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

[MrAmalto]

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.

[Tromatic]

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.

[stevesnj]

Originally Posted by Tromatic

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

[strat61caster]

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.

[Badasi12b]

Originally Posted by trogdor007

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?

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

[MokSpeed]

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.

[bcj]

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.

[N1rve]

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.

[sprintertrueno86]

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?

[Mikem53]

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..

[DeeezNuuuts83]

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.

[Badasi12b]

Originally Posted by Burrcold

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.

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.

[RoadKillGrill]

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.

[hur1ey02]

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.