New Automotive Ideas

evolutionqy7

Im making a survey and a study on existing or new ideas for the automotive industry.

Any one have used an automotive service or product that could be imporoved or better so something new that could be added to the automotive industry?

Ideas would start something like Scrappage scheme whats wrong with it or what can be added? pre-NCT tests and other similiar services.

EPM

Independent NCT centres...

chiefwiggum

yeah ive had an idead for ages....what about putting buttons on the steering wheel for your headlights...from full beam to dip...i think it would cut down that time from wheel to stalk therefore blinding ppl for a second

evolutionqy7

not sure that would be available as the goverment is making money out of this...especially retests...building independent ones would mean they would lose money...means that would be impossible or very hard to achieve...in the end the profits would be very low...the testing equipment is costly...

evolutionqy7

chiefwiggum wrote: »

yeah ive had an idead for ages....what about putting buttons on the steering wheel for your headlights...from full beam to dip...i think it would cut down that time from wheel to stalk therefore blinding ppl for a second

auto dip headlight are out there currently...when the sensors detect an oncoming light source the little motor lowers/dips the lights to prevent other being flashed

cadaliac

Get some sort of compulsory mileage checker system that will have the mileage of every car entered into one central database from every registered service outlet. Get the government to back it, as a safety feature of course, and this would eventually stop the rampant clocking of cars in this country.

chiefwiggum

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

auto dip headlight are out there currently...when the sensors detect an oncoming light source the little motor lowers/dips the lights to prevent other being flashed

but what heppens...does the light sourcw have to shine directly at the car..what about street lamps full moon stc...how does it differentciate?

evolutionqy7

goverment has nothing to do with this...as a consumer you have to be avare of this...if you told this to the government they would send you to an official dealership and since when does the government care?

cadaliac

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

goverment has nothing to do with this...as a consumer you have to be avare of this...if you told this to the government they would send you to an official dealership and since when does the government care?

you said the industry, so how are you going to regulate the industry without the gov?
Just a thought anyway.

Guy:Incognito

EPM wrote: »

Independent NCT centres...

.....would be a terrible idea. Our Doe system and the UK's MOT system are hugely open to abuse.

Plenty of issues "arrise" once the car gets to the garage for the test that conveniently the garage can fix for you at a good rate before passingyour car.


Foglight switches should absolutely not be on light stalks. They should be clearly marked dash mounted buttons that blink when the fog lights have been on more than 10 mins. I dont mean a big flashy but but the backlight illumination on it shouldgently flash. If nothign else it will have people going bck to garages seekign advice on why it's doign it, where the can be educated.

evolutionqy7

chiefwiggum wrote: »

but what heppens...does the light sourcw have to shine directly at the car..what about street lamps full moon stc...how does it differentciate?

there read on this
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/38166-auto-dipping-headlights.html
its all to do with variable resistors and etc...dont know about full moon...sure they thought of that...but why would you use full headlights in an urban area with street lights? its against the motor law

evolutionqy7

cadaliac wrote: »

you said the industry, so how are you going to regulate the industry without the gov?
Just a thought anyway.

unfortunattely were little puppets with out hands tied behind out backs...we cannot change the external environment just adapt to it...trying to change the government would take decades...anyway back to the subject thanks for the suggestion

chiefwiggum

i live in wicklow...and there are plenty of places where you are driving around in the middle of nowhere and the next thing a few street lamps flash buy and you in the dark again...weird!!

evolutionqy7

maybe you should address this to your local county council..

chiefwiggum

jesus im not that bothered about it...you asked for ideas

evolutionqy7

any one else have other ideas or imrovements you seek in automotive industry?

robtri

automotive ideas....

1. Road tax on petrol ... he who drives most pays most...

2. Reg plates only to be done at approved centres on proof of ownership of car.

evolutionqy7

i believe tax on petrol already exists...

please base you answers on examples given in the original post as the tax and other road issues are in the governments hands not the automotive industry...

some improvements on products, car service, car repairs. Looks on how could you improve and existing service or supply a new one...

Anan1

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

maybe you should address this to your local county council..

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

i believe tax on petrol already exists...

please base you answers on examples given in the original post as the tax and other road issues are in the governments hands not the automotive industry..

You might want to reconsider your tone a little, you are after all asking for help.

Mr Benevolent

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

i believe tax on petrol already exists...

You didn't read that properly. He means to put the motor tax on fuel, increasing the price of petrol but lowering the cost of ownership.

cantdecide

Stekelly wrote: »

Foglight switches should absolutely not be on light stalks

Audis and others have a headlamp dial where you have to turn it to the right to switch on the headlamps and then pull the dial toward you to switch the foglight on. That means you have to push in and turn the foglamp off before you turn the headlamp off.

chiefwiggum

this guys attitude stinks...sounds like a robot...YOU asked for ideas...WE tried to help...and all we get is smart arse answers like address you local county council...no more help from me!!

cantdecide

Get the car industry to champion the consumer against the government with regard to taxation, roads etc. etc. The motor industry haven't endeared themselves to the public by hopping into bed with the government for the purpouse of harvesting revenue from the consumers when the times were good.

Now the good times are over, the car industry is in crisis and the govt are off frolicking in the fields.

Mr.David

I think a Euro-wide independent tyre assesor (similar in theory to NCAP) would be invaluable.

Whereby every road tyre is evaluated in a number of different categories - dry & wet breaking, dry & wet lat acc (max), noise, rolling resistance etc and scored out of 100.

If it could be made easy to understand and result in every tyre being ranked in the same way you see your nutritional info on ready meals - simple and easy for Joe Soap to grasp.

Then when you want to replace your tyres, you could search the entire database and weight different options depending on what matters to you most e.g. wet weather performance would be more important in Ireland than Spain!

Stekelly

Stekelly wrote: »

Foglight switches should absolutely not be on light stalks. .

On what cars are fog light switches on stalks ?

Stoolbend

RoverJames wrote: »

On what cars are fog light switches on stalks ?

Renault, Nissan, some Toyotas to name a few.

But I don't see what the big problem with them is!

edit, could be wrong about nissan.

Theta

I always thought having a manual gearbox with a dog leg gear for crawling would be a good idea. When stuck in traffic I find it a pain to clutch in first gear crawl clutch in netural and brake for an hour over and over. So having a gear that would allow you to crawl at low speed and stop in without putting it in netural would be great similar to the way an auto will roll without your foot on the brake.

Im sure it would require serious development though with some kind of quasi manual electric double clutch and wouldnt be worth it.

Anan1

barry81 wrote: »

Renault, Nissan, some Toyotas to name a few.

But I don't see what the big problem with them is!

edit, could be wrong about nissan.

The problem is that once you turn them on they stay on until turned off, whereas other systems turn off with the lights.

chiefwiggum

on kia's aswell

barry81

barry81 wrote: »

Renault, Nissan, some Toyotas to name a few.

But I don't see what the big problem with them is!

edit, could be wrong about nissan.

I don't see a problem with them either, never noticed a stalk mounted fog light on a car though. Have never drove a Renault or Nissan in fog though.

Stoolbend

Anan1 wrote: »

The problem is that once you turn them on they stay on until turned off, whereas other systems turn off with the lights.

My sisters 06 Rav4 has a switch on the dash that leaves them on all the time.
My other sisters 02 Laguna has a switch on the stalk that resets itself every time you switch off the lights. Newer Peugeots and Citroens have it on the stalk as well.

I wasn't on about the switch though!

Guy:Incognito

barry81 wrote: »

Renault, Nissan, some Toyotas to name a few.

But I don't see what the big problem with them is!

edit, could be wrong about nissan.

The problem is that too many people get in to the car and turn the stalk the whole way and any parts of the stalk get turned through curiosity and left. They have to be turned off too, which doesnt happen automaticall.

A dash switch doesnt turn itself off either which is where the blinking light idea comes in.

They should be a seperate switch on the dash, away from anythign else light related.

RoverJames wrote: »

I don't see a problem with them either, never noticed a stalk mounted fog light on a car though. Have never drove a Renault or Nissan in fog though.

The problem isnt in fog, It's the rest of he time the person is drivign aroudn with it on and they either dont know or care.

Theta wrote: »

I always thought having a manual gearbox with a dog leg gear for crawling would be a good idea. When stuck in traffic I find it a pain to clutch in first gear crawl clutch in netural and brake for an hour over and over. So having a gear that would allow you to crawl at low speed and stop in without putting it in netural would be great similar to the way an auto will roll without your foot on the brake.

Im sure it would require serious development though with some kind of quasi manual electric double clutch and wouldnt be worth it.

People in the Auto Vs manual thread disagree with you, doing that for an hour is no problem at al apparently.:)

mickdw

The future is in variable rolling radius being used for cornering at speed imo.
If the rolling radius of the inside wheel could be reduced via steering input, it would greatly improve cornering ability.

Merch

cadaliac wrote: »

Get some sort of compulsory mileage checker system that will have the mileage of every car entered into one central database from every registered service outlet. Get the government to back it, as a safety feature of course, and this would eventually stop the rampant clocking of cars in this country.

How about in the NCT but make it available to download check with the owners permission, ie for private sales
So private owners can confirm to private sellers the mileage

could be of use for an easily accessible check, but without much extra money input to get the thing going

Theta

Stekelly wrote: »

People in the Auto Vs manual thread disagree with you, doing that for an hour is no problem at al apparently.:)

Haha I just posted in there now. I should have read that thread first!

500sel

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

any one else have other ideas or imrovements you seek in automotive industry?

How about regulating mechanics/ Garages?
Seems there are too many Dubious characters opening garages
And people paying for substandard work.
IMO:)

itarumaa

How about simple car that is easy to fix and still it would look good and be nice to drive.

I had a Matiz and I liked the simplicity of the car, altough it was not easy to fix or nice to drive:)

evolutionqy7

chiefwiggum wrote: »

this guys attitude stinks...sounds like a robot...YOU asked for ideas...WE tried to help...and all we get is smart arse answers like address you local county council...no more help from me!!

im not being a smart arse im just trying to point people in the right direction of what im looking for...the area is motor dealer management where a good a good way of improving customer service and easy marketing that wouldnt annoy people and actualy would give a good statement of what a dealership is trying to do...

i dont own or work in a dealership...im just basicly trying to find stuff for the management assignment that would be actualy worth something...something real for real people...that would make either cars more affordable in a reasonable limit...idk thats why i posted it this :P and im not a robot haha

evolutionqy7

bump

punto gt turbo3

electro magnetic braking system.

evolutionqy7

i was actualy thinkin of that...though my idea is a bit different...making the engine bay chasis into an electro magnet...so if a driver knows that hes about to crash he could press a button and activate the electro magnet...though then the back of the car would have to act as a negative pole to repel the both cars... though another problem comes that a strong magnet that would be able to do this prob would break the engine and the electric circuit in the car...but hey you can buy a new car cant repair or buy yourself again

evolutionqy7

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

...making the engine bay chasis into an electro magnet...so if a driver knows that hes about to crash he could press a button and activate the electro magnet...though then the back of the car would have to act as a negative pole to repel the both cars... though another problem comes that a strong magnet that would be able to do this prob would break the engine and the electric circuit in the car...but hey you can buy a new car cant repair or buy yourself again

Are you on crack ?

Paul_D

1. Pay as you go insurance. Not a new thing though. Basically pay for every km travelled instead of an annual premium. The rate will depend on the road travelled and other factors (age, experience etc). A small GPS device fitted in the car will determine which type of the road a driver is travelling. The motor tax can be done in the same way. Also it will prevent speeding.
Of course removing or altering the device will void the insurance.

2. Make a driver do a breath test before a car can even be started.

Theta

PulloSack wrote: »

1. Pay as you go insurance. Not a new thing though. Basically pay for every km travelled instead of an annual premium. The rate will depend on the road travelled and other factors (age, experience etc). A small GPS device fitted in the car will determine which type of the road a driver is travelling. The motor tax can be done in the same way. Also it will prevent speeding.
Of course removing or altering the device will void the insurance.

2. Make a driver do a breath test before a car can even be started.

Ehhhhhhhh no. Id rather not live in a nanny state! Maybe you should try the UK!

TestTransmission

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

i was actualy thinkin of that...though my idea is a bit different...making the engine bay chasis into an electro magnet...so if a driver knows that hes about to crash he could press a button and activate the electro magnet...though then the back of the car would have to act as a negative pole to repel the both cars... though another problem comes that a strong magnet that would be able to do this prob would break the engine and the electric circuit in the car...but hey you can buy a new car cant repair or buy yourself again

You mean like Clarkson did on Top Gear with the toy cars?

evolutionqy7

mmm not sure i seen it but the idea is that electro magnetic poles would repel the front of the car from the back of the vehicle in front...it would make a difference on the impact...

any other ideas...

mmm im sure for people that drive only a few hours a week pay as you go insurance would be great...but again insurance is out of reach of the motor industry

evolutionqy7

any other ideas?

TestTransmission

What about yourself OP?

We cant be doing your homework for you,you know

evolutionqy7

my idea's were in the OP and the electro-magnetic car chassis was on my mind 2 i've an empty head...common people were the future of the car industry (as our lecturer always tells us ) though its not more about new products its more about customer service and customer satisfactory ways to improve it for you the people haha