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Old 18th August 2009, 21:29   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pradipk View Post
Old vehicles which has 3 gears have gear pattern with Reverse placed at the position where most cars have their 1st gear. To avoid accidental engagement of Reverse, some of cars have provision to lift gear shift & then engage.
For eg. old Willis jeep could be engaged normally but Beetle provided lifting method while engaging into Reverse. In modern cars, Daewoo Cielo had the same gear pattern.

This may look odd but it was good feature to avoid accidental engagement of Reverse.
This is the one of the two reasons Opel Astra and Corsa failed in Indian market other being wiper and dipper stalk position.
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Old 18th August 2009, 21:39   #32
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Originally Posted by throttleking View Post
One of such interesting feature is in Ikon, Fuel lid is integreted with central locking, hence just unlock the car and fuel lid can be opened directly. no need for additonal fuel lid opener.
Does it work otherway also? Unlocking the car also open fuel lid and opening fuel lid was not the intention.
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Old 18th August 2009, 21:52   #33
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Hey PW, interseting thread, this.
Quote:
Originally Posted by predatorwheelz View Post
I'm quite certain that the eccentric rail was present in the first batch of Palios. Can any Bhpian (who has owned one such car) clarify?
I remember that feature on the Uno. Can't say about the Palio.
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Old 18th August 2009, 22:13   #34
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A feature I loved in the "about to purchase Octavia Combi" was that the rear seats would fold and be exactly at the same level as the boot floor, creating a huge flat space (almost like a bed). A normal 5' 8" adult and one child can sleep comfortably. Our family friends use this feature in their Combi for catching quick naps in a day long journey, say a journey between BLR and HYD.

I have not seen this in any other car - I was told Fusion has this feature but can't be this long.

Last edited by diffsoft : 18th August 2009 at 22:15.
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Old 18th August 2009, 22:25   #35
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Originally Posted by lamborghini View Post
One thing I liked in the 5 series was the way in which the steering would automatically move to the highest position when the car was switched off, thus making it easier for the driver to get out, and when the car was switched on, the steering again went back to the level it was on earlier. This isn't there on the E class and other such cars and I found it pretty neat.
This feature is there in all Mercedes, including E class. In Mercedes, the steering wheel and the seat move after the car is turned off for easy ingress and egress. The wheel moves up and the seat moves all the way back. And the best part is that it can be turned off which I used to do in my C class.
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Old 18th August 2009, 22:34   #36
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Originally Posted by Technocrat View Post
Taking this to Bikes...
Continuing with bikes, LML had this feature in their Energy FX & Adreno FX bikes, the gear wouldn't engage unless the side stand is removed.

Very simple and sensible feature, would like to have this on all bikes.
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Old 18th August 2009, 23:51   #37
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Quote:
Originally Posted by diffsoft View Post
A feature I loved in the "about to purchase Octavia Combi" was that the rear seats would fold and be exactly at the same level as the boot floor, creating a huge flat space (almost like a bed). A normal 5' 8" adult and one child can sleep comfortably. Our family friends use this feature in their Combi for catching quick naps in a day long journey, say a journey between BLR and HYD.

I have not seen this in any other car - I was told Fusion has this feature but can't be this long.
This feature is there in the Jazz as well.
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Old 19th August 2009, 11:12   #38
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Quote:
Originally Posted by diabloo View Post
Does it work otherway also? Unlocking the car also open fuel lid and opening fuel lid was not the intention.
When you unlock the car it does not open the fuel lid, it unlocks the fuel lid as well, meaning you have to open the lid manually after unlocking. and if the car is unlocked you can not open the lid with you hands


One more interesting feature in Ford Ikon

Seat recliners are roller nobs unlike other car once you pull the recliner it sets the seat free then you can move it forward and backward to adjust accordingly, however in Ikon it doenst set the seat free, move the roller backward and forward to adjust the seat recline. The benefit is you can do this even while driving, and you get the precise position as you want. Very usefull!
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Old 19th August 2009, 11:28   #39
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I wonder how come nobody mentions about the dead pedal which is missing in almost all the Maruti cars (except Baleno) which is a boon during long drives and avoids clutch ride. I am sure this is going to be costing peanuts for the manufacturer. IMHO this is a must have in all the cars. C&C welcome.
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Old 19th August 2009, 11:57   #40
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pradipk View Post
Old vehicles which has 3 gears have gear pattern with Reverse placed at the position where most cars have their 1st gear. To avoid accidental engagement of Reverse, some of cars have provision to lift gear shift & then engage.
For eg. old Willis jeep could be engaged normally but Beetle provided lifting method while engaging into Reverse. In modern cars, Daewoo Cielo had the same gear pattern.

This may look odd but it was good feature to avoid accidental engagement of Reverse.
This feature was present in the first Tata Sumos (the later models use the Safari Gearbox). The Verna also has this feature. Reverse is engaged by pulling a knob below the gearshift and shifting into where first gear would normally be.

Quote:
Originally Posted by nipunkul View Post
Good thread. The fabia has some of the features mentioned and some more:

- Reverse wiper starts on engaging reverse, when wipers are on.
- Music volume dims to lowest on engaging reverse, and aircon turns one notch higher.
- The outside mirrors can be turned outwards, so if someone passing you hits them, no damage occurs.
- AC vent in glovebox, to keep stuff cool.
- Taking out key (or opening door) at fuel station unlocks fuel lid, auto locks on central lock at 20kph. Same with boot. Takes care of missing separate buttons.
- At high beam, both beams are on, so that you can see the road right in front on highways etc.
Very interesting. Small but thoughtful features. The Fabia is no doubt an ergonomic delight.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MileCruncher View Post
Another feature that I had in my Peugot 407 and the Jag was that the washer rather than coming in a stream used to come out as a spray. Effectively covers the entire windscreen
Just for arguments sake, how is this so helpful? In any case, the wipers would ensure that even water from a stream is utilized to cover the whole windscreen, isnt it?

Quote:
Originally Posted by diffsoft View Post
A feature I loved in the "about to purchase Octavia Combi" was that the rear seats would fold and be exactly at the same level as the boot floor, creating a huge flat space (almost like a bed). A normal 5' 8" adult and one child can sleep comfortably.
Amazing. Didnt know the Combi was such a long car.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mayavi View Post
This feature is there in all Mercedes, including E class. In Mercedes, the steering wheel and the seat move after the car is turned off for easy ingress and egress. The wheel moves up and the seat moves all the way back. And the best part is that it can be turned off which I used to do in my C class.
Nice feature. But again, this cannot be either simple or inexpensive. Budget car makers would have a nightmare if they were to integrate such a feature in their cars.

Quote:
Originally Posted by five46 View Post
Continuing with bikes, LML had this feature in their Energy FX & Adreno FX bikes, the gear wouldn't engage unless the side stand is removed.
Yes it was. A friend owned a Bajaj Boxer, and had the bad habit of riding off with the sidestand in place. Met with 2 accidents due to this.

He later bought an LML Graptor and got cured of this habit. (Its a different story that he still rues the decision of buying an LML bike)

Quote:
Originally Posted by MileCruncher View Post
This feature is there in the Jazz as well.
Yes, the Jazz has some amazing multifunction seats. Checked them out recently.

Quote:
Originally Posted by throttleking View Post
One more interesting feature in Ford Ikon

Seat recliners are roller nobs unlike other car once you pull the recliner it sets the seat free then you can move it forward and backward to adjust accordingly, however in Ikon it doenst set the seat free, move the roller backward and forward to adjust the seat recline. The benefit is you can do this even while driving, and you get the precise position as you want. Very usefull!
Not very clear on this (basically a lack of comrehension). Is this due to the roller knobs, or due to some "hold" feature that does not release the seats completely?

Quote:
Originally Posted by balajird View Post
I wonder how come nobody mentions about the dead pedal which is missing in almost all the Maruti cars (except Baleno) which is a boon during long drives and avoids clutch ride. I am sure this is going to be costing peanuts for the manufacturer. IMHO this is a must have in all the cars. C&C welcome.
Yes, the Dead Pedal is quite a boon on long drives. But its been around for quite some time now, not such a revolutionary feature.
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Old 19th August 2009, 12:11   #41
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One feature which I have seen only on a Palio till now (might be there on other cars but I have seen it on a palio only) is when you turn off the ignition, the headlamps (if they were switched on), are also turned off. This would avoid cases where the car's battery drains out when people forget to turn off their headlamps after switching off the ignition.

If there is a need to switch on the parking lights while the engine is turned off, then there is another key position just for the headlamps without activating any other electrical equipment in the car. I think it's a really good feature and more car manufacturers should try implementing it.

Another nice feature I have noticed in my car and in the current gen Camry is the foot operated parking brake. Instead of placing it near the gear lever, it is placed in the footwell. The space saved by this near the gear lever is turned into a storage area. There are cars which have electronic parking brakes which do away with the lever itself completely but due to the amount of electronics involved it can add to the cost. But the implementation I have described is just a relocation of lever for the existing mechanical system. This design will work in case of Auto transmission cars since there is no clutch pedal and hence space is available in the footwell to accommodate the parking brake pedal.

Last edited by wheeler : 19th August 2009 at 12:20. Reason: Added info about the foot operated parking brake system
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Old 19th August 2009, 12:13   #42
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sawyer View Post
My Pajero has a sliding pull out section in the flipdown/out sunshades fixed inside the car so when you pull them out and swivel them sideways to keep the sun out from the side windows, you can slide them out so that the shades then cover the entire length of the side window, to keep the sun out. Simple, cheap, and very doable.
But I haven't seen that in any car till now, and the Pajero is a 15 year old design! Ergonomics is an aggregation of many little things like this, that do not all have to cost the moon.
The VW Jetta and Passat have this. I guess even the Skoda Laura and Superb should.

The rear wipers working when car is shifted into Reverse if front wipers are on is also there on Fusion and Punto.

How many here think that the Linea and Punto's ACC starting in fresh air mode everytime is a good feature. Latest ACI has a full page article on how car plastics and stale air are bad for health. The ACI article recommends us to keep A/C always in fresh air mode - not feasable in India though.

Also, Punto, VW wipers swipe thrice after the windshield washers are activated and then 6 seconds later another swipe to clear the trickles. Very useful feature.

I would like to see low windshield washer fluid warning light in the instrument cluster of our cars. It's already avaliable abroad so why not here?

Mercedes and now VW have the 'lane change indicator' - just tap the lever and the signals blink thrice and stop.

I agree with those that say that the rotary knob to adjust seat back is a good feature. My Palio S10 had them and they afford more minute adjustments then the more common lever's that we find today.

How about Blue&Me? It's a great feature to have.
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Old 19th August 2009, 12:15   #43
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Well, I just happened to see this thread and enjoyed reading it. I'd like to add that the Ford Fiesta sxi has the following too:-
  1. ORVMs that fold both ways, like somebody mentioned about the Verna and Ikon.
  2. Fuel lid getting unlocked when doors are unlocked.
  3. Boot not getting unlocked when car is moving
  4. Light inside glove box and boot
  5. Boot unlock button on the remote key fob
  6. Lights on long beep when you switch off the engine and not the lights.
  7. Programmable intermittent wiper speed---I think there are 6 or 7 settings.
  8. A short swipe of the wipers with windshield fluid engages the wipers for as long as you press that button, and then follows up with another one after 5 seconds.
As regards reverse gear being engaged in first gear position, but with the lever being raised, I think the Verna and Embera have the same feature.

Last edited by vnabhi : 19th August 2009 at 12:18.
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Old 19th August 2009, 12:28   #44
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Another simple and lovely feature I loved in my "never owned" Skoda - the ORVM was a trapezoid divided vertically into 2 parts with a 75:25 ratio at the base. The latter part was more convex than the longer part of the mirror. It did 2 things - gave a far greater coverage of the rear view than a normal car with much smaller space.

Verna (which I own) is in stark contrast - the ORVM is huge and ugly for the same / less view coverage (much like an ogre's ear), thus more prone to touches by other vehicles. It does spring back but leaves scratch marks.

Last edited by diffsoft : 19th August 2009 at 12:35.
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Old 19th August 2009, 12:39   #45
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wheeler View Post
One feature which I have seen only on a Palio till now (might be there on other cars but I have seen it on a palio only) is when you turn off the ignition, the headlamps (if they were switched on), are also turned off.
That feature also exists in my Accent - was also there in my Indica. The Swift emits a coninuous beep tone if the lights are on with ignition off, or an intermittent beep tone when the ignition key is in its slot, if the RH front door is opened.

I look forward to the Tyretronics tyre pressure monitoring system that is available in the Scorpio VLX, in all cars.
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