Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Peter_L]

Now, of a certain age, I can remember the days when grease guns were used on a regular basis. We would thump the inside middle door pillar to get the semaphore arm to go up, or down. Changing down was required on steep hills.
Delicate footwork would enable a double de clutch and a touch on the brake.

Bends in the road were seen by the driver and acted upon accordingly, most of the time, and we got better. Cadance braking or just pumping the air out meant one learned to keep a safe distance. We slowed down when it rained and put the lights on when it got dark.

Did we ever take more care when we had been to the pub ? honest answers please. and I bet no one reading this ever sat little "Johnny" on their lap and actually "drive the car".

I know that many of the things we might have done could be considered "unwise"..... but have we moved too far with modern cars.

Do we really need "Drive 'til Empty" information when we have a fuel gauge.
Do we really need to know the washer water is about to run out.
Do we really need to know we are not wearing a seat belt, or there is a car on our left quarter, or there is something in front that we could hit if the brakes didn't have a mind of their own.
Does every bend have to have numerous signs and speed limits.
Do we need to be told to slow down a bit when leaving the motorway.

and, from the latest TV advert over here. Does my hatchback really have to remember how tall I am ?

Not so far from here, a car left the road at 2am. It was an urban 90 degree bend. The car barrel rolled for over 300 yds and both occupants were thrown out. No seat belts were being worn. The passenger continued for another 60ft into the river. The driver survived. Speed and Alcohol were said to be major factors. How about lack of skill ? The powers that be (Council) are looking at either reshaping the corner or improving signage or putting up barriers. This is the second fatal accident at this site since 2009.

Tragic, of course. My comment, Controversial, I know. But are we making cars that remove good judgement, or is modern life in general removing the need for good judgment ?

[Rick]

I agree that technology is now taking over too many of the driver's roles and responsibilities in many instances.

If someone can't park their own car, is incapable of turning their own lights/wipers on, or needs help braking and accelerating their car in traffic (cruise control excepted perhaps), then should they be behind the wheel at all?

Driving should be challenging and require concentration IMO, all these "aids" are further removing the driver from what's actually going on out there.

RJ
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[peter scott]

Roll on the day when we are all travelling in driverless cars and can enjoy a few jars at the pub.

Peter
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https://www.nostalgiatech.co.uk
1939 SS Jaguar 2 1/2 litre saloon

[kevin2306]

totally agree, I love the experience of driving my Singer and the input you need to give.
im hankering for a Morris 8 and if I can drop on a 'fixer upper' it will be done, not sure if I will like it or not but I want to experience older style motoring.

Kev

[roverdriver]

I agree with you, peterwpg. It does concern me that we are creating a breed of 'car guiders' who lack basic skills as drivers.
When teaching family members to drive, one of the techniques that I tried to instill was to drive on country roads, and NEVER use the brakes. In other words, they had to read the road, and adjust speed for corners before, or as entering the curves.

Fortunately, I have no desire to own a modern confection with all of the built-in and automatic features that you mention. If they are there, the 'driver' will come to rely on them, and when they don't work, the 'driver' will be totally lost.
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[MikeEdwards]

As someone who has worked in the IT field for some time, what concerns me about the steadily increasing levels of technology in cars is the reliability. On my classic recently I had a flickering oil pressure light sometimes - no problem, one look at the pressure gauge (which is not electrical, has pipe into the back of the gauge) tells me all is fine and I have either a faulty warning switch or a loose connection. No need to plug a laptop into the diagnostics port, or worse, take it to a dealer and pay them to do it.

Now, if my classic was used for the same kind of mileage as my modern car (particularly when I used to commute a lot more than I do now) maybe I would be less forgiving. The things like fuel range, washer bottle level low are simply there so that people don't have to bother checking every weekend. For most people that's fine, they don't have that little voice on their shoulder whispering "but what if it's the sensor?", and it doesn't make them any less capable behind the wheel. But collision avoidance, radar systems, auto-parking and so on perhaps does. Though if we were all trying to park in cities a few times a day, every day, maybe we'd think differently.

I am told that modern car electronics (more modern that my modern, which is now a bit older than a similar model on display at a local classic car show last weekend) is much more reliable, but I'm struggling to be convinced.

[peter scott]

[Peter_L]

We have a modern Dodge Journey and it has many of the technical things mentioned above. To address the balance, here are a couple of technical aids I do like.

Cruise Control. Speed perception varies with the road and anyone who drives a larger engine modern will know how much speed change one can get for just a little throttle movement. On the whole, speed limits are much lower across Canada than the UK, the highest being 110 KPH. (68MPH). Quite a lot of 90 KPH. Small towns can be 50 KPH or even 40 KPH. We use the cruise quite a lot and not just on the interstates/freeways.

Electric Door Mirrors. My wife is 5'3 (ish) and I am 6'1. plus highway or parking often needs an adjustment.

Electric Tailgate. She can't reach it. . The Explorer has a convenient strap but not the Dodge.

GPS. It really is state of the art and we would not want to be without it. However, we are both good map readers and can plan a section of the route and give "Sheila" the information. Lane assist in cities like Los Angeles, Atlanta, New York, Quebec, etc makes life easier.

I am certainly not anti-technology but I am concerned about the world wide trend of removing human judgement, not just in motoring but so many other things. Just because there are no warning signs does not mean it is 100% safe.

[Rick]

One trend I've noticed is to incorporate lousy rearward vision (eg tiny shallow rear windows, thick rear quarter panels etc) in many cars, the driver having to rely instead on reversing sensors. If/when they pack up, reversing will be a real challenge - I wonder what towing and manoeuvring a trailer or caravan without a decent view out of the back would be like?

RJ
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[Ellis]

If one listed all the systems in modern cars in their abbreviated form, how long would the list continue for I wonder.

ABS, PAS, ICE, EBD, ACE.....................................

ESP cannot be far away in the future.
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Starting Handle Expert

1964 Jaguar Mark 2 3.4 litre
1962 Land Rover Series 2a 88"
2002 BMW M3 E46 Cabriolet

[norustplease]

[MikeEdwards]

[Penman]

Hi
The other day I was driving a Volvo XC90 and it seemed to have a Lane Hold sensor or something of the sort.
There was a definite resistance felt at the wheel rim as I started to make an intentional lane shift.
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Bristols should always come in pairs.

Any 2 from:-
Straight 6
V8 V10

[Peter_L]

[mikeC]