TAG | cars
More random photo updates from this summer. Check out the captions in the large version of each photo (click on the photo) to see what’s goin’ on in each. Enjoy.
For some odd reason, I find it funny how different car manufacturers warn you of things like low tire pressure, low fuel, etc.
In my old Murano the designers felt that the most important warning was when your tire pressure was 5psi or more lower than it should. (Which happens often in MN.) The car would emit a loud warning tone for 10 seconds when this happens and then repeat it for every tire that was low. I often spent the first 30 seconds in my car trying to figure out which three tires needed air. Thankfully Nitrogen fixed that problem.
In our RX the low fuel warning is a tiny yellow dot that lights up and is positioned in a place that is easy to never see. However, the low washer fluid warning gets a large icon (slightly bigger than the big green turn signal icon), flashing notification AND a spot that’s easily seen on your dash. You might run out of gas, but you’ll be able to see everything in front of you when it happens!
Then there’s my car. The designers here opted to give you a series of warnings. First, the icon on your gas gauge lights up. Then you get a warning on the center display telling you you are on “reserve” fuel. Eventually, they stop you from being able to access all of the car’s features and replace them with the reserve fuel warning. If you still haven’t addressed the fuel situation, they resort back to pictures like the one below which essentially says “Dude! If you want to keep using me, you’re going to have to give me something to drink!”
Makes me wonder what our new car will start doing…
My car (Nissan Murano) has a lease that’s up in just a few days. As I near the end of the lease term I can’t help but reflect on what a great car its been. Its a great value, excellent size and gets really good gas mileage considering how big it is (ave: 21-24 MPG, depending on who’s driving).
Its also one of the most clever cars I’ve owned. Everything is laid out really well. I can rip apart any car design, but this one causes me to list only minor complaints (like the color of the background behind the instrumentation).
Speaking of clever, check out the picture below. Note the “Pause/Mute” button. This is brilliant! Let’s say you’re in your car listening to a CD. Your phone rings and you need to take the call. You can simply hit “Pause/Mute” and the tunes stop and screen blinks until you press it again. Sure, you could turn it off, but that would require the CD to have to spin up again when you are done with your call. This way, you can quickly get back to your music.
Brilliant feature! The number of times I’ve used it: 3.
I always remember that feature is there after I hit the power button. Doh! And I bet some point in the future, I’ll complain about how my next car (TBD) doesn’t have it!
