Modern technology friend or foe .

[Sunny43.5]

Whilst not a VW it could easily be applied to some of their technology as well , story on the news of the young American Actor who was crushed by his Jeep . From an American news report some 800000 Jeeps are affected and more than 100 reports of accidents as a result of a stupid transmission selector design which has now caused a death . For the love of me I don't understand some of this "modern "technology that is suppose to be so good . Our DSG transmission when only 2 weeks old allowed the van to roll backwards down the hill out front of our house because some idiotic design which unbelievably has a name "False Neutral " when placed in drive after reversing out our drive foot planted on brake and then D selected result the van just took off backwards with engine revving it's tits off . Once stopped I selected D again and the same bloody result , at least this time I was prepared so it didn't go far . I can give many examples of things in our cars these days that don't make sense , all these "safety "features lane avoidance / collision avoidance etc are just making drivers a bunch of brain dead morons . I like to think that I am in control of my car and that was the reason I got a drivers license in the first place .
One of my pet peeves is "Smart Keys "I work in cars everyday and I thought that back in 1952 my first car a Morris Minor had a push button start , now it seems we have gone back over 60 years and it is back again ! . What was wrong with the key in ignition turn to on and then start . Now days with smart keys you have to press the button multiple times to go from off acc on and then off again , plus some car makers have hidden the start button down behind the left hand side of the steering wheel where it is almost unable to be seen . Ford have gone one step further with their ignition system you insert the key and a loud audible gong sound erupts and a message pops up on the info screen "KEY in Ignition "and when you remove it same thing but this time "Key Removed ". Well duh I did put the key into start and drive why in the hell do I need to be told I just did what it's telling me , good god its so dumb . Mercedes have got a good one in some of their model one of those chunky keys you insert into a rectangular hole and then turn , there is a clear plastic coated sensor ring around the barrel to pick up the coded key signal . These develop a crack easily and totally disable the car , tow job for those poor saps . What do you think am I a dinosaur or just cannot adjust ?

[h100vw]

Whilst not a VW it could easily be applied to some of their technology as well , story on the news of the young American Actor who was crushed by his Jeep . From an American news report some 800000 Jeeps are affected and more than 100 reports of accidents as a result of a stupid transmission selector design which has now caused a death . For the love of me I don't understand some of this "modern "technology that is suppose to be so good . Our DSG transmission when only 2 weeks old allowed the van to roll backwards down the hill out front of our house because some idiotic design which unbelievably has a name "False Neutral " when placed in drive after reversing out our drive foot planted on brake and then D selected result the van just took off backwards with engine revving it's tits off . Once stopped I selected D again and the same bloody result , at least this time I was prepared so it didn't go far . I can give many examples of things in our cars these days that don't make sense , all these "safety "features lane avoidance / collision avoidance etc are just making drivers a bunch of brain dead morons . I like to think that I am in control of my car and that was the reason I got a drivers license in the first place .
One of my pet peeves is "Smart Keys "I work in cars everyday and I thought that back in 1952 my first car a Morris Minor had a push button start , now it seems we have gone back over 60 years and it is back again ! . What was wrong with the key in ignition turn to on and then start . Now days with smart keys you have to press the button multiple times to go from off acc on and then off again , plus some car makers have hidden the start button down behind the left hand side of the steering wheel where it is almost unable to be seen . Ford have gone one step further with their ignition system you insert the key and a loud audible gong sound erupts and a message pops up on the info screen "KEY in Ignition "and when you remove it same thing but this time "Key Removed ". Well duh I did put the key into start and drive why in the hell do I need to be told I just did what it's telling me , good god its so dumb . Mercedes have got a good one in some of their model one of those chunky keys you insert into a rectangular hole and then turn , there is a clear plastic coated sensor ring around the barrel to pick up the coded key signal . These develop a crack easily and totally disable the car , tow job for those poor saps . What do you think am I a dinosaur or just cannot adjust ?

Mostly technology for the sake of it.

If you do have a smash and the smart cruise didn't prevent it. Will the insurance pay out?

I like the analogue world I was born into, for the most part.

Gavin

[theresanothersteve]

The problem is marketing has too much say in the design of the cars...

They look for something they can do with the onboard computing power that looks good. You only have to watch any car advertising to see that marketing believes cars are mobile entertainment devices.

From an engineering perspective I think technology has improved our cars. When was the last time you sat on the side of the road trying to repair or replace points? Sure, if a modern car breaks down it is going to be a tow to repairer job, but on the whole they are way more reliable. And how often do you pull the heads off for a de-coke? Not every 10,000 miles I'm sure.

False neutrals have been around ever since someone decided to use more than one forward gear.

I wish they would get back to the driving experience, but as governments are eroding the potential for enjoying yourself, its only going to get worse.

[Bug_racer]

From an engineering perspective I think technology has improved our cars. When was the last time you sat on the side of the road trying to repair or replace points? Sure, if a modern car breaks down it is going to be a tow to repairer job, but on the whole they are way more reliable. And how often do you pull the heads off for a de-coke? Not every 10,000 miles I'm sure.

I pull my manifold off every 3-5k kms and do a carbon clean (2011 Golf R)

[theresanothersteve]

I pull my manifold off every 3-5k kms and do a carbon clean (2011 Golf R)

Bit of a difference between a manifold and a head...

And does it make that much difference? I can remember when porting and polishing was all the go until someone discovered a rough surface gave better performance so polishing was out and bead blasting was in (inlet side).

[Bug_racer]

Bit of a difference between a manifold and a head...

And does it make that much difference? I can remember when porting and polishing was all the go until someone discovered a rough surface gave better performance so polishing was out and bead blasting was in (inlet side).

I pull the manifold off to get to the back of the valves and intake ports to clean them .
Does it make that much of a difference , Id say so given I have the fastest unopened stock turbo Golf R in the world and the fastest (currently) Golf R in Australia over 1000m which is faster than the next 3 Golf Rs which are all big turbo cars

[sports racer]

I pull the manifold off to get to the back of the valves and intake ports to clean them .

Why are you taking the manifold off?

Disconnect the air filter and get the car idling. Trickle a small stream of water into the intake and set it up so the engine sucks it up for around 30 minutes. The water breaks down any carbon build up in the intake and exhaust manifold as well as the head and top of the pistons.

It's an old trick but it works.

You can buy aftermarket products to do the same but water works just as well.

Cheers

Paul

[theresanothersteve]

I pull the manifold off to get to the back of the valves and intake ports to clean them .
Does it make that much of a difference , Id say so given I have the fastest unopened stock turbo Golf R in the world and the fastest (currently) Golf R in Australia over 1000m which is faster than the next 3 Golf Rs which are all big turbo cars

I doffs me cap to you, and give you kudos for holding records, but it's hardly the point.

For the average driver pulling heads off for decoke, servicing every 3,000 miles, replacing spark plugs every 6,000 miles and so on are a thing of the past.

Technology has led to more reliable vehicles, but when they break down the average punter has to send them to technicians.

[jets]

I wish they would get back to the driving experience,

VW & others don't help by deleting most models with manual trans. My wife agrees with me that most autos turn good cars into white goods. I know that there is a place for an auto. but most of the buying public don't care & say "why would you buy a manual".
I have a couple of friends who have bought new cars recently & didn't even have a test drive.

[Greg Roles]

Go drive a 70's car for a week in traffic, then tell me technology advance is a bad thing. I think we forget the buckets of crap we used to drive, but yes, a lot easier to work on with a socket set, not even allen keys required, forget fancy torx screws.