5 - Hidden Headlights.
I put these down at #5 because they did have a good run -- what
would my Cougar be without them?
But they�re the mark of a dated car today when
automakers build sleek, high tech headlight clusters into the body and are all too happy to
avoid the complication and cost of anything that pops up via a motor and hinge in this
electronic era.
4 - Digital instrument panels.
These first flourished in the late 70�s and were pretty much
gone by the 90�s.
Horrid looking digit displays that were hard to read, expensive to repair and
looked like something you made from a kit.
A slew of Lincolns, Caddies and even Aston
Martins mistook this look for luxury.
Today, its descendant, the LCD panel, is taking over.
3 - Brake by Wire.
Braking is a pretty basic thing in a car, you like it to work.
Mercedes
�Sensotronic� system replaced pumping of hydraulic fluid by the pedal with a digital sensor in
the pedal that told a computer how to smoothly apply the brakes.
Except when it didn�t.
Mercedes killed the system after 4 years of freaking people out.
Today electrohydraulic
braking is common as part of stablity and lane control tech.
2 - Cylinder Management.
Cadillac�s V8-6-4 engine that could drop down to 6 or even 4
cylinders for fuel economy.
Cool, except it was 1981 and the technology was a mess of
vintage electronics and mechanical solenoids that moved engine parts around on the fly,
resulting in a car that bucked and surged, all the way back to the dealer.
Today, cylinder
deactivation is back thanks to much more sophisticated fuel injection.
1 - iDrive.
When BMW�s knob and screen interface debuted in the early 2000�s it was
infuriating.
The screen layout was clunky and could only be driven by this knob with silly
haptic feedback but no back button.
It made you beg for a touchscreen.
It was the most
universally hated car tech I�ve encountered.
Look who�s laughing now as almost every car
has some kind of human machine interface and iDrive is one of the best.
