Tech you don’t mind and tech you do…

[TheX]

I thought I might find the auto highway lane centering helpful. Instead, I find it super annoying.

#metoo

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[TheX]

You are correct, the front camera originally came on the Badlands and First Edition trims.

My Outer Banks has it.

 

[Warped9]

I guess I'm wondering about the point of this post.

There is nothing on this list that I need, and very little that I could not live without. However, these are safety and convenience items, and IMO all fall into the "nice to have" category.

Which is the point. No one really needs a lot of these things. We drove for decades without them. But some are nice and convenient to have, some more than others, and it will vary from person to person.

A lot of people today complain about too much tech in cars now. But what are they really complaining about? Tech in some manner or other has always driven automotive evolution.

I suppose tech that serves no truly useful function or is actually detrimental is what really annoys people. The auto stop/start function is an example. Does it really save gas or is it just annoying without any real benefit?

The info-screen is the thing most people are annoyed with. More specifically they don’t like having to fuss with or decipher an onscreen menu to do something they did intuitively with ease with a physical button in a fraction of the time. You shouldn’t need to navigate a menu to open your glovebox or use your heated seats or whatever. It’s unnecessary complication and distraction when you can least afford being distracted while driving. For years we were told to stay off our phones while driving—you can even be ticketed for it—but then they introduce a whole other level of distractions with these screens. I’m glad I bought a 2024 Bronco Sport over the ‘25 because the ‘24 still has physical controls for the climate control and a more modest sized screen while the ‘25 has a larger screen (and losing ventilation vents on the sides of it) and the climate controls are moved into the screen.

You need the screen for the backup camera. It’s useful if you want to use gps navigation. But beyond that what really needs to be there that isn’t better served by a physical control?

There are signs consumer pushback is having an effect. Some manufacturers are putting physical controls back in the face of overwhelming negative feedback. Volkswagen is a prominent example.

From a purely aesthetic perspective the advent of ever bigger screens is making many vehicle interiors ever more bland and unappealing.

 

[aweston]

Hey, I'm guessing you "had to get used to the tech features" because they came with some other features that you really wanted. I wonder how a really stripped-down version would sell if they only kept the very best parts that you really wanted ... like the best drive train, engine and wheels.

I'm sure somebody would complain that the cupholders were not right.

 

[Stircrazy]

My previous car was a 2004 Crown Victoria. Suffice to say by today’s standards it was almost stripped except for anti-lock braking, power windows, power locks, air conditioning with auto climate control.

My 2024 Bronco Sport Big Bend is a different story and I’ve had to get used to tech features I never had before and didn’t feel I was missing out on. Now I might wonder if they were suddenly gone tomorrow if I would miss them.

here is my version of would I miss it or not. this is taken from the view of someone who drives 2h a day on remote windy mountin roads going to work and back every day.

- Remote start. Very nice for warming everything up in the winter before I leave work, this was a must have for this vehicle

- LED head lamps. another must have, I also have the setting done so I can run the driving lights with the high beams for even more visability so I can see deer.

- Automatic headlights. never had them before but I realy like it, especialy the auto high/low beam. one less thing to do while I am driving and watching for deer/moose/bears.

- Automatic climate control. another option I wanted, and the dual zone controle. I put mine on a temp and it stays there, I like that, plus the wife is always cold so she can adjust her side aproperatly

- Heated seats. one of my requirements, the older I get the more I like heated seats, especialy after a long day at work haha

- Backup camera. I don't know how we ever lived with out backup cameras

- Reversing sensors/alert. I always concidered this part of the camera, but if I had the camera I could live with out the sensors.

- Blind spot alert. I can still turn my neck enough to check lanes which we should be doing anyways so nice but not needed

- Wireless phone charging. the one thing I thought I would love, what a waist of money and space, doesnt charge properly overheats the phone ans you can't turn it off.

- Phone connectivity. I love the ability to use android auto and google maps or waze. saves me 100 to 300 bucks every time I want to upgrade my maps..

- Tire pressure sensors. I am crazy about tire pressure so yes I had to have this. good thing it is on every new car. I like the earl warning if a tire is losing air, it has let me fix a tire a few times, in my other vehicles, before I was stranded on the side of the road changing it.
- Driving modes. Don't use them, played with eco and sport, but 90% of the time I leave it in normal.. I have used slippery when I am weaving in and out of all the rigs stuck all over the highway during snow storms, so I guess that one is good.

- Customizable instrumentation. not sure what you mean by this, if it is the screens you can scrole thought I do like this, but I don't concider that instermentation
- Lane keeping assist. Like you it is turned off in my car, the highway markings are ok up here but a lot of places they are missing them, and in the winter they are covered up anyways snd where there are some in the winter it trying to corerect could put you into a skid on a curve
- Auto stop/start. could live with or with out it, makes your city fuel milage better, I just leave it on and don't worry about it

 

[Ernest T]

Can’t do without? That’s relative. I’ve been riding motorcycles over 50 years. I’d ride in temps into the 30s. Then I got heated gear and that let me ride into the teens, but I also started wearing it anytime I rode if the temp was below 50. What was nice to have now is a necessity.

I like being able to receive and send texts by voice.

I like the fact that I can tell the car to navigate to a location by voice while moving.

I absolutely love the blind spot and cross traffic monitoring.

The Birds Eye view is a terrific feature as is the front camera.

TPMS? All my cars, trucks and motorcycles have them. They’ve only saved me one time, but that’s one time I didn’t have to wait on a tire service.

I’ve even come to appreciate the adaptive cruise control.

 

[dwrufus53]

Hey, I'm guessing you "had to get used to the tech features" because they came with some other features that you really wanted. I wonder how a really stripped-down version would sell if they only kept the very best parts that you really wanted ... like the best drive train, engine and wheels.

I'm sure somebody would complain that the cupholders were not right.

The problem with this is that "the very best parts that you really wanted" is absolutely subjective. My list will be different from yours, and there's no way to pick and choose at a level granular enough to make us all happy.

 

[dwrufus53]

Can’t do without? That’s relative. I’ve been riding motorcycles over 50 years. I’d ride in temps into the 30s. Then I got heated gear and that let me ride into the teens, but I also started wearing it anytime I rode if the temp was below 50. What was nice to have now is a necessity.

I like being able to receive and send texts by voice.

I like the fact that I can tell the car to navigate to a location by voice while moving.

I absolutely love the blind spot and cross traffic monitoring.

The Birds Eye view is a terrific feature as is the front camera.

TPMS? All my cars, trucks and motorcycles have them. They’ve only saved me one time, but that’s one time I didn’t have to wait on a tire service.

I’ve even come to appreciate the adaptive cruise control.

Indeed this is true. The "nice to haves" quickly become "needs" as we get more familiar with the functionality.

 

[dwrufus53]

here is my version of would I miss it or not. this is taken from the view of someone who drives 2h a day on remote windy mountin roads going to work and back every day.

- Remote start. Very nice for warming everything up in the winter before I leave work, this was a must have for this vehicle

- LED head lamps. another must have, I also have the setting done so I can run the driving lights with the high beams for even more visability so I can see deer.

- Automatic headlights. never had them before but I realy like it, especialy the auto high/low beam. one less thing to do while I am driving and watching for deer/moose/bears.

- Automatic climate control. another option I wanted, and the dual zone controle. I put mine on a temp and it stays there, I like that, plus the wife is always cold so she can adjust her side aproperatly

- Heated seats. one of my requirements, the older I get the more I like heated seats, especialy after a long day at work haha

- Backup camera. I don't know how we ever lived with out backup cameras

- Reversing sensors/alert. I always concidered this part of the camera, but if I had the camera I could live with out the sensors.

- Blind spot alert. I can still turn my neck enough to check lanes which we should be doing anyways so nice but not needed

- Wireless phone charging. the one thing I thought I would love, what a waist of money and space, doesnt charge properly overheats the phone ans you can't turn it off.

- Phone connectivity. I love the ability to use android auto and google maps or waze. saves me 100 to 300 bucks every time I want to upgrade my maps..

- Tire pressure sensors. I am crazy about tire pressure so yes I had to have this. good thing it is on every new car. I like the earl warning if a tire is losing air, it has let me fix a tire a few times, in my other vehicles, before I was stranded on the side of the road changing it.
- Driving modes. Don't use them, played with eco and sport, but 90% of the time I leave it in normal.. I have used slippery when I am weaving in and out of all the rigs stuck all over the highway during snow storms, so I guess that one is good.

- Customizable instrumentation. not sure what you mean by this, if it is the screens you can scrole thought I do like this, but I don't concider that instermentation
- Lane keeping assist. Like you it is turned off in my car, the highway markings are ok up here but a lot of places they are missing them, and in the winter they are covered up anyways snd where there are some in the winter it trying to corerect could put you into a skid on a curve
- Auto stop/start. could live with or with out it, makes your city fuel milage better, I just leave it on and don't worry about it

I have used the wireless phone charging and found it pretty "hit and miss". I typically keep my phone in my pocket anyway and take advantage of wireless CarPlay.

The CarPlay feature is one that I consider "must have". My music. My nav. Text and calls on the info screen. And, as you say, saves potentially thousands over time on map updates (and my BB does not have built-in nave, anyway).

 

[dwrufus53]

Which is the point. No one really needs a lot of these things. We drove for decades without them. But some are nice and convenient to have, some more than others, and it will vary from person to person.

A lot of people today complain about too much tech in cars now. But what are they really complaining about? Tech in some manner or other has always driven automotive evolution.

I suppose tech that serves no truly useful function or is actually detrimental is what really annoys people. The auto stop/start function is an example. Does it really save gas or is it just annoying without any real benefit?

The info-screen is the thing most people are annoyed with. More specifically they don’t like having to fuss with or decipher an onscreen menu to do something they did intuitively with ease with a physical button in a fraction of the time. You shouldn’t need to navigate a menu to open your glovebox or use your heated seats or whatever. It’s unnecessary complication and distraction when you can least afford being distracted while driving. For years we were told to stay off our phones while driving—you can even be ticketed for it—but then they introduce a whole other level of distractions with these screens. I’m glad I bought a 2024 Bronco Sport over the ‘25 because the ‘24 still has physical controls for the climate control and a more modest sized screen while the ‘25 has a larger screen (and losing ventilation vents on the sides of it) and the climate controls are moved into the screen.

You need the screen for the backup camera. It’s useful if you want to use gps navigation. But beyond that what really needs to be there that isn’t better served by a physical control?

There are signs consumer pushback is having an effect. Some manufacturers are putting physical controls back in the face of overwhelming negative feedback. Volkswagen is a prominent example.

From a purely aesthetic perspective the advent of ever bigger screens is making many vehicle interiors ever more bland and unappealing.

As I've said elsewhere, many of these features are not necessary from the drop, but are pretty convenient once you discover them and understand how they help you. And over time, they become "necessary" in your mind.

For example, the CarPlay (and I assume Android Auto) go a long way towards removing the mystery around the info screen. The layout within CarPlay is consistent from vehicle to vehicle, can be configured to meet your personal needs. My music. My navigation app. My phone/text as necessary. My screen/icon colors and layout, etc. The consistent layout that CarPlay and AA afford are actually safety features. I can maneuver through many of the menus blindly (muscle memory) and via voice controls.

I love the 13.2" screen in my '25 Bronco Sport and the fully wireless connectivity for CarPlay.

 

[tekoontz]

I wish the owner’s manual was better.
Then I could figure out how to work a lot of the BS functions.
I see icons that I have no idea what they are !

 

[Robins21]

My wife loves all the stuff in her 21 BS/BB. I would have all the techy stuff turned off, to me it is an annoyance & a distraction. I have been driving for almost 50 years & IMHO all of these are unnecessary electrical add ons. The techy stuff is why I will never own anything newer then my 05 F150. The only thing I added is a backup camera because my new stereo has the option. I am not a fan of the touch screen on the stereo.

 

[Dude]

…

The info-screen is the thing most people are annoyed with (probably not most people)

You need the screen for the backup camera. It’s useful if you want to use gps navigation. But beyond that what really needs to be there that isn’t better served by a physical control?

Without that screen we wouldn’t have Apple CarPlay … Google how many people won’t buy a vehicle that doesn’t support Android Auto and CarPlay

 

[Escape2Bronco]

What seems like an absolute need now was not even an option many years ago. Reminds me of when I would take my 2006 Escape in for service and the service writer would warn me that you ”can’t” drive a vehicle in Wisconsin winters without ABS. The aluminum tone rings were pressed on a steel hub and would split due to rust on the hub and cause the ABS to fail. I always had to correct him saying that none of my cars for the previous 30 years had ABS and could be driven just fine in the snow. I continued to drive that for another 15 years without ABS.

While I don’t mind ABS, I could live without it. Since many of my earlier vehicles were devoid of any options or technology. I don't mind most of it. I’ve finally learned to look at the center screen while backing up! I’m not a big fan of the ”you are about to crash” warning. First time it went off, it scared the crap out of me, much more so than the vehicle that turned in front of me! Not a fan of the ACC either. On vehicles that I’ve driven that had it, I found myself going 10 miles an hour under the speed limit without even knowing it. A bright red alert here might be useful!

 

[SacBroncoOB]

I really like 110 V outlet in the back seat. I've used it on a number of occasions to keep laptops charged, to run vacuums and to blow up air mattresses on camping trips. There is no shortage of outlets in the BS, and they all come in handy!

I also like the adjustable lights on the inside of the hatch when it's open. I've used them to light up areas on camping trips, and they're actually pretty bright when you're completely in the dark.

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