Coming to a dealership near you

[stall]

This is certainly a bit exaggerated as all concept cars are but that being said it hits the trend were on. Now that electronics are small. economical and reliable there is a new universe of possibilities.

We just purchased a new GMC - SUV that is chock full of "driver-assistants", if you stray over lane markers it gently takes you back, blind side markers alert you, rear seats fold into the floor when you flip a switch and it has a 9-speed electronic tranny. The cruise control is interactive, as you approach a slower car it matches that cars speed and keeps a proper interval. When you pull out to pass it reverts to the original speed. The car has full time W-fi and Blue tooth and the rear-back-up camera actually give you a 10-foot view around the car. Oh. by the way it also has "Alexa" in case you want to listen to your favorite music or buy something from Amazon.

For about the last 10 years all cars have had electronic steering; the steering wheel has no connection to the front wheel, it merely energizes electric motors to steer, much like all airplanes.

All this is a round-about way to say that cars somewhat like the car in the video are coming and I think sooner rather than later.


Take a look

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tUWYXe9qbY

Enjoy the Holiday, Murray

[Dick Steinkamp]

For about the last 10 years all cars have had electronic steering; the steering wheel has no connection to the front wheel,

All EPS systems are connected to the front end in a conventional manner...



The system uses electric motor(s) to "boost" the steering in the same manner that hydraulics were used in the past.

In event of a power failure, you can still steer a car with EPS...much as you can if the hydraulics fail in an hydraulic assisted unit.

[stall]

I stand corrected, good info. I'm pretty sure i read about that a few years ago in C&D.

Murray

[Bob Andrews]

I predict that within five years, you will see full electric conversion kits available to retrofit older cars. In 10 years these kits will be as common and varied as today’s fuel injection conversions.

As for the driver assistance- they still have unintended consequences. I have a friend, an older lady, who bought a new (I believe it is) Jeep with that on it. She needs all wheel drive to get out of her driveway in the morning to get to her job if there is snow. The first big snow, she couldn’t get out of her driveway. Not that the all wheel drive didn’t work, but the snow covered the sensors and the damn thing thought she was touching something and wouldn’t let the thing move. WTH. It seems the engineers assume that if you’re in a snow area, you can always get your plow guy to come and plow before you need to get out of the driveway. Holy crap.

The first year we had my lovely spouse’s 2013 caravan, we had a terrible time getting up the hill to get into the driveway at our Oswego house because you needed to get a little momentum, and the all season tires were not that great in the snow. We came home during a storm and the main street was plowed but not our side street. You couldn’t get a running start because as soon as the tires slipped the damn traction control would cut power and you’d come to a stop. After a couple tries I found a button to turn off the traction control, and then it was no problem.

I am uncomfortable with all of this “safety assist” crap. I’m sure insurance companies love it, can’t blame them. I’m sure the real point is that it is a bridge to autonomous vehicles. And it does seem that overall people are becoming worse drivers. I remember when anti-lock brakes and air bags started coming in, if you had either one most insurance companies would give you a reduction. I’m sure it is the same with all of this assist stuff.

For me personally, it would drive me nuts to have a car dragging me back into a lane or slowing down my cruise control setting. Hopefully this stuff can be disabled. If not, there’s plenty of cars left without it to last me the rest of my life.

[63t-cab]

I'm kinda on the fence with all this, to me some good and some a PITA ! I'll bet when these Folks were discussing lane departure bells and whistles they had "TEXTERS" in mind. You mention being dragged back into a lane, as far as I know right now that will only happen if You do not use the turn signal. the Vehical needs to know the movement is intended. but I could be wrong, maybe all are not set up the same way ?

I predict that within five years, you will see full electric conversion kits available to retrofit older cars. In 10 years these kits will be as common and varied as today’s fuel injection conversions.

As for the driver assistance- they still have unintended consequences. I have a friend, an older lady, who bought a new (I believe it is) Jeep with that on it. She needs all wheel drive to get out of her driveway in the morning to get to her job if there is snow. The first big snow, she couldn’t get out of her driveway. Not that the all wheel drive didn’t work, but the snow covered the sensors and the damn thing thought she was touching something and wouldn’t let the thing move. WTH. It seems the engineers assume that if you’re in a snow area, you can always get your plow guy to come and plow before you need to get out of the driveway. Holy crap.

The first year we had my lovely spouse’s 2013 caravan, we had a terrible time getting up the hill to get into the driveway at our Oswego house because you needed to get a little momentum, and the all season tires were not that great in the snow. We came home during a storm and the main street was plowed but not our side street. You couldn’t get a running start because as soon as the tires slipped the damn traction control would cut power and you’d come to a stop. After a couple tries I found a button to turn off the traction control, and then it was no problem.

I am uncomfortable with all of this “safety assist” crap. I’m sure insurance companies love it, can’t blame them. I’m sure the real point is that it is a bridge to autonomous vehicles. And it does seem that overall people are becoming worse drivers. I remember when anti-lock brakes and air bags started coming in, if you had either one most insurance companies would give you a reduction. I’m sure it is the same with all of this assist stuff.

For me personally, it would drive me nuts to have a car dragging me back into a lane or slowing down my cruise control setting. Hopefully this stuff can be disabled. If not, there’s plenty of cars left without it to last me the rest of my life.

[sweetolbob]

Indeed the lane change and other options can be disabled and they drive me nuts when I drive my wife's 2018 Corolla XLE but I leave them engaged as they do warn her when she's getting out of the lane and I really like the automatic braking if something pulls out in front of her. Interestingly, it also makes her a more confident driver which is nice as she's the main transport system for her older sister.

Just waiting for the self driving thing to be worked out. Drive to Florida from Michigan, coffee in the cup holder and the electronics dealing with the tur@s that won't get out of the passing lanes.

Bob

[stall]

Let me chime in with one facet of our new cars that bothers me; it's those key fobs. To begin with they are large heavy objects in your pocket and when as I do you have two cars with fobs it becomes silly. You still have to carry keys to other things so what's the sense. I remember that Chrysler had a key that had all the lock-unlock buttons right on it, that worked. I do not see the utility of these fobs but it seems we are stuck with them.

M

[studegary]

Let me chime in with one facet of our new cars that bothers me; it's those key fobs. To begin with they are large heavy objects in your pocket and when as I do you have two cars with fobs it becomes silly. You still have to carry keys to other things so what's the sense. I remember that Chrysler had a key that had all the lock-unlock buttons right on it, that worked. I do not see the utility of these fobs but it seems we are stuck with them.

M

For many years, my solution to this is to carry only the keys that I may need. I have one keychain with things like our home keys on it (mostly in case the power is out and a garage door opener won't work). I keep all car keys separate (individually). I only carry the keys/fobs for the car that I am going to drive. I started doing this when I had five cars that I switched between.

[62champ]

The lane departure system brings about the question of what might happen, when cresting a hill, there is one of the "bottom radiator busting" chunks of semi-trailor tire sitting on its side in half your lane... So if you suddenly move the wheel to keep from running over it, without signalling, is it going to force you back into line and you end up hitting the object and doing damage to the vehicle? Makes one wonder.

[8E45E]

Studebaker-Packard was well ahead of its time with a 'self-driving' car by just over 60 years. And it could go for 200 years on an ounce of Plutonium-239.



And the steering control doesn't look all that much different from the new BMW concept.



Craig

[JRoberts]

I have a new (purchased in December) Subaru Outback. It replaces my 2010 Legacy which I really liked. I love my new car, but many of the issues that have been mentioned here do bug me. All the dinging bells bug the heck out of me. Near home there is an intersection with a road to the left on a curve in the main road. The automatic slow down thing brings my car to nearly a stop from the posted speed limit (or a little more) if a car ahead of me pulls into the turn lane. The angle is such that my car thinks the turning vehicle in the other lane is in front of me. I would think about disabling it were it not for the fact that I really love that feature out on the highway. This feature works primarily when using cruise control.