What ever happened to the new features of the 90s?

[Franco Cozzo]

Hey guys, just curious on why we ended up losing stuff like 4 wheel steering which the Honda Preludes had in the late 80s/90s, Mazda 626 with its motorised air vents moving left/right when the aircon was on, stuff like variable effort power steering, which my EL Fairmont Ghia has, but seems to have disappeared in the later years.

Why do you think it went?

[JG34JA]

Maybe killed by cost cutting? Or consumer taste? Were they technical showcases? Were they reliable?
For example, our ED sedan had carpet on the inside of the bootlid, but by AU that was gone...
As another example, the twincharged 1.4L VW engine (engine of the year 2009, but not without failure stories) will be phased out for one employing only a (more developed, admittedly) turbo. Why take a seemingly backward step?

[Yellow_Festiva]

Cost..... and many of the features were gimicks IMO.

[Ford_The_Win]

Gimmicks designed to help market cars to the future-obsessed people of the '80s that faded away when people caught on to the fact that they were almost useless.

[gtfpv]

i too have wondered why these dissapeared , remember windscreen digital speedo fighter pilot readouts . LOL . and the mazdas and hondas used to beep tones when you turned the ignition . and the 4 wheel steering lol . citreons used to raise up the suspension when started .

[TC200six]

Self-levelling suspension was another useless gimmick Cadillacs had and were briefly used in Australian Fairlanes.

[RAPID_BA]

I think in those years there was a real emphasis on luxury and putting more into a car.

These days the emphasis is what can we take out. It was all downhill following the xf ghia, motorised air vents for air cons, big mutha headrests, digital speedo, lights in the key door locks, efi, 4 x cigarette lighters, 3 inch plush carpet, I think grabbing a door handle turned the interior light in?

[oceanwave54]

I did enjoy the carpeted glove box in the EF Fairmont. Not so in the BFII.

[Airmon]

Marketing BS, you see the same things on cars today, you just don't notice it because it seems like a great idea right now.

They were items that set cars apart from the competition.

And BTW. Oscillating vents on 626's are freaken awesome! :P

[Franco Cozzo]

One thing I really like is the digital dash in the early E series Fairlanes, I was talking to one of my TAFE teachers and he said the ones they released in the XF were horrible, Siemens VDO got too far ahead of themselves, good idea, poor execution and they never really tried anything that far out again.

Maybe too soon.

[mik]

probably the attitudes have changed to content and manufacturers are just following the gadget and luxo trends of todays population, mobile phones/blue tooth/internet,ipod connectivity and cheapness of build, the majority seem to go for this stuff, earlier models with 4 wheel steering, expensive suspension types cost more to up keep, people don`t want it/ can`t afford it.

[Cambo351]

My mum had one of those 4WS Preludes, felt really wierd changing lanes at speed, a bit unsettling actually. Only thing it was good for was reducing the turning circle.

The self-leveling air suspension is still in use in Jags & Mercs, but like the Fairlanes/LTD's is not very reliable.

Gotta remember that the more gadgets you put in a car, the more things that can break down....

[GTP-814]

reliability, warrenty & training of staff to repair

[The Yeti]

Put simply the car mag reading auto beaks love this stuff however the bulk buying public couldn't give a rats fat *** and only wants to know what's the cheapest you can do it for

So basically this motorised vent 4wsteer auto levelling variable steer options go to keep the base cost down

[SSD-85]

Originally Posted by mik

probably the attitudes have changed to content and manufacturers are just following the gadget and luxo trends of todays population, mobile phones/blue tooth/internet,ipod connectivity and cheapness of build, the majority seem to go for this stuff.

This.

[wrongwaynorris]

[QUOTE=Cambo351]My mum had one of those 4WS Preludes, felt really wierd changing lanes at speed, a bit unsettling actually. Only thing it was good for was reducing the turning circle.

It was absolutely and utterly bloody dangerous and how it was ever allowed to be released to the public is way beyond me . As stated above it was speed sensetive so above about 10 kilometres per hour it steered the same way as the front wheels . Hook into a left hander get one of these things sideways and steer into the slide to catch the oversteer and it takes you even further across the road into oncoming traffic with lightning speed .

[ebxr8240]

Yea we have stability control now which takes it all in hand..

[DJM83]

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

It was absolutely and utterly bloody dangerous and how it was ever allowed to be released to the public is way beyond me . As stated above it was speed sensetive so above about 10 kilometres per hour it steered the same way as the front wheels . Hook into a left hander get one of these things sideways and steer into the slide to catch the oversteer and it takes you even further across the road into oncoming traffic with lightning speed .

So at above 10kph the rears turned the same way? Thats bad I know the old MX6 had it and the rears turned the opposite way to the fronts at low speed, dunno about high speed.

I had an XF Ghia i remember all the 'tech'

[imugli]

Originally Posted by gtfpv

i too have wondered why these dissapeared , remember windscreen digital speedo fighter pilot readouts . LOL . and the mazdas and hondas used to beep tones when you turned the ignition . and the 4 wheel steering lol . citreons used to raise up the suspension when started .

Do you mean head up display? A couple of cars have this now - BMW for one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2edQuQDA8f4

[Fairlane]

Theres been a few terrible ones. I actually like digital dashes (Ive got one in the XF).

Graphic equalisers on stereos (I reckon fiddling with them is way more dangerous than using a phone), Old Nissan Maxima's used to have a pin pad on the drivers door instead of a key. My Cressidas got this terrible gimick where the aircon manual control are on an electric draw that slides out of the dash (Im just waiting for it to break). The other shocker I can think of anyone seen those econo vaccum guages (I think it was either VH or VK's that had them and maybe Camiras too.

[dimka100]

The 4WS is still used by many current Jap spec Nissans, for example the Skyline V36 or otherwise known as Infiniti G37 uses it in the sportier model.

Toyota was another maker that had than in the 90s on a few of their top end cars (not sold here) but later on Toyota started making shopping trolleys.

[Linkachu]

The best of all these and most over looked was the Energy Polariser, that thing was astounding.

[duaned]

I still recall the head up displays on the Nissan SSS bluebird, the adjustable suspension on the early Mitsubishi Veradas and the pin pad of the Maximas. Ipod connectivity is boring as. Cars these days mostly have the same features now. Bring back some old skool stuff!

[Bossxr8]

4WS is making a comeback in some of the serious high end sportscars, to aid high speed stability.

Porsche 918 for example, and I think one of the new McLarens uses it to.

Infiniti's do aswell.

Speed sensitive power steering has been replaced by electric steering that changes weights at different speeds, basically a modern way of doing it.

[Franco Cozzo]

[QUOTE=wrongwaynorris]

Originally Posted by Cambo351

My mum had one of those 4WS Preludes, felt really wierd changing lanes at speed, a bit unsettling actually. Only thing it was good for was reducing the turning circle.

It was absolutely and utterly bloody dangerous and how it was ever allowed to be released to the public is way beyond me . As stated above it was speed sensetive so above about 10 kilometres per hour it steered the same way as the front wheels . Hook into a left hander get one of these things sideways and steer into the slide to catch the oversteer and it takes you even further across the road into oncoming traffic with lightning speed .

JDM 300ZX and Skyline had something called HICAS which everyone disables, apparently it only works at high speeds, and its caught a lot of people by surprise on tracks, thats why everyone disables it.

My Fiesta has electric power steering, its the bomb I reckon, can turn it with your little finger. I guess it has benefits of not having a pump running off a belt too, so less losses.

[Brazen]

Originally Posted by Fairlane

Theres been a few terrible ones. I actually like digital dashes (Ive got one in the XF).

Graphic equalisers on stereos (I reckon fiddling with them is way more dangerous than using a phone), Old Nissan Maxima's used to have a pin pad on the drivers door instead of a key. My Cressidas got this terrible gimick where the aircon manual control are on an electric draw that slides out of the dash (Im just waiting for it to break). The other shocker I can think of anyone seen those econo vaccum guages (I think it was either VH or VK's that had them and maybe Camiras too.

I had one of those Maximas as a company car in the early 90s, the one good thing about the keypad was that you could lock everything in the car including the keys when you went to the beach, then use the code to get back in. Apart from that I had no idea why people would need it.

[dallasv8]

gimmicks replaced with new gimmicks,ie auto folding mirrors, auto lights,auto wipers,auto parking,auto braking,auto adjusting seats.people will be lazy enough to warrant auto pilot soon.
10 speed slush boxes wont be far away,which is beyond me.

[Danny]

Main thing here and honestly the most logical and correct reason is that these "futuristic" features cost more to employ than the actual real world conveniences/improvements they bought, no one really cared in the end, and so off they went.

If they were any good, or actually improved the driving experience of safety or whatever, they'd have continued to develop them, and we'd still see them today.

AIrbas, ABS, ESP, Traction, Satnav, Heated Seats/Mirrors, Keyless go/unlock, Adjustable suspension are all features that in the 80's and 90's when they were first seen in cars seemed crazy futuristic, but because they were useful, they stayed, were developed further, and filtered down into lower marques as they became cheaper. Simple answer really.

[ebxr8240]

Yes I miss vacuum wipers, crossply tyres, drum brakes, lever action shock absorbers, points and condenser ignition , valve radio, crank handle for starter, seat belts ??....Ahh I think I may have gone too far back ??

[The Yeti]

Leaver action shocks rock