Has in car digital technology gone too far ?

[EmilysDad]

....t. I also wonder what will happen when these cars are 20 years old and at the bottom end of the market.

They'll have been scrapped long before due to a box of electrickery giving up the ghost which makes the car an uneconomic repair because a part from the scrap yard would also need coding to the car. Wasn't it said that even for a brand new 'intelligent' headlight, you needed some kind of info to code it & without it, it was only useful as a door stop?

 

[keefysher]

They'll have been scrapped long before due to a box of electrickery giving up the ghost which makes the car an uneconomic repair because a part from the scrap yard would also need coding to the car. Wasn't it said that even for a brand new 'intelligent' headlight, you needed some kind of info to code it & without it, it was only useful as a door stop?

I note you are using your newly learned word


Credit to the other one 'diseasel' goes to Carl350 of this parish

 

[LostKiwi]

Credit to the other one 'diseasel' goes to Carl350 of this parish

I think Blobcat used it first - 2011.

 

[EmilysDad]

I note you are using your newly learned word


Credit to the other one 'diseasel' goes to Carl350 of this parish

I think you'll find I introduced BOTH words to the Merc forum

 

[EmilysDad]

I note you are using your newly learned word


Credit to the other one 'diseasel' goes to Carl350 of this parish

I think Blobcat used it first - 2011.

http://www.omegaowners.com/forum/index.php?topic=20592.msg310274#msg310274

so I beat his usage by at least 2 years

 

[peterws1957]

You had a radio??

Only when I could remember how to switch it on.

 

[peterws1957]

Think I'll have an hour in my little 190E now and click a few switches.

Nothing beats clicking a few switches. Ask Ms peterws1957 - she is an inveterate switch clicker/button presser. Always does it though before asking what it does. Proved a touch buttock clenching when pressing the manual selection button when accelerating down the M6 slip road and I thought the gearbox had failed..

 

[umblecumbuz]

I imagine like 99% of modern technology all these features will be used once and then forgotten about. I also wonder what will happen when these cars are 20 years old and at the bottom end of the market.

With electronic failures often occurring after a few months use, and dealers being baffled as to the causes, I can easily see buyers steering clear of any high-tech car that has a rogue light showing on the display, even if it's only a year or two old.

 

[Craiglxviii]

Hasn't Craig told us in the past that we're all wrong for having such thoughts?

Have I? Please to point this out.

What I’ve said is that the march of time, ongoing technology and expectation of general public across all markets will drive continued sophistication of the overall driving experience. Due to the drivers of product cost vs performance, most of the increase of performance in this arena will have to come from increased use of ever increasingly sophisticated electronics.

Are you wrong in having such thoughts? No. But will those thoughts change the direction things are taking?

No.

Put it another way. Tata Motors designed a small, cheap hatchback for the Euro market. It came with power steering, central locking, 3* eNCAP and nothing else. No radio- nothing. Went on sale at around £5k. They were expecting to sweep up the bottom edge of the market. Didn’t sell any. They tried it in India. Ditto.

What we find is that people all over the world are aspirational and want ever more/ ever “better” cars than their previous offering. So, this goes back to my first point.

 

[EmilysDad]

I was taking the p***

 

[peterws1957]

Have I? Please to point this out.

What I’ve said is that the march of time, ongoing technology and expectation of general public across all markets will drive continued sophistication of the overall driving experience. Due to the drivers of product cost vs performance, most of the increase of performance in this arena will have to come from increased use of ever increasingly sophisticated electronics.

Are you wrong in having such thoughts? No. But will those thoughts change the direction things are taking?

No.

Put it another way. Tata Motors designed a small, cheap hatchback for the Euro market. It came with power steering, central locking, 3* eNCAP and nothing else. No radio- nothing. Went on sale at around £5k. They were expecting to sweep up the bottom edge of the market. Didn’t sell any. They tried it in India. Ditto.

What we find is that people all over the world are aspirational and want ever more/ ever “better” cars than their previous offering. So, this goes back to my first point.

Glad you put commas round the "better"

 

[Yugguy]

Indeed. "new" does not automatically mean "better"

 

[JohnArnoldBrown]

Yes.

 

[d215yq]

Those who want cars seem to want them to be "aspirational"/"better". Of my generation though (I'm 33) about 50% of people I know don't have, nor want a car. They just hire occasionally and use uber/public transport. Just like everything else nowadays it seems all quite polarised, no car at all or brand new german one on finance. But even those with brand new cars see it as more of a fashion statement and have no idea/interest in cars, the only guy I know who actually has an interest in cars and talks about them has an R reg 328i. Before someone says it's the cost of living it's the poorest ones that have the new cars and the richest that don't have cars.

I'm currently over in the UK so it's new hirecar time, this one is a Peugeot 208. It is true though having to look at a big screen while scrolling through the steering whell buttons means that changing radio channels results in a few seconds not looking at the road/veering into another lane (over sensitive steering to what I'm used to didn't help) and it's hard to see people at pedestrian crossings as the A pillars are too big. Still, due to NCAP atleast me/the pedestrians will survive any such unnessecary crashes I suppose

Once used to it it's always the same conclusion though; comparing to a 30yr old W124 diesel the total lack of NVH and thus ability to feel speed really has improved hugely even for a run of the mill supermini. Take the gadgets out though and everything else (including the mpg) has not. That's the real reason there needs to be ever more gadgets; they need to distract you from the fact that it's pretty much the same drive as the 8yr old one you already have that they want you to spend a fortune upgrading!

 

[Yugguy]

Dunno about NVH. I've just been out with a friend in their 66 plate Hyundai I30. It made me realise just how nice and quiet my "old" 2008 W204 is.

 

[Taffy7hfa]

Dunno about NVH. I've just been out with a friend in their 66 plate Hyundai I30. It made me realise just how nice and quiet my "old" 2008 W204 is.

If you cant afford a car, buy a Hyundai


"having to look at a big screen while scrolling through the steering wheel buttons means that changing radio channels results in a few seconds not looking at the road/veering into another lane"

I think there is a real safety issue here where screens are concerned, it just hasn't developed yet, in my old ml I can easily and safely change radio channels,adjust the heating,air con,vents, switch on the heated seats or adjust the seat position, just by "feeling" the buttons without taking my eyes of the road. motoring laws are now very strict with regard to the use of sat navs while driving, should manufacturers really be moving driver controls for virtually everything onto screens ?

 

[nicholas15]

The tactile pleasure of switches is something to enjoy. Touch screens seem dangerous for use while driving. So I maybe an old fogey but electronics under the bonnet fine, but keep the physical interface options please.

 

[d215yq]

Dunno about NVH. I've just been out with a friend in their 66 plate Hyundai I30. It made me realise just how nice and quiet my "old" 2008 W204 is.

I used to think that when I had my W124 E220s. I love the OM603 for it's reliability, lack of electronics, smoothness, OK power for what it is and excellent mpg but the NVH is really very noticeable in any gear/speed/rev range. To be honest it means it is easier to keep within the speed limit and I quite like hearing something, but the silence in the new car was definitely noticeable, as was the crashing and jarring over even smallish potholes despite roll/wallowing in corners.

 

[Blobcat]

I think you'll find I introduced BOTH words to the Merc forum

First use on the forum was Sept 15 2006 by grpar - my first usage was Oct 11 2006. I borrowed the terminology from Thomas the Tank Engine as a fan of said books / television program

 

[Craiglxviii]

The tactile pleasure of switches is something to enjoy. Touch screens seem dangerous for use while driving. So I maybe an old fogey but electronics under the bonnet fine, but keep the physical interface options please.

This is a very big thing indeed and quite to the point. Positive tactile feedback is a big requirement.