lamps

the feature I hate most is the auto fresh air setting.

 

a lot of german cars have this.

get in the car, switch on the aircon and you get 'fresh air' - that is until you

smell the sooty exhast from the car near you

 

its useless in India and makes the aircon work much harder, meaning you use more fuel

 

the german companies call it a safety feature, but have you heard of anyone coping it in a jap car because the default setting was re circulate ?

 

 

[sudeepd]

Cooled glove boxes like on the Astra' date=' with our kind of

harsh heat it could not even stop a chocolate from melting.[/quote']

I will Differ here.

The Chilled Glove box in our Indigo XL Grand Dicor Serves us Very Well.

If a Mineral Water Bottle is kept in it, it chills the Water (I guess

the Temp of Water may be below +10Deg) but cannot Exactly Tell the time

Required to Chill the Contents.

My Dad has a habit of eating Paan (Betel Leaf). Sorry he does not eat

it but just keeps it in his mouth for some minutes and spits it out.

Neither does he swallow the Betel Leaf nor Spits the Juice of it on

road (or the surrounding) unlike Mawa and Gutkha Chewers. It is like his "Khuraaq".

He keeps the Paan bought from Paan wala (The Paan wala makes Paan and

pack it in paper and hands over to my Dad) in the Glovebox. He buys 3-4

paans at a time and keep it in Glovebox. As my Dad Travels With AC ON

(Even During Night) since he is allergic to Dust, the Glovebox Chills

the Paan and Avoids them from Rotting (I dont know what word to use

here).

EDIT:

Did I mention that the Afternoon Temp in our city, Solapur goes above 40Deg C (up to 43 to be precise).

sudeepd2009-05-05 15:09:04

[csnana]

Seems interesting topic , vote seems to be

ACC must have .

Not so favor to have cruise , sunroof.

[rssh]

Well I have read a feature called as ticket holder but never saw it ( may be have seen it but doesn't come to my mind) .What is the use of this feature ? Anyone tried putting a ticket to some feature like this.

[afterburner]

Well I have read a feature called as ticket holder but never saw it

it is a small plastic flap on the windscreen, where you can stick a ticket. Very useful if you are travelling or if you want to put a temporary parking sticker up

[sgiitk]

@325i. I have lived in Lucknow/Kanpur all my life. Fog was never an issue till about 15 years ago. We now have a situation (our colony is in a small hollow) where I try and avoid any late evenings between Christmas and Republic Day. One other incident which come to mind was when we lived on campus. We had a New Years eve get together at a friends house. At the end we were driving home (all of about 3/4km). The fog was so bad that my next door neighbour wanted to leave his car and walk. I had to persuade him to follow me and we made it back with great difficulty. I may add that I am a TT, so no blurred vision!

In my five years in the UK I came across bad fog only twice. Even then it is manageable. I remember only one case wehre I had to drive back literally navigating by the while line on the shoulder. We have far worse fog at least half a dozen times every year over here. The UK pea souper went out with the pollution!

I can quite imagine the hills being better - far less pollution, and good wind. I am sure you hear about the fog disruptions of even rail traffic every winter. It is that bad now. Train speeds are down to <25kph due to fog.

I agree that proper fog lamps will be far better.

sgiitk2009-05-06 11:48:21

[Durango Dude]

Cup holder's and Cruise control are the two thing's not used much on Indian road's. In the auto aircon we rarely use the auto function, with the summer upon us, if you switch it to auto the fan at max speed makes a real racket. The height of laziness is the use of a remote control for the stereo in the car, have one but never used it and twiddle with it occasionally just to check if it work's; yes it does and haven't even changed the battery though the car is three and half years old. My car also has an autodeodoriser; that's real cool piece of equipment for the cabin.

[sgiitk]

@DD: I have no doubt about the cruise control being pretty useless.

 I use the cup holder to hold Tetrapacks of cold lassee, juice or mattha. If you take a large sip before putting it in the holder, you do not have a spill problem. I do it in my Accent all the time. Incidentally, my favouring beverage is Amul Lassee!

[anijog]

true - we need cloud lamps in India not fog lamps

the feature I hate most is the auto fresh air setting.

?

a lot of german cars have this.

get in the car' date=' switch on the aircon and you get 'fresh air' - that is until you

smell the sooty exhast from the car near you

?

its useless in India and makes the aircon work much harder, meaning you use more fuel

?

the german companies call it a safety feature, but have you heard of anyone coping it in a jap car because the default setting was re circulate ?

?

?

[/quote']

The fresh air mode is a very important aspect of a car's ventilation system.

I remember reading a article in the paper some time back a family of four died due to asphyxiation when they had to stop their santo due to flooded roads in Chandigadh decided to spend the night in their car, they closed the windows and turned the A/c however forgot to put the vent in fresh air mode. Similar thing I understand happened during the Mumbai floods.

[TSReddy]

Fog lamps. Never really found them useful even in pea soup fog driving up to Mahabaleshwar in the monsoons. I think their benefit is only aesthetic. I find driving with headlamps on dip beam much more effective.

 

Electronic climate control. It's convenient but the old fashioned manual knob which mixes hot and cold air does the job just as well.

Hi 325i:

Greetings

In electronic climate control -  the compressor turns off when the desired temperature is attained and so, physical comfort and also, some savings in fuel consumption.  When you use the manual knob to mix hot and cold air, is not the compressor still on?.

For all guys on this board:

I purchased a chevrolet Tavera 2 months ago.  The AC is great right now during the day time, but from 6PM, it is cold even when I set the fan setting on 1.  I am having to mix the hot air with the manual knob.  Is that not a waste of compressor use?.

Can an climate control be installed now?

I am all ears to hear some solutions.

Thanks

 

TSR

   

[goenkakushal]

 

The fresh air mode is a very important aspect of a car's ventilation system.
I remember reading a article in the paper some time back a family of four died due to asphyxiation when they had to stop their santo due to flooded roads in Chandigadh decided to spend the night in their car, they closed the windows and turned the A/c however forgot to put the vent in fresh air mode. Similar thing I understand happened during the Mumbai floods.

 

Can you please provide some more detail regarding the ventilation system?

I would like to know how would it make a difference if the air is on re circulate or fresh air, because in any case if the A/C goes off (considering the blower too) then there will be no fresh air even if the A/c vents are on fresh air mode.

 

In India I believe people may die if they decide to keep the a/c mode on fresh air  as they will only get fresh carbon monoxide.

[speed]

Fresh air mode is an extremely important feature. Guess from where else would fresh Oxygen creep in!

I always keep my A.C. on with ventilation mode for adequate fresh air mixture.

Also, cup holders are handy at times. For long journeys, one does tend to drink quite a bit of liquids spacially if its a typical Indian summer, otherwise dehydration is a given.

 

Adding to fog lights use, up North the fog experienced is pretty dense at times. This is due to the fact that yearly stubble buring & the inherent nature of Northern states of being Agricultural i.e Paddy sowing season & fields immersed in water.

The fog sometimes is so dense that one can't see further than the cars bonnet/windshield. Use of headlights during such conditions is just academic because the light scatters on striking the fog particles. Though it does helps other vehicles spot you. Whereas fog lamps due to their low position throw light on the road & travel some distance & help a lot in staying on road & slowly coasting along.

As I earlier said,  higher wattage is needed but that is required on the headlamps too. Still low beam + fog lamps turns out be better combination at times.

Sometimes its best to switch off the head lights altogether & rely on fog lamps only for better vision.

[sudeepd]

Well I have read a feature called as ticket holder but never saw it ( may be have seen it but doesn't come to my mind) .What is the use of this feature ? Anyone tried putting a ticket to some feature like this.

Fabia has this feature and it is in the Glove box. A pen holder is also provided in the Glove box of Fabia.

[CYRUS43]

Brillint thread. And the first thing that came to my mind when i read this was the following: ZEN ESTILO SPORTS!!! We do not need features like "sporty stickering" and "Sports badges". And dont even get me started on those stupid body kits!!! When will manufacturers ever learn??

[akj53in]

Brillint thread. And the first thing that came to my mind when i read this was the following: ZEN ESTILO SPORTS!!! We do not need features like "sporty stickering" and "Sports badges". And dont even get me started on those stupid body kits!!! When will manufacturers ever learn??

 

Why blame manufacturers? It is due to the customers who buy such stupid things that such things are made. The so called sports kits at least in Indian conditions, do not contribute any thing to improve performance (as we don't have the infrastructure, driving habits and road conditions for speed). On the contrary these kits consume more fuel due to the added weight.

 

ACC is a great feature. It maintains a constant temperature, adding to the comfort factor, saves fuel, automatically selects the blower and air intake modes so driver can concentrate on driving. Fresh air intake is a must as the car can take oxygen and humidity from outside air at least on highways or when one is driving on a not-so-crowded road. Premium climate-control systems provide manual or automatic 2 or 4 zone temp. setting. They also have pollen filters and CO sensors to take care of dust and CO from outside air.

 

Cruise Control though not suitable to Indian chaotic roads, provide increased FE as the vehicle is driven at constant speed. I try to use it on my Altis, when ever possible. Fault lies with our conditions, not with the gadget.

 

Similarly many people find Automatic transmission useless as it is expensive to buy and consumes more fuel. But it provides more driver comfort and convenience and he becomes free to concentrate on driving.

 

Automatic headlights add to convenience and safety also as eyes take time to adjust on sudden light variations. Lights come on automatically when I drive from bright day light to under a bridge or in a tunnel.tunnel.

akj53in2009-05-07 03:46:17

[anijog]

I would like to know how would it make a difference?if the air is on re circulate or fresh air' date=' because in any case if the A/C goes off (considering the blower too) then there will be no fresh air even if the A/c vents are on fresh air mode.

?

[/quote']

Even when the A/c is off if the vent selection is on fresh air mode the vent is open to air unless blocked, so even if you wind your windows up air"oxygen" will be available in the car, with the vent closed and if the rubber seals of the car doors and windows are intact you will soon consume all the oxygen available in the car, more so if there are many people in the car. You just need to test this by winding the glass up fully and closing the vent and then reading the temprature in the car under full afternoon sun.

Then again comparing it after opening the fresh air vent and reading the temperature, I guess there will be a remarkable difference. Tell me what the results are.