I had my first experience of a 'modern' car with lane keeping assist (along with a ton of other gadgets) in France a couple of weeks ago whilst on holiday. My own car is a 22 year old Audi that doesn't even have a rear windscreen wiper let alone all the bells and whistles that comes with more modern cars. 

Lane keeping assist was really weird, if we waivered onto the central line it would pull us back over to our side of the carriage way. I'm not sure that I liked it at all to be honest! 

The automatic headlights drove me mad and all the buttons and beepy noises and other fancy bits were just a distraction from the job of actually driving the vehicle. 

It was a brand new Citroen DS 3 Crossback 

Honestly if you were wavering onto the central line and I was coming the other way I would have been glad you had the DS3 rather than the Audi...what's not to like about being kept safe on your side of the road? 

Yes auto headlights aren't very good - witness the number of newish cars you see driving around these days with their headlights on full beam and the driver in complete ignorance of that blue light on their dash.  My car has the opposite issue and wont give full beam when you actually need it. 

Don't get me started on auto windscreen wipers which really are rubbish. They go when its not raining.  They refuse to go when it clearly is.  Something is very wrong with their sensors of algorithm. 

Paul Ch said:

Honestly if you were wavering onto the central line and I was coming the other way I would have been glad you had the DS3 rather than the Audi...what's not to like about being kept safe on your side of the road? 

Where we are in France is a really rural area where you're lucky to see more than half a dozen cars on a 20 km journey  Also the roads are very 'bendy' so you can't help but cut across into the other lane at some points, especially if you want to avoid getting too close to the sheer rockface up against your side of the carriageway 

Yes the auto windscreen wipers were rubbish, coming on full pelt for a really light drizzle but staying off for a rain shower!!! 

Not sure about other posters but I was taught to drive down the middle on narrow unlined lanes whenever  there is nothing visible coming towards me, to maximise the range of visibility ahead and round corners - you can get tighter into the side in a distance that is very short compared to the improvement in coming into vision forward range...

It also avoids the worst of potholes and the effect of deer leaping out of te hedges at point blank range, both of which are a problem at the road edges. I was also taught how to engine brake (which I still do) and double declutching (which I have not needed to use in anger for years.)

Mike.

Interestingly I have been quite happy with the automatic windscreen wipers from VW. The systems on my 15 year old Touran and the new T-Cross seem to be the same and work quite well. There is a sensitivity adjuster on the stalk. I don’t know if other vehicles are so fitted.

Another interesting new toy is the eco/coast function. When going downhill the clutch is disengaged and the engine drops to idle, I assume to maintain the alternator, power steering, aircon etc. Touching the brakes to reduce the speed re-engages the clutch.

I wonder if this is actually more efficient than shutting off the fuel and using the potential energy from the decent to keep the engine turning and driving the auxiliary functions?

No sensitivity adjustment on Tesla or Jaguar unless its buried deep in the unfathomable menus.  Sure its sensitivity and not just variable intermittency?

That's interesting as coasting downhill used to be bad practice and you would fail a driving test for it.  Not being in control of the vehicle - wonder how that gets through?  Most efficient is of course is a battery where you can recover most of the energy and that from braking and save it.

Roger B said:

Another interesting new toy is the eco/coast function. When going downhill the clutch is disengaged and the engine drops to idle, I assume to maintain the alternator, power steering, aircon etc.

Not a new idea though, anyone remember the Wartburg? We had one mid '70s, coasting down every hill to save fuel. Wiki article here:- en.wikipedia.org/.../Wartburg_353

Paul, on the lower spec models the switch on the stalk is just a variable delay, once you get automatic wiper control it sets the sensitivity.

Roger, the Rover P4 series also had a freewheel as a transmission and fuel saving idea.

Paul, on the lower spec models the switch on the stalk is just a variable delay, once you get automatic wiper control it sets the sensitivity.

Roger, the Rover P4 series also had a freewheel as a transmission and fuel saving idea.