Car Tech

Car Tech

I got a new car last week - I wanted all the modern safety / driver assist features. My previous  car was from 2012. The new car is a Mazda 3 (couldn't find a hybrid that I liked, gave up on getting options that I wanted), but I suspect that it is representative of most new cars.

The safety and driver assist features -

The back up camera is great (these were available in 2012 but my car didn't have one).

The heads up display is great - it displays speed, blind spot, lane change information about eight feet in front of me. My eyes don't refocus quickly (getting old) so this is very useful.

Blind spot warning is great, especially with the heads up display.

Radar cruise control is great - this uses your set speed as the maximum but slows you down to follow a car in front of you. It should think a bit further ahead so it doesn't do so much braking. Also the following distance seems to be constant. It would be better to adjust it with speed so that cars behind you know that you are keeping up with traffic, for example  a 2 second gap rather that a constant distance gap.

Lane assist is annoying - I don't always want to drive down the center of the lane.

Smart braking - stopping for things in front of you,  I have no idea. How do I test this safely? Same for driver alert monitor.

The electric parking brake is easy to use, doesn't tax my aging left knee, takes almost no space, and sets and releases automatically - wonderful.

Auto hold - holds the brake when you are stopped so you can relax your right leg, releases when you hit the gas. Great.

Automatic windshield wipers (had this long ago on one car), great. Or they could just adjust the wiper speed based on car speed.

Automatic headlights - on/off and automatic high beams, good but why don't they turn on in the rain?

But all of this came with the hazards of getting a modern car -

The option packages are terrible. I do not want a sunroof, leather (or plastic) seats, black (or white) interior, shark fin antenna (ugly, don't need it). I was forced to get all of these to get other options that I wanted.

Starting the car turns on the radio, regardless of its on/off state when shutting down - I find this to be beyond annoying.

The automatic headlights should turn on whenever the windshield wipers are on. So we have automatic headlights for when it's dark/light, but not for when it's rainy/dry.

The daytime running lights only light the front of the car. I would like people to see the back of the car also.

Bass and treble, which need a lot of adjustment to handle the changing, noisy environment in a car are done by menu - horrible ergonomics.

You can't program the key - I prefer to open all the locks with one button press and I prefer to disable the trunk release.

Monster size key - they used to make cell phones almost this small. (The "key" is just a transmitter - you never have to take it out of your pocket.)

Well, I guess I should feel lucky to be able to buy a sedan.