20 Car Innovations That DID NOT Stand the Test of Time

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20 Car Innovations That DID NOT Stand the Test of Time

Many of my earlier cars had the bench seats and column gear change, great for "courting";););)
Laid back approach to motoring :) Also no protruding floor gear shift to negotiate. I can recommend the back seat of a fiat 600D :)
 
Some of us are too old for a woody,,, I mean we can't lift a surf board onto the roof like the Beach Boys.;)
I can still just about manage (although I haven't been able to climb up there with it!).
Maybe I should nail some planks to the side to complete the look🤔
 

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Hopefully the new craze in LED front headlights won’t be here for long, great if you’re the one driving the car with them I’m sure, but a ballache if the car behind you has them as you can’t see sh*t once you’ve looked in your rear view mirror!
 
The things I'd be glad to see the back off

Start stop - I hate it 😂

Electronic handbrakes, what's wrong with a normal handbrake why make it complicated & expensive to replace.

And last of all the biggest elephant in the room, ELECTRIC CARS, just get rid of the lot of them.
Totally agree re Stop /Start for most it increases the sale of batteries, starters and alternators even though they are more expensive and heavier duty to operate this system. I have this from an Auto Electrician of many years standing.
Not a fan of Electronic Handbrakes, my understanding it was due to Citroens etc. running away when parked with hot rear brake discs that contracted as they cooled allowing the cars to roll away! So the pressure is better maintained with electrical pull off. I always liked the combination of discs all round but brake drums for the handbrake inside the rear discs, all my 3.5 tonne Iveco Daily's had that and even with a 3.5 tonne trailer as well, worked perfectly.
The other thing I dislike is Hill Hold which I have on a Skoda Scout 4x4, it never releases instantly meaning on a fairly quick get away your are straining the clutch and the brakes. I checked to see if it was possible to disengage it or reduce it's holding time, but apparently not on my series 2. People who cannot manage a Hill start without that technology maybe need more tuition in my eyes.
Also @FiatMatt94 on EVs, I can't see many 50 year old ones being around for a classic car show can you?
As @Greasytrucker says re the later high intensity headlights:(
 
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The other thing I dislike is Hill Hold which I have on a Skoda Scout 4x4, it never releases instantly meaning on a fairly quick get away your are straining the clutch and the brakes. I checked to see if it was possible to disengage it or reduce it's holding time, but apparently not on my series 2. People who cannot manage a Hill start without that technology maybe need more tuition in my eyes.
As @Greasytrucker says re the later high intensity headlights:(
😂 Hill hold didn't come to my mind, my old Panda had it & it was really annoying, especially if you were on a hill ready to pull away as after pulling up to a junction & they would be a second delay whilst the hill hold was doing it's thing by which time a car appeared so you couldn't go, I'd sit there & think what is the point as I'm old school & don't rely on technology, I hate modern tech 😂 which is why I much prefer the Seicento I've got now compared to the 18 plate Panda I had before as it's just so basic which is what I love, I've done 3k miles in the old girl so far in just over 3 months, gone from Surrey to Cheshire & back 3 times she hasn't missed a beat, I've changed a few parts for preventative maintenance as I'm a bit OCD with my cars 😂 but for a 24 year old car it's doing really well, I totally agree if people cannot manage hill starts without the tech they need more tuition, also LED headlights as @Greasytrucker says especially when you're in a car that's a lot smaller than the modern day equivalent & they come up behind you at night I have to move my mirror up as the shine from the light through the mirror goes in my eyes, they should be banned. I'm all for putting slightly better bulbs in if you have really naff lights but there's no need to go completely mental with them like you see on some cars nowadays.
 
Hill holders seem alright to me..

I've driven a few cack handed ones, usually on cars with rear drums where they tend to stick.

Both of Current cars have it, it rarely gets used other than one specific up hill T junction with a stop sign. Traffic tends to move one car then stop then move again.

If you're hill starting of the handbrake every 3 seconds through a line 10 cars it's a bit annoying. In the old days people would have just smeared the clutch the whole way up. Instead you can move a car length, give the clutch a break, move again and repeat without messing on with the handbrake.

To be fair I don't mind most of the modern tech as long it comes with adjustment or off buttons. So new car can tell you the speed limit between the gauges...this is fairly standard now and has been for years. But you can also tell it not to....or tell it to only warn you about speed if you're 1,3,5, etc over the limit.

It has collision avoidance...so far it's never done anything but this may be due to being set to "only warn me if I'm about to die" there's also a setting where it's more hyperactive.

Same with lane keeping this can be properly annoying...this isn't because theres a button on the wheel that turns it off and it stays off.

I also have a big button next to the gearknob for stop start....but it's usually on and given it's on it's original battery at 8 years old and the stop start still works. I can imagine on diesel it's difficult story...

Of course all is not well in the garden...as I have one permanent warning light. Why does anyone use that stupid bloody battery powered RF radio tyre valve TPMS system. Just the wheel speed sensors for the ABS and call it done.

Of course my elderly father has a car with all the same gear on it and he hates it as he never has sat and worked out how to adjust and switch it off...but I dare say I could "fix" his car for him in about 2 minutes it's just got everything set to hyperactivity mode.
 
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😂 Hill hold didn't come to my mind, my old Panda had it & it was really annoying, especially if you were on a hill ready to pull away as after pulling up to a junction & they would be a second delay whilst the hill hold was doing it's thing by which time a car appeared so you couldn't go, I'd sit there & think what is the point as I'm old school & don't rely on technology, I hate modern tech 😂 which is why I much prefer the Seicento I've got now compared to the 18 plate Panda I had before as it's just so basic which is what I love, I've done 3k miles in the old girl so far in just over 3 months, gone from Surrey to Cheshire & back 3 times she hasn't missed a beat, I've changed a few parts for preventative maintenance as I'm a bit OCD with my cars 😂 but for a 24 year old car it's doing really well, I totally agree if people cannot manage hill starts without the tech they need more tuition, also LED headlights as @Greasytrucker says especially when you're in a car that's a lot smaller than the modern day equivalent & they come up behind you at night I have to move my mirror up as the shine from the light through the mirror goes in my eyes, they should be banned. I'm all for putting slightly better bulbs in if you have really naff lights but there's no need to go completely mental with them like you see on some cars nowadays.
Ehhhh, whatttttt. Saves on cable wear. And unless you have three legs, Impossible to hold most Fiats on the slightest of cambers, made since like ever!!!!!!!



Worst safety brake on the planet, well once it has aged. And even then, if you even tried to maintain it.

Still crap, thin cables and small actuation levers = no hand/safety braking.

Except at MOT time, the only time it was ever used with vigor.


If it passed, after massive adjustments.
 
Ehhhh, whatttttt. Saves on cable wear. And unless you have three legs, Impossible to hold most Fiats on the slightest of cambers, made since like ever!!!!!!!



Worst safety brake on the planet, well once it has aged. And even then, if you even tried to maintain it.

Still crap, thin cables and small actuation levers = no hand/safety braking.

Except at MOT time, the only time it was ever used with vigor.


If it passed, after massive adjustments.
I've never had problems holding old Fiat's on slight cambers with crap or even broken handbrakes, they are simple & work well if properly adjusted & usually only wear if either the cables rotten, levers seizing or some muppet wrenching them up all the time, I've seen people yank them up as if their going to pull it out of the floor a simple system that's tried & tested & also cheap to replace parts which I'd rather have than something unnecessary & expensive when it breaks
 
Had a 127, 124, 131 countless Unos. Puntos, Stilos. The wife had a 12 plate Punto 1.2.

All hand brakes only work at no speed I.e all crap. Apart from the Stilo that had discs at the back, but as it aged (after three years). Won't stop you if hydraulic brake system failed. My Citroen Cactus stops the car quite quickly and it's cables and drums are no bigger than anybody's.

My Fiat systems, where badly designed. And I only used my handbrake to test it before any yearly MOT.

Maybe it was just my cars that stood alone, by having crap handbrakes. As the brakes were spot on. The mechanical ones were useless. Even from new.
 
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