Brilliant Car Features

[Tartan58]

As a bit of an antidote to the Pointless Car Features thread what are the most genius or can't live without features?

 

To kick off as I was slagging the Mondeo's wipers in the other thread the best wipers were in my old '97 Seat Toledo, the intermittant was almost infinatley variable from constantly on to I think a 1 minute gap between wipes simply by doing a single wipe then another whenever you wanted and it would keep to that timing.

 

Unfortunately I've not much experiance with owning Autoshite but I'm sure there must be some great fetures that saw the light once then dissapeared...

surely the Citroen DS see-round-corners lights and 3 wheel driving thing must be up there.

[warren t claim]

Foot operated dip switches should make a comeback.

[trigger]

Ford's fantastic heated front screen should have been fitted to every car made.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Wheels.

[dollywobbler]

Mist function on the wipers - where you hold down the switch/lever for as many wipes as you want. Mini has it. 2CV has it. Landy has it. BX doesn't. I find this endlessly irritating.

 

Spin-on oil filters.

Halogen headlamps.

Height adjustable headlamps (shame no-one knows to use them - 2CV has them again)

Rack-and-pinion steering.

Radial tyres.

Fresh air ventilation. 2CV and Landy score well here too with their below-windscreen vents. Rovers used to have fresh air vents in the dash. Again, BX doesn't so you're forced to open a window (which is noisy) if you want fresh air.

[dollywobbler]

Ford's fantastic heated front screen should have been fitted to every car made.

 

I disagree. I actually find the wires annoy me, especially in misty/rainy conditions. Heated screenwash seems a good idea - not that I've ever had a car equipped with it...

[barefoot]

How about windscreen washers powered by excess air in the spare tyre?

 

with a clever valve that stops deflating the tyre when it gets down to 26psi...

 

- while the cars newish, then after a bit it lets it down completely

and then develops a bit of a leak so you can never charge it up properly

- apart from a blast up to about 70psi - just enough to last for the MOT

[flat4alfa]

Steering wheels

 

Tillers are a bit of a faff.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Is that how it works in your Beetle barefoot?

[Tartan58]

since windscreen's are the hot topic just now am I right in thinking that some Peugeot (405 or 505) had the washers mounted on the wipers themselves, sounds like quite a good idea but since I've never seen it again probably not.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

since windscreen's are the hot topic just now am I right in thinking that some Peugeot (405 or 505) had the washers mounted on the wipers themselves, sounds like quite a good idea but since I've never seen it again probably not.

 

The MK5 Escort saloon had the rear washer hidden in the wiper arm. Very neat bit of packaging, but not as efficient at cleaning the screen because it couldn't spray such a wide area.

[dieselnutjob]

I'm liking the heated seats in my 607 quite a lot at the moment

[Tartan58]

How about windscreen washers powered by excess air in the spare tyre?

 

with a clever valve that stops deflating the tyre when it gets down to 26psi...

 

- while the cars newish, then after a bit it lets it down completely

and then develops a bit of a leak so you can never charge it up properly

- apart from a blast up to about 70psi - just enough to last for the MOT

 

Interesting idea! My '62 Mini had a manual pump to operate the washers, the pressure created was so small that once on the move there was no chance of the spray actually reaching the screen.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

since windscreen's are the hot topic just now am I right in thinking that some Peugeot (405 or 505) had the washers mounted on the wipers themselves, sounds like quite a good idea but since I've never seen it again probably not.

 

405. The washer jets are mounted on a 'bar' that runs along the wiper, they work rather well until the clips start breaking off in the bitter cold.

[Timewaster]

since windscreen's are the hot topic just now am I right in thinking that some Peugeot (405 or 505) had the washers mounted on the wipers themselves, sounds like quite a good idea but since I've never seen it again probably not.

 

405. The washer jets are mounted on a 'bar' that runs along the wiper, they work rather well until the clips start breaking off in the bitter cold.

 

And freeze up whenever the temperature got below about 10 degrees!

 

Ive seen several commercials with a similar system, including my wonderful Iveco Daily works van.

 

*awaits flame throwers from the Iveco hater!*

[trigger]

My Opel has an hand pump for the washers as well, Sadly the inline valve is shagged so it doesn't work at the moment.

[ashmicro]

My father's XF has a quick-clear thing for the screen, but works differently. Theres a control on the dash which says "clear" on it. You press this, and a few seconds later, by the noise it makes, the hidden Rolls-Royce RB211 fires up and clears the screen. You go temporarily deaf, but you can see where you're going.

 

My old W203 C Class had electric auxiliary heating of some sort. GR16 for keeping you warm until the engine gets to operating temperature.

 

My Rover 25 has a fucking fabulous heater.

[flat4alfa]

by the noise it makes, the hidden Rolls-Royce RB211 fires up and clears the screen.

[Rusty Pelican]

My Beemers wiper system is fab , Love the feature of pushing the switch down once ( sprung return ) to operate them just once , GR8 for very light drizzle , intermittent is nicely spaced and the auto 3 wipes when the washers are operated is GR8 also .

In fact I like my povo spec Beemer a lot .

[Jozza]

Maybe I'm easily impressed but I've always thought the circular spare fuel can that slotted inside the spare wheel on old Mercs was a nice touch, especially since it was a proper metal jerry can with a seal-and-lock cap and an attachable metal spout. A spare gallon of fuel is always a good idea and it saved you from carrying a leaky plastic can that stank the car out.

 

I don't know exactly which Mercs had it though- our (brilliant) H-reg W124 had it but the (massively inferior) W210 that came after it didn't.

[CreepingJesus]

+1 to the Mondeo 'Quickclear' screen - I loved mine 'til it gave up. I don't fancy the replacement cost tho'...

99.99% of HGV's have the washer jets on the wiper blade - it's so damn handy. Inexplicably, the very latest Scanny's are prone to freezing up the washer water, which the old ones weren't. The old 'night heater' is the best tho'; stick it on full tilt when you get into the motor, and the screen's clearing nicely while you do the walkround check. Best of all, its' fuel use doesn't show up on the econometer, thus saving grief from t*sspot transport managers...

Split/fold rear seats which fold right down to make a flat floor right thro' the boot. Genius.

Cruise control - improves fuel economy if used strategically.

[eddyramrod]

Heated seats! I used to commute year-round at 4am. Fortunately I was in a Volvo 740...

 

Automatic transmission. What????? Oh yes, go to Spain or Italy or somesuchwhere and rent a car. All the locals (without exception) are trying to kill you while you try to adjust to traffic approaching from every direction except the ones you're used to, and at the same time to changing gear with the "wrong" hand (third should be over here, oops, no, that way...). Clunk click in an auto, one pedal to go and one to stop. You have a chance of living through your holiday!

 

Variable intermittent wipe, as seen on my 1986 Polonez. Bloody marvellous!

[The Moog]

Another for Heated seats and the infinitely variable wipers (on saabs you can fit the VW golf relay to get it )

 

Saab heaters - Furnace especially with in a car with a turbo fitted...

 

Little dimple on the saab 900 dashboard - Designed in the 1970's but exactly the right size for a mobile phone. What foresight

 

Headlights that go off when you turn the car off. Saves OMG FLT BATTRY

[Shep Shepherd]

Heated seats, especially when fitted to Swedish cars

[woolleyiain]

Bumpers. Not the crappy collapsing plastic affairs on moderns, but proper steel and rubber US 70's safety regulations type ones. great for making parking spaces wider in places like downtown Chicago. Heated seats always make me feel like I've wet myself after a while.......

 

Am a big fan of aircon too.

[M'coli]

The combined crosshead-slot screwdriver and the 10mm-13mm spanner that VW put in the toolkit in the 1980s. I used to go around the VWs in scrappys looking for them they're brilliant. That and the toolkit in the Saab.

[aled]

overiders--- ideal for making your parking space a bit bigger

[aled]

indicators - if only people knew they had them fitted to their cars.

the highway code - first rule of the road- keep left- sadly on the motorway it is keep right.

the spare wheel- but some people wont get their hands dirty and will wait an hour or two on the hard sholder for the aa or rac.

[dollywobbler]

I HATE headlamps that turn off with the ignition. GR-99 4 PITCHIN A TENT IN DA DARK! Warning buzzers are handy - though I prefer the nice gentle chime of a Ford Sierra to the ear-piercing screech of the BX...

[M'coli]

overiders--- ideal for making your parking space a bit bigger

No - on the Imp, ideal for breaking the original-dealer front number plate on your Cavalier when trying to get it, the Imp and the 106 on the drive together.