Have we lost control ? Or are we better off ?

[Mercman]

This is why I quit working on cars when they came out with unleaded fuel. I can rebuild a SBC in my sleep darn near.

Edited April 5, 2012 by Mercman

[moparmagiclives]

I'm so old school I don't like cup holders, but I don't see a diferance between a 2012 knob and a 1956 push button.

I do, there were cables behind the buttons, that actualy touched the transmission. The 2012, you have a knob that asks for permission to have forward gears, or reverse. And if it doesnt feel like it, you aint gettin it. There is no "mechanical" connection. Thats the problem I have. Try leaning under the hood of anything 5 years old and "snapping" the throttle...zipp/nahda

[martinfan5]

Less parts that can break, just hope the ECU does not go out

[CadillacPat]

Technology has always been around us ever since the first man or monkey used one tool to manufacture another.

It's technology for the sake of technology that makes no sense.

Some things are perfect just the way they are.

The addition of bells and whistles don't improve a product they merely add built in cost.

CadillacPat

[Agent G]

Given my age and experience I am usually consulted by the firearms training staff when something new and improved makes a debut. My first comment is usually "what happens when it breaks? Can an agent adapt and perform under stress when the whizz bang goes belly up?

Now a shifter really isn't in the realm of deadly force encounters, yet "what happens when it breaks? BMW introduced a 7 series with a toggle on the console that allowed a driver full freedom to navigate onboard menus. Not only could no one could do this and not come close to hitting another car, no one could figure out what to do if it didn't work.

Why change what we all know? Why change what works? I saw plenty of issues arise when my PD switched from FWD to RWD cars and back again in the span of three years. Kids were piling up cars with alarming regularity. Oh yes we can adapt, but why must we?

G

[martinfan5]

Given my age and experience I am usually consulted by the firearms training staff when something new and improved makes a debut. My first comment is usually "what happens when it breaks? Can an agent adapt and perform under stress when the whizz bang goes belly up?

Now a shifter really isn't in the realm of deadly force encounters, yet "what happens when it breaks? BMW introduced a 7 series with a toggle on the console that allowed a driver full freedom to navigate onboard menus. Not only could no one could do this and not come close to hitting another car, no one could figure out what to do if it didn't work.

Why change what we all know? Why change what works? I saw plenty of issues arise when my PD switched from FWD to RWD cars and back again in the span of three years. Kids were piling up cars with alarming regularity. Oh yes we can adapt, but why must we?

G

And I am bad driver for having a little parking accident , wow that department must of been full of bad drivers, how hard is it to go from a RWD-FWD or vise versa

I want say I heard that BMW is still having problems with their Idrive system . One of things that I dont like about the Mrs. car is the inability to turn off the headlights, at night, even with headlights turned off and the car in park the headlights are on, period.

I know its a saftey feature now in cars and has been for while now, DRL/ auto lights, I guess it was just to much work for people to turn on their headlights when it gets dark. I am all for DRL, and I had one vehicle that did not have them, but I wired it up to have DRL . My car has auto lights, but you can turn it off.

Edited April 6, 2012 by martinfan5

[moparmagiclives]

And don't even get me started on the whole keyless passive entry/run features. We have a few city cops running the new charger with this system. One officer came in very....umm... Hot , for lack of a better term. The normal operation is to walk up, key fob in you pocket, grab the handle and open the door, that worked fine. Gets in, shuts the door, foot on the brake and presses the run "button".... No response. Again, and again no response. Now his radio is blowing up, officers are scrambling for some reason or another, and he is setting in his car pressing a button that's doing nothing. Last ditch effort, he's holding the remote over his head trying to see if it gets a signal, all the time there are in car cameras I'm told, finally get it going. Man was he hot, all because of the "new" stuff.

[Junkman]

Planet Earth is a disc. And the Sun is circling around it.

[6bblbird]

I have a 2009 Challenger R/T with an auto. trans. You can move the stick when you want to shift but the transmission does what it wants to do! A dial doesn't bother me at all.

WF

[Rob Hall]

Technology continues to move forward. Automakers adapt technology to build better, more efficient cars. It's been that way since ancient times when cars had hand cranks and wooden wheels. Imagine if automobiles hadn't progressed in the last 100 years (though some of the luddites would probably like that).

[Chuck Most]

I wouldn't drive a Ram if I were given one (well, I might drive it all the way to the Ford dealer to use it as a trade-in on an F-150), so I'm not too worried about it. Then again, I doubt I'd buy an F-150 either... just like the Rams, the F-150s are no longer avaialable with manual transmissions. And good luck finding one with a bench seat and a rubber floor without having to special order it. Yeah, I guess I'm old school... If I wanted leather seats, satellite navigation and radio, a power moonroof, and all that happy horse-puckey, I'd buy a luxury car, not a pickup.

[Rob Hall]

And I am bad driver for having a little parking accident , wow that department must of been full of bad drivers, how hard is it to go from a RWD-FWD or vise versa.

Younger drivers in general have only been exposed to FWD cars and didn't grow up learning to drive RWD, so I could see how that would be a problem..different handling dynamics, esp. in inclement weather. I'm glad I grew up w/ RWD and manual transmissions, and only once had a FWD car (never again).

[hotrod59f100]

Heck I must have regressed .lol I went to a 59 ford 3speed on the colum and drum brakes all around. No cup holders and no ac .every car and truck I owned has been manual . I will not bow to the automatic tranny .

Edited April 6, 2012 by hotrod59f100

[Guest Johnny]

As far as maps, I have Rand McNally maps, Thomas Guide street maps of a few cities, Google maps and navigation on my phone, and OnStar in one car, so I'm not worried about getting lost..

Just watch out for those rivers, lakes and creeks!

[Rob Hall]

Heck I must have regressed .lol I went to a 59 ford 3speed on the colum and drum brakes all around. No cup holders and no ac .every car and truck I owned has been manual . I will not bow to the automatic tranny .

I owned only vehicles w/ manuals until I was 30...after that, I've had two automatics (and still a couple manuals)...certain vehicles just aren't offered w/ manuals. I don't mind an automatic in an SUV or a luxury sedan (which my daily drivers have been the last decade).

Edited April 6, 2012 by Rob Hall

[Longbox55]

Not all new Rams have that. I just had a '12 Ram 2500 in the shop, it had a regular column shifter.

Personally, I'll stick with my column shifted 3 speed manual w/ Borg-Warner overdrive.

[moparmagiclives]

Not all new Rams have that. I just had a '12 Ram 2500 in the shop, it had a regular column shifter.

Personally, I'll stick with my column shifted 3 speed manual w/ Borg-Warner overdrive.

2013, haven't launched yet.

[moparmagiclives]

How about this then. Most cars are or will b going to electric power steering assist. No hydrology pumps. Just a motor on the rack. And they already have steering angle sensors in the colums for ESP and trac control to detect steering angle vs yaw rates. How long untill the steering wheel is just a switch like the throttle pedal and shift "knob" and a little motor does all the steering like the rest. Heck, at that point you could save all kinds of space that way, and put the wheel anywhere you wanted right? Just doesn't seem right to me. Like someone already said, " technology for the sake of technology"

[Tonioseven]

It's the Dumbing Down of the general population . Been happenning for decades and will continue .

I also believe this to be true. I forget which tycoon stated "I want a nation of workers, not thinkers" or something to that effect.

[timc]

_{I got a 2000 Toyota Tacoma.167062 actual miles.It has a 5 speed manual trans,lever for four wheel drive right beside it ,manual lock out hubs and crank windows.No cruise control or power anything,the only luxury is air conditioning(used only 2 or 3 times a year).I added a Pioneer supertuner3 cd player 3 months after I bought it. It's nothin fancy and it gets a bath twice a year weather it needs it or not. Will I trade it for new technology?Probly never,at least I can work on it when needed. And it will go where and when others won't or can't.After 12 years the little truck is like a family member.bigtim.}

Edited April 6, 2012 by timc

[timc]

Why was the print so small?

[Guest fivespot300]

some day ..we wil have a gps thing like sys...add to that a smart car ..and no more accedents ... no more driver lic,s ..some where in time it will come

[Jordan White]

_{I got a 2000 Toyota Tacoma.167062 actual miles.It has a 5 speed manual trans,lever for four wheel drive right beside it ,manual lock out hubs and crank windows.No cruise control or power anything,the only luxury is air conditioning(used only 2 or 3 times a year).I added a Pioneer supertuner3 cd player 3 months after I bought it. It's nothin fancy and it gets a bath twice a year weather it needs it or not. Will I trade it for new technology?Probly never,at least I can work on it when needed. And it will go where and when others won't or can't.After 12 years the little truck is like a family member.bigtim.}

Oh yeah? Well my '89 Wrangler is even simpler: 5-speed stick, 4WD lever, zip-down windows, no cruise, no A/C, and only power steering/brakes. Course it does have auto hubs, but that'll change once I upgrade the axles.

Personally, I don't really care what they do anymore, so long as some companies still offer a manual on some of their vehicles. When I get a new vehicle next year, I'll be looking at a 2013 Tacoma with the 4-cylinder and 5-speed, in 4WD, which I'll have to special order since there seems to be only autos on the lots. As far as auto shifters though, I prefer column shift for trucks and floor shift for cars, with an actual shifter.

[Danno]

One of things that I dont like about the Mrs. car is the inability to turn off the headlights, at night, even with headlights turned off and the car in park the headlights are on, period.

Two words, Jonathan. "Emergency" and "Brake." When you put the little lady's Beetle in park, the DRL headlamps stay on. When you also set the Emergency Brake (or Parking Brake for some of youse), the DRLs go out. Poof!

There's this amazing conceptual thing in the glove box ... an owner's manual. Try it sometime.

Just teasin' you, man! Oooops, here comes

[Danno]

Speaking of Beetles with DRLs. A woman arrived at our shop with a 5 year old Beetle with 12,000 miles ... (part-time resident of the sunny climes) ... complaining that her taillights did not work.

Turns out she had NEVER used the light switch ... she drove around for 5 years on the DRLs at night, thinking her car had automatic lights because every time she looked at the headlamps, they were "on!"

She was stunned to find out ... you have to turn your own lights on!

Here's your sign!