Does anyone know why Nissan began impregnating their vehicles with futuristic technology back in the 1980's... and suddenly stopped? Why can't we have these innovations in our cars now? I'm referring to;

Bitching Betty; Nissan's voice-command system, used in the early-mid 1980s' maximas and 300ZXes. Famous words; "Door Ajar. Door Ajar. Door Ajar"

Four-Color Dot-Matrix warning display (used in the late 1970's/early 80's 280ZX) This handy display would signal low coolant, oil pressure, high temperature, diagnostic codes, and even warn you of a blown light bulb (and narrow it down to a specific bulb).

Space-Saver spare tires (included a bottle of compressed air)

Graphic Equalizers (seen on high-trim Maximas, and 300ZX cars)

Inline Six engines (while not technologically advanced, straight-six engines are just plain gorgeous when installed in a well-organized engine bay)

DIGITAL INSTRUMENT CLUSTERS!

C'mon, I would give anything for the above options on a new car!

My sister has one of the new Honda CRV's. She has, what they call, a digital command center. The only analog gauges she has are speed and tach. All other features like fuel, oil life, temp, compass, and a ton of other stuff are digitized. You can add an unlimited amount of gauges to a digital console. It would be nice if Nissan caught up with the times. You can even get an in dash NAV system from factory for the V.

In my opinion, digital intrument clusters don't look as good. I prefer analog gauges that I can glace and get a reading from. That big digital speedometer in the Civic looks just goofy.

oh.. I clicked on this thread thinking it was going to be about Nascar..

Oh well.Sorry

HAHAHAHAHA!!! You mean "80's Hairstyles... Today!"

I resemble that remark. I used to have a mullet.

Old Subarus also used to have this kind of stuff to an extent. The telltale graphic would tell you which door was open, whether the tailgate was open, if your brake fluid was low, if your marker bulbs were burned out, etc... I also loved the voltmeter that was in the mid'80's Burus that would tell you if either your alt or batt were going in real-time.

Transversely mounted inline 6's are not as compact as a V6 of the same displacement. The American public is also sold on the "V" configuration. Inline 6's are generally smoother (perfect primary balance) and have better torque curves. Some V6's are 3/4 of a V8, so they same on components. The camshaft, cranskshafts and block are dimensionally much longer and may require different tooling to produce compared to I4 and V6 components.

BBISHOPPCM wrote:Bitching Betty; Nissan's voice-command system, used in the early-mid 1980s' maximas and 300ZXes. Famous words; "Door Ajar. Door Ajar. Door Ajar"

Space-Saver spare tires (included a bottle of compressed air)

DIGITAL INSTRUMENT CLUSTERS!

C'mon, I would give anything for the above options on a new car!

I honestly don't mean any offense by this but:You're joking, right?Most of these "features" were abandoned because they were terrible ideas. Digital dashes suck. You don't get the same amount of information from a digital number you do from an analog gauge.

Anyone who has ever owned a Datsun 810 (Maxima) with Bitching Betty will tell you that was NOT a good idea. As if a dinging bell isn't irritating enough... Every single 810 I have ever seen in has had a switch wired in to turn the voice off. It's neat the first time. After that you want to bash your dash to death trying to kill it.

The new Civic has a digital dash and it's one of the car's biggest downfalls. It has a terrible dash design, and it is terrible because it's trying to be "innovative" and "futuristic." What it is is a pain in the arse.Ask any mid-90s GM owner what they think of Digital dashes. You'll probably have to censor most of their answer. There is a reason there's a huge market for analog dash conversions in '95-and-earlier Impala SS models.

Midget spares are also horrible. They're useless on the freeway, and they can wreak havoc on your drivetrain if you have to use them on drive wheels. Full size spares are MUCH nicer. That's why they're usually a cost option.

Nissan hasn't stopped with tech innovations, though. Infiniti is up there in the pointless tech battle right alongside BMW, MB, and Lexus. Infiniti has their new Lane Departure Warning system which I think is just about the dumbest "you don't need this at all" tech "feature" I've ever heard of (though it falls light years short of Lexus' autopark feature). Thankfully they got smart and added the ability to turn it off if you don't want it.Even some of the higher end Nissans like the Maxima have tons of tech goodies.

MinisterofDOOM wrote:
Nissan hasn't stopped with tech innovations, though. Infiniti is up there in the pointless tech battle right alongside BMW, MB, and Lexus. Infiniti has their new Lane Departure Warning system which I think is just about the dumbest "you don't need this at all" tech "feature" I've ever heard of (though it falls light years short of Lexus' autopark feature

I have to agree with you there. A few weeks ago I saw a commercial about a car manufacturer who has a collision alert system as an option. The 2 people in the car were staring and talking to each other and not paying attention to the road while quickly approaching a stopped truck. The little system starts going off with flashing LED's and beeps. Do people really need this feature? Should drivers be so oblivious to the road in front of them that they need a warning to let them know they are going to slam into the vehicle in front of them. I think an early pothole detection would be more worthy of my money.

On the other hand, I'll have to disagree with you on digital gauges. I think eventually all cars will have digital gauges. Granted digital gauges of the past have been , but we have to compare apples to apples. The most digital gauges of the past are no match to the LCD gauges of today. As the price of LCD/touchscreen technology drops, it becomes more cost effective to incorporate them into vehicles. Although you get the same amount of information from the analog gauges, digital readouts allow you become more precise. Knowing that you have 7.2 gallons of fuels is more accurate than "a little over half". Speed could easily be judged sensors pointed to the ground rather than wheel speed. No more tweaking the gauge when you decided to upgrade or downgrade the tires. And you can have screens and screens of information that you couldn't obtain normally. Things like being able to get the current psi of the tires every morning before you drive. You could even have an in gauge NAV system. It will greatly decrease the amount of areas you'll need to look for your information.

A gallons remaining gauge would definitely be nice. That would also require a major change in the way fuel level sensors work, though. Simply changing to a digital display wouldn't make the difference

Tach- and speedometers need to stay analog. An analog needle tells you a lot more than just your speed. It is much easier to get a sense of acceleration with a needle than with a numeric display. I've driven several different cars with digital speedometers and all were extremely irritating. I felt like I was missing something, like I had blinders on.

Granted, with the way speedometers are these days (5mph increments crammed tightly together so there's only a needle's width between 65 and 70) digital displays would be more accurate to the eye. The speedo in my Mustang rental car spans only half the gauge face (the bottom half totally unused) and has the tick marks only half the distance out from the centerpoint. If they had used more of the circumefrence and put the tick marks on the outer ring where they go, they wouldn't be so cramped. I love the speedo in my Maxima. 10-125mph span 3/4 of the gauge circumference. No question whether it's 65 or 70 that way.

There is one option that caught my attention recently during a commercial - I *think* it was for a Volvo but I'm not sure. It's a heart beat sensor on the Key fob. At first I was thinking - why do I need to measure by heart rate when driving? Then I realized it senses if there's a heartbeat in your car as you walk towards it.... in other words - creepy guy hiding in your back seat!

While sure, it would be good to know if Mr. Serial Killer is hiding in my back seat before I get in the car - this still seems to me a very specialized type of security add-on that was probably invented more for the marketing than the security aspect.

Unless I'm naive and there's more 'back seat lurkers' out there than I imagine...

My lurker's name is Melissa. She's cool most time except when she's drunk. Those rides home can get very interesting . But seriously, it can be a helpful feature to have (if they were giving it to me for free). Every year there's always one case where the parent gets out of the car and forgot the baby in there or some child gets locked in a hot car. "I thought my (wife or husband) dropped them off at the sitter and I didn't realize (he/she) was sleeping in the back." If the system can detect a heartbeat as small as a baby or child, then it could prevent some needless deaths. But then again it would be more wise and cheaper to check the car seat before you leave. When it comes to someone being in there who's not supposed to be I think the ground full of broken glass would tell you something. If someone can get in your armed car without breaking the glass, it's time to look into a new car. This is all unless the criminal was smart enough to bring a broom and dustpan.

I dont know about that one, I leave my dog in my car at times with the windows cracked for short periods of time every once in a while.

My parents had a Ford Aerostar van in the late 80s that had a totally digital dash. At the time I thought it was cool and really modern. Now, ironically enough, I think the look (like on the civic) is oddly dated.

On the subject of cool gauges, have you guys seen the new dash on the 2007 Mini Cooper? The nav system is integrated into the center-mounted speedo. Looks awesome.

Clipsed wrote:I dont know about that one, I leave my dog in my car at times with the windows cracked for short periods of time every once in a while.

Not sure about what, the potential lifesaving ability?

Remember that a dog can pant to get rid of excess heat. Granted, having a dog sit in a car with a window down is NOT good for the dog (and in many municipalities, illegal during the summer months)...

But Proxim was referring to a case of a child or toddler left in the back seat, strapped in. Such a child couldn't reasonably do anything to help cool themselves off if they WEREN'T strapped into a car seat, much less if they are. Also, it takes FAR less heat to kill a human infant than a dog.

We don't really have enough heat up here to cause those kinds of problems on all but the hottest days in August. However, one technological improvement that might help people is a device that locks your doors if you wander off with the engine running. Basically, a variant on our iKey system.

Here, you have at least 3 or 4 incidents per year (especially in Tacoma) where a parent strapped their kid into the child seat, turned on the engine, then went back into the house to get something, or ran into a store real quick, leaving the engine running, and their car gets jacked while their back is turned... with their kid still in it!

Of course, the thing that I really hate about the idjamanits in our country is that no matter how many times these things happen, people still go "oh, that will never happen to me", continue the bad behavior, then are shocked when it happens to them.

Okokok! I never said Bitching Betty was a good idea! I am a sucker for gadgets, some call it a flaw, but I think goodies and extra buttons and useless digital gauges are fun (at least for a little while). Oh, and those "reserve fuel gauges" were a Nissan option back in the 80's, my 300ZX has one.