[predatorwheelz]

[Disclaimer - Even before I start, let me make it clear that the aim of this thread is not to glorify or denounce any particular make/model. It is only to highlight a certain feature that has struck me (or you) as being extremely clever and simple, yet you have not seen this in any car before.

The car in question does not need to be owned by you, only experienced. And it can be of any vintage or make.]



It all started a month back. I was driving down a crowded street in Howrah, chatting with Bhpian NOS Power who was on the passenger seat. From the opposite direction came an Indicab at great speed, and before I had a chance to react, brushed past my car's right ORVM. The impact banged the ORVM shut, and I could distinctly hear crunching glass.
The Indicab disappeared before I could say "What the?" With a sinking feeling, I got down from the car and unfolded the ORVM. I was expecting to see a shattered mirror, as well as a severed assembly. What do I see?

Last week, an Accent swerved from its lane and launched itself into my ORVM, this time pushing it forward. The entire assembly banged forward and established itself parallel to the car body. After some choicest abuses to the other car's driver, I checked the assembly again. What now?

In case you're thinking that the 2 accidents costed me a fortune in repair costs, you're wrong. The ORVM assembly on the Verna comes with a spring loaded mechanism that automatically shifts itself on impact, negating the chance of a crash and a broken mirror. All I had to, both times, was to click the assembly back into place. And Voila, no damage done.

(The crunching glass I had heard on the first accident was in fact, the Indicab's own ORVM. Sweet revenge!)

Now this got me thinking. I have owned 3 cars before the Verna, and seen countless accidents where an errant vehicle/motorcyclist brushes the ORVM and cracks it, leading to costly repairs. Why couldnt other manufacturers think of this simple solution? I'm sure the spring loaded feature doesnt cost much to install, yet it saves the customer a fat lot of money in accident repairs. Are there any other cars currently in production that use the same technology?

Going forward, I'll highlight other such simple yet remarkable features that I've experienced in other cars. Please contribute your experiences too.

[Technocrat]

Hmm Interesting point, In My alto the external RVM (internally adjustable, the one which came in VXi) can go to front by almost 160 Deg but not completely parallel, yet I have 1 instance where it broke & 1 where it didnt.

So it all boils down to the type of impact the RVM Suffers. Ofcourse construction quality & ability to turn the other way would also matter.

[predatorwheelz]

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Hmm Interesting point, In My alto the external RVM (internally adjustable, the one which came in VXi) can go to front by almost 160 Deg but not completely parallel, yet I have 1 instance where it broke & 1 where it didnt.

So it all boils down to the type of impact the RVM Suffers. Ofcourse construction quality & ability to turn the other way would also matter.

Technocrat, obviously the point of this thread is not clear. My discussion was not related to flexible ORVMs only. I was trying to find out all features that bhpians have found remarkable, yet simple.

For instance, my next point would have been about the eccentric rail feature found in early Palios. I dont know if current Palios still have it.

Basically in a seat with eccentric rail, when a shorter person gets into the drivers seat and pulls the seat forward, the seat also moves upward. Great boon for short people. Why cant other manufacturers realize that shorter people need shortening leg room as well as heightened visibility?

My request to you would be to remove the specific connection to ORVMs from the thread title. Please dont restrict the scope of the thread.

[Matt]

Hmm, It is the case with my Ford fusion(1st Gen ) also. I did not know that it can be moved both ways, until one motorcyclist hit the right side ORVM. I was fuming and lowered the window, only to note that not even a scartch was there; I just needed it to rotate it back.

OT: you dont have write a disclaimer.
Again OT: When I read the Thread title, I was under the impression that there is a new type of ORVM in the market that are completely made from flexible materials (like Rubber).
EDIT : somebody(aliens!) removed the "Flexible ORVMs" from thread title.

[Technocrat]

Thanks for clearing, I have changed the title.

Another smart feature that I find usually in Hyundai cars is the Integrated Central locking for the hatch door which eliminates the need for a separate lever. Surprisingly some people see it the other way round

[bblost]

My Wagon R has regular mirrors outside.
There is no electric adjustment in it.

Cost OEM Rs 330, non OEM Rs 110.

I don't care about the ORVM.

[JVH]

Interesting thread!

I find the rotating knobs for seat inclination in my GTX very useful. I bet not manufacturers have that design anymore. I'm not even sure the current Stiles have them.

[lamborghini]

Even in the earlier Ford Ikons. The mirrors were very flexible and would bend backwards. It was the same thing in the Peugeot 309s which were sold in India.

BTW, the Palio doesn't have the eccentric rail feature on the seats. It was there on the Siena and Uno if I am not wrong. Also, one more thing I really like about the Palio, was that the windscreen washer nozzle had 3 outlets each, making a total of 6 outlets, which would cover the whole windscreen. Most cars today don't have that feature.

Moving to the Fiesta: I believe it was one of the first cars to come out with the upside down L shaped rear headrests. Unlike other headrests, this would give the driver complete visibility, and if someone were to sit in the back, they would adjust the headrest to their comfort, which would also help in terms of safety (I believe a properly positioned headrest protects the neck in case of whiplash right?)


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.

[predatorwheelz]

Good start guys! Lots of items we discover.

@Jvh - I dont know whether I would classify the rotary knobs as a remarkable feature. They would tend to jam up with dust and make seat adjustment a real pain in later years.

@lamborghini - Thanks for your valuable inputs. Incidentally the Verna also comes with 3 nozzle washers.

I'm pretty certain that the first batch of Palios had eccentric rails. An uncle bought a Palio from the first lot. I still remember discovering that feature with glee in his car.

Originally Posted by Matt

Hmm, It is the case with my Ford fusion(1st Gen ) also. I did not know that it can be moved both ways, until one motorcyclist hit the right side ORVM. I was fuming and lowered the window, only to note that not even a scartch was there; I just needed it to rotate it back.

Great. Is the mechanism in the Fusion spring loaded too?

Originally Posted by Matt

OT: you dont have write a disclaimer.

Wait till you see how many threads (started with erstwhile clean intentions) have deteriorated into mud-slinging matches.

Originally Posted by Matt

EDIT : somebody(aliens!) removed the "Flexible ORVMs" from thread title.

I wouldnt write that if I were you!

Originally Posted by Technocrat

Thanks for clearing, I have changed the title.

Another smart feature that I find usually in Hyundai cars is the Integrated Central locking for the hatch door which eliminates the need for a separate lever. Surprisingly some people see it the other way round

Thanks. The ICL on the Hyundai works on cars with a boot too. My father always forgets to switch off the CL before loading luggage into the boot, then gets annoyed when the alarm triggers off!

[penpavan]

Yes!
Got that extra fold feature in my I10 too. And have experienced its benefit.

It has saved me twice over. And always I felt : very good engineering.

When the other fellow touches your OVRM, it is usually an error of judgment of around 4-5 centimeters. So that's all you have to absorb. And the extra backward folding gives you that much room preventing the damage.

Beautiful engineering.

[MileCruncher]

As already stated by Lamborghini, the eccentric rail feature is there in Uno and not in Palio. I know it because I own both. Another feature that I always liked in the FIATs was that you cannot lose your key inside the car. The front doors cannot be locked with the door open. Same feature is there in my Bolero also. Good features.

One feature I was impressed by in my Jaguar was the seat belt sign. If no one is seating in the passenger seat , that sign will not glow but only when some one sits but does n't belt themselves, will the sign glow.

[Sawyer]

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.

[amitk26]

(1) One good feature on early TCIC Safari was the the middle row 40% seat of 60 / 40 split could be completely fattened to come in line with jump seat in last row giving a flat bad for an adult but in Safari Dicor and 2.2 Dicor this is removed don't know why.

(2) Open Corsa had 3 settings for AC air-circulation ( closed , open and 50%) giving a certain amount of flexibilty.This is again a very simple solution and does not involve a grea deal of technology.

(3) Tata Vehicles ( Safari, grande and vista) have a wiper speed adjustment on the wiper stalk giving a lot of flexibility and it is quite useful. Do not know why this simple setting can not be provided by others.

(4)Toyota corrola Altis has an Array of LEDs as break light which looks good and saves power. when LEDs are cheap as dirt this is definately doable in all cars.
(5) Airlines style tray table in Xylo. This is a very useful feature and all MUV manufacturers see them in Aircarfts so why could not they install one for passanges in MUV they are manufacturing. Very thoughtful on part of M&M.

[ACM]

1) The earlier, Fiat 1100, Amby, etc had column mounted gear shifters. The I10 gear shift though not column mounted by being dash mounted ensurs that like the coumn shifters the space between the two front seats if free for other stuff.

The three seater front sofa style seats had to make way for 2 bucket seats, due to the floor mounted gear stick that came in the way. This takes care of that problem.

2) The Laura has memory seats that remember your seat and side view mirror settings (upto 2 different drivers.) this is a great boon where the dirvers rearrange the setting while parking the cars in the office lounge or at home.

3) The stearing mounted controls possibly fall into this same range of easy to do stuff that is only today seen.

4) The reverse mirrors on the laura tilt downward when reverse gear is engaged as also the music system shows the parktronics system as also the music system drops volume to let you listen to the reverse parking blips.

5) The Safari has a reverse camera that is viewed on the rearview mirror skin by default in the Vx version that that is a great boon while reversing a giant truck.

6) The cielo had an 18 position (read sec) option in the GLX version for the wiper which allowed one to postion the intermittent wipe at our convenient setting via a roller rather than the 3-4 setting available on the cars today.

7) Laura has auto headlights (Light sensor), that auto level, that is usefull with shifting loads in the car and on entering a tunnel which is much darker. It also has auto wiping wipers (rain sensors) but they still need to program them better.

8) Passat / Superb have round the bend headlights that bend along turns giving added light visibility on turns.

[JVH]

Originally Posted by predatorwheelz

@Jvh - I dont know whether I would classify the rotary knobs as a remarkable feature. They would tend to jam up with dust and make seat adjustment a real pain in later years.

!

It may not be remarkable but I found it much more precise and simple than say my Swift VDI. And by later years, apprx how many years later? The reason i'm asking is my palio is 8 years old but the knobs are no pain

Some cars have this 3 stage openings for the door. The design is in the door stopper. A couple of more grooves on the stopper is all that is required to have this. Pretty useful.