Overally Automatic?

[Hoovie]

So ... Are these advances in car technology a step too far?

The typical modern reasonably upmarket car has all/most of the following:

Automatic Wipers - so don't need to bother knowing when to use the wipers

Automatic Lights - so don't need to know when to turn lights on

Automatic Gearbox - so don't need to know how to use a clutch

Or if Manual ... Gear change indicator, so don't need to know yourself when to change gear

Speed Limiter - so set to road limit and keep accelerator flat on floor, so you can always be at the 'right' speed

Blind Spot warning - so no need to even turn head to check before changing roads

Reversing sensors - so same as above when going backwards.

Self Parking - so have a cuppa/surf web/do makeup while car is parking

ABS + brake assistance - so just hit the brakes hard regardless (+EBD, TC, HDC, etc, etc)

Airbags - so if all the above goes wrong, still cocooned in a personal safety net.

Now for people who learned to drive many moons ago and have had to drive the cars without all this, the new features make driving more enjoyable and relaxing, but as people start to learn to drive in cars with these features, I am sure that the REAL ability to drive is being diluted and leading to increase in potential dangerous drivers on the road?

I wonder if instructors/examiners tell the drivers to run off all these features?

[Davrav]

I'm still struggling to come to terms with the demise of the guy with the flag who used to walk in front.............

[Tech01]

In the early days of the (highly automated) Citroen C5, at the first service, customers were apparently handed a sheet of paper, and asked to tick any of the automatic functions that weren't fond of. The service technician would then disable the items via a laptop.

Allegedly.

[silly sausage]

Interesting post Hoovie. In March this year I brought great shame on Myself by being caught on camera doing 33 mph in a 30 mph speed limit, my shame was immense and it has taken me some months to be able to talk about it.

The fact that my licence was clean enabled me to attend a speed awareness course where I felt at home among other hardened criminals.

The one thing I can remember from the four hour ear bashing I endured was the following. In 1976 ROSPA calculated the average reaction time to a hazard at 30mph was 0.7 seconds. In 2010, the same calculations resulted in a reaction time of 1.6 seconds, the reasoning......steering wheel mounted telephone controls, sat nav, multi-function 'head units' etc etc. The modern car is obviously much safer with crumple zones, airbags etc but the 'luxuries' are distracting us whether we realise it or not .

Convict.......

[DjRav]

I hired a Caterham for the day for a milestone birthday a few years back. Talk about back to basics!!

More fun could not be had if I'd have been in a £100,000+ Sporty motor tbh. And you can pick a good one up to for £15k!

Highly recommended.

Dave

[crofter]

Ah,but they help a lot when the driver is on the phone etc.

I think that some whizz kid in the design dept thinks of something new to help the driver and then all the others have to play catch up.

Pity they cannot input the highway code in the controlling electronics as that should make us all safer from those who seem to be ignorant of its existence

Del

[Hoovie]

I find I am using the speed limiter a fair bit actually as my journey from home to Edinburgh involves around 30+ miles of A road, almost always empty of cars but littered with speed (opps, 'safety') cameras (watch out any A68 users!!) and with clear good roads like that it is very easy to creep upto 70 or more without realising it (it was that journey home this afternoon that made me think of all these driver aids fitted nowadays).

Paul, I did one of these awareness courses about 18 months ago, a consequence of beimg photographed at 55MPH on a dual carriageway on a Saturday afternoon, the lower limit of 50 being imposed due to the invisible workforce, probably at the footie, so I guess the limit was to protect the traffic cones on the verge side?

Oh, and on a drive to Cumbria on Saturday, I counted 22 individual controls on my Steering Wheel (more then on an F1 wheel I think!)

[Cyker]

Yeah, I do wonder how this will affect the driving test; Imagine taking the test in a car with all that stuff? Easy-peasy-japaneasy!

I think having to learn in the evil hateful BSM Corsa made me a much better driver, esp. with clutch control. My brothers learned in much more powerful cars (Diesel Nissan Note and an AA Ford Focus) and don't have anywhere near the clutch finesse I have (Although they are more confident in larger vehicles than I am! )

[dwilson]

I didn't know they fitted a speed limiter in cars! So does that brake the car when going down hill?

David

[Big Kev]

My speed limiter has its own front seat in my car.............

[uniquestar]

My speed limiter has its own front seat in my car.............

Mine as well, it makes such an awful noise once I get anywhere near 10% over the limit.....

[Cyker]

[high10]

Think you've missed Traction Control ... 'radar' controlled cruise control ... the proliferation of navigation systems so no one looks at a map anymore and we then find ourselves in impossibly narrow lanes or driving thru rivers "cos the sat-nav said so !!"

and the near side mirror 'dipping' on selection of reverse. Helped our son learn to drive a few years ago - often wondered if one is allowed to use this feature during the Driving Test parallel parking. And what would an examiner say (in a car not so equipped) if you motored the mirror down to see the kerb before parking ? (Let alone using a full-on automatic parking system !!).

[Hoovie]

I love the auto-dropping mirrors when selecting reverse... Just wish my car had them. Very good for saving wheels from kerbing in tight spots :) Would hope an examiner would look with a degree of approval if the driver did this himself as it demonstrates awareness of using the vehicle to aid parking (as opposed to the car parking itself, of course!)

I recall my instructor telling me to slightly misalign the rear view mirror on the test so I would have to move my head to use it properly rather then just move my eyes to 'prove' I was using the mirror sufficiently :)

I think speed limiters are starting to appear on a lot of French cars as a driver-settable function. On mine, I select between using the speed-limiter, or the cruise control (or neither!).

Sat Nav .... The amount of drivers (including myself) who have gone down totally unsuitable roads !!!

Oh ... And another feature that I thought was weird, but works well, at least for me, is the automatic handbrake. No longer have to either put the handbrake on, or take it off! I tend to forget to apply it (advancing years I guess to blame) and so the car does it for me (and the same system works as an automaic hold on hill starts)

[firemac]

And of course, don't forget the ultimate auto function: self-driving cars. Probably not as far away as many of us would like to think.

However, it's not a new concept - it used to be called "the train".

Mind you, what with the www & home-working & flexitime it won't be long before we won't have to leave home to do anything. Personal transport will become redundant.

[dwilson]

I didn't know they fitted a speed limiter in cars! So does that brake the car when going down hill?

David

Still hoping for an answer! Think it got lost with the witty replies!!

And how long have speed limiters been fitted to Toyotas in the UK?

David

[Hoovie]

I didn't know they fitted a speed limiter in cars! So does that brake the car when going down hill?

David

Still hoping for an answer! Think it got lost with the witty replies!!

And how long have speed limiters been fitted to Toyotas in the UK?

David

If the accelerator is not kept down, the speed will often tend to decrease even going down hill i would say unless we are talking major declines, so ... In that respect, the limiter will not brake the car, but it will probably reduce the fuel input to prevent it speeding up if the car is at the limit set. I'd have to try this and see :)

In my (non-Toyota) car, the car will max out at the limit set and will only go above if the accelerator is pushed hard to the floor, and once over the limit, the limiter is effectively defunct until the speed is allowed (by the driver) to go back down to the limit set.

Not sure if Toyota fit limiters. Doubt if they do TBH.

As an aside, the cruise control on my RAV would allow the speed to creep up a fair amount going downhill

[dwilson]

I didn't know they fitted a speed limiter in cars! So does that brake the car when going down hill?

David

Still hoping for an answer! Think it got lost with the witty replies!!

And how long have speed limiters been fitted to Toyotas in the UK?

David

If the accelerator is not kept down, the speed will often tend to decrease even going down hill i would say unless we are talking major declines, so ... In that respect, the limiter will not brake the car, but it will probably reduce the fuel input to prevent it speeding up if the car is at the limit set. I'd have to try this and see :)

In my (non-Toyota) car, the car will max out at the limit set and will only go above if the accelerator is pushed hard to the floor, and once over the limit, the limiter is effectively defunct until the speed is allowed (by the driver) to go back down to the limit set.

Not sure if Toyota fit limiters. Doubt if they do TBH.

As an aside, the cruise control on my RAV would allow the speed to creep up a fair amount going downhill

Thanks - I forgot you had no longer got a R A V !

I think it would be useful to have a cruise control that kept the speed fixed going down hills to avoid speeding on restricted roads but I suppose this would not be welcomed as it would increase fuel consumption.

David

[high10]

And another .... Hill Start Assist !! Could you use that on a Driving Test ?

Don't know much about Speed Limiters. My Dad has one on his Merc A class. Don't know if that system will apply the brakes, but our BMW has a Cruise Control that defo does gently use the rear brakes to prevent exceeding the set speed. There's a down-hill in a 30 zone near us where the Rav on Cruise Control gradually accelerates - but the beemer trundles down at a steady 30 (which is v. good as it's a favourite spot for the camera vans to lurk !!)

[CharlieFarlie]

So ... Are these advances in car technology a step too far?

The typical modern reasonably upmarket car has all/most of the following:

Automatic Wipers - so don't need to bother knowing when to use the wipers

Automatic Lights - so don't need to know when to turn lights on

Automatic Gearbox - so don't need to know how to use a clutch

Or if Manual ... Gear change indicator, so don't need to know yourself when to change gear

Speed Limiter - so set to road limit and keep accelerator flat on floor, so you can always be at the 'right' speed

Blind Spot warning - so no need to even turn head to check before changing roads

Reversing sensors - so same as above when going backwards.

Self Parking - so have a cuppa/surf web/do makeup while car is parking

ABS + brake assistance - so just hit the brakes hard regardless (+EBD, TC, HDC, etc, etc)

Airbags - so if all the above goes wrong, still cocooned in a personal safety net.

Now for people who learned to drive many moons ago and have had to drive the cars without all this, the new features make driving more enjoyable and relaxing, but as people start to learn to drive in cars with these features, I am sure that the REAL ability to drive is being diluted and leading to increase in potential dangerous drivers on the road?

I wonder if instructors/examiners tell the drivers to run off all these features?

For me.....

Auto wipers. Can live without them...

Lights.. Same

Same pretty much for most of the above but some like my wife would not be able to drive at all if it were not for the Automatic gearbox so to many its essential... I just like them ..

[glorydad]

For me.....Auto wipers. Can live without them...Lights.. SameSame pretty much for most of the above but some like my wife would not be able to drive at all if it were not for the Automatic gearbox so to many its essential... I just like them ..

+1. Except I lurv my auto box. It's the first auto I have owned.

[DjRav]

I didn't know they fitted a speed limiter in cars! So does that brake the car when going down hill?

David

Still hoping for an answer! Think it got lost with the witty replies!!

And how long have speed limiters been fitted to Toyotas in the UK?

David

My Vauxhall van has a 70 mph limiter. That "engine brakes" on a hill such that it won't do more than 72/73 on the speedo (about 70 really)

If one was to dip the clutch on a long steep hill however, one could potentially hit 100 mph!

NOT speaking from personal experience you understand, but there is a nice hill or two coming back from Cardiff!

Dave

[Hoovie]

I think the old Austin Montegos had a speed limiter fitted. I am assuming that as my 1.6L would only ever get to 70MPH on that very long downhill section on the M4 near Stroud :D

[dwilson]

And another .... Hill Start Assist !! Could you use that on a Driving Test ?

Don't know much about Speed Limiters. My Dad has one on his Merc A class. Don't know if that system will apply the brakes, but our BMW has a Cruise Control that defo does gently use the rear brakes to prevent exceeding the set speed. There's a down-hill in a 30 zone near us where the Rav on Cruise Control gradually accelerates - but the beemer trundles down at a steady 30 (which is v. good as it's a favourite spot for the camera vans to lurk !!)

That would be so useful - 30 is so difficult to maintain accurately in modern cars.

David

[crofter]

How about a "heads up" display on the windscreen to help peeps see the speed they are doing?