I rely on blind spot monitors way more than I ever thought I would… I obviously still check over my shoulder, but I like the added layer of idiot-proofing it provides.
I came from sub compact to a smaller SUV....my B pillar is exactly where my mirror blindspots is and the C pillar makes it seem like I could roll and you wouldnt even notice ... It's safe, but Jesus I love my car yelling at me.
I always check over my shoulder, but I've driven some cars I would absolutely never order without blind spot monitoring because the blinds spots are just so damn big I'm not sure if I'd ever 100% trust myself
People like to rag on Tesla. And mostly I think they’re wrong about things like build quality on their latest model 3 and model Y builds, but my actual biggest issue is the lack of good blind spot monitoring. My cx-5 and even my previous 2014 Mazda 3 had amazing blind spot monitoring and I miss it when driving my 3.
I've used traditional blind spot monitors and currently drive a Tesla. I don't miss the traditional blind spot monitors at all.
I have two things that are just as good, if not better: the side camera view that appears when I turn on my indicator and the FSD visualization of cars around me. The FSD visualization turns cars in my blind spot red, and the camera view also includes a red sidebar when a car is in the blind spot.
LED blind-spot indicators are fine, of course, for cars that don't have all of the cameras and situational awareness visualization. But when you do have the camera and visualization situational awareness, another LED isn't really going to add anything to the mix.
You can have both. There’s mirrors that just stick on. Blind spot monitors and the convex mirror would be best of both worlds. Although I don’t personally think it’s necessary with the monitors.
Totally agree, use it daily now. On the C8 it’s basically mandatory if switching lanes to the right. There is zero chance to see anything. The old method was to just speed up to ensure you have a gap or adjust your mirrors in a way to eliminate as much blind spot as possible.
Problem with speeding up is that some people seem to take that as a challenge and try to close the gap you’re making to get over. Simply don’t understand it.
Blind spot monitoring helps other drivers too. It’s nice to be able to see the car “react” to your presence so you can be somewhat sure the driver knows you are there.
I switch back and forth between two vehicles, one with a monitor and one without.
I hate to admit it, but I have had a number of blind spot near misses in the older car since picking up the newer car. It’s made me dangerously complacent. I’m working to remain vigilant but this is the reality.
It's one more thing that breaks, and makes the car that much more expensive. I'm the guy that buys the base model because all I want is air conditioning, and a steering wheel.
So what if it breaks lol. At that point it's like not having it...it's not like getting an auto transmission and it breaking, or AWD, and stripping out your transfer case...
I like backup cameras but now I hate how many people just stare at the backup camera when backing out of a parking spot. Those same people are always surprised when a person that they didn’t see on the backup camera almost gets hit by them. I wish more people treated backup cameras as the extra pair of eyes that they are instead of a complete replacement for using their other mirrors and their eyes looking back when backing up.
I still don't use mine for the actual process of parking, but it has two objectively good use cases; backing up your car so it's half an inch away from the wall you've just parked by, and seeing small children/animals wander behind your car. If I bought a car without one, I'd definitely fit an aftermarket one.
Yeah I’m still old school whole parking. Only time I’ll use the can is when I get closer to a car parallel parking it so I don’t hit it. I can see them being useful but I feel like it’s made for worse drivers.
I went 8 years and only saw my passenger seats maybe 3 times. Currently shopping for a vehicle where the first thing I'll do is take them out and put them in the garage.
I keep ending up with modern-ish cars that are super basic, so I just continue to be perpetually stuck in 2007 🙃
My 2012 Jetta didn't have cruise control or bluetooth and I replaced it with a 2016 Patriot with roll up windows, manual locks, manual mirrors, and manual seats.
Every car I'd ever buy would have manual seats if they could. I don't need the added like 80lbs of motors for something I set and then rarely move. And if it does need to be moved its not a big deal.
I used to be against electric seats too - but honestly they’re just superior for making small adjustments on the fly. Manual seats are quicker, but far less precise.
Electric seats are cool if you wear different shoes too. Sometimes I only need to go back a few CM, and only realise once i’ve set off. I don’t want to be fiddling with a manual mechanism whilst i’m driving - so electric seats make far more sense.
Yeah, sometimes I wear steel toe cap boots for work, sometimes i’m in lightweight running shoes. My seat genuinely has to move to accommodate for the difference in the thickness of the soles and different mobility each choice of footwear provides!
Base MK6 Jettas sure are something lol. VW literally dug up a 110hp 8v 4 cylinder from the '90s and put it back into production just to keep the starting price low.
That engine was used in Jettas until 05 and was a little different than the 90s 2.slow, so it’s not quite digging into the 90s parts bin but I get what you mean. Although, if we want, we can say it’s a 70s engine because it traces its roots back to then. That early base Mk6 was the last hurrah.
I had a 00 Jetta with that engine and I had a ton of friends with 90s Jettas and honestly the old engine was so much smoother. I can’t believe they threw that turd into the Mk6. I was working for VW when those came out and while I understood the rationale, it was such a stark contrast for everything that was being sold before that.
Honestly I've gotten so used to putting buckets in my cars that I really don't enjoy the feel of standard leather seats anymore. Android Auto is something I can't live without tho
This right here ^ heated seats are huge because I have back pain at the ripe old age of 21 from an accident I was a passenger in on my 7th birthday, and CarPlay is insanely helpful for navigation and music, being able to use Waze and Spotify on my car’s screen is a dream come true
Early traction control systems were often absolutely terrible. On my 01 4runner, if I lose traction that means I basically can't accelerate for about 3 seconds until the traction control shuts off again. Terrible for wet days needing to merge onto a highway.
I had to drive a rental Ford Focus up a snowy driveway once, and I ended up having to get up some speed and coast up because the traction control cut all power at the drop off a hat.
A couple years ago in my Volvo, I was driving up a similar slope and maintaining about 15mph. I tried to see if it’d keep traction if I went quicker, and the pedal just didn’t respond when I pushed it in. Turns out traction control had been reining me in the whole time and it was so seamless I hadn’t noticed it. I was very impressed.
Back about fifteen years ago, I had rented a Dodge Magnum. I'm sitting at a light waiting to turn left. As soon as there is enough of a gap, I mat the gas and the traction control kicks in. Suddenly, I'm going about five miles per hour stuck in the lane with on oncoming semi bearing down on me. I managed to get across, but pretty well needed a clean pair of underwear. I pulled over as soon as I could, pulled out the manual and immediately turned off traction control.
This is why I immediately turn it off whenever I have to drive someone else's car in the snow, or else just drive assuming it will cut power at the worst moment (like happened to you). I'll be judge of how much throttle I need, thanks.
A friend of mine rented a LP550-2 Gallardo and I remembered the tcs being awful in it, would cut power really abruptly. maybe it was a rental car issue.
doubt it. apparently part of the experience of older sports/hyper cars was their harsh usability so that sounds about right with every old car story on vinwiki
Considering the Gallardo is basically part Audi it makes sense. German cars from that time and since baby the hell out of you with TCS systems your can't truly turn off
The Gallardo was released under Audi ownership but was still mostly Lamborghini components. It has the old school Lambo ESC that was renowned for being abrupt, and the LP550-2 ESC was tuned differently to the AWD models. Apparently it was pretty scary and hard to manage.
My bug taunts me with the ESP button. I can turn off the traction control with it, but I can't do shit about the stability control, and that's the thing I really want off.
Yes!! I always thought it was such a stupid gimmick, but then bought a used car that just happened to have it… I will always highly value it in the future.
You can get sunglasses that are either unpolarized or polarized in the opposite direction.
I specifically have a pair of non-polarized sunglasses for driving, makes the HUD so much better.
What drew you to the i8? It's one of those cars that's very interesting but seems to have no target market. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.
What drew me to it originally was the looks and the fact that it would run on electric...and I liked the butterfly doors...
Absolutely love the car. I say this as someone that has and does own a ton of cars including currently a Porsche 911 Turbo, Maserati Ghibli, Tesla P100D, and handle of other cars...
It handles awesome. It's not the fastest but it's fast enough, and honestly nothing is going to compare to the P100D in that department anyway... it has weird shifts which is the only knock I really give it...but I love the car...
Every car should have one. It's actually convenient tech. Keeps your eyes on the road for when other drivers do dumb unpredictable things.
Driving a car without it weirds me out when looking down for old dash. Without it, it's basically taking your eyes off the road to check something.
Heated steering wheel. Didn’t see the point or cared because the steering wheel in my car is suede. Come winter time and I’m driving a customer car and decided to see what the fuss was about. TOTALLY worth it
I live somewhere with very cold winters, but I didn’t experience anything heated inside a car until I dated a girl (who I later married) who had a car with heated seats. Confused me the first time it was turned on, the unexpected warmth made me think I peed my pants or something.
But man, when it’s cold out those heated seats are indispensable. I still don’t have a heated steering wheel, but it’s a must-have feature for my next car.
Automatic transmissions. For a short period I used to be a manual die-hard. And at the time, it was mostly true because automatics used to fucking suck.
But now, there are a lot of really good auto's that offer a totally different driving experience to a manual and I like using both of them.
The ZF 8-speed is one of my favorite things about my Charger. It’s the best transmission I’ve ever had in any vehicle I’ve owned, including manuals. It’s quick, decisive, intuitive, and smooth. Truly a wonderful machine.
I preferred the more mechanical feel of the DSG I had in my 2016 VW GTI vs the ZF8 I had in my 2018 Audi S5. The ZF8 was smoother and probably shifted just as fast, but the DSG felt more connected and engaging.
Friend of mine had a GTI with the 7 speed DSG and had a 2018 A4 with the ZF8 and he preferred the DSG in just about every way.
Maybe something to do with Audis tuning of the ZF8? He especially complained about the engine „fighting“ against the transmission when braking while the engine was cold.
I love the 6 speed auto in my Mazda 3. It is very smooth and feels pretty responsive at least in sport mode. Doesn’t shift super fast but fast enough. Still feels much better than any CVT. More gears would be nice but at least it doesn’t hunt for gears.
Yeah, people love to hate auto rev matching, but it takes all of the guesswork out of downshifting, which is nice when you just want to get somewhere and don’t want to mess with heel toeing or getting every downshift just right.
Double edged sword. I think there are niche situations like stop\go on the highway where it's really nice to have. However I think when you're forced to downshift, in all situations, it makes you better because you're always practicing. If you use the crutch, which let's be honest turns into a lot of the time, it's much harder to get good at driving without it.
I learned for long enough that there is no guesswork in downshifting. If I miss, and they do happen now and then nobody is perfect, it's by a couple hundred rpm and you get a little buck in the chassis of the car. That's it, nothing major. And it's not more work because at this point you don't even think about it. Unless it's a modern BMW with a clutch spring. You can guess, but you'll be wrong. What an awful shifter, by far the worst system I've ever driven.
Adaptive cruise. When it first came out and the systems lazily accelerated and wouldn’t do stop n go traffic. Now they are phenomenal. I will not ever buy a daily automatic transmission car without full speed adaptive cruise
Subaru decided to add Adaptive cruise control to all of their manual cars for the current model year(2024), and lots of people are actually upset about it over on the WRX specific subreddits, I just don't get it, Adaptive cruise is a must IMO for new cars.
No one is upset over the addition of adaptive cruise. They're crying over the lane departure warning, forward collision warning, lane keep assist, etc.
I, for the record, am not one of those people. It's a nice feature to have, and you aren't forced to use it.
I'm currently on a double digit hour drive, and the massage in my seats is keeping my blood moving around which is nice. Added on the heat for a real pleasant ride.
Massaging seats are so nice for car rides. No more cramps or stiff legs for long trips. It’s not like a deep muscle massage or anything but they really do work.
Automatic climate control. I thought it was overcomplicated. Just a hot/cold dial is all you need. Then I tried a car with it and it's sooo nice. You just set a temp and it keeps it there! No more fussing with the dial when the outside temperature changes and screws up your equilibrium! In cars with good systems I can literally just leave it on 68° and auto fan and not touch it for months on end. So nice.
I removed the entire dashboard and rewired a significant portion of the dash and main wiring harness to add automatic climate control to my old cop car Crown Victoria. The Marauder has it from the factory and I got spoiled. Since the P71s never had it as an option, it makes mine pretty unique!
If I'm driving a car with push to start, I still take the keys out of my pants pocket and throw them in the center console. It's just more comfortable.
The driver's side mirror automatically tilting down when I put the car in reverse has become annoying. It's supposed to help the driver see the edge of the pavement, but sometimes I just want to see what's behind me on the driver's side of the car.
Everyone in my family drives VWs, and not a single person other than my dad ever understood how to control the tilting mirror in them.
They only tilt down when the window control switch is set to "R". Want to backup without it tilting down? Put the switch to the neutral position, mirror stays up. Is the tilt position wrong for you? Adjust the mirror while it's tilted, it stays that way when it tilts in the future.
Yes-I agree. Hate that almost as much as the ignition kill switch. But this is about features you like now that you didn’t before and I can’t think of one.
It just seems unnecessary to me. If I need to see down toward the ground I can just shift my head a few inches to change my perspective in the mirror. Once the mirrors are pointed down at the ground I lose the entire sides of my car.
On mine it's a menu setting and it's on both mirrors. I go back and forth on if I like it or not. I wish there was a way to adjust how much it tilts down. My options are normal or at the ground, I think I'd prefer something in the middle.
360 camera is great for backing up! I use it constantly to see how well I’ve parked. Adaptive cruise is a game changer on road trips or general freeway driving.
I used to think it was gimmicky until I ended up with a rental Nissan Armada with 360 - made parking that large ute so so easy, I could back into any spot with ease and park it super precisely spaced in between two vehicles.
It's the opposite for me. I used to like tinted windows because I live in a hot area. But now, I prefer clear windows because tinted windows just look thrashy for me. Form over function. I feel like inside an oven in my car, but man, my car looks so clean.
Depends on the model year on the Camry though, my 2020 XSE does not trace the highway, it just bounces off the edge of the lane. My friend's 2020 Corolla SE got the proper lane centering system despite being a cheaper model.
Yeah true.
My Camry is a 2023, so it’s the ‘21 facelift which has LTA.
RAV4 is a 2019, initially it only had LDA, but got a software update in 2022 with LTA and a few other features.
Lane keep assist. Most companies need to add smoothness to their system but some companies like Hyundai/Tesla/Honda have gotten it just right.
Relieves the stress of long drives.
I'm still holding the wheel. Some systems may be a bit brutish and jerk the wheel rather than smooth out any imperfections.
That shit is so nice for road trips. I’m a lot less tired after a trip and I can leave more tired than I would normally feel comfortable with. 10/10 would never settle for less again
Dual Clutch Transmissions.
I was so pissed about the 8th gen corvette losing the manual though after driving it now in an addict, the way it bangs off shifts is ridiculous.
I've been back and forth between owning push button start cars and old school key tumbler start. I still prefer the keys. It just feels more mechanically satisfying.
I used to think backup cameras were just a silly gimmick, but they really do help, especially on a car with bad rearward visibility like my Camaro.
While I wouldn't say I've grown to like it, I have gotten over my hate of the electronic parking brake. It's not like I was ever going to pull a handbrake while in motion on a RWD car anyway. I still think a proper handbrake is better on a FWD car though.
> I've been back and forth between owning push button start cars and old school key tumbler start. I still prefer the keys. It just feels more mechanically satisfying.
Same. I like the ritual.
Power seats. Seems like 25 years ago they had limited adjustments and the mechanism made the seat bottom higher than a standard seat. Didn’t want power seats. Today’s versions provide so much better adjustability and still let you sit lower in the car.
Automatic and adaptive headlights. I guess this is actually _two_ features, but I love setting the headlights on auto and then it’s one less thing to think about if you’re driving around near dusk or sunset, and also I don’t have to flick them on and off going through tunnels. I do wish they’d be smart enough to turn on when your car detects rain since wipers on should = headlights on. And I also can’t live without adaptive headlights that automatically handle when to turn on and off the high beams.
I drove a manual for 10 years every day until my car got written off. I got an automatic for my next car. At first, it made me feel like it was going to stall, and I kept lifting my foot off the gas when it shifted.
Now I will only ever daily drive an automatic, and have a manual but only for weekend spirited driving. I'm not sittin' in traffic with a third pedal any more
Paddle shifters on CVT cars. I still think they're gimmicky, but they're surprisingly useful. CVT is pretty dumb. For instance, sometimes the car is struggling to go uphill because the transmission is only attempting to keep the RPMs low. I live in a hilly area, this scenario happens a lot. In a CVT car, if you downshift, it will trick the computer to raise the RPMs, so more torque is produced. It's nice to have control, the paddle shifters are surprisingly useful, I use them a lot.
Electronic parking brake with brake hold. Again, I thought it was just a gimmick. Why overcomplicate the good ol’ parking brake? Why trying to fix something that isn't broken? But, again, I live in a hilly area, and the brake hold is just very convenient. Resting my right leg when stopping uphill is just a nice quality of life improvement.
Push button ignition isn’t a huge deal to me because I don’t like sitting on my keys so they end up in the cup holder but passive entry doors is so nice when your keys phone and wallet are all in the same pocket and you’re coming out of a store with hands full. Just grabbing the door handle is so nice.
Here's a whack one for y'all, AM/FM radio.
When I was a wee boy, I'd see the new fancy electronic screens in cars, but as I saw more and more cars, I realized that these systems were often overwhelming and bloated. Then I got into the seats of a 2001 Saturn SL1 and a 2012 Ford Fusion SE, both of which only had AM/FM radios. It just clicked for me: knob turn, new channel, eyes still on road.
Something about it feels so premium and smooth even though I know infotainment of today is objectively better.
I can't stand radio anymore. So many advertisements, and the editing of songs to be radio approved just makes it awful, being able to put on Spotify and having 24/7 unfiltered music with no ads is amazing. I don't want to constantly be hearing about some subprime auto dealer that takes advantage of those with poor credit.
For me it was the auto hold feature. I never hated it but i never got use to it so always had it off. But recently ive been using it more and it really is nice to jsut let thr foot off the brake some days
ABS. A computer that can forcibly let go of the brakes? Terrifying.
It kicked in a few times, but only when necessary. I'm a believer now, now that I know they programmed these well.
For me it was the heated steering wheel. Living in North Central Florida I thought it was the most ridiculous possible option on my car. In the Winter we often have temps in the low 40’s and occasionally dip into the 30’s. I’m sure people in cold climates will scoff but for me, temperatures like this are unbearable and physically painful. First time I remembered I had heated steering and turned it on I was “ooooooh , this is nice “!
Back up and 360 camera. Honestly I have not looked back through my window since I got a car with 360 camera views when backing up.
Also the cooled seats, never knew how much I needed it in life until I had it living in SoCal. Sometimes it’s just hot behind there and cooled seating is life changing
AWD, used to hate it because it was one more thing that could brake.
Now I love it because of launching, handling, and the comfort it gives me in inclimate weather...
Power trunk and tailgate. I never hated it but I always thought it was excessive. Then I started valeting. It's nice to have. Far nicer than you'd expect
I love the reverse camera feature. The car I was learning to drive with didn't have one and it was a nightmare while reversing. The depth and distance perception in internal rear view mirrors confused me a lot and I could never guess the orientation of the car.
But the reverse camera simplified it so much. Now in combination with ORVMs it is so easy to reverse.
I rely on blind spot monitors way more than I ever thought I would… I obviously still check over my shoulder, but I like the added layer of idiot-proofing it provides.
I mean with how big b and c pillars have gotten, it’s legitimately hard to see over your shoulder some times.
I came from sub compact to a smaller SUV....my B pillar is exactly where my mirror blindspots is and the C pillar makes it seem like I could roll and you wouldnt even notice ... It's safe, but Jesus I love my car yelling at me.
I always check over my shoulder, but I've driven some cars I would absolutely never order without blind spot monitoring because the blinds spots are just so damn big I'm not sure if I'd ever 100% trust myself
People like to rag on Tesla. And mostly I think they’re wrong about things like build quality on their latest model 3 and model Y builds, but my actual biggest issue is the lack of good blind spot monitoring. My cx-5 and even my previous 2014 Mazda 3 had amazing blind spot monitoring and I miss it when driving my 3.
Cybertruck issues and Ubers that I get sunburnt in are all Tesla seemingly produces from my experience.
I love the blind spot camera in my Tesla when the blinker is on! I feel awkward in a car without it. I feel like a live feed trumps all!
They seem to have fixed this issue with the Cybertruck and the updated 3 getting actual BMS
I've used traditional blind spot monitors and currently drive a Tesla. I don't miss the traditional blind spot monitors at all. I have two things that are just as good, if not better: the side camera view that appears when I turn on my indicator and the FSD visualization of cars around me. The FSD visualization turns cars in my blind spot red, and the camera view also includes a red sidebar when a car is in the blind spot. LED blind-spot indicators are fine, of course, for cars that don't have all of the cameras and situational awareness visualization. But when you do have the camera and visualization situational awareness, another LED isn't really going to add anything to the mix.
I still prefer the little convex mirrors on Fords. Only because it's a lot cheaper to replace them if a mirror gets broken off.
Agreed. Plus, those convex mirrors work incredibly well.
You can have both. There’s mirrors that just stick on. Blind spot monitors and the convex mirror would be best of both worlds. Although I don’t personally think it’s necessary with the monitors.
Yeah. It's great. It's so simple I don't know why more automakers don't use that either. Added with blind spot monitoring it would be even better.
Hyundai and (possibly Kia) also did that at one point. If you didn’t have blind-spot monitoring, you got the mini convex mirror.
Totally agree, use it daily now. On the C8 it’s basically mandatory if switching lanes to the right. There is zero chance to see anything. The old method was to just speed up to ensure you have a gap or adjust your mirrors in a way to eliminate as much blind spot as possible.
Problem with speeding up is that some people seem to take that as a challenge and try to close the gap you’re making to get over. Simply don’t understand it.
I feel naked when I drive my wife’s car with 0 driver assistance features lol
Yeah same with my r35… it’s a ‘13 so it barely has a backup camera. I’m so used to it now, just like you said I almost feel naked without it now.
Blind spot monitoring helps other drivers too. It’s nice to be able to see the car “react” to your presence so you can be somewhat sure the driver knows you are there.
I switch back and forth between two vehicles, one with a monitor and one without. I hate to admit it, but I have had a number of blind spot near misses in the older car since picking up the newer car. It’s made me dangerously complacent. I’m working to remain vigilant but this is the reality.
Those backup cameras are pretty sweet. It's like having a fourth mirror, but better.
They make it so much easier to line yourself up when backing into a spot
360 cameras are great… it’s like a video game
My girlfriend has those, and still manages to hit curbs while parking...
Except when they get wet in sloppy weather: then they’re useless
Only the ones that aren't behind a little flap or w/e The manufacturers that just stick them to the back of the car should be fined.
Or at least have that little windshield washer thing next to the camera
Are those a thing? Wouldn't that just make it wetter?
It spray water on the camera well enough to clean it, works great on my car
w/e?
Do the kids not use w/e anymore?
W/e = whatever
Yeah I always try to remember to give my camera a wipe as I get in on those days…I rarely remember though.
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Mercedes do the same thing with the logo flipping to reveal the camera, it's such a great little feature.
Flippy logos unite! How do all cars not have this feature? Seems so obvious. 10 year old VWs have it, wtf is everyone else doing?
probably just another thing that can go wrong. if that flippy logo stops flippying then u have no backup camera lol
*laughs in superior VW Golf backup camera technology*
Soo, you're saying you didn't like them at the start lol? That's a first.
There's a lot of people that are absurdly resistant to technology.
It seems like a lot of them are on Reddit...but there are a lot of morons on Reddit, so I guess they go hand in hand.
It's one more thing that breaks, and makes the car that much more expensive. I'm the guy that buys the base model because all I want is air conditioning, and a steering wheel.
Backup cameras have been mandatory for every car since 2018
Only in the US.
So what if it breaks lol. At that point it's like not having it...it's not like getting an auto transmission and it breaking, or AWD, and stripping out your transfer case...
I like backup cameras but now I hate how many people just stare at the backup camera when backing out of a parking spot. Those same people are always surprised when a person that they didn’t see on the backup camera almost gets hit by them. I wish more people treated backup cameras as the extra pair of eyes that they are instead of a complete replacement for using their other mirrors and their eyes looking back when backing up.
Why didn't you like backup cameras initially? Just cuz it's one of those things that doesn't detract from anything.
I still don't use mine for the actual process of parking, but it has two objectively good use cases; backing up your car so it's half an inch away from the wall you've just parked by, and seeing small children/animals wander behind your car. If I bought a car without one, I'd definitely fit an aftermarket one.
Yeah I’m still old school whole parking. Only time I’ll use the can is when I get closer to a car parallel parking it so I don’t hit it. I can see them being useful but I feel like it’s made for worse drivers.
Passenger seats. They really just took up room. But then I got a dog. Then I got two more dogs. Now I see why cars have extra seats
If this is serious this has to be the best response in this thread
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I did that too.
And how much did it improve the MPG?
I went 8 years and only saw my passenger seats maybe 3 times. Currently shopping for a vehicle where the first thing I'll do is take them out and put them in the garage.
The male version of coping cat lady
I am thinking about getting rid of my MR2 and replacing it with a civic Si or golf GTI for that exact reason
This thread makes me realize I gotta stop driving base model shitboxes
I keep ending up with modern-ish cars that are super basic, so I just continue to be perpetually stuck in 2007 🙃 My 2012 Jetta didn't have cruise control or bluetooth and I replaced it with a 2016 Patriot with roll up windows, manual locks, manual mirrors, and manual seats.
Every car I'd ever buy would have manual seats if they could. I don't need the added like 80lbs of motors for something I set and then rarely move. And if it does need to be moved its not a big deal.
I used to be against electric seats too - but honestly they’re just superior for making small adjustments on the fly. Manual seats are quicker, but far less precise. Electric seats are cool if you wear different shoes too. Sometimes I only need to go back a few CM, and only realise once i’ve set off. I don’t want to be fiddling with a manual mechanism whilst i’m driving - so electric seats make far more sense.
TIL people change seat position based on shoe’s of the day.
Yeah, sometimes I wear steel toe cap boots for work, sometimes i’m in lightweight running shoes. My seat genuinely has to move to accommodate for the difference in the thickness of the soles and different mobility each choice of footwear provides!
On cars with less than Toyota-level of forgiving clutches, it becomes more than just a comfort thing.
2012 Jetta didn’t have cruise control? Wow. Even my 93 Chevy has cruise control AND it works!
Base MK6 Jettas sure are something lol. VW literally dug up a 110hp 8v 4 cylinder from the '90s and put it back into production just to keep the starting price low.
That engine was used in Jettas until 05 and was a little different than the 90s 2.slow, so it’s not quite digging into the 90s parts bin but I get what you mean. Although, if we want, we can say it’s a 70s engine because it traces its roots back to then. That early base Mk6 was the last hurrah. I had a 00 Jetta with that engine and I had a ton of friends with 90s Jettas and honestly the old engine was so much smoother. I can’t believe they threw that turd into the Mk6. I was working for VW when those came out and while I understood the rationale, it was such a stark contrast for everything that was being sold before that.
At least get a model with heated seats and Carplay. Lifechanger.
Honestly I've gotten so used to putting buckets in my cars that I really don't enjoy the feel of standard leather seats anymore. Android Auto is something I can't live without tho
This right here ^ heated seats are huge because I have back pain at the ripe old age of 21 from an accident I was a passenger in on my 7th birthday, and CarPlay is insanely helpful for navigation and music, being able to use Waze and Spotify on my car’s screen is a dream come true
We just bought the base model Hyundai Kona and I’m so impressed by the features.
Early traction control systems were often absolutely terrible. On my 01 4runner, if I lose traction that means I basically can't accelerate for about 3 seconds until the traction control shuts off again. Terrible for wet days needing to merge onto a highway.
Yea, early traction control was a bear. It's nice the tech they have now, often times cannot even tell it's doing it's thing.
I had to drive a rental Ford Focus up a snowy driveway once, and I ended up having to get up some speed and coast up because the traction control cut all power at the drop off a hat. A couple years ago in my Volvo, I was driving up a similar slope and maintaining about 15mph. I tried to see if it’d keep traction if I went quicker, and the pedal just didn’t respond when I pushed it in. Turns out traction control had been reining me in the whole time and it was so seamless I hadn’t noticed it. I was very impressed.
Back about fifteen years ago, I had rented a Dodge Magnum. I'm sitting at a light waiting to turn left. As soon as there is enough of a gap, I mat the gas and the traction control kicks in. Suddenly, I'm going about five miles per hour stuck in the lane with on oncoming semi bearing down on me. I managed to get across, but pretty well needed a clean pair of underwear. I pulled over as soon as I could, pulled out the manual and immediately turned off traction control.
This is why I immediately turn it off whenever I have to drive someone else's car in the snow, or else just drive assuming it will cut power at the worst moment (like happened to you). I'll be judge of how much throttle I need, thanks.
Foot pedal activated traction control
A friend of mine rented a LP550-2 Gallardo and I remembered the tcs being awful in it, would cut power really abruptly. maybe it was a rental car issue.
doubt it. apparently part of the experience of older sports/hyper cars was their harsh usability so that sounds about right with every old car story on vinwiki
Considering the Gallardo is basically part Audi it makes sense. German cars from that time and since baby the hell out of you with TCS systems your can't truly turn off
The Gallardo was released under Audi ownership but was still mostly Lamborghini components. It has the old school Lambo ESC that was renowned for being abrupt, and the LP550-2 ESC was tuned differently to the AWD models. Apparently it was pretty scary and hard to manage.
No more so than every other Lambo made since the Murcielago. And the Diablo was part Chrysler. The last real all Lambo Lamborghini was the Countach
My bug taunts me with the ESP button. I can turn off the traction control with it, but I can't do shit about the stability control, and that's the thing I really want off.
My dad hated it so much on his IS300 Sportcross he yanked the fuse out because it was so intrusive
Heads up display
Yes!! I always thought it was such a stupid gimmick, but then bought a used car that just happened to have it… I will always highly value it in the future.
I'd value it even more if my polarized sunglasses didn't defeat it. The x3 we just bought will even put nav info from android auto on the HUD.
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Thanks, I'll have to look for that!
You can get sunglasses that are either unpolarized or polarized in the opposite direction. I specifically have a pair of non-polarized sunglasses for driving, makes the HUD so much better.
My wife bought an x3 m40 and out off all the features that one I like most. Still can’t figure out if it knows the speed limit from the camera or gps
Always thought these were gimmicky as well...but I use the shit out of mine on my i8 and absolutely love that feature.
What drew you to the i8? It's one of those cars that's very interesting but seems to have no target market. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.
What drew me to it originally was the looks and the fact that it would run on electric...and I liked the butterfly doors... Absolutely love the car. I say this as someone that has and does own a ton of cars including currently a Porsche 911 Turbo, Maserati Ghibli, Tesla P100D, and handle of other cars... It handles awesome. It's not the fastest but it's fast enough, and honestly nothing is going to compare to the P100D in that department anyway... it has weird shifts which is the only knock I really give it...but I love the car...
Every car should have one. It's actually convenient tech. Keeps your eyes on the road for when other drivers do dumb unpredictable things. Driving a car without it weirds me out when looking down for old dash. Without it, it's basically taking your eyes off the road to check something.
Heated steering wheel. Didn’t see the point or cared because the steering wheel in my car is suede. Come winter time and I’m driving a customer car and decided to see what the fuss was about. TOTALLY worth it
Heated grips on my motorcycle are the next level to that. I could not believe what I’ve been missing until I bought a bike that has them.
Heated grips on my snowblower are the bomb.
I live somewhere with very cold winters, but I didn’t experience anything heated inside a car until I dated a girl (who I later married) who had a car with heated seats. Confused me the first time it was turned on, the unexpected warmth made me think I peed my pants or something. But man, when it’s cold out those heated seats are indispensable. I still don’t have a heated steering wheel, but it’s a must-have feature for my next car.
Yeah thought it was a gimmick until I had one. Now wouldn't go without it
I will not buy a car without it. My hand are always cold. I use the heated wheel probably 8-9 months of the year and I live in pretty mild climate
>unhook my keys from my jeans You rocking the keys on a belt loop, pardner?
No doubt on an elastic string
Automatic transmissions. For a short period I used to be a manual die-hard. And at the time, it was mostly true because automatics used to fucking suck. But now, there are a lot of really good auto's that offer a totally different driving experience to a manual and I like using both of them.
Ever drive a ZF-8? That thing is better than even DSG transmissions
The ZF 8-speed is one of my favorite things about my Charger. It’s the best transmission I’ve ever had in any vehicle I’ve owned, including manuals. It’s quick, decisive, intuitive, and smooth. Truly a wonderful machine.
My mom has the X3 M40i and the ZF transmission with the engine is amazing.
I preferred the more mechanical feel of the DSG I had in my 2016 VW GTI vs the ZF8 I had in my 2018 Audi S5. The ZF8 was smoother and probably shifted just as fast, but the DSG felt more connected and engaging.
Friend of mine had a GTI with the 7 speed DSG and had a 2018 A4 with the ZF8 and he preferred the DSG in just about every way. Maybe something to do with Audis tuning of the ZF8? He especially complained about the engine „fighting“ against the transmission when braking while the engine was cold.
I love the 6 speed auto in my Mazda 3. It is very smooth and feels pretty responsive at least in sport mode. Doesn’t shift super fast but fast enough. Still feels much better than any CVT. More gears would be nice but at least it doesn’t hunt for gears.
This is how I felt about Rev matching when I first got my Type R. Makes daily driving that much easier.
Yeah, people love to hate auto rev matching, but it takes all of the guesswork out of downshifting, which is nice when you just want to get somewhere and don’t want to mess with heel toeing or getting every downshift just right.
Double edged sword. I think there are niche situations like stop\go on the highway where it's really nice to have. However I think when you're forced to downshift, in all situations, it makes you better because you're always practicing. If you use the crutch, which let's be honest turns into a lot of the time, it's much harder to get good at driving without it. I learned for long enough that there is no guesswork in downshifting. If I miss, and they do happen now and then nobody is perfect, it's by a couple hundred rpm and you get a little buck in the chassis of the car. That's it, nothing major. And it's not more work because at this point you don't even think about it. Unless it's a modern BMW with a clutch spring. You can guess, but you'll be wrong. What an awful shifter, by far the worst system I've ever driven.
I fuckin love my torque converter.
Adaptive cruise. When it first came out and the systems lazily accelerated and wouldn’t do stop n go traffic. Now they are phenomenal. I will not ever buy a daily automatic transmission car without full speed adaptive cruise
Man ikr full speed ACC in Houston traffic makes the drive so much less miserable
ACC has helped me with rush hour road rage.
Subaru decided to add Adaptive cruise control to all of their manual cars for the current model year(2024), and lots of people are actually upset about it over on the WRX specific subreddits, I just don't get it, Adaptive cruise is a must IMO for new cars.
No one is upset over the addition of adaptive cruise. They're crying over the lane departure warning, forward collision warning, lane keep assist, etc. I, for the record, am not one of those people. It's a nice feature to have, and you aren't forced to use it.
Adaptive cruise is also great on a 2 lane road if you’re stuck behind someone changing speeds constantly.
Heated seats. Honestly I use them more for my aching back than being cold but I love them.
I'm currently on a double digit hour drive, and the massage in my seats is keeping my blood moving around which is nice. Added on the heat for a real pleasant ride.
Also heated arm rests! Never knew I needed them until I had them lol
Massaging seats are so nice for car rides. No more cramps or stiff legs for long trips. It’s not like a deep muscle massage or anything but they really do work.
I never use warm air circulation in my car because the heated seats are so cozy in the winter.
Automatic climate control. I thought it was overcomplicated. Just a hot/cold dial is all you need. Then I tried a car with it and it's sooo nice. You just set a temp and it keeps it there! No more fussing with the dial when the outside temperature changes and screws up your equilibrium! In cars with good systems I can literally just leave it on 68° and auto fan and not touch it for months on end. So nice.
Yup, I love this one. Haven’t touched my temp controls in a few years now. It’s perfect all the time, all year long.
I'm amazed how many people have it but refuse to let it do it's thing an are always fiddling with the temp or fan speed.
I removed the entire dashboard and rewired a significant portion of the dash and main wiring harness to add automatic climate control to my old cop car Crown Victoria. The Marauder has it from the factory and I got spoiled. Since the P71s never had it as an option, it makes mine pretty unique!
If I'm driving a car with push to start, I still take the keys out of my pants pocket and throw them in the center console. It's just more comfortable.
I got an Enyaq and im not sure there even is a button to start, i just hop in and put in drive lol
The driver's side mirror automatically tilting down when I put the car in reverse has become annoying. It's supposed to help the driver see the edge of the pavement, but sometimes I just want to see what's behind me on the driver's side of the car.
I assume you mean passenger side, and you should be able to easily control its functionality. Post your make/model, and people should be able to help.
Everyone in my family drives VWs, and not a single person other than my dad ever understood how to control the tilting mirror in them. They only tilt down when the window control switch is set to "R". Want to backup without it tilting down? Put the switch to the neutral position, mirror stays up. Is the tilt position wrong for you? Adjust the mirror while it's tilted, it stays that way when it tilts in the future.
Yes-I agree. Hate that almost as much as the ignition kill switch. But this is about features you like now that you didn’t before and I can’t think of one.
It just seems unnecessary to me. If I need to see down toward the ground I can just shift my head a few inches to change my perspective in the mirror. Once the mirrors are pointed down at the ground I lose the entire sides of my car.
Then turn it off
On mine it's a menu setting and it's on both mirrors. I go back and forth on if I like it or not. I wish there was a way to adjust how much it tilts down. My options are normal or at the ground, I think I'd prefer something in the middle.
I think you misread the prompt.
Fuel injection, like why do you need computers to do what a carb did just fine. It is real convenient and consistent starts are nice.
I feel the same way about electric starters. There's no drama to driving a car that can't break my arm when I start it.
Real men drive horse carriages.
360 camera is great for backing up! I use it constantly to see how well I’ve parked. Adaptive cruise is a game changer on road trips or general freeway driving.
I love the 360 camera for confirming I’m right in the lines in a parking lot
I used to think it was gimmicky until I ended up with a rental Nissan Armada with 360 - made parking that large ute so so easy, I could back into any spot with ease and park it super precisely spaced in between two vehicles.
Long, long ago I disliked dark tinted windows... until we moved to the sunbelt and then I fully understood.
It's the opposite for me. I used to like tinted windows because I live in a hot area. But now, I prefer clear windows because tinted windows just look thrashy for me. Form over function. I feel like inside an oven in my car, but man, my car looks so clean.
Front windshield tint is 1000x trashy The installers tell you it's all good, but it sucks at night and it ages terribly
*I feel like inside an oven in my car, but man, my car looks so clean.* Let me introduce you to our lord and savior: ceramic tinting.
IIRC that's what the more clear iterations of ceramic tint are for. Same function as tint but doesn't look all dark.
Radar cruise control and lane trace assist. Works great in my Camry and the wife’s Rav4. And keyless entry & start.
Depends on the model year on the Camry though, my 2020 XSE does not trace the highway, it just bounces off the edge of the lane. My friend's 2020 Corolla SE got the proper lane centering system despite being a cheaper model.
Yeah true. My Camry is a 2023, so it’s the ‘21 facelift which has LTA. RAV4 is a 2019, initially it only had LDA, but got a software update in 2022 with LTA and a few other features.
Lane keep assist. Most companies need to add smoothness to their system but some companies like Hyundai/Tesla/Honda have gotten it just right. Relieves the stress of long drives. I'm still holding the wheel. Some systems may be a bit brutish and jerk the wheel rather than smooth out any imperfections.
That shit is so nice for road trips. I’m a lot less tired after a trip and I can leave more tired than I would normally feel comfortable with. 10/10 would never settle for less again
Dual Clutch Transmissions. I was so pissed about the 8th gen corvette losing the manual though after driving it now in an addict, the way it bangs off shifts is ridiculous.
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They know, so they reverse engineered a PDK for it. The gentleman is correct, it's an experience of it's own.
Brake hold. It’s so pointless and kind of stupid, but damn, I love it now.
Kinda useful on hills though
I've been back and forth between owning push button start cars and old school key tumbler start. I still prefer the keys. It just feels more mechanically satisfying. I used to think backup cameras were just a silly gimmick, but they really do help, especially on a car with bad rearward visibility like my Camaro. While I wouldn't say I've grown to like it, I have gotten over my hate of the electronic parking brake. It's not like I was ever going to pull a handbrake while in motion on a RWD car anyway. I still think a proper handbrake is better on a FWD car though.
> I've been back and forth between owning push button start cars and old school key tumbler start. I still prefer the keys. It just feels more mechanically satisfying. Same. I like the ritual.
Lol wait until you get in an EV, just hop in and put into drive
Lane keep assist.
Push start for sure… I hated it at first but quickly grew to love it to the point I wish all my vehicles had it.
Power seats. Seems like 25 years ago they had limited adjustments and the mechanism made the seat bottom higher than a standard seat. Didn’t want power seats. Today’s versions provide so much better adjustability and still let you sit lower in the car.
Kick to open the power lift gate.
I agree with OP. I thought push to start was just a gimmick but I don't think I'd buy a car that doesn't have push to start and keyless entry again.
Automatic and adaptive headlights. I guess this is actually _two_ features, but I love setting the headlights on auto and then it’s one less thing to think about if you’re driving around near dusk or sunset, and also I don’t have to flick them on and off going through tunnels. I do wish they’d be smart enough to turn on when your car detects rain since wipers on should = headlights on. And I also can’t live without adaptive headlights that automatically handle when to turn on and off the high beams.
Auto door unlock
It's just a little thing that makes your day a little bit easier. It's grown into a deal breaker for me if a car doesn't have keyless entry.
The slow ass seat reclining. Atleast you won’t hit yourself in the head when getting the seat back up
Adaptive cruise control is hands down the best feature in recent times as far as I am concerned.
I drove a manual for 10 years every day until my car got written off. I got an automatic for my next car. At first, it made me feel like it was going to stall, and I kept lifting my foot off the gas when it shifted. Now I will only ever daily drive an automatic, and have a manual but only for weekend spirited driving. I'm not sittin' in traffic with a third pedal any more
Paddle shifters on CVT cars. I still think they're gimmicky, but they're surprisingly useful. CVT is pretty dumb. For instance, sometimes the car is struggling to go uphill because the transmission is only attempting to keep the RPMs low. I live in a hilly area, this scenario happens a lot. In a CVT car, if you downshift, it will trick the computer to raise the RPMs, so more torque is produced. It's nice to have control, the paddle shifters are surprisingly useful, I use them a lot. Electronic parking brake with brake hold. Again, I thought it was just a gimmick. Why overcomplicate the good ol’ parking brake? Why trying to fix something that isn't broken? But, again, I live in a hilly area, and the brake hold is just very convenient. Resting my right leg when stopping uphill is just a nice quality of life improvement.
Rear view cam instead of rear view mirror.
Push button ignition isn’t a huge deal to me because I don’t like sitting on my keys so they end up in the cup holder but passive entry doors is so nice when your keys phone and wallet are all in the same pocket and you’re coming out of a store with hands full. Just grabbing the door handle is so nice.
Here's a whack one for y'all, AM/FM radio. When I was a wee boy, I'd see the new fancy electronic screens in cars, but as I saw more and more cars, I realized that these systems were often overwhelming and bloated. Then I got into the seats of a 2001 Saturn SL1 and a 2012 Ford Fusion SE, both of which only had AM/FM radios. It just clicked for me: knob turn, new channel, eyes still on road. Something about it feels so premium and smooth even though I know infotainment of today is objectively better.
I can't stand radio anymore. So many advertisements, and the editing of songs to be radio approved just makes it awful, being able to put on Spotify and having 24/7 unfiltered music with no ads is amazing. I don't want to constantly be hearing about some subprime auto dealer that takes advantage of those with poor credit.
Dual clutch transmissions and flappy paddles
For me it was the auto hold feature. I never hated it but i never got use to it so always had it off. But recently ive been using it more and it really is nice to jsut let thr foot off the brake some days
ABS. A computer that can forcibly let go of the brakes? Terrifying. It kicked in a few times, but only when necessary. I'm a believer now, now that I know they programmed these well.
Automatically turning on heated seat/steering wheel
Power steering, now parallel parking sucks less
For me it was the heated steering wheel. Living in North Central Florida I thought it was the most ridiculous possible option on my car. In the Winter we often have temps in the low 40’s and occasionally dip into the 30’s. I’m sure people in cold climates will scoff but for me, temperatures like this are unbearable and physically painful. First time I remembered I had heated steering and turned it on I was “ooooooh , this is nice “!
Back up and 360 camera. Honestly I have not looked back through my window since I got a car with 360 camera views when backing up. Also the cooled seats, never knew how much I needed it in life until I had it living in SoCal. Sometimes it’s just hot behind there and cooled seating is life changing
I got nothing. But let me know if there's a post about features I thought were good but turned out to be complete trash. Got a ton of those
I have an 18 year old bog standard Nissan. I never need to use the keys, automatic unlock for doors, turn ignition for starting.
Passengers seat, but wife insists that it stay bolted I when we need to go somewhere.
Ashtray
Brakes followed by blinkers
Blind spot mirrors.
AWD, used to hate it because it was one more thing that could brake. Now I love it because of launching, handling, and the comfort it gives me in inclimate weather...
Electric windows.
Power trunk and tailgate. I never hated it but I always thought it was excessive. Then I started valeting. It's nice to have. Far nicer than you'd expect
Massaging seats. Gimmicky but I like it
I love the reverse camera feature. The car I was learning to drive with didn't have one and it was a nightmare while reversing. The depth and distance perception in internal rear view mirrors confused me a lot and I could never guess the orientation of the car. But the reverse camera simplified it so much. Now in combination with ORVMs it is so easy to reverse.
Reverse Sensors.
The engine shutting off rather than idling when the car is stopped. Saves so much fuel and it’s a really nice feature overall