Pointless Car Features

"Matthew Keyser" (teisco15)
03/15/2014 at 22:24 • Filed to: None

Advances in automotive technology have led cars to becoming safer, faster, and easier to drive. Some of these advances have changed the industry and many are now required on new cars. Seat-belts, traction control, airbags, blind spot warnings, radar guided cruise control, all of these things have wormed their way into modern cars to make travel by car safer and more pleasant.

My dad has recently bought a slightly used Audi A3 Sportback. This car has most of the aforementioned features and then some. There are water sensing windshield wipers for when you are too involved in your phone conversation that you can turn a stalk to your right to see where you are going. There is a secret button on the drivers door for when you have to get your car towed to the Audi dealer to spend $5,000 on a tire change. It has height adjusting headlights for all those pesky hills you have to drive over. It is a very nice car, however one feature in particular has driven me to write this post. At around 70 miles per hour, there is a loud beep and a large "Speed Warning" appears on the dashboard. It isn't just until you slow down either, apparently you have to turn the car off to get the message to go away. At another speed interval, there is a second "Speed Warning" that appears and that one won't go away until you clear the code. Somehow.

Anyways, what are some aggravating features on your car or cars you know of? Do you know of something even worse than the speed warnings? let me know in the comments!

DISCUSSION (29)

hethoughtofcars > Matthew Keyser
03/15/2014 at 22:28

At 37 degrees (Fahrenheit) and below, at start-up BMW and MINIs will beep to warn you of the potential of ice.

theloudmouth > hethoughtofcars
03/15/2014 at 22:33

Lawyers suck.

Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 > Matthew Keyser
03/15/2014 at 22:33

Lane departure system. Oh I'm sorry, is driving becoming too hard. Heated seats becoming too comfortable. I swear, in 10 years no one will know how to drive a car made before 2000.

Matthew Keyser > Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2
03/15/2014 at 22:51

I fear we are getting close to the point in time where a driver will no longer be required. The day where a commercial driverless car is offered to the public is the day I lose faith in the human race all together.

Arben72 > Matthew Keyser
03/15/2014 at 22:52

You can turn off the speed warning, atleast on my m3 you can. Only annoying thing I can think of on my cars is the disclaimer on some navis.

Logansteno: Bought a VW? > Matthew Keyser
03/15/2014 at 22:54

04 Silverado- Pass. Airbag shutoff; you can turn the chime sounds up or down; A meter to show how many hours the truck has ran

94 Safari- Doors that lock when the engine starts, not when you put it in reverse/drive

08 Vue- None that I can think of actually

thebigbossyboss > Matthew Keyser
03/15/2014 at 22:54

Kinja'd!!!

NVM...the article said what car it was. Bigbossyboss can into literacy.

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > Matthew Keyser
03/15/2014 at 22:55

Both of my parents' cars are automatics, both have manual modes. Engage manual mode and they still shift by themselves.

Stupidest feature ever.

mattoverdrive > Matthew Keyser
03/15/2014 at 22:57

70 mph! That's faster than the speed limit! That's DANGEROUS and ILLEGAL!

Sorry, I was just screwing with you. That'd bug the crap out of me. Hopefully, you guys can figure out how to turn it off.

bob and john > Matthew Keyser
03/15/2014 at 23:00

you shopuld be able to reset those speed warnings. i know my dad had his set to 150km/h (the speed at which they impound ur car in canada)
secret button on the drivers door? huh? (ours is a 2010 TDI)

Matthew Keyser > bob and john
03/15/2014 at 23:06

Thank you, I'll have to look up how to reset it, and yea on the back side of the drivers door there is a button that turns off the alarm that goes off if you are at too steep of an angle so it isn't beeping like crazy while its being towed.

Matthew Keyser > mattoverdrive
03/15/2014 at 23:07

I hope so, I don't see how it is even a safety feature, accelerating onto an onramp on the highway it is incredibly alarming. hahaha

Matthew Keyser > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
03/15/2014 at 23:09

I hate when that happens! At least the Audi will let you go all the way to redline in manual, but that is really annoying!

bob and john > Matthew Keyser
03/15/2014 at 23:14

...huh. never knew about it. we did get a flat once, changed it ourselves, went and got the tire repaired.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > mattoverdrive
03/15/2014 at 23:15

Kansan here, I just finished a two hour drive at 80mph (75mph speed limit). It was glorious.

I need to get my tires balanced.

Matthew Keyser > bob and john
03/15/2014 at 23:21

Cool! I was poking fun at the "sterotypical" Audi driver that doesn't know how to do anything practical and just pays other people to do all the work. Alot of owners aren't that way, but then again alot are as well! haha

hethoughtofcars > theloudmouth
03/15/2014 at 23:26

Never even considered that (and I've owned an e46,e90, and R55 all with that "feature"!). Just thought it was silly.

hethoughtofcars > Matthew Keyser
03/15/2014 at 23:31

Not for quite awhile. Do you know why? Pedestrians. Bicyclists. Anything that is not another car. Does a driverless car know if that is a plastic bag or a piece of plasterboard with nails in the middle of the lane? Do people want to walk in the crosswalk in front of a driver-less car? Does a driver-less car know if you are stepping into traffic or just checking to see if your bus is coming? For now, and quite awhile, (I hope) computers just can't solve for X in an urban environment.

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > Matthew Keyser
03/15/2014 at 23:35

Yeah, my parents' cars shift far below that, at around 5000 rpm, with a redline of 7000.

Matthew Keyser > hethoughtofcars
03/15/2014 at 23:36

I really do hope that it is a long long long time before they are available. But probably more than that, I hope the manufacturers don't cut corners to just try to put a revolutionary product out. I know there are various inspections and stipulations that new cars have to pass, but It wouldn't be the first time an under developed and dangerous product was sold to the public.

Matthew Keyser > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
03/15/2014 at 23:39

My sisters car does that. You slam the knob to the side into manual and go to down change for some engine braking and it goes down for a second and then changes back up. Same thing happens when you try to run it up the rev range. Its very annoying

bob and john > Matthew Keyser
03/15/2014 at 23:40

that is true. but ive never noticed a button like that...i'll have top check when i get back from school,....

hethoughtofcars > Matthew Keyser
03/15/2014 at 23:42

No. It won't happen too early, because LAWSUITS. But you will see auto-braking gain mainstream acceptance soon. Lane departure warning. Blind spot monitoring. Rear view cameras. Standard on your Yarises and Rios and Sonics....

hethoughtofcars > Matthew Keyser
03/15/2014 at 23:45

Kinja'd!!!

Not bad mileage!

Steve is equipped with Electronic Fool Injection > hethoughtofcars
03/15/2014 at 23:50

The wife's passat does that at 39.

Matthew Keyser > hethoughtofcars
03/15/2014 at 23:50

Not bad at all! That's an average though, the number on the live read out when I took that picture would not be as flattering. I've seen it drop as low as 6 or 7 on a good pull.

hethoughtofcars > Matthew Keyser
03/16/2014 at 00:10

Yeah, again I have to reference BMWs because that is what I've owned but you were either destroying gas at 3 mpg or getting 99+ mpg when you let off the gas and cruised down part of the interstate. :)

icyhot > hethoughtofcars
03/16/2014 at 01:28

its anytime the temperature is 37 or below. So if you are driving and the temperature drops, you get the gong, snowflake symbol, and sudden icy doom.

The Opponaut formerly known as MattP123 > Logansteno: Bought a VW?
03/16/2014 at 11:42

Run time is actually useful for work trucks that spend a lot of time idling. Pretty sure that's how they judge maintenance intervals on a plane since there's no odometer.