Fellow BHPians,
Nowadays our cars are more computers, lesser motors. Over the years, car companies have been making things easier to operate and the computers under the hood come in handy for engineers to make the functioning smoother, even with little driving experience.
But sometimes, things are overdone in the name of simplification/automation/assistance. Moreover, not every OEM does it the same way and the "assist" features are inconsistent across brands.
On top of it, we humans, are quick learners. We quickly adapt to these quirks of our machines, and we realise it only when we switch to another car of a different brand. This adaption often leaves me annoyed and I call them bad driving habits - taught by the computer.
Here is my list, do share yours too.
Honda Brio
Honda Brio has an unusual anti-stall/RPM matching feature - the ECU maintains accelerator command for a fraction second after A-pedal release. This should have resulted in a smoother gear shift. But, with experience, we 'typically' release the accelerator WHILE engaging the clutch, and do it pretty quickly. As I mentioned, Brio holds the accelerator command even after the A-pedal release. As a result, when driving Brio, if you do the 'typical' A-pedal release + C-pedal push operation, the engine RPM rises due to sudden load relief. That sounds like a rookie gear shift.
Hence, I adapted to the Brio ECU. I offset the ECU A-command through the early release (fraction of a second) of the A-pedal. I don't have to tell you that it's a bad habit!
Now, when I shift to another car from Brio, I release the accelerator early, causing a minute jerk, before pressing the clutch.
Volkswagen Polo
VW Polo is an interesting case. I am not sure about the reason behind Polo's Acceleration demand moderation, but I believe it has something to do with emission control (ironic for VW
). Experts may comment, but here is my observation.
What TSI 1.0 ECU does is, if RPM is around 1000-1200 and the Accelerator position is 0 (fully released); then, when you depress the accelerator, the respective engine response is delayed. Usually, if the engine under load is running near idle, and you suddenly pump more fuel, due to the loading of the engine, fuel is not burnt completely (physics - moment of inertia). This you'd have observed as a common phenomenon with old diesel engines (any make) - the tailpipe shoots all black soot with a heavy right foot at low RPMs.
What it means is, to avoid incomplete burning of fuel, and in turn, to avoid the production of harmful gases and soot, the TSI ECU gradually increases the fuel until the engine is back in the power band, to react quickly to varying acceleration demand.
Again, I adapted to the ECU behaviour and started pressing A-pedal a little earlier than needed, to offset the engine delay.
This is not just a bad habit, but it could be very dangerous in heavy traffic, if I do it in a regular car, that responds promptly to A-pedal.
Another bad thing with Polo is, the lane change indicator blinks only thrice. It's too short a time to change lanes. Typically, we indicate lane change before we start the lane change maneuver. Under these 'typical' indication operations, many times, the indicator used to stop blinking while just one wheel of the car had crossed the lane marking, and 3 are still back in the original lane. Now I'm unsure if the following car has noticed my indicator, and if it is safe for me to join the new lane.
Guess what, I adapted. I started indicating just WHEN I START the lane change maneuver, so indicators are still blinking while I join a new lane.
So I'm already on the move when I indicate and I give no time to the following vehicle to react to my indication - that is a really bad habit.
Tata Altroz (it's not limited to this car, you'll know when you read)
The start/stop operation is very annoying IMO. Worst when you just start moving after a green signal, and the last one (or lost one) of the herd from the stopped road decides to cross anyway. He chokes the traffic. You stop thinking you're not moving soon, shift to neutral, release the clutch, and traffic starts moving. Now the traffic behind you has no patience for your car to start back. Everyone passing by gives you a glaring look!
So you adapt. Keep the clutch pressed. That's an easier habit to adapt than remembering to switch off the auto start/stop at every ignition.
Then you move to a different car, still, keeping that clutch pressed all the time while the car is stopped. I curse you the start/stop innovators! Do you know how painful it is to hold the VW clutch pressed?
Another feature of Altroz is, when you start releasing the clutch, the RPM is elevated to achieve anti-stall on the incline. So your accelerator input (if lower than elevated RPM) is 'don't care'.
I adapted. Then started stalling older generation cars - since I did not press the A-pedal when releasing the clutch.