Your thoughts on car tech? (infotainment, EPAS, etc.)
 

With cars getting more and more like smartphones with apps, nav, and the like, I wanted to get your opinion on car technology. I'm talking in-cabin stuff like touch screen and voice activated head units and performance and convenience options like rear parking aids and blind spot indicators. A lot of the guys I've talked to aren't very techy per se, but they said they'd love some of the new radio/sync technology but only if it's standard. On the other hand, my mom for example loves all the latest and greatest and bought an Ford Escape Titanium for all of the extras like the liftgate thing and MyFordTouch. I'm somewhere in between. While I love consumer tech and all, I feel that it can overwhelm the driving experience. I know the FR-S/BRZ interiors can be a bit sparse on comfort features, but they have more than enough tech for a lot of you. What do you guys think? Has car tech made cars better or drivers worse?

Touch screens suck in a car. Give me buttons. I don't want to look down to change the radio.

While driver aids do make people safer, the problem is people solely rely on them and forget the basics. It's like rear view cameras. Most people only look at the screen when backing up and not behind them and to the sides to see if another car was coming.

I had a fancy SUV with the power liftgate thing and hated it. I do like Bluetooth connectivity and strongly prefer control knobs instead of buttons. Touchscreen buttons are a PITA and voice control has not worked reliably for me. My last car--I swear that the GPS (female) voice would get prissy with me when I ignored the directions. Machine intelligence HA! The FR-S actually has a decent balance of tech and simplicity IMO. Could use a couple more gauges though.

Let's put the added weight and price aside, if all things were equal I would love a completely tech loaded BRZ/FRS. Most cars that have land departure and collision avoidance braking, blind spot monitoring, etc. these features can be turned off if you don't like one or all (example I have a '14 Accord Touring V6 with all of the above, and I HATE the lane departure warning. So I turn it off...it stays off as well which is nice to not have to set it each time I drive the car).

Love the back-up camera, the right hand turn camera is great for checking blind spots, parking (especially up close to a curb when parallel parking), and general tight right turns. As far as large touch screen NAVI/Stereo units, I love having everything touch screen with the exception of the volume and radio scan knobs. However, as long as these are on the steering wheel, I wouldn't care.

Again...this is all making a vary unrealistic scenario of no added weight and price. So basics is fine with me. :)

I`m not big on in-car tech. That`s why I like the FRS. Just the right balance. I have the touchscreen unit, and while I like the look it gives, it`s not the best. Connect my usb and phone for the very odd calls I receive. Most of the times I won`t even answer. Got better things to do then talk while driving.

It`s also easy to switch from sport to hoon mode :). Would of liked an oil pressure gauge, but not many cars have them anymore. I think, for a sports car, I would of liked a small screen with a few digital gauges, with critical info, like oil pressure, oil temp, water temp, etc. Things like that. I see a few cars have things like that, like the new WRX, but that is too over the top and flashy. You shouldn`t be looking at an lcd screen to see if a wheel slipped or ABS kicked in on the LR wheel.

I have a fairly strong opinion on the matter so I'll try to show some restraint.

I'm sort of opposed to a lot of it personally, but I see this is the way the industry is going and that this type of change will result in driving becoming a commodity.

Self-driving cars, In-Car Entertainment, Productivity, Connectivity, etc... all steps toward removing the driving experience completely. Since the rise of cell phone usage and the convergence of all things tech related, people have become worse and worse drivers in general. They'd rather pay attention to their digital lives than the road. It's sad, but true... and it's the way it's going to be for the foreseeable future.

Same thing with all the extra features like the foot-activated lift gate, self parking, etc. People really value these conveniences over the character of the car in general, leads to a lot of automation / less "skill" required to operate.

I've always grown up loving cars and driving and have always been looking forward to what's coming in the future. Given what's happened over the past couple years though, and my new insights working for a major auto manufacturer however ... has sort of left me feeling sad about where the industry is heading :\

Adapt or die I understand, but doesn't mean I'm thrilled with what the future will hold. I suppose sleeping on long interstate car trips would be nice :P

Jeremy Clarkson kinda made a good point too:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q0Svvdrx_E"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Q0Svvdrx_E[/ame]

Yeah I'd definitely agree with people focusing too much on their digital lives (texting, chatting on the phone, etc. while driving). It's a shame we've become so attached to social networking and have almost forsaken simple tasks in the name of automation. That being said, I think there's great potential for tech, especially in cars, to make the driving experience even greater (think about the change from carb to fuel injection and the age of ECM's). I ultimately view the goal of technology to make our lives easier, but that is no excuse to let it control our lives. I'm excited for the future of car tech but I'm cautiously optimistic.

I like car tech, because I like technology in general. Car tech should serve a different function than other technology, though. It should be non-distracting and non-disruptive to the driving experience, and it should help - when appropriate, and when asked/set to. For me, the stock BRZ head unit was exactly the opposite of this, so I replaced it.

I come from nothing so the infotainment in the brz is awesome to me. Map always up and phone always autconnects

My future infotainment system

http://www.garagefrs.com/wp-content/...S-1024x675.jpg

http://www.scion.com/images/cars/frs...ngLightsOn.jpg

http://image.automotive.com/f/scion-...-detailjpg.jpg

I think a transition to much more tech-heavy cars is inevitable, and not necessarily in a bad way, but being involved and interested in the tech world, what kills me, is how far behind vehicles really are.

It is all marketed as being some great new infotainment nav super connectivity system, but in reality, the tech industry hasn't put any time into vehicles. Luckily that is changing, and there are great ideas coming out, but I feel it is still way behind. Even nav systems, call me biased, as I probably am to services like Google Maps, but navigation has forever been terrible in cars I have used. Similarly with touchscreens in general, as has been stated. Touch works for some stuff, but climate control on a touchscreen menu is my biggest hate in some systems. Turning a fan up one button tap at a time on a sub par touchscreen.

I agree that in a car, a button, a tactile response, is much preferred in most actions performed. I like being to keep a hand on the wheel, eyes on the road, reach a hand down by muscle memory, feel for a button or knob, and continue on driving.

I think the next steps will need to come in to supplementing the driver not being a secondary system. I do like all cameras and sensors that exist now, I also like being able to turn them off (like mentioned before with lane departure). A lot has gone too far though, throwing in arbitrary status screens and sensors, for data nobody would actually need, except to be impressed at the dealership by all of the 'advanced tech'

I still have gripes with in car tech. I want it, but it's not there yet. It's all too locked down still, independent to each manufacture, creating no interest or competition or innovation, and it really needs dedicated involvement from 3rd party companies in the industry that are automating and improving daily life elsewhere in the world.

Thus far, I think the latest Ford systems have been the 'best' at least for what I use in car tech for. Mostly bluetooth and music. I still use my phone for nav, sometimes even just screen off and audio coming through speakers.

In short, I feel overall most cars now have too much "impractical technology". Being able to access your social media from your dashboard while driving at 75 mph down a busy stretch of I-4 is insane to me.

I see value in "practical technology", i.e. bluetooth connectivity for your phone, reverse cameras (especially in our cars), blind spot monitoring, LSD, traction control, etc. Those who tend to gravitate to cars that are loaded with technology are not buying a car to drive it, deep down inside they wished the car drove itself so that they can check their facebook, twitter, or instagram account. Your car should not be an extension of your laptop, computer, smartphone (except for emergency phone calls through blue tooth or the like).

This is going to be a stretch but my opinion on these cars that are loaded to the T with technology is a disservice to the driving public. It dulls the senses as human nature will tend to move toward the path of least resistance. If you have a computer chip monitoring your blind side, monitoring objects in front of your car so that it will apply the brakes while you check your text message, or apply your brakes when you are reversing out of your driveway while you are yelling at your kids to sit down and put their seat belts on. If anything, too much technology does not make you a safer/better driver, it makes you a worse and dangerous driver.

I'm a total tech junkie. I swap out my phones constantly, wear a smartwatch, build my own computers, game with a mouse instead of a controller, and work in the tech industry.

I'm also a gearhead. I like my cars as stripped down as possible. Manual everything, physical buttons, feedback over comfort, performance over style.

Technology evolves so quickly that it's dated already by the time a new car hits the lot, I don't like outdated gadgets so I prefer to keep tech and cars completely separate. I have learned to love bluetooth, and I use it constantly. Other than that the base FR-S has more built-in tech than I will ever need.

Well every switch dial and light is computer controlled. The manual seat adjuster may be the only thing not hooked to a sensor or switch of some sort.

Honestly I look forward to the near future when in cabin tech will be that much more responsive and affordable. For those of us who want to upgrade head units the prices for what can be found on the market are generally from $800-$1000 which is ridiculous considering most of these are obscenely unresponsive when compared to an android or apple tablet of considerably lesser price.

While I do look forward to the increasingly widespread use of more capable infotainment technology I do believe it should only go so far. The Tesla Model S is an example of infotainment touch screens going too far, it features a giant touch screen which is used to control 90% of the car outside of driving. I think infotainment touch screens are great for running music streaming apps and navigation, but they shouldn't replace our various knobs.

Unless you are driving a van full of kids, people who need "In-Car Entertainment" have an attention span far too short to be allowed to drive. Driving something like the FR-S IS the entertainment, the whole reason they built the thing.

True, if you complain about the radio then the point of the car is missed. IMHO

Hate automotive techno gunk, love my base '13 FRS with the 'crappy' stereo and no steering wheel buttons.

BUT: I never thought I'd pair my phone with bluetooth, never thought I'd notice HD radio but they are my favorite creature comforts, I leave my phone on Bluetooth all the time and it automatically picks up where I left off in the playlist, the phone calls are obvious and the quality of HD radio is pretty cool going from not ever hearing it to picking it up in 2013 was like switching to HDTV back in the mid 2000's. Toss in a USB port and AUX jack and these simple things are unobtrusive upgrades to what we had decades ago.

Wait... You're driving a 2015 Ford Mustang??? Already!?!? It's out!?

I could easily make the same comparison to this as I do my cell phone. As long as it does all the basic functions that I need reliably, I wouldn't mind having all the extra apps and gadgets. However, it doesn't mean that I can't live without them.

Worse drivers. Follow the GPS right into the river. Jeesh!

A high vibration automotive environment is the worst possible place to employ integrated circuit electronics.
More points of failure that you can't do anything about other than swap it out after waiting ten weeks for a replacement unit.

Wouldn't need backup cameras if vehicles were designed with rearward visibility.

I think it's a good thing. It improves the quality of life. With back up cameras and back up sensors and all that snazz, a chance of a collision is reduced due to a higher possibility of avoidance.

With the GPS and touch screen, that's also good as well. The manufacturer won't have to build buttons anymore and everything can be integrated. GPS is still good because who doesn't like navigation?

However, there's a higher chance of something to break and then it'll cost a lot for a repair.

Please make the touch screen more touch sensitive like screens on smartphones. The BRZ touchscreen is dangerous to use when I want to skip a few tracks.

Other than that, I guess it's nice about all the lane assist, blindspot warning, backup camera features coming out on new cars. But people shouldn't completely rely on these systems to tell you whether it's safe or not, I still believe in my own eyes and judgement when I'm driving.

What if the blindspot warning system craps out when you're making a lane change? Or those cruise control that brakes for you but fails to do so?

Leave all the high tech shit at home..
When you get in your car, you should drive ! Not play with gadgets.

I admit that its nice to have some high tech "accessories", but not to the point of distraction. Save that crap for Lexus.. A drivers car should focus on
driving .. keeping it simple and basic. The FRS is equipped just right.. I wouldnt mind a little less actually.. but they kept the priorities right and the weight to a reasonable level..

The safety tech stuff is bittersweet, like some other people have pointed out. On one hand, it provides more safety features that will hopefully reduce accidents and maybe even save lives. On the other hand, drivers both young and old may not rely on skills as much anymore because they will rely on the car to make some noise to tell them that they're doing something stupid. Just look at rearview cameras -- most people with them will just look at the screen only and not even glance out of the rear.

Infotainment is cool, but I find a lot of it unnecessary. My boss's recent 550i allows him to text and check his e-mail and all sorts of stuff, but it's just silly and dangerous. Integration with smartphones is nice to make playing music easier, but it's not like it was so difficult before. Plus most phones can be voice activated anyway, so you can just tell Siri to play whatever. Bluetooth helps, but if you have a modded car, it's more difficult to hear your conversation anyway. Plus most smartphones these days have headsets that work just fine, plus you're not draining your battery faster with having to keep Bluetooth on.

My Evo IX has a really boring interior with nothing fancier than a CD player and air conditioning, pretty much. It's certainly dated but I don't find myself wishing for much modern stuff. I have a dock for my iPhone and I can play music through the FM signal (not the audiophile way to do it but it gets the job done) and I'm golden. I use my eyes and ears and look at my mirrors and through the rear window. So far, so good.

The Accord V6 is what I'm thinking of buying over this car (14 Camaro is the other choice), and it's for those exact reasons... I feel with the tech I'm getting more bang for my buck.

I'm pretty sure if there is anything that is going to kill me in this car its that stupid touchscreen!!!

I wouldn't even need to touch it if the random function on the stereo worked!!!!

I Have 1500+ songs and one album of Megadeth, it shouldn't come up every 10 songs and then play 3 songs from that album.

Also not convinced that this car needs powersteering, I've gone so many years without it that having it makes steering feel numb.

The pushstart needs to be able to have a way to turn off the engine but keep accessories on... or roll up the windows without starting the car again. A key can do that because there was 4 states on it; off, accessory, on, start.
With push-start everything become a combo code and its just so much more work than it needs to be.


I think I'd still like a backing cam, the ass on this car is so much higher than an MR2 MK1 so it harder to see behind.

I have a 2011 Jeep GC that's loaded up with tech gadgets. There are some that I miss terribly in my daily commute:


Steering Wheel audio controls
Sirius Radio (I was so pissed that the FRS didn't have SAT radio - really?)
Hard drive in the head unit
Touch screen - If the above options were there, I could pass on the touchscreen.


The jeep has the parking assist and rear view camera, but with the FRS being so small, I think those are not necessary.

I don't like a lot of tech in the car. It just seems like a lot of stuff I won't use. I hate steering wheel buttons. I had a Chrystler 300 rental car a while back and it had them, I kept reaching for the actual radio controls though. I also didn't realize it had a backup camera until I'd been driving it for a couple of days. Looking forward when backing up disorients me, don't need a camera. A properly cautious person doesn't really need all the warning systems. I guess the auto brakes are good though.

I like bluetooth and that's about it. I do like being able to see everything on the touchscreen, so that's not a bad addition either. But the ones that have menu after menu with dozens of buttons and controls, and the little toggle switches? Keep those away from me. All this stuff will make buying a new car in the future difficult for me.

I personally like the spartan interior of the 86. Blue tooth is necessary, but a touch screen is not necessary. I like the simplicity of the steering wheel without any buttons. Some additional analog gauges such as oil pressure, transmission oil temp would be nice. Anything else is just fluff and not necessary in this car.

I agree with this. The only modern feature that's a must-have for me is bluetooth. I love how the FR-S is barebones and driving-focused, but also happens to have BT, which is perfect.

The rest of modern car tech (heated seats, vented seats, nav, lane guidance, backup camera, adaptive cruise, infrared, surround sound, etc.) I can do without.

Also agree with this. Oil pressure, oil temp, and water temp would have made for a great gauge cluster. My old 350z had a trio of gauges mounted above the center console.

I would like steering wheel audio controls, mostly because I'd prefer not to have to touch the touchscreen while driving.

I installed a backup camera, and it is a worthwhile upgrade. I don't use it to backup (I still use the mirror and look over my shoulder), I use it to assist with my final parking position.

Bluetooth connections are great.

Hard drive in Head Unit? for... pausing/rewinding?

-Z

If you turn off the car while not in Park, the accessories remain on, then you can put it in Park.

-Z

How I do that in Manual? :bonk:

I've had this same issue, and the only way around it is to click the random play option 3 times so it resets back to folders every time I start the car and play mp3s. Otherwise after the first song 90% of the time it will go through the same group of songs in a row.

:bonk:

Love the push to start/REAL keyless entry, and hate the navigation. Now that I have one, I can't help but input far destinations, which is annoying and time consuming...

You just have to hit the button once to activate the switches again, without having the start the car. Unless that's what you meant, then sorry.
But I agree it's annoying


As far as I heard you can't...




My personal feeling on the tech, is I understand why it's there, but I would prefer a car without 99% of it.
People become too reliant on the car doing the thinking for us, causing laziness and a distinct lack of skill.

Traction control, assisted steering, self parking, auto braking, blind spot indicators, lane warnings (ie you are drifting out of your lane), etc. these things are becoming not only standard, but in a lot of cases mandatory in new cars. I grew up with old cars that had maybe the power steering, nothing else.
I learned to drive properly, and because of that, I can reverse into spots way quicker and more accurately than 99.9% of the drivers I see. I move my head for my blind spots. And I drive to the conditions.
Because I learned without them, I have a lot more respect for that I'm driving heavy missile, and won't rely on cool tech to get me out of it.

Even those entertainment things that people like, such as touch screen, DVD players, huds, multiple-screen read outs, etc...I was fine before them. I concentrate too much on the road and surroundings to use most of the features. And why would you watch DVD while driving...I know you have to modify the system for that ability, but most people installing DVD players do.
And I don't care about Bluetooth really.

And while tech in the engines and gearboxes make for more power, economy, etc...it also means that I'm lost when It comes to something going wrong. I am really only allowed to change oil, filters, and coolant, under the warranty. Everything else Toyota have to do. This is really frustrating to someone who always fixed their own car.

My last car exemplified what I'm saying really well. I loved it for its lack of tech.
It was an old Hilux Surf and I had power steering (which is almost necessary in a heavy 4wd) and a CD player with a couple buttons and 2 speakers.
I had removed all other electronics such as power antenna, windows, we'll that was all that was there.
I even removed the small ecu it had that was used to control emissions and control vacuum. Ran fine without it. But if it was in and something went wrong, the car would have had issues.
If something went wrong, I always had a few spares and bits, and a basic toolkit with me. I could pull off the road/track and either fix it, or dodgy it until I could get home.

With my 86, if something goes wrong...stop and call a towing service.

Tech in cars has indeed made them better, but lazy operators (they only operate the vehicle, not drive it) have abused the tech to distract themselves and be even more unsafe than they already were.

I like advanced tech which allows me to have good quality radio/music in the car without requiring me to interact with it much. For example, Pandora service through the smartphone, bt in-car handsfree, built-in navi (either in unit, or through phone gps and phone map service like gmaps), etc. But the less that it requires me direct interaction, the better.

That's the advances I like. The advances I dislike are all the "look at me look at me!" distraction stuff. Having adjustable backlighting and wallpaper is great for interior accent and theming and I will pay for those features, but I don't need the unit to play all the latest video formats and have advanced disc playback features, etc. That's more appropriate to a minivan, and relegated to the control of she who is XO and otherwise running the minivan while you drive it. It does NOT belong in a sports coupe.

Doesn't the 2nd push turn accessories on if you don't have your feet on the brake and clutch? That is how my push to start cars cycle through off, partial accessory, full accessory. I don't remember my GTI's key setup, but our MINI is effectively 3 position (off, on, crank).