[ACM]

Originally Posted by rageshgr

Twice my Santro's ORVM was hit by a bus, at speeds around 20-30 kph, and it just folded back once and folded forward the other time. No damage done. Is n't it standard with all foldable ORVMs? I thought its a pretty ubiquitous feature.

And kudos to the integrated central locking lever with the door lock button. its so natural and easy. I was LOLing when I found a separate lever for central locking in a sedan!

Reg multi speed wipers, again I thought most cars had that.

On cool feature is in Mercs , the doors will auto lock when speed >20 kph. But I guess it's expensive.

One simple feature could be auto starting of wipers on rain ( as in Mercs), with manual override of course

The feature of car side view mirrors going both ways is easlier to manage in Non powered mirrors and harder in the powerd one and even harder in the powered fold ones and quite pointless in the ones with blinkers and the blinkers break of at impact in anycase, and then it is better it comes in sepearately replaceable parts so that only the blinkers can be changed.

The auto door lock is present in much more cheaper cars than the merc today, it is an inexpensive feature for any car with MID - multi information display and central locking it just require a software coding to link the two.

[SamtheLeo]

Even a simple feature like having a foot rest next to the clutch lever is so very useful but still not common in many car makers. Only like Hyundai Fiat & BMW have it (AFAIK)

It should be a standard in every car, it is so comfortable

[pusako]

I don't know how many have noticed it, but my humble 800 has 6 air-con blower positions but i have noticed a vast majority of cars have only 5 !! The extra position being the front defogger+feet!!

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by Anthym

Just a thought - do any cars have a 2 stage hand brake.
Stage 1 would be useful when you need to go up an incline - so it only goes forward but not backwards.
Stage 2 would be useful when you need to park your car on an incline - it neither goes forward nor backward.

How exactly this stage - 1 hand brake could be realized ?

One way could be tooth and gear arrangement like in roller coaster carts or in mountain railways ( to be done between axle and beak as there is no external rail) but that would create a hell lot of noise.

Regards

[hrishig]

Why these are not present in every car in india at least as an option->

1) Streeing wheel controls
2) buzzer/ sound when you start driving the car when handbreak is ON
3) Push button , ON/OFF switch for hand break
4) Electronic open close of side Mirrors
5) Remote boot opening

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by hrishig

Why these are not present in every car in india at least as an option->

1) Streeing wheel controls
2) buzzer/ sound when you start driving the car when handbreak is ON
3) Push button , ON/OFF switch for hand break
4) Electronic open close of side Mirrors
5) Remote boot opening

What's this? never seen/driven a car with this feature!

[predatorwheelz]

Originally Posted by thermalpaste

The W124's (E-class) rear headrests would automatically fold down when the reverse gear was engaged.

I'd rate the Citroen DS a 10 on a scale of 1 - 10 (10 being highest) because:
- It was the first car to feature a hydro-pneumatic self-leveling suspension (way before the Pullman 600)
- Directional headlights were connected to the steering column and would focus on the road curvature.

The Merc Pullman 600 used hydraulics to even operate the power windows!

These are features the automobile industry has appreciated, and learnt a lot from. But trust me, these were by no means inexpensive. They involved a lot of time and engineering, and would be costly to implement in budget cars. Not really in the spirit of this thread.

Originally Posted by drsk

Great thread!!

Certain features which I liked in my Indica Xeta GLX (2006)

1. I can listen to music without any interruption when I switch OFF/ON the engine. (When the electrician wired I shouted at him for wrongly doing the wiring and he said that this was the feature provided by Tatas themselves. Others can comment.)

2. The doors open very wide (My friend always says that one can dive into the car). This feature also helped me when I had to move my 29" CRT TV while shifting my house. I could carry it in the back seat!

3. The windows are huge. Gives a very airy feeling. One can probably climb out through the window easily if the door gets jammed . (Haven't tried it though )

4. Internal Antenna for radio. (Don't know what other cars offer this feature)

No 1 is a bit of a paradox. In my 2005 Indica, the music system restarts everytime I crank. But I've travelled in a few Indicabs (in course of my work) where the radio stays perfectly on even when cranking/restarting.

Originally Posted by sujaylahiri

And then my 2003 Lancer here has some features which are rare in economy cars (in North America). Like auto off lights (including headlamps) after a time delay of a minute or so. Of course that's only when you're out of the car but forgotten to switch off your lights. None of the 2003 American econocars offered that.

That function is called "Follow me Home" headlamps. Now available in some C-Segment cars in India, as well as the Scorpio VLX.

Originally Posted by sujaylahiri

Also you can operate the power windows and mirrors after you've removed the ignition key, for about a minute after which it locks everything. Pretty neat if you've removed the key but forgotten to roll up your windows.

The Verna too has a 30 sec delay between switching off the engine and turning off the electronics. Very useful when you've forgotten to roll up the windows.

Originally Posted by sujaylahiri

But the best feature ever has to be the ignition key in the center console area in all the Saabs, which is continued even to this day, and lends it that ultra cool character.

Neat. But besides looking cool, what purpose does it serve?

Originally Posted by abs

Well. Proof of the pudding is in eating it. See below.

IMHO its pretty sufficient for mini meals / tiffin plates, but certainly not sufficient for Special Meals I got plates which fit the tray and bought luggage which fitted the the space available.

Regards

Aravind

Very nice way to prove a point. But you forget that the meals are having had while the car is stationery, which sort of beats the point of eating in a car anyway! As I maintain, I'm yet to come across a person who's had one square meal in a Xylo while the car was in motion.

Originally Posted by viper_711

Greenhorn, this will not happen on a new battery. On my 2006 DLG, the feature worked till about 2008 and then stopped working. Recently I changed the battery and the music system doesn't restart anymore. When the battery is at its intermediate life, the music doesn't restart when there is no other load on the battery. I think its also dependant if you have an amp installed!

Eh????

Originally Posted by Anthym

Stage 1 would be useful when you need to go up an incline - so it only goes forward but not backwards.

Seems a noble thought, except that trying to do this mechanically would mean wearing out the brake pads and putting strain on the engine. The only feasible solution is the "hill hold" solution found in expensive SUVs, where a sensor detects an incline and holds the car from rolling backwards. Needless to say, frightfully complex and expensive.

Originally Posted by psp62in

A feature i found quite useful is ability to operate the power windows even after switching off the car. And u can operate them only till u close the doors. (I hv seen this in some European versions of Lancer, and found extremely useful). In many other cars u r required to switch on the car again if u forget to close the windows.

Another one I liked is the Access to the boot of a sedan through the folding rear seat (or a drop down hand rest).

Other features on my wishlist are mainly to do safety in case of an electrical failure:
1. Have atleast one of the (four) power windows should have manual override.
2. A seperate power supply to the Hazard lights. so that they can be used even with rest of the power down.

Your first 2 features are already present in the Verna. As for hazard lights, I think any car allows hazard lights to stay on with rest of the power down!

Originally Posted by hrishig

Why these are not present in every car in india at least as an option->

1) Streeing wheel controls
2) buzzer/ sound when you start driving the car when handbreak is ON
3) Push button , ON/OFF switch for hand break
4) Electronic open close of side Mirrors
5) Remote boot opening

I think point 5 is pretty standard on all cars (except the Alto & 800). Point 1 and 4 would be expensive to implement.

[greenhorn]

Originally Posted by hrishig

Why these are not present in every car in india at least as an option->

1) Streeing wheel controls
2) buzzer/ sound when you start driving the car when handbreak is ON
3) Push button , ON/OFF switch for hand break
4) Electronic open close of side Mirrors
5) Remote boot opening

1. because OE stereos will never be popular as after market options are better and people prefer them, and they are available for less in grey

2. Isnt a light enough?
4. Power ORVMs will never make sense , as long as they are vulnerable to getting broken given our current road conditions
5. most cars do have this, lacking only in the ultra cheap/ bad LHD/RHD conversions

[psp62in]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

As for hazard lights, I think any car allows hazard lights to stay on with rest of the power down!

I am not so sure that Hazard lights stay on if the rest of the power is down. Because I faced a serious problem some years back while travelling on the Mumbai-Pune expressway, when my old Palio had a complete electrical failure (later found to be due to a cable chewed by rats), and the most crucial parts viz.the power steering, hydrualic brakes AND the Hazard lights were not operable. It was a really scary situation.

[psp62in]

Originally Posted by hrishig

Why these are not present in every car in india at least as an option->

1) Streeing wheel controls
2) buzzer/ sound when you start driving the car when handbreak is ON
3) Push button , ON/OFF switch for hand break
4) Electronic open close of side Mirrors
5) Remote boot opening

Originally Posted by greenhorn

2. Isnt a light enough?

For item-2 above, some times a light may not be enough. This is my experience in ANHC only last week.
On starting the car and moving, we heard an alarm. There were no error indications on the dashboard (like seat belts/doors/hand brake etc.) and we were confused what the alarm was for. We rechecked all doors etc and found everything OK. Then I noticed that the handbrake was not fully released (was in a slightly pulled-up position), and when it was released fully the sound stopped.

That also makes me wonder - why the hand brake signal on the dash was not ON, and on how the car ECU know that the hand-brake was not fully realsed.

[Atul-C]

Originally Posted by hrishig

Why these are not present in every car in india at least as an option->

1) Streeing wheel controls
2) buzzer/ sound when you start driving the car when handbreak is ON
3) Push button , ON/OFF switch for hand break
4) Electronic open close of side Mirrors
5) Remote boot opening

I dont think that no. 4 is expensive. My SX4 does not have that but when I asked one of the Auto parts dealer about that, he said that it can be done in my car without affecting any of the electronics and security system. And it would cost me just 2000/- Rs. I would not mind paying Maruti 2000/- bucks extra if they gave this feature pre-installed.

[arunmur]

Electronic handbrakes are making in roads slowly.

Many cars in Europe also have brake hold. This will basically hold the brakes in position for a few secs more after the user releases the brakes, useful for uphill traffic driving. It would be nice to have that here, since we mostly drive in stop and go traffic

One nice thing i saw in the Fiat Panda was city mode. In this mode the increases the power of the power steering to make it easier to turn and then at the highway speeds you can switch it off and get better feel.

Follow me home lights on unlock. Have seen it in most Chevy cars i drove in the US. It will keep the lights on as soon as you unlock the car till you open the door.

An gear change indicator. This would be helpful for new and forgetful drivers. I have had situations where i have driven over 100 kms in 4th rather than 5th.

A hard brake warning light. In most of our cities we drive dangerously close the cars up front. In such scenarios it becomes hard to judge what the person in front is doing. It will be nice if the car can switch on the hazard lights for a few seconds if the driver brakes very hard. I guess this can save a few rear endings, cant do much if the sumo behind does not have adequate brakes though.

A rubberized knick knacks pouch near the glove box. Reduce a lot of clatter noise(like keys and coins).

A small flash memory say 1GB(Max Rs.500/-) built within ECU for dealers to update on the parts that are changed. It could also record times in seconds you spend certain speeds and gears. They could use this to put in the right ECM mapping for your style of driving. Most of the hardware necessary for this are already there in your car.

Audio's with Active noise reduction technologies or atleast with noise sensitive volume level. Mordern DSPs allow this to happen pretty cheap. Pretty useful in India where we drive within the symphony of horns.

An Absorbtion AC system rather than compressed one, see here Absorption refrigerator - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This system can use the engine heat to cool the car. I wonder why no one thought of this. Advantages are many, smaller radiator, works better in hotter places(most of our country), No extra load on engine, AC will work even when the car is off as long as the engine is hot.

[hrishig]

Modifying my original post a little bit..

Originally Posted by hrishig
Why these are not present in every car in india at least as an option->

1) Streeing wheel controls
2) buzzer/ sound when you start driving the car when handbreak is ON-> "Dashboard Lights are there but Sound will be definitely better"
3) Push button , ON/OFF switch for hand break->
"Yes it's present in many cars outside india"
4) Electronic open close of side Mirrors
5) Remote boot opening ->
I mean boot opening via car remote

[NSK123]

Couple of features I liked in my Fiat Punto:

1. Foldable keys with remote button
2. Auto power off for rear defogger to avoid over heating
3. Rear power window lights are off when they are disabled with driver side buttons
4. Cabin light will get powered off after 15-20 minutes of key removal and/ or car is locked to save battery
5. Headlights/ parking lights gets switched off when you switch off the engine. If required you need switch on the parking lights again. Its much better than giving a buzzer
6. Auto door lock after 20kmph speed
7. Service reminder. You can set the service reminder so that you get the alert ahead of time
8. After the car is unlocked through remote, if no one opens the door for sometime, all the doors gets locked again
9. Speed limit. You can set the limit and when the set speed is exceeded you get a alert message
10. stereo volume adjustment depending on the speed of the car to compensate for the noise
11. Poller filter for AC

Features I would have preferred:

1. Solar powered parking lights & hazard lights
2. Bumpers moulded with the same colored material so that minor scratches are not clearly visible
3. Sensors on side doors to alert you on vehicles coming behind if it is within the range of the door opening
4. Small dedicated storage area on driver side to keep the vehicle documents
5. prominent storage area for first aid box
6. reclaining back seats for hatchbacks consuming additional boot space

[Chuchan]

Features I would always preferred in my Punto:

1. Electrically Adjust Outside Rear View Mirror. Which can slightly auto-turn inwards and tilt downwards when shifting reverse gear. (let me get creative) Or may be save 3 settings, one for city close to body, one for highways wide spread and other for reverse gear
2. Cabin light for rear seat. Since the seat Is black its hard in night even when the front cabin light is on
3. Sunglass holder
4. Cup holder that can at least hold a decent 1lts water bottle
5. One touch up and down for all power window (in punto only driver side has one touch up and down)
6. Auto rollup side glass when locked after 30 sec