In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF
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So I bought a new car. Its a 2016 Mercedes (C450 for the interested). Drives like a charm. The in car tech, however, how can you fuck up all the little things so badly?
Disclaimer: I bought the car in December, waited a bit to see if I get used to the quirks. I did not. (I hope that their driving assistants are better. So far, I have not yet had issues with them.)
I'll start with something simple. The voice on the satnav is on by default. And I don't mean on the first time you use it, there is an obvious way to switch it off, and it stays off. No, it is on again EVERY FUCKING TIME you use it, unlike any other satnav or navigation app i've ever used (you can quiet it by pressing the mute button on the steering wheel while the satnav voice is talking. If you press mute when the voice is quiet, the music is switched off). Unbelievable design choice.
Voice commands: the car has voice commands. Unfortunately, the only commands that are available are for the stuff currently on the main display. So if you are on the radio screen, there is no way to switch to phone, satnav or car settings. WHY? You need to press a button on the main console (thus diverting attention from the road). At least a menu-up command would make sense. Or access to all the main screens via voice commands.
Buttons on the steering wheel: there is "pick up the phone button" . Which does - wait for it - NOTHING, unless you are on the phone screen on the main display. Really useful. If you are called, at least that button works.
There are no fixed buttons for next track / next station. you have to navigate by main display (or secondary display). If you are on the music screen on secondary display, to switch to the next track, you have to press next (on the left of the steering wheel) twice: Once to display the list of tracks, once to fast forward to the next track. unless you recently did so, in which one click is enough. Or if there was a speed limit change, which gets displayed on the HUD and in secondary screen. In which case, the next button does: Nothing. Click ok first (to acknowlege), then twice on next.
All this leads to far more distraction from the road then necessary.
PS: another anti-pattern for me in cars are touchscreens. if you need to look where to click, you have you eyes off the road.
PPS: First world problems, I know.
PPPS: most of the WTF's are.
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@Kurt.C.Pause said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
So I bought a new car. Its a 2016 Mercedes (C450 for the interested). Drives like a charm. The in car tech, however, how can you fuck up all the little things so badly?
I have a 2013 Ford Focus. It probably cost a whole lot less than a Mercedes. :D It has a lot of the same tech.
Disclaimer: I bought the car in December, waited a bit to see if I get used to the quirks. I did not. (I hope that their driving assistants are better. So far, I have not yet had issues with them.)
I'll start with something simple. The voice on the satnav is on by default. And I don't mean on the first time you use it, there is an obvious way to switch it off, and it stays off. No, it is on again EVERY FUCKING TIME you use it, unlike any other satnav or navigation app i've ever used (you can quiet it by pressing the mute button on the steering wheel while the satnav voice is talking. If you press mute when the voice is quiet, the music is switched off). Unbelievable design choice.
The voice on the GPS switches on or off easily, and it stays that way until I switch it again.
Voice commands: the car has voice commands. Unfortunately, the only commands that are available are for the stuff currently on the main display. So if you are on the radio screen, there is no way to switch to phone, satnav or car settings. WHY? You need to press a button on the main console (thus diverting attention from the road). At least a menu-up command would make sense. Or access to all the main screens via voice commands.
I can issue "top-level" commands such as "navigation" or "radio" from the voice command toggle.
Buttons on the steering wheel: there is "pick up the phone button" . Which does - wait for it - NOTHING, unless you are on the phone screen on the main display. Really useful. If you are called, at least that button works.
The "pick up the phone button" will pick up if someone is currently calling. If not, it gives me a confirmation prompt to redial the last number dialed, which I confirm by pressing the "pick up" button again, or cancel with the "hang up" button.
There are no fixed buttons for next track / next station. you have to navigate by main display (or secondary display). If you are on the music screen on secondary display, to switch to the next track, you have to press next (on the left of the steering wheel) twice: Once to display the list of tracks, once to fast forward to the next track. unless you recently did so, in which one click is enough. Or if there was a speed limit change, which gets displayed on the HUD and in secondary screen. In which case, the next button does: Nothing. Click ok first (to acknowlege), then twice on next.
I have a little quartet of buttons for Next Track, Previous Track, Volume Up and Volume Down conveniently within reach of my right thumb.
All this leads to far more distraction from the road then necessary.
Next time, get a Ford. It seems they make better cars.
PS: another anti-pattern for me in cars are touchscreens. if you need to look where to click, you have you eyes off the road.
Agreed. I think the worst offender is Tesla. There's a lot to love about Teslas, but I find that particular design decision truly worthy, especially considering how strongly they emphasize the safety of their cars!
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@masonwheeler said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Next time, get a Ford. It seems they make better cars.
Or an Audi. Their MMI is a good infotainment system.
(Plus, you don't lose German Luxury Car Arrogance Points)
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@aliceif said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Plus, you don't lose German Luxury Car Arrogance Points
But you do gain Arrogant Fuckface Points.
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@RaceProUK said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@aliceif said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Plus, you don't lose German Luxury Car Arrogance Points
But you do gain Arrogant Fuckface Points.
I think you confused that with BMW.
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@Rhywden said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@RaceProUK said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@aliceif said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Plus, you don't lose German Luxury Car Arrogance Points
But you do gain Arrogant Fuckface Points.
I think you confused that with BMW.
While it used to be true of BMW drivers, they all got fed up of being stereotyped and switched to Audi. But everyone soon caught on.
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@RaceProUK said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@Rhywden said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@RaceProUK said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@aliceif said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Plus, you don't lose German Luxury Car Arrogance Points
But you do gain Arrogant Fuckface Points.
I think you confused that with BMW.
While it used to be true of BMW drivers, they all got fed up of being stereotyped and switched to Audi. But everyone soon caught on.
Yeah, you sometimes see BMWs driving under the speed limit and indicating htese days. Sometimes at the same time. And sometimes they're indicating for the turn they want to make
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@RaceProUK And what about Jag drivers?
(the latest ones have a lot of fancy in car tech, no idea whether it's usable)
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@remi said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
And what about Jag drivers?
The worst I've ever heard anyone describe Jag drivers is 'lovable rogues'
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after having the lovely experience of driving over parts of my own engine (way back when, US Road-Trip, too young to hire a car) in a Ford (festiva), I've sworn to myself never to buy a ford again.
on my last trip to the US I got a rental Ford. decent Car.
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Belive Me, I get more arrogant Fuckface Points in my current car than before...
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Most of the stuff you listed does seem like a but
@Kurt.C.Pause said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
The voice on the satnav is on by default.
sounds like a perfectly good default. The only time I've wanted to turn off the voice when I use navigation is when I already know where I'm going (e.g. getting to the highway from an unfamiliar place), and when I do that I want the voice to be on next time I use the navigation.
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@RaceProUK
TIL that @RaceProUK is a Jag driver ;) :p
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@izzion said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
TIL that @RaceProUK is a Jag driver
I wish! :P
In all seriousness though, I'd love to own an XFR.
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@hungrier said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Most of the stuff you listed does seem like a but
@Kurt.C.Pause said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
The voice on the satnav is on by default.
sounds like a perfectly good default. The only time I've wanted to turn off the voice when I use navigation is when I already know where I'm going (e.g. getting to the highway from an unfamiliar place), and when I do that I want the voice to be on next time I use the navigation.
meh. I use satnav for ETA and routing around traffic jams. I have the direction arrows on the HUD (and / Or secondary display).
Oh, speaking of Satnav. The Map is overloaded with information, making it far more time consuming to have a quick look for the general direction. (Audi is even worse in that respect)
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@masonwheeler said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Next time, get a Ford
Why do you hate him so much ?
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Why is their favicon a cow?
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@hungrier said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Why is their favicon a cow?
Cows produce a lot of manure
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TRWTF is Mercedes, if only because one hit us a few months back.
@Kurt.C.Pause said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
PS: another anti-pattern for me in cars are touchscreens. if you need to look where to click, you have you eyes off the road.
Touchscreens are okay when you're stopped or if you have a passenger to control them (assuming they're in reach of the passenger as well). Not so much otherwise.
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@coderpatsy said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Touchscreens are okay when you're stopped or if you have a passenger to control them (assuming they're in reach of the passenger as well). Not so much otherwise.
Exactly. If it's illegal to use your phone while driving, it should also be illegal to use an in-car touchscreen.
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Here in the US, I'd just buy Japanese cars, or maybe Korean ones. They put features in them, and are cheap to repair. When I was buying a car a few years back, you had to pay around twice as much to buy a Ford that had a USB port in it than for a Honda, where it was hard to find one without.
The gap made no sense.
I ended up going cheap and getting a Ford that didn't even have all the features the dashboard mentioned, but next time...
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@Magus I got a Hyundai with a bunch of fancy features (although in retrospect I should've gone one trim-level higher and got the one with the backup camera, among other things) and it's been working great for me so far.
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@TimeBandit said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Exactly. If it's illegal to use your phone while driving, it should also be illegal to use an in-car touchscreen.
I don’t know about other countries, but I’ve found it strange since the day it got introduced, that Dutch law forbids holding a mobile phone specifically, while operating a motor vehicle. IANAL, but as far as I can tell this means you can’t be fined if you’re using, say, a tablet — just as long as you can’t make phone calls with it, you should be fine (well, I suppose you’ll likely still get a ticket, but appealing that should get it cancelled). Or, as someone on a TV show pointed out way back when, it’s legal to drive with a sandwich pressed against your ear, but not a phone.
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@Gurth said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
but as far as I can tell this means you can’t be fined if you’re using, say, a tablet
Not here
with some exceptions:
because driving a speeding ambulance/police car/firetruck while using your phone is less dangerous, I guess
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@Gurth said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@TimeBandit said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Exactly. If it's illegal to use your phone while driving, it should also be illegal to use an in-car touchscreen.
I don’t know about other countries, but I’ve found it strange since the day it got introduced, that Dutch law forbids holding a mobile phone specifically, while operating a motor vehicle. IANAL, but as far as I can tell this means you can’t be fined if you’re using, say, a tablet — just as long as you can’t make phone calls with it, you should be fine (well, I suppose you’ll likely still get a ticket, but appealing that should get it cancelled). Or, as someone on a TV show pointed out way back when, it’s legal to drive with a sandwich pressed against your ear, but not a phone.
Here, you could still be charged with distracted driving. Doesn't matter what the object is. It's just that cell phones are specifically called out ("But I wasn't distracted!" "Too bad, so sad").
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@Kurt.C.Pause said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
another anti-pattern for me in cars are touchscreens
I don't mind touchscreens in cars. VW have a decent enough interface that you get used to it and stop looking.
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@aliceif said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Or an Audi. Their MMI is a good infotainment system.
(Plus, you don't lose German Luxury Car Arrogance Points)Agreed. The MMI is pretty decent.
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@remi said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@RaceProUK And what about Jag drivers?
(the latest ones have a lot of fancy in car tech, no idea whether it's usable)It's Indian technology assembled in Birmingham. I'll stick to German, thanks
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@loopback0 said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
I'll stick to German, thanks
I keep readings this as "German tanks"
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@TimeBandit It's certainly well made
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@loopback0 Would be really convenient in traffic
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@TimeBandit said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@loopback0 Would be really convenient in traffic
You'd not need to be too concerned about the best way to merge.
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@TimeBandit said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@loopback0 Would be really convenient in traffic
You can turn left any time you want.
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File Under: I should have let him pass
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Astra 2007 best car ever.
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@Gurth said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@TimeBandit said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Exactly. If it's illegal to use your phone while driving, it should also be illegal to use an in-car touchscreen.
I don’t know about other countries, but I’ve found it strange since the day it got introduced, that Dutch law forbids holding a mobile phone specifically, while operating a motor vehicle. IANAL, but as far as I can tell this means you can’t be fined if you’re using, say, a tablet — just as long as you can’t make phone calls with it, you should be fine (well, I suppose you’ll likely still get a ticket, but appealing that should get it cancelled). Or, as someone on a TV show pointed out way back when, it’s legal to drive with a sandwich pressed against your ear, but not a phone.
If you've ever taken a defensive driving course, you should know that it's not the fact that you're on a phone that's a problem (although dialing, and texting, etc I'm sure can distract you). It's the fact that you're holding the phone up to your ear, and because of that you are not moving your head to look at mirrors, etc.
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@dangeRuss said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
If you've ever taken a defensive driving course
Nope. Never taken any driving course, in fact.
you should know that it's not the fact that you're on a phone that's a problem (although dialing, and texting, etc I'm sure can distract you). It's the fact that you're holding the phone up to your ear, and because of that you are not moving your head to look at mirrors, etc.
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@Jaloopa said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
More importantly, WWII German tanks tended to outgrow their design weight while continuing to use engines and transmissions really intended for that design weight. The 57-tonne Tiger Ausf. E came from a specification for a 45-tonne tank, but with no real change in engine. Basically the same engine was then used to power the 70-tonne Tiger Ausf. B, with predictable results.
Then combine this with the Germans’ habit at the time of trying to design these things too neatly (is the best word I can come up with right now), or too close to what’s actually required with too little margins for extra strength.
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@Jaloopa said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
A lot of workers were sent from occupied France to work in German plants, first through voluntary calls then as this failed ("go help our invaders", weirdly, didn't work very well...), as a supposedly voluntary prisoners-exchange scheme ("go work there and we'll release the equivalent number of prisoners") which also didn't quite work out, so it ended up being requisitions. A lot of young people had to go (at least 2 of my great-uncles did) and that contributed in no small way to the growing Resistance by those that didn't want to...
Contrary to PoWs from the Eastern front, they weren't treated as slaves, nor even as prisoners, since the fiction was still that they were workers coming to help Germany, so they still had a relative degree of freedom. Still, they also did a lot to sabotage plants whenever they could, yes. Usually of the very subtle way (e.g. don't screw properly one hidden screw), which may or may not have any impact in the end, but at least it makes the saboteur feel good about it...
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@Gurth said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@dangeRuss said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
If you've ever taken a defensive driving course
Nope. Never taken any driving course, in fact.
you should know that it's not the fact that you're on a phone that's a problem (although dialing, and texting, etc I'm sure can distract you). It's the fact that you're holding the phone up to your ear, and because of that you are not moving your head to look at mirrors, etc.
I don't have youtube here, but according to Betteridge's law, I assume the answer is no.
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@dangeRuss Here’s the pertinent bit: 30 drivers in a simulator while making a phone call in which they had to answer various questions, with these results:
Though oddly, the second graphic shows seven wrong ways and seven crashes instead of six and eight …
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@Gurth said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Though oddly, the second graphic shows seven wrong ways and seven crashes instead of six and eight …
Someone was talking on their phone while preparing that.
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@Gurth said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Though oddly, the second graphic shows seven wrong ways and seven crashes instead of six and eight …
One of them went the wrong way before crashing?
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@Rhywden said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@RaceProUK said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@aliceif said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Plus, you don't lose German Luxury Car Arrogance Points
But you do gain Arrogant Fuckface Points.
I think you confused that with BMW.
You're both right.
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@Kurt.C.Pause said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
after having the lovely experience of driving over parts of my own engine (way back when, US Road-Trip, too young to hire a car) in a Ford (festiva), I've sworn to myself never to buy a ford again.
on my last trip to the US I got a rental Ford. decent Car.
Was it a Fusion? We get those frequently for rental cars and they always feel like you are driving a bowl of cold oatmeal.
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@Kurt.C.Pause said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@hungrier said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
Most of the stuff you listed does seem like a but
@Kurt.C.Pause said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
The voice on the satnav is on by default.
sounds like a perfectly good default. The only time I've wanted to turn off the voice when I use navigation is when I already know where I'm going (e.g. getting to the highway from an unfamiliar place), and when I do that I want the voice to be on next time I use the navigation.
meh. I use satnav for ETA and routing around traffic jams. I have the direction arrows on the HUD (and / Or secondary display).
Oh, speaking of Satnav. The Map is overloaded with information, making it far more time consuming to have a quick look for the general direction. (Audi is even worse in that respect)
Mercedes satnav also defaults to Warsaw.
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@TimeBandit said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@Gurth said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
but as far as I can tell this means you can’t be fined if you’re using, say, a tablet
Not here
with some exceptions:
because driving a speeding ambulance/police car/firetruck while using your phone is less dangerous, I guess
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@TimeBandit said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
@loopback0 said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
I'll stick to German, thanks
I keep readings this as "German tanks"
Their satnav also defaults to Warsaw as the destination.
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@remi said in In Car Tech - Mercedes WTF:
A lot of workers were sent from occupied France to work in German plants, first through voluntary calls then as this failed ("go help our invaders", weirdly, didn't work very well...), as a supposedly voluntary prisoners-exchange scheme ("go work there and we'll release the equivalent number of prisoners") which also didn't quite work out, so it ended up being requisitions. A lot of young people had to go (at least 2 of my great-uncles did) and that contributed in no small way to the growing Resistance by those that didn't want to...
Contrary to PoWs from the Eastern front, they weren't treated as slaves, nor even as prisoners, since the fiction was still that they were workers coming to help Germany, so they still had a relative degree of freedom. Still, they also did a lot to sabotage plants whenever they could, yes. Usually of the very subtle way (e.g. don't screw properly one hidden screw), which may or may not have any impact in the end, but at least it makes the saboteur feel good about it...Let me guess...those same people grew up and went to work for Peugeot?