[deetjohn]

The most efficient and much needed "Power Boost" button that is available in most of our cars is the AC On/ Off Switch. Folks who have driven the Indica diesel will know what I am talking about.

Jokes apart, I use it on certain occasions to take the excess load off the engine while trying to overtake a trailer or in a steep incline or to increase drivability while negotiating a bad speed breaker.

It is very useful due to our smaller engines and the driving conditions. Maybe even more for the sub 1.2L Petrol engines.

So what if the AC button was on the steering wheel/ gear lever? It can be on the right hand side of the steering wheel or on the gear lever. I would prefer it to be on the steering wheel.

Won't it be much easier and quicker to access? It will be safer too as one wouldn't have to reach out to the dash looking for the switch in dire situations.

PS: Make sure not to use this frequently or in quick succession.

[rohan_iitr]

^ So you want something like a NOS switch provided in racing cars ?

Not a bad idea, since switching off the AC does give a NOS effect in sub 1.2l cars.

Rohan

[mmxylorider]

Originally Posted by PaddleShifter

The speed beep of Punto is another good feature. There is a max speed limit in every city and the car can be programmed to sound a beep whenever the speed of the car exceeds a certain pre-programmed speed set by the driver.

Xylo E8 with it's DDIS has this feature as well. The E4 model has it differently with a beep programmed for 135 kmph.

My Kia Sedona car music system had an interesting feature. As you turn the key to 'acc' position, the volume would increase from low to the last set volume. Useful in the morning when you don't want to be dosed with loud volume from the previous evening

[ramzsys]

Or how about the AC cut-off programmed into the ECU itself,so that on flooring the accelerator AC cuts off?

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

one feature that I liked in the Xylo is that if you operate the wash/wipe on front winscreen, the wipers makes one round about 5 seconds after the normal rounds are over. This helps in wiping away the last traces of water that might be flowing down the windscreen

Personally I don't like this feature. It always seems to overdo it and the last wipe action makes a loud rubber screeching sound.

The high speed air hitting the car is enough to clear the drops in a few seconds.

Originally Posted by ramzsys

Or how about the AC cut-off programmed into the ECU itself,so that on flooring the accelerator AC cuts off?

It already exists in many cars. Esp the ones with small engines. Alt cutoff is also cominig in

[drsk]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

So what if the AC button was on the steering wheel/ gear lever?

I like this suggestion very much

Apart from being useful in cars like old Indica Diesel, Petrol 1.2 and other cars, it would look cool.

[karpusv]

^^ The camry already has A/C buttons on the steering wheel. But like all other functions (audio etc.) they are only to increase/decrease the temperature. Not to put it ON/OFF.

PS: The Camry is the only car to have A/C controls on steering wheel upto the 30Lac price.

[mmxylorider]

A time driven reset for turn indicators. Haven't we seen vehicles with drivers having forgotten to turn off the indicators.

For that matter - adapt this to high beams as well. One would have to consciously flick the lever to move it to high beam again.

p.s. and as I finished typing the above sentence, I realized the first thing people would do is tie a string to keep the level in the high beam position.

[drmohitg]

Originally Posted by mmxylorider

A time driven reset for turn indicators. Haven't we seen vehicles with drivers having forgotten to turn off the indicators.

For that matter - adapt this to high beams as well. One would have to consciously flick the lever to move it to high beam again.

p.s. and as I finished typing the above sentence, I realized the first thing people would do is tie a string to keep the level in the high beam position.

Thats actually a brilliant idea. May be that can cure people of this disease. Though some might argue that on a highway during that crucial moment what if the beam switches to low.

[mmxylorider]

Friday = weekend mood = overflowing creative juices!!

Most vehicles are equipped with ECU now (not sure about MCV and HCV) - but is it possible to have a mechanism which polls all important light accessories (Headlamps/Brakelight/indicators) and on successful loopback allows the engine to start or some such feedback?

This probably would go a long way in ensuring vehicles on road have working electricals.

I should probably also post this on the ARAI Q&A forum.

[vinya_jag]

Sometime back, I had a smallish shunt from the back on my Figo.
We were at a traffic signal and the signal turned green. There was a bus that was trying to curve in so I statyed and got hit from behind.
And guess what? Nothing happened to both our cars. The bumper has a black patch which avoided any scratch and then it was so flexible that it just bent in and came back out as though nothing happened at all.
Okay some say that this is actually not safe as the bumper has to take all the impact on a crash. I feel, for a bigger crash, the crumple zones must kick in and the bumper has to save you all the money. I am really happy with the Figo bumpers.

Another feature I would like is to have honks that dont go ON too often.
We should all learn and drive without using the horns. Yes we might have to slow down at every junction, but I guess that will make our space much safer.
The cab drivers/ Tempo traveller drivers in our country (Read Bangalore) are so addicted to honking that sometimes make you feel that you just stop riding/driving and step aside.

[an_and]

One very neat feature that I have in my Palio (2003) is that the seat reclining lever is in the middle, between the front seats for both the seats. This is mighty helpful, when you want to recline the seat a bit, if your father or child or granny.. is sitting, instead of having to tell them where to find the lever on their left side and how to adjust it. It is also useful when you are being chauffer driven and you ask your driver to take the seat forward and tilt it.

This is so simple a feature, yet so frustrating when it is not available as in my innova, and many a time I had to stop the car, and then help who ever wanted to recline, and then get back on way, where as in the palio it was done without any hassle

[mmxylorider]

Originally Posted by an_and

One very neat feature that I have in my Palio (2003) is that the seat reclining lever is in the middle, between the front seats for both the seats.

Interesting! Will swapping the front seats with each other provide such convenience? I am not able to recollect if the seat belt latch is bolted on to the seat itself or some part of the seat tracks...

[AlphaKilo]

Originally Posted by narendra.vw

My VW golf has a very peculiar concept, when the car is parked to the left with left indicator on, engine switched of the right parking light switches on same way for right parking, left parking light is on.

This is a standard mandatory feature in EU cars. They are used when parking inside tight streets and our vehicle protudes. Rangerover and all high end cars in EU have this feature in their rotary headlight knob.

[penlax]

A very neat feature in my Wagon R VXI is that the cabin lights come ON as soon as the ignition key is in the off position.
And they stay ON while you are in the car gathering all your keys, bags and other possessions, while you get out of the car and close the door.
They only switch off once you lock the car with the remote central lock.
So useful not to have to switch the cabin lights on and off while you gather all your knick-knacks.