Quote:
Originally Posted by Clodfobble
I think it completely depends on the angle of the seat. In Mr. Clod's compact car, I don't have one and don't need one.
|
Many neat features in one car become distressingly obvious once the 'new' car had been driven a while.
For example, there must be someplace to properly rest the left foot. New Pontiac became a problem after many days because there was no left foot support.
How headlights are turned on in Chevy's would always get me confused. Headlights and highbeam flashing must all be on one control.
How a radio is setup. That Pontiac had so many buttons. Could not find the volume control without taking my eyes off the road and searching radio buttons. Same for station selection - not the preset controls - how to tune any frequency. At night, I would just keep pushing buttons until something worked.
A C300 Series Mercedes drove me crazy. Everytime when signaling a turn, instead that lever activated cruise control. Recently was asking a new Mercedes owner (her previous car was a Volvo 60 series) what she did not like. Exact same thing. She also kept turning on that cruise control because it was located to be confused with turn signals.
A light to focus on a paper (or map) before you? Often the newer dome light can be too dim. A map reading light that so many do not notice until that one dark night.
Adjustable steering wheel so that you can see every light on the dashboard.
Can you find the window switch (or handle) without taking eyes of the road? Or one problem I so hated in one of those Pontiacs. It would lock all doors as soon as the car started moving (which I did not want). Door unlock switch was buried up front on the door behind the dash board. Could not be seen. Had to go feeling for the switch.
Dash board up so high as to obstruct vision of items in front of the front bumper. A problem often found in cars with lowest performance engines (ie V8s).
Rear window visibility obstructed. Well, Volvos even have a dashboard switch so that rear seat headrests drop down. A kludge solution to a bad body design.
Tinted windows - or how to get into crashes because other drivers could not see your eyes.
Put the car in neutral. Without using brakes, how does the car come to a stop. Only better cars will roll to a stop so gentle that you cannot feel when wheels actually stop spinning.
Superior cars have engines so quiet that sometimes you do not know if the engine is running. With the engine running, try to start it. Only better cars will not engage the starter motor if the car is already running.
If a stick, then get moving without ever touching the accelerator petal. How easy determines quality and performance of the drive train.
Close each door only with your pinky. Superior cars that end up costing less money and last longer will close with less push from that little finger. One of the worst cars in this category was a Jaguar.
Some simple tests to categorize any new car.