On 5/30/2017 12:19 PM, Keyser Soze wrote:
On 5/30/17 11:56 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 5/30/2017 11:33 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 30 May 2017 09:26:19 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:



I am discovering more interesting (but pretty much useless) features on
the Pathfinder. The display is a touch screen and if you select "Apps"
several displays come up that you can select. The first is a graphical
display of fuel economy, fuel flow rate and miles to empty. The next
page is a vertical graph and a pointer showing how hard you are
steering
and in what direction in turns and maps a history of the turns you make
by how severe they were. The next page shows a large circle with
graduations within and a small, solid ball in the center. It
displays G
forces during acceleration, de-acceleration, and lateral G forces in
turns. Stupid, but sorta fun to watch as long as I don't hit a tree
while mesmerized by the stupid display.

There's another display mode that scores your driving habits, measuring
how fast you accelerate, braking habits and some other factors. It
constantly updates and gives you a score from 0-100. It also keeps a
memory of past scores that you can compare to.


I think it is amazing that they have laws about talking on a cell
phone and then sell cars with this kind of distraction right on the
dash. The whole reason why they had pushbutton radios was so you would
not be distracted by turning a dial. Now they have entertainment
centers that take your full time and attention, just to turn on and
get to the input you want. Nothing can be done with muscle memory, you
have to look. I still prefer my old PC based MP3 players with a 10 key
numeric pad interface. If you can run a 10 key you never had to take
your eyes off the road.
The rest of those displays are just a wreck waiting to happen. At
least your family will know the g force of the wreck that killed you



I figured you of all people would get a kick out of this stuff. :-)

I agree, most of it is useless but the display, being a touch screen,
is not any more complicated to use than dials, if not easier for
making changes in just about anything. Your post about the guy
backing into a tree limb is surprising because the backup camera gives
a wide view, both horizontal and vertical. Anything that
would hit my rear window or roof is clearly visible. Maybe his
camera only looked at the ground behind the car.



If I drop the tailgate, I have a clear view of the pavement underneath
it.



Greg doesn't trust or like anything made after 1965.



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Keyser Soze wrote:
On 5/30/17 9:53 AM, Tim wrote:
Mr. Luddite
- show quoted text -
I am discovering more interesting (but pretty much useless) features on
the Pathfinder. The display is a touch screen and if you select "Apps"
several displays come up that you can select. The first is a graphical
display of fuel economy, fuel flow rate and miles to empty. The next
page is a vertical graph and a pointer showing how hard you are steering
and in what direction in turns and maps a history of the turns you make
by how severe they were. The next page shows a large circle with
graduations within and a small, solid ball in the center. It displays G
forces during acceleration, de-acceleration, and lateral G forces in
turns. Stupid, but sorta fun to watch as long as I don't hit a tree
while mesmerized by the stupid display.

There's another display mode that scores your driving habits, measuring
how fast you accelerate, braking habits and some other factors. It
constantly updates and gives you a score from 0-100. It also keeps a
memory of past scores that you can compare to.
- show quoted text -
....

My wife is stuck on Honda CRV's. They're firm and very economical Micah
to drive. However her newest one has more butt wipes than any previous
ones. And like you said Richard, the touch screen to do anything can be
a nightmare for me. Way to many switchs on the steering wheel as well. I
shouldn't complain though. I drive my mercury and live it. About the
only time I drive the Honda is when it's really low in gas... lol!


Once I determined the tire pressure sensors were sending accurate
readings to the dash display, I decided I liked them. I like the radio
volume switches on the steering wheel. I really haven't bothered with
the rest of the techie stuff, other than to make sure it was all
working. Too much "much," if you will.


The one switch the Toyota misses on the steering wheel is the radio seek
button. While traveling, have to go to the far side of the radio to seek.

wrote:
On Mon, 29 May 2017 22:55:46 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:



I didn't notice on the Highlander that I tried if the backup camera
showed a "predictive" course when backing up. The one in the Pathfinder
does ... meaning as you back up there is a outlined box that moves as
you turn the steering wheel indicating were you are moving towards as
well as additional cameras that show the front corners as well. Pretty
much gives you an all around view of the vehicle. It has an 8 inch
display screen, so it's pretty easy to see everything. It also has a
"sonar" system warning that lets you now if you are going to hit anything.

Reminds me of flying lessons when you have to rely totally on
instruments rather than an actual view. :-)


We watched a guy in some kind of SUV (they all look alike these days)
back right into a tree limb and break out the back glass. He was
staring at his camera display, depending on the beeper, I guess and
the limb was above that view.
I tried hollering at him but I assume the music was blasting or he
just was not taking advice from red necks that day. He sure seemed
****ed that the technology failed him.


I did that to a Nissan POS in Costa Rica. No camera or sonar. But a
branch jutting out from a tree. Hit the spare tire on the rear door.
Another stupid idea. 5 mile an hour bumper that does not come in to play.

Keyser Soze wrote:
On 5/30/17 11:56 AM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 5/30/2017 11:33 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 30 May 2017 09:26:19 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:



I am discovering more interesting (but pretty much useless) features on
the Pathfinder. The display is a touch screen and if you select "Apps"
several displays come up that you can select. The first is a graphical
display of fuel economy, fuel flow rate and miles to empty. The next
page is a vertical graph and a pointer showing how hard you are steering
and in what direction in turns and maps a history of the turns you make
by how severe they were. The next page shows a large circle with
graduations within and a small, solid ball in the center. It displays G
forces during acceleration, de-acceleration, and lateral G forces in
turns. Stupid, but sorta fun to watch as long as I don't hit a tree
while mesmerized by the stupid display.

There's another display mode that scores your driving habits, measuring
how fast you accelerate, braking habits and some other factors. It
constantly updates and gives you a score from 0-100. It also keeps a
memory of past scores that you can compare to.


I think it is amazing that they have laws about talking on a cell
phone and then sell cars with this kind of distraction right on the
dash. The whole reason why they had pushbutton radios was so you would
not be distracted by turning a dial. Now they have entertainment
centers that take your full time and attention, just to turn on and
get to the input you want. Nothing can be done with muscle memory, you
have to look. I still prefer my old PC based MP3 players with a 10 key
numeric pad interface. If you can run a 10 key you never had to take
your eyes off the road.
The rest of those displays are just a wreck waiting to happen. At
least your family will know the g force of the wreck that killed you



I figured you of all people would get a kick out of this stuff. :-)

I agree, most of it is useless but the display, being a touch screen, is
not any more complicated to use than dials, if not easier for making
changes in just about anything. Your post about the guy backing into a
tree limb is surprising because the backup camera gives a wide view,
both horizontal and vertical. Anything that
would hit my rear window or roof is clearly visible. Maybe his camera
only looked at the ground behind the car.



If I drop the tailgate, I have a clear view of the pavement underneath
it.




Problem with those tailgates is cost. My buddy did not lock his F150
tailgate. Someone stole it. $4300 to replace.

On 5/30/2017 4:40 PM, Bill wrote:
wrote:
On Mon, 29 May 2017 22:55:46 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:



I didn't notice on the Highlander that I tried if the backup camera
showed a "predictive" course when backing up. The one in the Pathfinder
does ... meaning as you back up there is a outlined box that moves as
you turn the steering wheel indicating were you are moving towards as
well as additional cameras that show the front corners as well. Pretty
much gives you an all around view of the vehicle. It has an 8 inch
display screen, so it's pretty easy to see everything. It also has a
"sonar" system warning that lets you now if you are going to hit anything.

Reminds me of flying lessons when you have to rely totally on
instruments rather than an actual view. :-)


We watched a guy in some kind of SUV (they all look alike these days)
back right into a tree limb and break out the back glass. He was
staring at his camera display, depending on the beeper, I guess and
the limb was above that view.
I tried hollering at him but I assume the music was blasting or he
just was not taking advice from red necks that day. He sure seemed
****ed that the technology failed him.


I did that to a Nissan POS in Costa Rica. No camera or sonar. But a
branch jutting out from a tree. Hit the spare tire on the rear door.
Another stupid idea. 5 mile an hour bumper that does not come in to play.



I took a picture earlier of the back up display in the Pathfinder.

The left side of the display is the area directly behind the vehicle.
There's a yellow box that twists and moves to the left or right as you
back up, responded to the direction the back of the car is going. Nissan
calls this "Predictive Display". The bright area on the bottom is a
guard on top of the rear bumper, so you can see that the image is taken
fairly high up.

The right side is the combination of additional cameras on the vehicle
that give you a 360 degree view of what's around you. If you come close
to hitting something with the front or side of the car, a visual and
audio warning goes off. There are also "sonar" sensors that warn of
hitting anything anywhere. It's pretty cool.

https://tinyurl.com/y7mwupwb

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On Tuesday, May 30, 2017 at 5:00:43 PM UTC-4, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 5/30/2017 4:40 PM, Bill wrote:
wrote:
On Mon, 29 May 2017 22:55:46 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:



I didn't notice on the Highlander that I tried if the backup camera
showed a "predictive" course when backing up. The one in the Pathfinder
does ... meaning as you back up there is a outlined box that moves as
you turn the steering wheel indicating were you are moving towards as
well as additional cameras that show the front corners as well. Pretty
much gives you an all around view of the vehicle. It has an 8 inch
display screen, so it's pretty easy to see everything. It also has a
"sonar" system warning that lets you now if you are going to hit anything.

Reminds me of flying lessons when you have to rely totally on
instruments rather than an actual view. :-)


We watched a guy in some kind of SUV (they all look alike these days)
back right into a tree limb and break out the back glass. He was
staring at his camera display, depending on the beeper, I guess and
the limb was above that view.
I tried hollering at him but I assume the music was blasting or he
just was not taking advice from red necks that day. He sure seemed
****ed that the technology failed him.


I did that to a Nissan POS in Costa Rica. No camera or sonar. But a
branch jutting out from a tree. Hit the spare tire on the rear door.
Another stupid idea. 5 mile an hour bumper that does not come in to play.



I took a picture earlier of the back up display in the Pathfinder.

The left side of the display is the area directly behind the vehicle.
There's a yellow box that twists and moves to the left or right as you
back up, responded to the direction the back of the car is going. Nissan
calls this "Predictive Display". The bright area on the bottom is a
guard on top of the rear bumper, so you can see that the image is taken
fairly high up.

The right side is the combination of additional cameras on the vehicle
that give you a 360 degree view of what's around you. If you come close
to hitting something with the front or side of the car, a visual and
audio warning goes off. There are also "sonar" sensors that warn of
hitting anything anywhere. It's pretty cool.

https://tinyurl.com/y7mwupwb

The Audi has that. If you read the manual, it'll tell you that the short horizontal lines on each side are measurements that indicate how far you are from an obstruction. Also, those cameras are great for getting a hitch lined up when you don't have a spotter helping.

Bill
- show quoted text -
"The one switch the Toyota misses on the steering wheel is the radio seek
button. Â*While traveling, have to go to the far side of the radio to seek."


The last week or so has been a free preview time for Sirius XM Radio.
What a treat...I favour the '60s tunes.
No seeking required.

On Tuesday, May 30, 2017 at 5:46:30 PM UTC-4, True North wrote:
Bill
- show quoted text -
"The one switch the Toyota misses on the steering wheel is the radio seek
button. Â*While traveling, have to go to the far side of the radio to seek."


The last week or so has been a free preview time for Sirius XM Radio.
What a treat...I favour the '60s tunes.
No seeking required.

The problem with Sirius and XM is that the sound quality sucks big-time. If you have the base stereo it may not be that noticeable, but with a better quality one the sound is very "flat" with almost no stereo image. It's highly compressed. I dropped my subscription.

MP3's sound far better. I can rip CD's to a high bit-rate MP3 and play them from a memory stick or transfer them to the "jukebox", which is nothing but a hard drive in the car used to store music. Then there's always HD FM, which is even better. The high quality iTunes songs are good, too.

My wife's Honda CRV has (((XM))). And it sounds really good.

On 5/30/2017 5:46 PM, True North wrote:
Bill
- show quoted text -
"The one switch the Toyota misses on the steering wheel is the radio seek
button. While traveling, have to go to the far side of the radio to seek."


The last week or so has been a free preview time for Sirius XM Radio.
What a treat...I favour the '60s tunes.
No seeking required.


Me too. I have both the 60's channel and the 50's channel preset.



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