[RIC.BURNS]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

But there are hardly a handful of highways where one can actually use this feature.

Given the hide-n-seek game played by animals, humans, tractors on our highways, you'd spend more time engaging and disengaging the cruise control!

I'd rather get ACC instead of cruise control.

I agree it depends on the highway, atleast Chennai-Tirunelveli highway not so much of animals/humans/tractors so far with me once in two months. break and resume the CC in not so much of a task even if there is so much traffic rather than keeping the foot for hours.

Originally Posted by Aroy

The cruise control is fine for wide open highways, where there is no distraction (animals, carts and people suddenly making appearance!). It has its down side also. I read that on one highway in US (was it Texas?), the driver fell asleep and was detected only after nearly 100 miles. That is why modern highway design incorporates minor horizontal and vertical direction changes to ensure that the driver is always alert.

If you have driven at night on muddy roads, in mild rain, you will appreciate the utility of the head light wipers. Though your windscreen can be cleaned using wipers and water spray, the headlights just accumulate dust (and mud), so that in no time the headlights have dimmed and are ineffective. This is when windshield wipers and water spray is god sent. (you do not want to get out of the car on a lonely road at night, just to get better light)

Sleeping driver will get in to trouble anyway, be it manual or CC .

But i haven't seen any rally cars having headlight wipers at night driving through mud/snow tracks.

[handsofsteel]

Originally Posted by SDP

That's a very good listing.
Bang on! Either you fold the seats completely or you don't.

sorry, i completely disagree. probably you have to drive a hatchback and be a golfer to know the utility of such a configuration.(try fitting 4 golf bags and going as a four ball to a course-3 in the boot and the 4th one in the space created by folding the seat)
seriously, i have a jazz and have folded part of the seat at the back and spread out a sleeping bag for my kiddo to sleep on the flat expanse (with a minder sitting at the back of course) during a long trip.

[autocrat]

Originally Posted by govigov

Well, the gripe that i have is with Hyundai vehicle's offering on the sportz trim. airbags are available but no ABS, come on i would rather choose ABS before airbags. What a major turn down.

Totally agree! Its better to have ABS that might help avoid a collision in the first place, than deploying airbags after one; but I do feel that both are essential.

Originally Posted by condor

Rear spoiler is more an accessory than an OEM feature. Any car that you can think of (in India) that comes with spoiler as OEM ? (Exclude cars like Ikon iKool, because that was a promo series).

My Indica Xeta came with a spoiler fitted above the rear glass!
I do drive up to 140 kmph when i do get an opportunity, but I don't think this spoiler has any effect on the downforce (may be a well designed one at >160kmph? How often can we hit that speed on our roads?). In-fact, in rainy weather on dusty roads, the vortex created under the spoiler makes the rear glass more dirty.

I do appreciate the LED stoplight built into the spoiler though - its bright, and high mounting ensures that its visible.

[moinakg]

Looks like a lot of the utility or not of various equipment depends on use cases, driving styles etc. Some are corner cases some are quite common. Take for example the case of the golf bags of "handofsteel". Manufacturers have to take into account a wide usage base and put in equipment, all of which will not appeal to every segment of users.

Here are my viewpoints of the equipment on my Scorpio:
Useless Equipment:

• TPMS: No point of seeing different readings every time. I trust my Accutire Gauge instead. Maybe just have a temperature/leakage warning.
• OEM Audio System: Why force customers to pay for sub-standard audio ? Either give an A-class system (and charge for it of course) or do not give at all. Make this an optional equipment and indicate the charges.

Partially useful equipment:

• Cruise Control: There are roads in Bangalore like BMIC and BETL (radar enforced 80Km limit) where I find CC useful but 90% of the time CC is not useful on Indian highways.
• Micro Hybrid (start-stop): This is useful especially at signals during peak hour. However I dislike the 2-sec timer and the need to keep the clutch pressed if you do not want the engine to stop. There should be an alternate mechanism to temporarily override the auto-stop for the current idling session.
• Rain-sensing wipers: I find these extremely useful during intermittent and drizzling rain. These are not useful during heavy rain and at night.
• Child-lock on door: It's a safety equipment I know but I have never found the need to use it on any vehicle I drove in the last 10 yrs. I am not a bachelor and have 2 naughty children.

Fully useful equipment:

• Voice Assist: Leaving aside the Welcome message (which can be turned off) this has saved/helped me several times in the last 8K Kms: Reserve warning, Handbrake warning, Door open warning. In my opinion this is Not a fancy feature.
• Light sensing headlamps: I have this switch almost permanently on and rarely bother twiddling it. The light comes and goes by itself. The follow-me home feature is quite useful where I park. The only times I have switched it off temporarily were a couple of occasions with fading daylight and an avenue of alternate shade and light - headlights kept going on and off.
• Steering mounted controls.
• Reverse Parking Sensors: Contrary to others comments, I find these have good range. I'd be hard-pressed to park the big vehicle properly without these, which happens daily in my cramped office parking. Or trying to reverse the vehicle out from a side parking on a busy Bangalore road without hitting people, cycles, two-wheelers, or ... the list goes on.
• Tachometer.
• ABS.
• Airbags.
• All 4 power windows.
• Rear demister.
• Cigarette lighter socket: How'd I charge my mobile otherwise on the move ?

[BeantownThinker]

Originally Posted by moinakg

Useless Equipment:
[*]Child-lock on door: It's a safety equipment I know but I have never found the need to use it on any vehicle I drove in the last 10 yrs. I am not a bachelor and have 2 naughty children.

Fully useful equipment:[*]Voice Assist: Leaving aside the Welcome message (which can be turned off) this has saved/helped me several times in the last 8K Kms: Reserve warning, Handbrake warning, Door open warning. In my opinion this is Not a fancy feature.

While I understand that this is your personal opinion, I just don't understand the thought. This is like a petrol pump owner saying that as I have not had a fire in my premises ever so I do not need a fire extinguisher. But a system that warns me through voice when there is a fire is a very useful accessory to have.

God forbid, what use is a voice assist instructing me to put out the fire when I do not have an extinguisher!

The sheer unpredictability of a child's behaviour makes the child lock a must have.

Your views please.

[moinakg]

Originally Posted by BeantownThinker

While I understand that this is your personal opinion, I just don't understand the thought. This is like a petrol pump owner saying that as I have not had a fire in my premises ever so I do not need a fire extinguisher. But a system that warns me through voice when there is a fire is a very useful accessory to have.

God forbid, what use is a voice assist instructing me to put out the fire when I do not have an extinguisher!

The sheer unpredictability of a child's behaviour makes the child lock a must have.

Your views please.

Agreed! Let me explain. An organization has both a fire sensor that raises a panic alarm and also extinguishers. By child lock I meant the little red buttons next to the door lock latch that disables the ability to open the door from inside even with engine switched off. I regularly use the window lock that disables the passenger power windows. I should have added that to the useful list.

In my earlier vehicles the door would unlock when I switch off the engine. I'd be prompt to re-engage the central lock manually. Children mostly cannot pull or fiddle the door lock lever (not the door open lever) enough to open them as easily as they can operate the power window switch. In the Scorpio the cental lock opens when I pull out the ignition key. So that is an added safeguard.

As I said all these are use-case based so there should be folks who are using those red knobs quite often. Just that I have not. I can conjure up a case where one might have forgetful aged members who have the habit of suddenly opening the road-side door with potentially disastrous consequences. So one has to use the red-knob then.

[JustCause]

Originally Posted by moinakg

• TPMS: No point of seeing different readings every time. I trust my Accutire Gauge instead. Maybe just have a temperature/leakage warning.

While I do appreciate your views regarding the equipment in your Scorp, I do disagree with the TPMS being unnecessary. It has been made out to be useless in various other posts throughout this thread. It is fine if one checks up on air pressures before each & every trip but, in a vehicle like Scorpio, which is prone to body roll because of its design, a TPMS is a life saver. The ~1-2 psi difference you get when the hot summer afternoon suddenly gets transformed to heavy rains can wreak havoc on the handling of a high slung vehicle like the Scorp.

Loss of pressure on a single tyre can have more devastating effects. I could easily feel the vehicle more intent on swaying & rolling over when the pressure on one of the tyres was 2-3psi less(same goes when you replace a flat tyre with an overinflated spare). This difference though deemed small, is perilous & for an average user as well as the driving enthusiast as it causes unpredictable handling & sets the vehicle off balance. Mahindra sure did some research into the vehicle's characteristics & rightly incorporated a TPMS.


I was on the lookout for the TPMS from Xenos for my Alto, but gave up due to non-availability of stock. It is a very practical device & can forewarn on times where we forget to check the air pressure & it drops too low

[dot]

I will not mind Cruise Control for a short while, specially when my right leg needs a bit of rest during those long highways drives.

Originally Posted by Swanand Inamdar

What next? Ctrl+Alt+Del to temporarily lock the car? Or maybe to put the car in 'sleep' mode?

Actually it is a pretty good idea. I am pretty sure in future the mobile will be linked to the car computer and one can do such stuff.

[garry.brant]

Originally Posted by sandeepmdas

One totally unnecessary OEM that I can see is the RFT tires of BMW.



Although the lighter is useless for non-smokers like you (I guess) and me, the 12V socket is immensely useful.



Apart from that, my Punto EP has this foldable Keyfob. Only one is supplied, made in Italy. The cost of replacement is approx 1% of the car's ex-showroom price, I am told. 6500+ rupees.

Thats called robbing in daylight, Check out Harrison keys in Panchkula chandigarh , you can probably get it done under 2K.

[lamborghini]

IMO, TPMS is quite an annoyance. In most of the cars that I have seen with TPMS, it seems to malfunction early. Saw it in my friends 5000kms driven Skoda Superb, and a few nearly new Japanese rentals in the US.

[idofsuresh]

I have ownership experience with 2 cars, Indica DLS and a Civic Auto. I can't remember a single useless feature in Indica - I needed a lot more than the car offered.

In Civic:
- I find the foot rest annoying. I personally prefer to rest my foot flat on the floor.
- Would have preferred no music system with reduced cost. I could then have my own system without wasting money on the OEM music system.

Can't really think of any other useless feature in the car.

[RIC.BURNS]

Originally Posted by moinakg

Partially useful equipment:

• Child-lock on door: It's a safety equipment I know but I have never found the need to use it on any vehicle I drove in the last 10 yrs. I am not a bachelor and have 2 naughty children.

Fully useful equipment:

• Cigarette lighter socket: How'd I charge my mobile otherwise on the move ?

Child lock goes in to partially useful and cigarette lighter in Fully useful, Strange list i would say.

IMHO child-lock, ABS, seat belts and Airbags belong to Must-Have category.

[chennai-indian]

Here is my list:

Must Haves:

1. ABS
2. Airbags
3. Rear Wash/Wipe


Fancy stuff:

1. Steering mounted audio.
2. Theater or (whatever you call it) lighting
3. OEM ICE
4. Voice assist
5. Micro hybrid (as M&M has implemented it)

[xander]

Originally Posted by condor

But yes, 60:40 can help if you have 2-3 passengers, and some long items that cannot fit into the boot. How often do you have this ?

I use the split seats almost every weekend when I have to transport some long agriculture equipment like brush cutters, sprayers etc from our farm. But I dont know how many use a Skoda Octavia for that purpose.

[binand]

Originally Posted by idofsuresh

- I find the foot rest annoying. I personally prefer to rest my foot flat on the floor.
- Would have preferred no music system with reduced cost. I could then have my own system without wasting money on the OEM music system.

Can't really think of any other useless feature in the car.

On the other hand, I find that footrest to be a godsend. That footrest allows the foot to rest at a natural angle and thus prevents ankle pain, at least for me.

As far as the music system is concerned - we have shared ownership. I own two CD slots, my wife two and my son two (the daughter is not old enough to demand her share!). Works well for us :-) I don't know what improvement a non-OEM music system can bring - more speakers? Play directly from thumb drive? Since my mobile also has an FM transmitter, a lot of my music is played that way (media on mobile FM, playback on car FM).

I mentioned my choice of "useless equipment" in the Civic a few pages back. Top slot is for the rear-seat remote control for the music system, only because it is functionally crippled.