An car feature I didn't think I'd grow to like this much

[PricklyPete]

I would only moderately want a heated steering wheel. Proper gloves are easy to put on before getting in. However, a heated drivers side floor would be heaven. It would be cheap and easy to implement, so I don't know why car manufacturers don't really do it.

All I've ever seen in the dozens of cars that I've driven is that some have a slightly better angle of the heated air blowing towards your feet. But it never actually warms your feet. Far too often every part of me in a car is toasty warm, to the point of nearly sweating, but my feet are almost frostbitten. And carrying around winter boots to just change into when you start driving is not nearly as easy as having proper gloves in your coat pocket.

Just drive a car for one cold month with a heated steering wheel and get back with us. It is heavenly. I will be hard pressed to buy a daily that doesn’t have this feature now.

I have never had this issue with feet on my last few cars. All have had Auto climate control and most of the heat is being pushed directly down. I actually don’t like wearing my winter boots in the cars because my feet end up sweating. In both of our current vehicles, no heat is coming out of the central vents during winter months.

 

[zinfamous]

2 days later and the thread title still stands, shameful as it is. I think I know what OP is doing: he is hoping that this deplorable error will summon Dr Pizza out of his hiatus.

 

[Fritzo]

Just drive a car for one cold month with a heated steering wheel and get back with us. It is heavenly. I will be hard pressed to buy a daily that doesn’t have this feature now.

I have never had this issue with feet on my last few cars. All have had Auto climate control and most of the heat is being pushed directly down. I actually don’t like wearing my winter boots in the cars because my feet end up sweating. In both of our current vehicles, no heat is coming out of the central vents during winter months.

My Cooper S has heated seats...a heated wheel would be GLORIOUS.

 

[BudAshes]

My Cooper S has heated seats...a heated wheel would be GLORIOUS.

I do have to say I rented a car the other day and it was quite nice to have the heated steering wheel. Although otherwise the Chrysler 300 is such a pile of shit. I can't believe people spend their hard earned money on that crap. Felt like I was driving around a minivan and the engine sounded like it as well.

 

[Rifter]

You're an idiot.

No hes right, insurance up here is not the same as the US, its a government run monopoly, at least in BC. We have one car insurance company(ICBC) and you are forced to use them, there is no other option. Because of this they can pretty much do whatever they want to you and you have no recourse, sure you can get your own lawyer and sue them, but that doesnt change the fact that you have no option but to keep using them as they are the only option. And they will just jack up your rates and there is nothing you can do if you want to keep driving with insurance. It really sucks car insurance wise in canada, they get away with things my american friends say would never fly in the US.

 

[PricklyPete]

No hes right, insurance up here is not the same as the US, its a government run monopoly, at least in BC. We have one car insurance company(ICBC) and you are forced to use them, there is no other option. Because of this they can pretty much do whatever they want to you and you have no recourse, sure you can get your own lawyer and sue them, but that doesnt change the fact that you have no option but to keep using them as they are the only option. And they will just jack up your rates and there is nothing you can do if you want to keep driving with insurance. It really sucks car insurance wise in canada, they get away with things my american friends say would never fly in the US.

Canukistan.

 

[bruceb]

My Cadllac ATS needs the keyfob remote nearby (in your pocket) then you press the button on the door or the trunk, depending on what you want to open. If car doors are closed and you walk away, it will beep, set the alarm and autolock when you get about 10 feet away from it.

 

[Exterous]

I had heated seats and a heated steering wheel in a car and rarely used them. I guess I just run warm although I might feel differently if I used my garage to house stupid crap instead of our cars like many around here do. Now the air cooled seats - those I like

2 days later and the thread title still stands, shameful as it is. I think I know what OP is doing: he is hoping that this deplorable error will summon Dr Pizza out of his hiatus.

Get with the times old man. Things have changed. Cars have a silent 'c' just like America now has a silent 'a'. So its 'A 'Merican' now

Now stop ruining my subtle fishing attempt

 

[bruceb]

My old 1999 Grand Prix had the heated driver seat. A welcome item in the cold NJ winters until the car heater got going. My 2016 Cadillac ATS Premium AWD has heated seat and heated steering wheel, but down here in North Carolina, those features will not get much use.

 

[rh71]

One other thing about the keyless entry/start that nobody has mentioned is that I can actually leave the car running and lock the door (handle-press) while I run back into the house for something or hit a walk-up ATM.

I think Honda is the only one that had an actual camera on the passenger side (instead of just beeping if it detects another car) so you can actually see your blind spot without having to turn your head completely around....

Not a fan of this at all. You can get a convex rear-view mirror that does this full-time. Using the screen just for that is very wasteful not to mention distracting with the scenery going by. It's like if you adjust your driver-side mirror more outward for blind-spot awareness, but what you constantly see with your peripheral are passing trees and other objects because you've done that.

 

[KMFJD]

Lol here the criminals go for the "higher end" neighborhoods. They are more likely to have good stuff. But realy they don't discriminate. There is a drug ring in my city and they check every car every night. I think everyone just covers their own block and they go at it. Most of them don't bother if it's locked, they just go to each house and check all the doors.

Sadly crime has been going up here as this was never an issue.

I dunno, seems pretty damn tame to me..

http://www.timminspolice.ca/uploads/Annual-Report-2016.pdf

 

[Red Squirrel]

I dunno, seems pretty damn tame to me..

http://www.timminspolice.ca/uploads/Annual-Report-2016.pdf

It's still low in general especially if you compare to other cities like Toronto, but it's higher than it was in the past say 10-20 years. I imagine those numbers are also based on arrests/charges and not unreported/unpunished stuff. The theft alone has been super high but most of these people don't get caught or arrested, they are just reported on unofficial places like FB by citizens who catch them red handed or simply have video footage of them trying to get in their car. The theft seems to be up and down though, like this year it's not quite as bad as last year, but in general, like if you go by decades, it's much higher.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Ha, like I was saying about security of keyless entry...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-42132804/relay-crime-theft-caught-on-camera

Interesting that it still relies on the keys though, so at least it shows there is SOME thought put into the design and there is probably some kind of handshake system and probably some kind of encryption "key" in the physical key. So like this won't work if the car is at a mall parking lot and the person is inside the mall. For at home you could probably put the keys in a grounded lead box to protect yourself from this.

 

[spacejamz]

One other thing about the keyless entry/start that nobody has mentioned is that I can actually leave the car running and lock the door (handle-press) while I run back into the house for something or hit a walk-up ATM.



Not a fan of this at all. You can get a convex rear-view mirror that does this full-time. Using the screen just for that is very wasteful not to mention distracting with the scenery going by. It's like if you adjust your driver-side mirror more outward for blind-spot awareness, but what you constantly see with your peripheral are passing trees and other objects because you've done that.

For me, only having to turn to your head a few inches to look at the screen and then knowing you are seeing EVERYTHING in the blindspot is a great feature....the passing scenery didn't bother me but I can see how it might be distracting for others...

 

[WT]

2012 Durango here with remote start and keyless entry - just get close to it and it unlocks. Also, ACC* is very handy for the few times that I do make it on the highway. Probably my favorite features are the ventilated seats for summer and the heated steering wheel for the winter.

Ventilated seats do not tie into the A/C, they instead use a large fan under the seat to recirculate interior air and blow through the tiny holes in the leather seat back and bottom. If it tied into air, that air is so cold that you'd have swamp-ass going on in no time at all. It works much better than you'd expect it to on a very hot day.

*ACC - Advanced Cruise Control. Just set it for a certain speed and it 'attaches' to a vehicle in front of you. It will then 'pin' itself to that vehicle, matching its speed if it slows down or even stops completely for heavy traffic (but not accelerating faster than your initial set speed), but freeing you from the tedious and boring task of tapping that brake !! Slight sarcasm there, but it really does make a long drive less tiring.

 

[rh71]

Ha, like I was saying about security of keyless entry...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-42132804/relay-crime-theft-caught-on-camera

Interesting that it still relies on the keys though, so at least it shows there is SOME thought put into the design and there is probably some kind of handshake system and probably some kind of encryption "key" in the physical key. So like this won't work if the car is at a mall parking lot and the person is inside the mall. For at home you could probably put the keys in a grounded lead box to protect yourself from this.

That is an interesting way to break in, but you would need the key in proximity to start the car every time. You may start it while in the driveway, but after you shut it off where ever else you are, how are you going to start it again? Can it copy and retain the signal? Not sure about the design of the signal being sent by OE keys and if it constantly updates. Or just, chop shop?

 

[rstrohkirch]

Advanced=Autonomous or Adaptive

ACC is a nice feature people generally like after they have it. Something they'll probably want to keep in their next vehicle.