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 Car Technology: Too much?

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Saltine713
Honorary Member
Honorary Member
Saltine713


Join date : 2009-12-19

Car Technology: Too much? Empty
20100911
PostCar Technology: Too much?

From the dawn of automobiles in the early 1900's, to the 2010's and on, automakers have came and gone. The ones who have stayed were the ones who have adapted to the market and consumer demands. However, with the technology-driven world we live in today, is it a bit too much? Some like the bare-bones basic, like Koenigsegg. They offer nothing but an engine and wheels. Then you have the Godzilla, the Nissan GT-R SpecV or their 370Z.

Now, it's not fair to pick on Nissan, so let's also mention Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and Porsche. New car technology like park-assist, hands-free bluetooth, and satelite radio. However, the luxury technology is not what I am talking about, it is the driving assists.

Driving assists, such as Traction Control, Stability Control, Brake Assists, and more. Do All Wheel Drive sports cars offer easier driving to otherwise under-skilled drivers? The Nissan GT-R SpecV has more gizmos than a Playstation, which it isn't far from. It actually had video-game designers helping out designing the user-interface. It allows you to throw the car at high speeds in full control, because of all of the tech helping you out.

Then you have the 370Z. This car has the Synchro-Rev matching, which blips the throttle for you on down-shifts, making the driving easier for you. You can turn this off, but I wish it wasn't offered in the first place. But like I said, it is what the consumer wants.

People are becoming lazier than ever. ADD is more rampant and undiagnosed. People don't feel like driving, as they do texting, eating, talking, etc.... People want to get from Point A to Point B as easy as possible, with the fewest functions as possible. With radar helping the cruise control, all you have to do is steer.

Cruise control was going to be name auto-pilot. However, people (although they still do) thought they could have had the cars do all of the work, including driving. People have often discussed about driverless cars, but it would be impossible. Check out about that in a later article.

Other cars, like Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, and Audi, for example, offer superior comfort over true driving experience. Porsche can't dodge this now. Audi has a great S-Line, and their R8 also has some truth for it (except the AWD). Lamborghini is trying, with the RWD Balboni Edition. Bentley also has done a nice job in the performance section with the Continental Flying Spur, which offers options to turn all assists off.

Ford (my favorite company) is doing great, and their Ford Sync package is just awesone. Wait, I thought this topic was about car tech hurting the driving experience? Well, it still is. However, Ford has gone in the right direction with this technology. While some automakers offer all of this crap standard, Ford makes it all up to the consumer. Of course, Ford isn't really aimed at performance or luxury, but they still have a nice line of cars. The Mustang, offered by many aftermarket companies as their own style, still has true-to-bones sports in it. Traction Control can be gone away with, the gearbox isn't a fancy dual clutch, and still needs some muscle on it.

Dual-clutch and CVT transmissions, F1-inspired gearboxes, sounds great? Not if you want a true driving experience. You also have power-steering. I don't care for strong steering, I would rather have strong arms moving a direct-link steering. I want the true feel of the road, and what the car and I, working as a team, can handle.

Well, this is just my review on car technologies. I'm young, I'm not an oldie, so I never grew up without this tech, but I prefer against it.
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Re: Car Technology: Too much?
Post Sat Sep 11, 2010 11:00 pm by Guest
Is car technology too much? That is more of a rhetorical question because what is defined as "too much". Cars still have many possibly outcomes for the future, ideally technology for cars is created so that it can improve a certain aspect for example Safety is a big issue. Every year we see new car manufacturers bring out new systems that try and prevent or minimise the the damage done by crashes. Yet thousands of people die on the roads each year. While that number is steadily going down, why is this, are our drivers getting better because driving tests are getting harder? or is that as newer models are becoming more common on the road it is protecting them from fatal crashes.

Formula One provides many features to standard road cars but no road car has yet to implement the safety cell, the section of the F1 car where the driver sits, if you've ever seen a recent serious F1 crash, such as Kubica in Canada 2007, you see the whole car smash to pieces yet Kubica only walks away with a broken leg, the cell almost completely protected him from a 200mph incident.

Almost all car accidents are caused by driver error. So we need to find a way to remove the driver form the equation, so we need to make cars that can already drive themselves. This has already been achieved by several different cars, using several different types of technology, most are based around GPS (Global Positioning Systems) in a similar manner to Satellite Navigation Systems to work out where the car is and follow the roads accordingly.

Others have used a method similar to what iOpener technology uses where by it has a camera on its roof that fires millions of infra-red beams around itself to detect objects (like a bat's sonar) warning it of any dangers around like pedestrians or other cars. The problem with this is that it is expensive to produce and is not viable for the current markets also you must consider with what happens if the software bugs, no one is going to stop it.

Also engine technology is something to consider that needs to have more technology for the future, it achieves combustion by exploding petroleum underneath the bonnet, doesn't sound safe that way does it? By ultimately we are running out of oil that is used to produce the petrol that we put into our cars. Development of engines could lead to more efficient engines which burn less fuel, this has partly been achieved with diesel but then where does the diesel come from? The same crude oil that is used to produce petrol, so that is no good.

What about alternative fuels? There are now hybrids and electric cars which famously "only one moving part" while this is more reliable, where does the electricity come from to power these cars? By burning coal, another fossil fuel that we are starting to run out of. There is also development of Hydrogen Fuel Cells, these are looking to be a much more viable option, same price to produce as petrol, highly efficient and the only waste product is pure water (H2O), but problems lie with obtaining hydrogen as even though it is the most abundant element in the universe, it is always attached to something else and is hard to extract and store.

What about technology that can't come from motorsport like practicality, the perfect car really is one that you can take the kids into school, keeping them safe, entertained and comfortable. Drive you to your business meeting, possibly over long distances without making you feel drained, and not costing you a bundle either. We've partly achieved this with TVs in cars, stereos and there is no beating European cars for long distance touring in comfort but no car provides them all, arguably the closest car is the Range Rover, however you have to be quite well off to afford one, starting at £44,000 for the base model which isn't recommended plus its high maintenance costs.

Back to the main point, Is car technology too much? It entirely depends on what you want from a car, but the whole point of the car was to travel from A to B quickly and effortlessly. But with the motoring world all wanting different things its hard to know what will come next. Car technology will only progress if there is money to be made, and sometimes even though it is for the better the costs are simply too much to risk.
SoulTerror08
Re: Car Technology: Too much?
Post Sat Sep 11, 2010 11:13 pm by SoulTerror08
To an extent it is. I've still be wanting to find out if i can disconnect the HDD that is under the passenger seat in our Pontiac Montana and not cause any problems with insruance coverage.
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