[tilt]

Originally Posted by vinayrathore

Hi Tilt, Sorry for the delayed revert. I guess you missed one line in my post: "Some of which are enabled for Jetta via the VCDS." Although not part of the stock configuration in the Indian Jetta, they are built into the car and can be enabled in a jiffy. Barring footwell lights where the part is missing too which again is plug and play.

*SNIP*

Did you check if the pads were really used up? There is a pad wear sensor that lights up a warning light in the console to tell you whenever the brake pads are end of life. Mine are factory pads and still have some life left after 66k kms.

This is interesting. Please let me know when you're in Bangalore next and I shall request you to kindly enable said options, especially the adaptive lighting options not already enabled, in my car.

And no, I did not check the pads to see if they were worn - and even if I did, I am not qualified to look at pads and judge how good they were.

Cheers

[ravib]

Originally Posted by vivee90

3. Aspherical mirror surface as a part of the ORVM to increase the field of view. Seen in most of the premium cars.

The All New Ford EcoSport Facelift has this type of ORVM

-Ravi

[nmenon]

Observed a few features in my Ford Freestyle today.

Sync 3

The voice commands work well and have various options, tuning the radio by saying a frequency, calling a contact by name, playing songs by artist and I discovered one more option today.

You can dial a number by saying "dial number" and then dictate the number; it will ask for your confirmation and then dial the dictated number.

There is also an option to turn off the screen if you find it distracting.

The screen will turn itself on if you receive a message or a call or if you shift into reverse and will go off again once you're done with reversing / the message / the call, as long as the car is not switched off in between.

General Features

If you walk out of the car with the engine running and the key in your pocket, it will honk the horn twice and show messages in the MID Vehicle is on, Key not detected.

Additionally if you put the car in accessory mode and then step out of the vehicle, it will honk the horn to draw your attention and remind you to switch off the car.

Follow me home lights: Leave the lights in Auto mode, pull the stalk to the high beam position after switching off the car; it will keep the lights on for 30 seconds illuminating your way.

[cunnuvila]

My 2 cents to this thread ! Recently got hold of a Hyundai Grand i10 automatic 2017 model. It’s just been a few weeks. Two things I have found extremely useful and clever are

1) Its raining out , you are just using the blower and not the AC per se, you turn the knob to defog the front windscreen and the AC switches on automatically! Minute clever detail I must say.

2) Already mentioned earlier I believe, the Outside Rear View Mirrors can be powerfolded anytime, even hours after the car is switched off.

It’s always the small things that make the biggest difference I feel.

[Anthym]

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but I observed this in my 2008 BMW 3 Series. The volume and wiper speed (on intermittent setting) increases automatically (and consequently decreases) with an increase in speed to compensate for increased wind and tyre noise and rain drops hitting the windscreen respectively.
Has anyone else come across this ?

Again on the 2008 BMW 3 Series - with a long press of the unlock button on the fob, all the windows roll down. And a long press of the lock button will wind up all the windows. Found this useful when on a hot day, you can wind down the windows a few mins before you get in.

[ruzbehxyz]

In Mahindra XUV5OO there is a unique feature called static bending head lights. In reality no light bends. What happens is when you turn the steering wheel more than 20 degrees, the side headlight at 45 degrees turns on. This illuminates the road up to right ahead to 90 degrees. This particular feature is very very helpful during hill /ghat driving. On other cars the headlight goes up to approximately 120 degrees but in XUV5OO it goes up to 180 degrees which is wonderful.
When you are going at a reasonable speed on dark desolate hills and as you turn, you know exactly what's there on the u-turn. I'm sure XUV owners will agree with me. A unique feature indeed.

[cunnuvila]

Originally Posted by cunnuvila

My 2 cents to this thread ! Recently got hold of a Hyundai Grand i10 automatic 2017 model. It’s just been a few weeks. Two things I have found extremely useful and clever are

1) Its raining out , you are just using the blower and not the AC per se, you turn the knob to defog the front windscreen and the AC switches on automatically! Minute clever detail I must say.

2) Already mentioned earlier I believe, the Outside Rear View Mirrors can be powerfolded anytime, even hours after the car is switched off.

It’s always the small things that make the biggest difference I feel.

Adding to point 1, the re-circulation mode changes to outside air too.

[adneeraj]

Originally Posted by cunnuvila

Adding to point 1, the re-circulation mode changes to outside air too.

Yeah. I found this annoying earlier as I found this feature. The problem is, it does not change to re-circulation when you switch back to any other mode.

That said, I just love the request button and keyless start n stop. It is a boon for my wife. She just loves the way she can get in and out without fiddling for the keys with shopping bags/our kid/the laptop bag etc.

My Fiesta Classic, not a feature rich car at all but there is one feature I like the most. The rear defogger auto cuts off in 10 mins after running to avoid the glass to heat up too much.
Another not so unique to the Fiesta - but the hazard lights start flashing under hard braking.

I also like the features on certain sedans where the boot lid opens up entirely. My Ford just pops open the boot lid. So you still have to lift it up before you can put anything in.

I had seen a DIY a year ago on a shadow blue VW Vento and had planned to implement it, but haven't got the time still.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by adneeraj

My Fiesta Classic, not a feature rich car at all but there is one feature I like the most. The rear defogger auto cuts off in 10 mins after running to avoid the glass to heat up too much.

I think this applies to all cars with rear defogger - my guess is most cars will have their heating element burning anywhere between 200 to 350W of DC power. That would mean it draws somewhere between 15A and 30A of current from alternator/battery(when engine off) - this is not a small amount of electrical load - hence my guess is that reducing the electrical load spike, is the more important reason than glass heating up, for this to have an auto-cut off switch.

[niteshbids]

Originally Posted by Anthym

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but I observed this in my 2008 BMW 3 Series. The volume and wiper speed (on intermittent setting) increases automatically (and consequently decreases) with an increase in speed to compensate for increased wind and tyre noise and rain drops hitting the windscreen respectively.
Has anyone else come across this ?

In the VW Polo, the wipers have this thing when in auto mode. And the audio HU has the setting for speed sensitive volume increase. Works like a charm.

Originally Posted by Anthym

Again on the 2008 BMW 3 Series - with a long press of the unlock button on the fob, all the windows roll down. And a long press of the lock button will wind up all the windows. Found this useful when on a hot day, you can wind down the windows a few mins before you get in.

Again, Exact same thing in the Polo. Though it wouldn't have been there in a 2008 model i would assume.


Another sweet little thing I found in the Polo: When the Hazard lights are ON, and you select either left or right on the indicator, it automatically goes into indicator mode (effectively switching the other side blinker off) and after the turn is completed, it again switches on both blinkers for indicating the Hazard lights. I had always thought that such a feature should be there in all cars but found it in my recently purchased GT TSI only.

[VKumar]

Originally Posted by niteshbids

Again, Exact same thing in the Polo. Though it wouldn't have been there in a 2008 model i would assume.

I always say this that only features are never enough, they should be thoughtfully applied and the way VW has done it is just brilliant:
Feature: All power windows with one touch up and down
Thought: Driver should be holding steering, not the power window buttons


Feature: Power windows roll up/down using remote
Thought: Indian summers!


Feature: All power windows have anti pinch
Thought: If they auto roll up, they shouldn't be cutting body parts off


Feature: Rake and reach adjustable steering wheel standard
Thought: Why only rake, reach also plays a role in finding right driving position


Feature: All power windows buttons illuminated
Thought: One shouldn't be searching for them


Feature: Speed sensitive audio etc
Thought: Let car do it itself for you


Feature: You can't open the bonnet until you open the driver door at least once
Thought: The driver won't be and shouldn't be any ways opening it while the car is moving

[naveen.raju]

Some of these may not be clever or innovative but feel these contribute in making life a lot easier.

1) Cornering lights
Absolutely love this feature. Didn't expect it to work this well. Lights up the road/blind spot pretty well. Can't imagine moving to a car without this feature.



2) Boot open warning
When my previous cars just showed the door open light, the creta shows when the boot is open. Pretty useful.

3) Intermittent wiper speed
A boon when you don't have auto wipers. Lets you adjust the speed (5 in number) so that you can really slow down the wiper.



4) Lumbar support
Ecosport spoiled me when it comes to the lumbar support and now miss it badly on the Creta. Helps you find that sweet spot.

5) 60:40 split seats
Havent had any car with this but in many situations I felt the need for this this. Helps you coordinate when you have more than 2 passengers and a lot of luggage. In this case, I had few long items and 2 passengers. Had no option but to fold the seat and make the 2nd passenger to sit on the folded rear bench.



6) Tethering points
Never knew such a small thing would be really useful. The net holds the light luggages in place and not worry about it running around the boot. No wonder some of reviewers on YouTube point out this feature.



7) Mute button on the steering
A super cool feature that I missed dearly. Don't understand why manufacturers omit this feature even when you have a ton of other steering mounted controls.



8) Voice command/recognition
Press the button on the steering, say a command to control the audio or to make a phone call. Helped a lot to make my phone calls in the ecosport but missing this on the Creta.

9) Secret storage compartment.
Ecosport had this below the front passenger seat. Really useful to store your valuables while traveling. I can't think of one in the Creta.

10) Again, something small but immensely usewful. This helps hold the rear seat belts in place when you push back the rear bench after you had foled them.



11) Reverse gear lock
When you have different configurations for the reverse gear (pull the lever in the Creta, push the gear stick down in the VW), people tend to accidentally slot the car in reverse. This useful addition should be present in cars without the usual gear configuration.

There are many other small features too but many have already pointed out in this thread.

[cunnuvila]

Originally Posted by adneeraj

Yeah. I found this annoying earlier as I found this feature. The problem is, it does not change to re-circulation when you switch back to any other mode.

I respectfully disagree Sir. It does switch back to re-circulation as soon as I change the dial back from front defogger to any other mode. Mine is the face-lifted Grand i10.

[adneeraj]

Originally Posted by cunnuvila

I respectfully disagree Sir. It does switch back to re-circulation as soon as I change the dial back from front defogger to any other mode. Mine is the face-lifted Grand i10.

Mine is the pre-facelift 2016 model.
So my steps are as follow:

1. Already at re-circulation and on front blowers only..
2. Need to change to windscreen to demist - it automatically changes to external air inflow
3. Then I change back to front blowers - it should ideally switch back to re-circulation mode.

I will check and confirm.

[Sahil]

For me it’s the “Voice Amplifcation” system on certain bigger Mercedes cars such as the S-Class, Maybach and V-Class

Explaination video:

https://youtu.be/MMlsLMq-QUw

The video doesn’t demo it really but you got to experience it to believe how well it works. Although the S-class w222 has tons of tech that make you go Wow, for me this is perhaps the most impressive and useful. Many car makers give a lot of gimmicks to bring in a wow factor like BMW’s tactile commands and auto park etc but these either don’t work well or aren’t practical.
Whereas attention to detail feature that are simple and take no effort to use as it just does this by default are what you really do appreciate most. The first time I experienced this was when I was driving my S on the expressway and my father was sitting at the back hence I was speaking louder to be more audible over the road noise at high speed but instead he responded to me saying “why are you yelling”. That’s when I was confused and figured what was actually causing this. SIMPLY brilliant MB!