List Cool or Unusual Features on Vehicles

[oil_film_movies]

Originally Posted by ekpolk
Originally Posted by oil_film_movies
What will they think of next, right?

Only seen in museums or at car shows:

OK, I give up -- what is THAT?
https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-swamp-cooler-534715

 

[ekpolk]

Well, well -- it's good to learn something new every day, and I just checked that box for February 20, 2019. . . A Swamp Cooler. OK. From the linked article:
Quote
These devices bore a passing resemblance to miniature jet engines
I was thinking just the right proportions for a small turbojet, but saw no corresponding soot. Also, especially for a bare turbojet, that would have been a tad noisy for the occupants. And while it might have amped up the acceleration a tad, it wouldn't helped at all with interior temps!

 

[MCompact]

My i3 had a similar feature. If I put my 2er in Eco Pro mode it will also rate my fuel saving performance- although driving to maximize fuel economy is kind of beside the point of that car...

 

[oil_film_movies]

Originally Posted by ekpolk
A Swamp Cooler. OK. From the linked article:
Spoke to a fellow at a car show years ago with one of those on an old car. He said he used one around Edwards Air Force Base (Mojave desert) to drive 40 miles each way to work in 1965. They cool the car very well in dry air like that he said. Guess he just tried to keep it full of water when he could.
Originally Posted by MCompact
My i3 had a similar feature. If I put my 2er in Eco Pro mode it will also rate my fuel saving performance- although driving to maximize fuel economy is kind of beside the point of that car...

I didn't know BMW was scoring fuel savings on non-hybrids! Got to look up Eco Pro now to figure out what they are scoring there.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted by oil_film_movies

I didn't know BMW was scoring fuel savings on non-hybrids! Got to look up Eco Pro now to figure out what they are scoring there.


I know it scores acceleration and anticipation of things like traffic signals and such. Each are ranked from one to five stars. Eco Pro mode also provides an additional readout in the instrument cluster that displays how many miles have been added to the vehicle range due to an efficient driving style.

 

[oil_film_movies]

Pothole Detection & Mitigation is kinda cool: https://www.motortrend.com/news/2017-ford-fusion-v6-sport-features-pothole-detection-system/ where the car actually sees a pothole coming, and instantly stiffens up the shock absorber to prevent the tire from falling into the hole as much. Wow.

Engine Sound Increase & Modifications: Active noise cancellation is used a lot to make cars quieter, yet several performance models actually create more noise on purpose.
https://www.caranddriver.com/featur...e-sound-enhancement-explained-tech-dept/

Similar to the engine sound increase trick, I was thinking about getting an app for my phone that makes Ferrari engine sounds for my Ford Focus Electric Vehicle, which is eerily quiet on its own.

 

[Mitch]

Water cooling on an air cooled car, that is a 61-64 Corvair

 

[nthach]

Originally Posted by oil_film_movies


Engine Sound Increase & Modifications: Active noise cancellation is used a lot to make cars quieter, yet several performance models actually create more noise on purpose.
https://www.caranddriver.com/featur...e-sound-enhancement-explained-tech-dept/

Similar to the engine sound increase trick, I was thinking about getting an app for my phone that makes Ferrari engine sounds for my Ford Focus Electric Vehicle, which is eerily quiet on its own.



Given Toyota's ties to Yamaha - both the motorcycle division who's helped them with some of the more legendary engines they've built and the musical instruments division, the Lexus LFA is in that latter category. Of course Yamaha built the engine with Toyota-made castings, like how Ford shipped the block and heads of the Taurus SHO's motor to Japan for Yamaha to work their magic.

Yamaha designed the airbox of the LFA to work like an acoustic guitar - and there's an duct to pipe in the sound of the engine. They've also tuned the engine to sound like an F1 car. The same trick has somewhat been trickled down to the LC500 and GS F.

 

[ekpolk]

Oh, I forgot a really weird one: the current generation of Prius actually has a "Vehicle Proximity Notification System". The manual describes it thus:
Quote
When driving with the gasoline engine stopped, a sound, which changes in accordance with the driving speed, will be played in order to warn people nearby of the vehicle's approach. The sound will stop when the vehicle speed exceeds approximately 15 mph (25 km/h).

In other words, running electric-only, the car is so quiet that it plays "fake car noise" for pedestrians too unaware to notice a moving car nearby.

I would so love to "hack" this system and replace its civilized economy car sound with that of a straight-piped Harley. Would have to install a dashcam too, just to catch the resulting facial expressions.

 

[Wolf359]

Originally Posted by oil_film_movies
Pothole Detection & Mitigation is kinda cool: https://www.motortrend.com/news/2017-ford-fusion-v6-sport-features-pothole-detection-system/ where the car actually sees a pothole coming, and instantly stiffens up the shock absorber to prevent the tire from falling into the hole as much. Wow.


Mercedes had Magic Body control in their S class in 2014. That replaced the previous system, Active Body Control (ABC).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_Body_Control

https://autoweek.com/article/car-reviews/2014-mercedes-benz-s-class-drive-review

 

[Andrew1972]

Vehicles that use a HUD on windshield for navigation with very simple text and arrow. I belive Volvo did this.

 

[MCompact]

Originally Posted by madRiver
Vehicles that use a HUD on windshield for navigation with very simple text and arrow. I belive Volvo did this.


Newer BMWs with a HUD also use it to display navigation instructions.