Quirky car details

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117962292#Comment_117962292

My first car, a Citroen Xsara, had the horn button on the end of the headlight/indicator stalk. Subsequently, I got into the habit of leaning on the steering wheel with my elbow when reversing and looking back over my shoulder and steering with one hand. Which led me to inadvertently blasting the horn every time I reversed for the first couple of weeks when I got my next car.

My parents had a Citroen CX that had the horn like that too. It also had the hydrolic Citroen suspension.

I always liked the radio controls on my 03 Focus being on a dedicated stalk rather than the steering wheel, as you could use them no matter what position the wheel was in.

Renault had that long before Ford on the Renault 19, Laguna, Megane and every other Renault since.

Renault do it the best.

The Megane we had used to drive my Mother nuts. Someone would drive out in front of her and she would go to press the steering wheel to blow the horn but it was two small buttons on the steering wheel not the actual steering wheel itself. Why they went that way was beyond me but they fixed it in the midlife update.

The citroen fixed steering wheel was a brilliant idea. A pity it did not catch on. It kept the airbag in the optimum position in case of a crash.

The S-Max the Dad had came with a cool handbrake like something out of an airplane cockpit.

Gregor Samsa

The S-Max the Dad had came with a cool handbrake like something out of an airplane cockpit.

I’ve a 2010 S Max at the moment, and it has that handbrake. For some reason it feels more pleasant to use than the traditional lever. However, I mainly drive a Superb with an electronic handbrake, and I keep forgetting to either disengage or engage the manual handbrake in the S Max when I drive it.

Another feature the S Max has is two storage spaces under the floor of the rear passenger footwells. One contains the pump and pointless gloopy stuff in lieu of a spare wheel, I’ve the first aid kit in the other. There’s also a storage space under the floor in the boot, but it’s only accessible when the third row seats are raised.

The Superb (and I assume other Skodas) comes with two bendy plastic panels with Velcro on the bottom, that you can fix to the boot floor to hold boxes or packages in place. I’m going to get a second set for the S Max. My old Volvo V50 had a divider that you could raise up from the boot floor that had shopping bag hooks and an elastic strap to secure shipping. Very handy. The Superb has 4 hooks in the boot, and a system of elasticated cargo nets. The S Max has nothing to stop stuff rattling around the massive boot - I had to buy an accessory barrier (affectionately known as the “apple catcher”) to stop stuff just falling out of the boot if you park on a slope, as there’s no lip on the boot at all when you have the 3rd row seats folded away.

CianRyan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117951308#Comment_117951308

I'm late to the party but the bravo was probably less to do with snow but rather the dew point and high humidity.

Old plug leads can look fine but when inspected properly can be found like discharge through their shielding and earth through the head instead of through the plug. Actually very common on cars of that era.

The high humidity gave the voltage an easier path to arc versus drier air. The water vapour is conductive.

DaveyDave

kyote00

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118633887#Comment_118633887

You have an ‘undo’ button on right hand side also

RosieJoe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118638463#Comment_118638463

"undo" button? Or am I missing an obvious joke 😀

Gregor Samsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118639229#Comment_118639229

This one😉

(air recirculation)

CuriosityKilledtheCat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117965593#Comment_117965593

I think this was a cigar holder

Patrick2010

Bought a new car in 1984, reg uzg 802. Sold it 2 years later when I got a company car , reg zg 8023.

lawred2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117956172#Comment_117956172

oh I used to love that in my 9-3

don't think I ever had anything in it though

high horse

I had a peugeot 406 with the horn at the end of the stalk for the lights. Until I got used to the setup, any time that I tried to honk the horn I would turn on the high beams too. Turning a simple audible warning sound into road rage!

mailforkev

I came to mention the rear seat bottle holder in my old Volvo C30 but I see someone beat me to it on page 1.

My Honda e has a three pin plug and a HDMI port in the centre console so that you can use an Amazon Fire stick or play a games console should you wish.

Also has camera wing mirrors which are fairly quirky.

Wildly Boaring

My dad had an Isuzu Gemini. Not many about.

The buttons around the top of the dash were for the lights and the wipers.

So there was just a stalk fir the indicators.....

silver2020

I worked with proctor and gamble in the UK many years ago in their home products division which included daz washing powder.

My car reg was "DAZ 6672"

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118657416#Comment_118657416

Not a bad looking dash for something from the 80s or early 90s was it. Not perfect but not bad. I wonder why buttons never took off for lights etc. Seem to be a simple idea. Maybe they broke often or something or people just find it more natural to use stalk controls. Personally I would prefer the buttons myself.

colm_mcm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118657416#Comment_118657416

Honourable mention for the Citroen CX, Oltcit and Mitsubishi Colt

standardg60

Three things i've had on different cars over the years which i'd found invaluable and have no idea why they don't remain as standard on all cars now.

My first car, a Micra (and i think other Jap cars of the time) which had a little flap beside the driver's seat which popped the boot open. My Corrado had heated windscreen washer jets, but maybe the simplest and most genius of them is my Touareg, which has two sets of sun visors, so you can swing the first one to the side window and then drop the next one for the windscreen.

I curse every time i have to move it from the front to the side in every other car i've driven!

Wildly Boaring

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118663052#Comment_118663052

Well I suppose most VW group have them on a switch to the side.

Wipers on switches was a bit odd. No auto wipers back them. Do had to move your hand up every time for a one off or the washer

ba_barabus

I currently have a Nissan Cube and Renault 25 on the driveway, I should have a few contributions for here later 😅

MrCostington

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118664628#Comment_118664628

Slightly OT, but I get the impression that very few drivers know that you can/should move the sun visor to the side, as I very rarly see other s do it. In fact, I think someone in this thread thought it was an unusual feature!

MrCostington

Gregor Samsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118667633#Comment_118667633

I'm aware that the sun visor can move to the side, but I honestly can't think of a single instance in all my years driving that I've actually felt the need to do it.

Hurrache

Maybe you misunderstand how it's used, as I don't believe you've never driven a car when the sun had been low and to your right, enough to shine into your face.

Gregor Samsa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118668833#Comment_118668833

This is such an internet statement 😉. I make a comment about my own personal experience, and you're straight in with "You either don't know how it works, or you're lying". No one talks like that in real life.

Anyway, just to be very clear: I know exactly how a driver's sun visor can be rotated to block light from the driver's window to the right, but I've never actually felt the need to use this feature, and so never have used it while driving. Look, maybe it's my driving position: I'm relatively tall, and I tend to sit quite high: the sun would have to be very low in the sky and to my immediate right to shine right in my eye from the side, and given the area of the country I live in, I don't tend to drive in a north-south direction across flat plains at either sunrise or sunset. I'm not trying to deny the feature exists, or it's not a benefit for other people. All I'm saying, in response to another poster who said that it's rare for them to see someone else using it, is that I've never had any need for it myself.

DaveyDave

My seat is too far back for the sun visor to do anything at the side as it doesn't extend, I'd use it if I could :(