I normally wait until the valves bounce to
change up, so this light comes on a lot when I have to drive such a thing for work time to time!
I'm currently driving a hire car while my normal tin-top is in for repair (a dopey driver managed to scrape the rear door while reversing out of
the next-door parking bay). It's a Ford Fiesta - not a basic model, and has a few 'features' - not a bad car to drive, but
wouldn't be my first choice if I was looking for a new car.
However - the thing that's really starting to annoy me is the little up-arrow to tell me that I should change up a gear. It seems to light up as
soon as the engine is starting to work reasonably well, and certainly quite a while before I would choose to change up. It's a tiny light, but
it's right in the middle of the dash and it's REALLY getting on my nerves!
I've had a few rants in the past about unnecessary gadgets (e.g. automatic wipers that work when you don't want them, and don't when
you need them), but is this just me? Am I getting paranoid, or are car makers getting overly interfering?
It's not just you, I hate this feature of some modern cars. A bit of gaffer tape may sort it out I normally wait until the valves bounce to
change up, so this light comes on a lot when I have to drive such a thing for work time to time!
on a fiesta apart from a st its not engine load dependent like the other Ford models so it is rubbish and annoying
i work for ford and got my mum a new fiesta this year and she changed gear when it said regardless on the incline and its fair to say it was not how
it needed to be driven
the rest of the models use engine load dependent shift lights which work quite well, not as well as the vw ones but still better than an annoying
light on at 1,900 rpm
Another distraction you don't need, another thing to look at instead of the road.
New Astra's SRI are the same
Jacko
search through the menus - it should have an option to display how well / badly your driving. now that's fun.
I believe the dealers have software via the ODB port that can give options on displaying (or not) non mission critical features, give them a ring.
Obey the machines. All hail our new overlords
Think that's bad...
Look on the menu for the Eco driving rating...
Then spend you pr life trying to get 5's on them all lol
My mrs has one I can wreck it in 15 mins making everything 2 or 3 lol
Auto-indicators p*ss me off, you can accidentally nudge the stalk and the indicator carrys on blinking for a bit which can look to other road users
like you're turning off. cant cancel it or it starts flashing the other way instead! 
Yep, Ive fallen foul of auto-indicators. Stupid idea.
On a similar note, has anyone been bold enough to install one of those insurance driving apps on your phone? Couple of my friends have done, you have
to register your email address, phone number etc. Does no-one else have a hint of paranoia with regards to that?
I hate cars that you have to push the clutch down when starting the engine, not a problem when driving but a real pain when the car is on a two post lift
I like to see how bad I can get the instantaneous fuel consumption reading on the tintop 
quote:
Originally posted by rusty nuts
I hate cars that you have to push the clutch down when starting the engine, not a problem when driving but a real pain when the car is on a two post lift
Is everyone getting grumpier with age??
Must admit I was baffled by a new hire car a few weeks ago that needed the clutch depressing to start. Cars are becoming ridiculously complicated for
no apparent gain to the driving experience.
quote:
Originally posted by rusty nuts
I hate cars that you have to push the clutch down when starting the engine, not a problem when driving but a real pain when the car is on a two post lift
Modern gadgets I like in cars I thought I wouldn't, auto wipers and auto lights in my previous Golf GTD and new Audi A3. I hate wipers juddering
over a drying screen but the sensor and wipers are spot on.
I agree current indicators can be a pain. Current other hates are electric hand brake - no finesse or feel available, driving by robot and stop start
system. Stopped the other day to let some nervous horses past and just as they got level car restarts after its regulation off time out - grrrr.
Got a golf and its got all the above and more, collision alarm, radar, stop start, auto engine start on stall, racing engine sounds, the bloody lot. 18 buttons on the steering wheel as well..total head fook..
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
quote:
Originally posted by rusty nuts
I hate cars that you have to push the clutch down when starting the engine, not a problem when driving but a real pain when the car is on a two post lift
Ive never seen a car that requires that?!
I had to get my sister out to show me how to start the engine in her bmw
It had like an atari cartridge that went into the dash and then needed the brakes or clutch pressed before the button on the dash did anything, I was
like how is this progress????!!! this is madness 
Best bit is when the battery went flat and they couldn't get the doors open oh how I laughed, you see I have this little thing called a key and
it doesn't need batteries to work smart thinking
quote:
Originally posted by jacko
quote:
Originally posted by rusty nuts
I hate cars that you have to push the clutch down when starting the engine, not a problem when driving but a real pain when the car is on a two post lift
Its the electric hand brakes that i cant get my head round
Put the brake on / rev the engine and the brake comes off not good if you are working on the car and its parked on a slight slope
Jacko
yeah that stop start thing, doesn't that wear out the starter and the flywheel teeth? I notice too the batteries for them are more than twice the
price. Also wonder about the extra wear to the engine if it needs to build up oil pressure each time it starts as that is when most wear occurs not to
mention the engine cooling back down so it becomes less efficient... seems a crazy thing to do just to save a tiny bit of fuel while idling a
lights
have to admit there's nothing at all in new cars that makes me want to get one, I find my 25 year old one much nicer all round
[Edited on 19/2/14 by Mr Whippy]
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
quote:
Originally posted by rusty nuts
I hate cars that you have to push the clutch down when starting the engine, not a problem when driving but a real pain when the car is on a two post lift
Ive never seen a car that requires that?!
quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
yeah that stop start thing, doesn't that wear out the starter and the flywheel teeth? I notice too the batteries for them are more than twice the price. Also wonder about the extra wear to the engine if it needs to build up oil pressure each time it starts as that is when most wear occurs not to mention the engine cooling back down so it becomes less efficient... seems a crazy thing to do just to save a tiny bit of fuel while idling a lights
quote:
Originally posted by rusty nuts
quote:
Originally posted by coyoteboy
quote:
Originally posted by rusty nuts
I hate cars that you have to push the clutch down when starting the engine, not a problem when driving but a real pain when the car is on a two post lift
Ive never seen a car that requires that?!
Newer Ford Focus amongst others
quote:
Originally posted by GRRR
Auto-indicators p*ss me off, you can accidentally nudge the stalk and the indicator carrys on blinking for a bit which can look to other road users like you're turning off. cant cancel it or it starts flashing the other way instead!
Bloody self-lock doors get on my wick Rovers fiited them, they lock automatically at between 2 and 7 mph and remain locked after the carstops to open
them from the inside you have to pull the handle twice but the other doors remain locked.
Working the locks on the blipper one press will only unlock the drivers door, two presses are required to unlock the other doors.
It can be turned off with Rover Textbook but ,,,,,,,,,,,
I like the one touch indicators. Hate stop start, keyless entry, electric bloody handbrakes (not found one that holds on my steep drive and
ludicrously expensive to fix) and all the bloody safety bings and f***ong bongs, I know when my seat belts off, I know when it's cold I know when
I've left the key in just stop binging at me!!!
And being grumpy is fine, I've been grumpy since I sold my kit to help find a house project that fell through at the last min. In fact even the
mrs has noted my inherent grumpiness and is hinting I should get a new 'toy' car. So being grumpy has it's upsides
quote:
Originally posted by sdh2903bings and f***ong bongs, I know when my seat belts off, I know when it's cold I know when I've left the key in just stop binging at me!!!
quote:
Originally posted by nick205
quote:
Originally posted by Mr Whippy
yeah that stop start thing, doesn't that wear out the starter and the flywheel teeth? I notice too the batteries for them are more than twice the price. Also wonder about the extra wear to the engine if it needs to build up oil pressure each time it starts as that is when most wear occurs not to mention the engine cooling back down so it becomes less efficient... seems a crazy thing to do just to save a tiny bit of fuel while idling a lights
The Volvo V50 eDrive I had for a year or so was Start/Stop. It didn't perform the Start/Stop unless the engine was up to temperature, thus limiting cold start wear. It had a definite positive impact on urban fuel consumption as well.
wow you lot are grumpy
quote:
Originally posted by femster87
wow you lot are grumpy
My personal pet hates include gear change lights (mind you my tin-top's one isn't so bad - it comes on somewhere over ~6.5k just before the
rev limiter ), self locking doors, etc. but they are just irritating...
the one that I think actually get in the way of driving are:
start-stop - I've had it on a few hire cars now and can never get used to it - 1 time in 10 I end up stalling the car when pulling away - a 2.0
bluemotion golf was the worst of the lot
Electric handbrakes - even when they are working you can never quite predict exactly when they'll let go / bite
traction control - my new tin-top has it, every time I hit puddle deeper than 1/2" it kicks in, killing the power and pulling the car to the
side with it turned off it just pulls thought the puddle dead strait, but it come on again automatically when you restart the car....
Stupidly light power steering, make the cars too twitchy all so your granny can park the car with 1 finger....
Stupidly light clutch pedals with no feel in them, and that combined with eco-tuned engines with zero torque at tickover is really irritating - my
mum has a 1.6 diesel polo (first of the new shape) its got so little go in it that I've stalled it nearly every time I've ever driven it
a lot of them just feel disconnected from the road, I'll admit its nice and quiet and you don't feel the bumps, but some go too far and you
can't even feel what the car is doing underneath you so you've no idea how well the car is gripping and when its going to let go
the worst one I've driven for this is my dad's disco 3, I actually prefer his old 1989 110 stationwagon !
apart from its stupidly light steering the best new car I've had in a long time was actually a 1.2 fiat 500 (never though I'd ever say
that !)
all the functional bits on it were simple and worked and you actually felt connected to the road... (now if I could just work out how to kill the
power steering it would be near perfect...)
quote:
Originally posted by scudderfish
I like to see how bad I can get the instantaneous fuel consumption reading on the tintop
(its only a c-max with a 1.8 duratec)