Total Motorcycle Community Forums

noodlenoggin wrote:American car buyers want:
Automatic transmissions so they don't have to shift for themself
Cruise control so they don't have to push a pedal for themself
Automatic headlight shutoff so they don't have to remember to do it.
Automatic headlight TURNON so they don't have to remember it's dark.
Memory for their seats and mirrors so they don't have to do it themself every time.
Auto-dimming mirrors so they don't have to flip the lever themself.
Rain-sensing wipers so they don't have to flip the switch themself.
Brake-assist so they don't have to step on the pedal hard for themself.
Run-flat tires so they don't ever have to check their pressures.
Airbags so they don't have to wear the belt
Power locks so they don't have to push all four buttons.
Power windows so they don't have to use their arm muscles on a crank.
Parking sensors so they don't have to look in their mirror
Cruise control sonar so they don't have to look through their windshield.

I think the only thing drivers of new cars really have left to do anymore is sip latte and read the paper.

Oh, and we own a Volvo. Best car we ever owned -- 8 years and 156,000 miles so far.

Is it somehow cooler or more manly to manually roll down a window, lean over to unlock the passenger door, or turn the headlights on and off yourself?

I don't get it.

Not so much "cooler" as "fewer things to break".

I have a '98 Toyota Tacoma that's manual everything (the only feature it has is after-market cruise control) and it went into the shop for the first time over the weekend. (Starter motor died rather spectacularly.)

My dad's Grand Prix and my mom's Mercedes, on the other hand, always have something wrong with them. Dad's (automagic) window won't go down, Dad's (automagic) seat won't go back, Dad's (automagic) transmission is shot (repeat 2 times). Mom's (automagic) transmission is shot, etc....

And I certainly hope it's not more 'manly' to have not-automated cars...

noodlenoggin wrote:American car buyers want:
Automatic transmissions so they don't have to shift for themself
Cruise control so they don't have to push a pedal for themself
Automatic headlight shutoff so they don't have to remember to do it.
Automatic headlight TURNON so they don't have to remember it's dark.
Memory for their seats and mirrors so they don't have to do it themself every time.
Auto-dimming mirrors so they don't have to flip the lever themself.
Rain-sensing wipers so they don't have to flip the switch themself.
Brake-assist so they don't have to step on the pedal hard for themself.
Run-flat tires so they don't ever have to check their pressures.
Airbags so they don't have to wear the belt
Power locks so they don't have to push all four buttons.
Power windows so they don't have to use their arm muscles on a crank.
Parking sensors so they don't have to look in their mirror
Cruise control sonar so they don't have to look through their windshield.

I haven't owned a car for years. I like the Arthur Fonzarelli life of just having a bike. It's kinda cool.

jonnythan - My word, are you kidding? of course it's cooler. ol' skool man
its so easy to work on also

dr_bar - not a recent pic but recent enough, it stopped snowing here months ago

Personally I think people get way to comfortable in cars and isolate themselves from the world around them to the point where they just move around oblivious to others. If this blindspot checker can boot their a** back into the now and maybe save someone's life I'm all for it, but I don't think it should be a replacement for paying attention to what you're doing.

How about the Lexus (I think) that can parallel park for you?!!! Really? If you can't manage to acquire the necessary motor skills to parallel park maybe you shouldn't be driving a *&%#@! car at all

darsek wrote:How about the Lexus (I think) that can parallel park for you?!!! Really? If you can't manage to acquire the necessary motor skills to parallel park maybe you shouldn't be driving a *&%#@! car at all

+1

darsek wrote:How about the Lexus (I think) that can parallel park for you?!!! Really? If you can't manage to acquire the necessary motor skills to parallel park maybe you shouldn't be driving a *&%#@! car at all

this is a good article, and the comments below are very funny.

Manual mirrors suck because they're a pain in the "O Ring" to get set up right. And some people (such as myself) like to be able to change where the mirrors are pointing depending on what/where I'm driving. If I suddenly find myself on the highway for extended period, I'll point the left mirror so it's pointed further back so I notice things coming from further away (gasp, I check them every handful of seconds). It's a "dog" in the Ranger, they're manual adjust. And anyone who's tall and has driven a smaller truck knows how useless that little mirror hanging from the windshield can be on the highway. Sure, if i slouch down, it's brilliant, but then I can't see very well, and the non-adjustable steering wheel (with an airbag no less) gets in the way as well, and can interrupt with seeing the guages clearly. And between the auto-matic (which LOVES to shift WAY too much, like most all autos) and lack of cruise control combined with doging crazy masshole drivers, my speed can sometimes rise and fall.

Oh wait, I'm too busy sticking my hand out the window to adjust my mirror to dodge cars. And man, I really wish my seat was power adjustable, up, down, left, right, tilt, etc, cause then I could get in an EXACT position that I'M most comfortable driving at. I drove my roomates 99 alty around for a bit, power EVERYTHING, and boy, could I see everything perfectly. I could adjust the seat to the T. The mirrors were spot on, and as it was a car, the rearview mirror wasn't useless for some reason! Oh, and it had cruise control. Which brought my computer controlled speed, set at 2 mph over the limit, right past a cop. Yay for no tickets, without it, I probably would have been going a bit more than 2mph over as I would have been too busy playing bobble head trying to see out of my rearview mirror in the truck, and look around the stupid steering wheel. Oh, crank windows are a "dog" to open when you're driving. Ecspecially the ones on the other side of the car.

Oh and brake assist. A 400 lb motorcycle is one thing, but do you really want to force that pedal down to stop a 3,000 lb rolling mass of steel, aluminum, and iron? I'll take some power assisted braking, thank you very much. Oh, and give me ABS. For the love of all that is good in the world, why would I NOT want something that helps me stop better and safer in bad weather and road conditions?

Power locks? Is there seriously an issue with power locks? WTF? I'd LOVE power locks. Say I'm a little old lady sitting at a stop light and some punks come running up to her car. Think she can hit all four locks in time if they decide to join the poor woman for a ride? No. Just one little button push away, and she's reasonably safer.

All these things are here to make the driver feel more centered. Too many tards just havn't learned that. I love having power everything (though I'd prefer a standard transmission) because I can concentrate on the task at hand, driving. I'm in my own little zone. If I want to feel the wind pouring into my car, I can press 4 little buttons and alllll the windows come down. And if it's too much, same deal, imagine that.

As for the rain detecting, sun seeing stuff, that's just "procreating" lazy. Though I'd rather have little miss soccer mom tell her shiny new Lexus to parallel park in front or behind my poor little Ranger for her, with any luck she won't actually hit it. Which saves me a lot of hassle in dealing with the cops. Belive me though, I'd much rather have all the "fudge" wads out there actually know HOW to drive and not need this "poo poo". As for the safety stuff (assisted braking, abs, airbags, etc) I'll take it.

/rant

My car has most of those features, except an automatic transmission. Actually one of the reasons I picked my car was that it offered a manual, getting hard to find these days

As for blind spots, one thing I never understood is that most people don't have the slightest idea how to position their car mirrors. I have no blind spot in my car and no need to crank my head around. Most people position their side mirrors so they look down along the side of the car. Why? Is it important to check the condition of the paint on your rear door???

My mirrors are positioned almost all the way out. I position them while driving down the freeway while cars pass me. You start by putting them most of the way out. Watch a car come up in the next lane to pass you. When you lose it in your rear view mirror, you should be able to see it in your side mirror. When you lose it in your side mirror, you should be able to pick it up next to you glancing to the side, without cranking your head.

Not that hard really. Most people have their side mirrors positioned so they can see behind the car. That's what your rearview is for. Put your side mirrors out all the way and guess what? They show what's to the side of your car. No blind spot. No need to crank your head. No wiping out bikes on the freeway.

They should tell you this in driver's ed...