Least significant automotive development(s)

[twosmoke300]

For lazy septics ?

[CortinaDave]

Been said already - but EGR valves. Truly the appendix of a diesel car - does absolutely sod all but causes a lot of pain when it goes wrong.

[Ratdat]

Rear fog lights. 

[cort16]

Keyless entry. I've walked away but has it locked? If I go back it'll unlock so it's impossible to know . Also a lot of the keyless entry things don't require you to have the key in anything other than your pocket to start the car.

I remember going to the train station with my mate in his Mazda 6. He drove, his wife was going to drive the car back. We jumped out to run for the train, she drove off. The key was in his pocket and the car conked out when it went out of range . Luckily she got to us before we got on the train .

Just more pointless shite like the electric handbrake that serves no real purpose other than having to not press a button or put something into the dash, which no one minded doing in the first place .

 

Also bmw's obsession with making things over complex. Do I really need 3 settings for my climate control or three positions for my heated seat. Does an egr valve really have to have its own thermostat? Are those swirl flaps actually doing anything other than giving someone inthe engineering dept a tiny hard on. My e60 reeks of a car that they've just got carried away with , with no thought to the owner or driver. . There is no doubt the e39 is a superior car as it's just not fussy like subsequent bmw's are.

[Bobthebeard]

Top Gear....

(As in TV, not gearbox.....)

[brickwall]

Those fake dump valves to make folk think you've got a turbo

 

Oh, and most 'touch controls'

[dollywobbler]

Rear fog lights. 

 

Glad I'm not the only one. They seem remarkably unnecessary really. If you're nice, like me, you turn them off if there's someone behind you. If you're stopped and worried about someone driving into the back of you, hold your foot on the brake pedal. Most folk do this anyway!

[forddeliveryboy]

What about the automatic\electric seatbelt putter oner

 

 

Watda-heck is DAT? Does it come sliding down the windscreen pillar, having negotiated the door surround like a lost chair lift? Where's the rest of it, is it only a lap-belt?? Is it for Murricans? Why's the temperature gauge off the scale? Or is the fuel tank overflowing?

[Richard]

It slides up the windscreen pillar and back to the B pillar, I'm not sure if there's a lap belt at all. Apparently there was a requirement (in the USA, as you guessed) for an automatic restraint system, which really meant an airbag, and some manufacturers opted to do it this way. If you watch X Files you often see them getting into a car with these belts.

[Jim Bergerac]

I just had to look it up on YouTube:

[Bobthebeard]

Self adjusting brake light switches.... Especially on the MGF. Brake lights on constantly, unless you crawl into the footwell to manually adjust the ' self adjusting' switch. Meh.

[mat_the_cat]

you turn them off if there's someone behind you.

 

So I'm not the only one who does this! I've rarely found them needed, but I go on the basis that if I'm suddenly startled by the appearance of a car from the mist with only sidelights, then I put them on (and I'm probably driving too fast!)

[Angrydicky]

DMF, EGR, ABS, NCAP, diesels that do OMG million mpg, DRL's, 20" alloys with stupid low profile tyres that cost £400 a corner. Basically any of the pointless shit modern cars are saddled with.

[pshome]

Michelin metric TRX tires.