Feature bitch!

Spiff44

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I’m an antediluvian now and almost dead and all my life I have had analog cars except for an old Acura I had which only had power windows. Fast forward to today after I recently bought my first new car (2019 SI coupe) and its amazing and yet sometimes disconcerting how much electronic techno wizardry comes standard in a car now days. Most of the things are appreciated conveniences, but others are questionable design decisions. I just wanted to share some concerns and opinions and see what people thought.

Keyless entry/engine start- I still reach for my keys as I approach my car or the steering wheel as I’m turning off the car. I’ll get used to it one day.. but it seems like a huge security vulnerability. No wonder car jacking is so prevalent! So if you’re just standing anywhere near your car, filling the tank, checking something on the car, or just standing there shooting the shit with someone, anyone can sneak up and jump in the car and drive away! This is the equivalent to always leaving the keys in the ignition while being close to the car.. something no one in their right mind would do and we've been cautioned against our whole lives. Not to mention your car key is broadcasting RF for any savvy thief to copy. This is like walking around with a huge poster of the key diagram specifics to your house key. Stupid!! And for what?! Ooh.. so I don’t have to pull a key out of my pocket and I get a button to start my car. Not worth it at all, IMO.

Car features that think they know what’s better for you than you do. This is the most annoying thing of all and is a daily nuisance. Brake hold, fresh air return, air conditioning and who knows what else just does what they want. Its like the car just looks at you setting your controls and says to itself “yeah, I’ll take it under advisement”.

I know these things aren’t specific to Honda at all and I love my Civic. This is just a lighthearted bitch fest… I guess with cars soon doing the driving for you its to be expected. But I still miss my manual seats, window cranks and straight forward control clusters.
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Drake

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I have been unable to start my Si unless I'm sitting in the driver's seat and have my key with me. I am doubtful you would be able to start the car if the key was outside of it.
I also consider myself somewhat of a luddite, but are you really going to complain about air conditioning? Was your previous car a Model T? :D
 

burningoilagain

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Take a moment to go outside and get some fresh air, everything is gonna be okay. The car will not start if the keys are outside the car.

Happy Halloween!
 

gtman

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That's probably the first time the word antediluvian has been used at CivicX. :cool:

OP, I may not be as old as you but by CivicX standards, I'm getting up there. My point of view is different than yours. At first I thought things like push button start and brake hold were unneeded. And to an extent it's true but after owning my car, I absolutely love these features.

Brake hold, in particular, is one of my favorite features. I'm standing at work all day and my drive home includes one stoplight after the other. Being able to stretch my legs out at lights really is a huge plus and reduces fatigue.
 
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cafecito820

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Keyless entry/engine start- ... Not worth it at all, IMO.
Couldn't agree more. Increasing convenience usually means weakening security, and having to stick a physical key in the ignition was *not* a first world problem that needed to be solved.
 


Drake

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Couldn't agree more. Increasing convenience usually means weakening security, and having to stick a physical key in the ignition was *not* a first world problem that needed to be solved.
I'll admit that turning a key to start my car did always feel cooler to me than the push-button action I do now. But hey, at least I still get to feel like a boss shifting my own gears :drive:
 
OP
OP

Spiff44

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I like air conditioning and extra features like brake hold as well... I just don't like the car turning these things on all by itself when I explicitly have them set to "OFF". Yeah, I know the AC will come on using defrost or the auto zone control.. but it comes on without using these features also.

I'm glad to hear about the car not starting.. must be weight sensors in the seats.. makes sense since they're on the passenger side to turn on the airbag too.

I love finesse driving.. using my slow roll is always part of that. I won't miss a chance to predict the light and have a slow roll going forward already in the works and the brake hold keeps throwing a wrench into things There are many other situations of course as well that you just want to roll. I still haven't figured out when and why it decides to use it.. so far i haven't seen any common denominator. But I always leave it off and the point is that sometimes the car employs it anyway.
 

amirza786

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About keyless entry, like you when it came out I had my doubts and thought it had some security issues, but now I love it. The car will not start if you are not sitting in the car. Also to open the doors or trunk you have to be standing near the door or trunk you are opening. Now if you do start the car and leave it running someone can drive off, but this is the same case if you leave the keys in the ignition
 

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The manual said that the key has to be something like 23” (or some funny specific number like that) from the door when opening it. And it won’t start if the key isn’t in the car.

Hill hold (or whatever the auto one is called) only engages on steep hills and only holds for 2 seconds unless you have turned on brake hold. If you’re good at timing lights, then you can let off the brake at a hilly intersection 2 sec early!

Auto climate control is nothing to complain about and your 2019 has all of the HVAC buttons you should need to run it manually...
 

JT Si

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I like air conditioning and extra features like brake hold as well... I just don't like the car turning these things on all by itself when I explicitly have them set to "OFF". Yeah, I know the AC will come on using defrost or the auto zone control.. but it comes on without using these features also.

I'm glad to hear about the car not starting.. must be weight sensors in the seats.. makes sense since they're on the passenger side to turn on the airbag too.

I love finesse driving.. using my slow roll is always part of that. I won't miss a chance to predict the light and have a slow roll going forward already in the works and the brake hold keeps throwing a wrench into things There are many other situations of course as well that you just want to roll. I still haven't figured out when and why it decides to use it.. so far i haven't seen any common denominator. But I always leave it off and the point is that sometimes the car employs it anyway.
The antennas that detect the presence of the remote are actually directional and determine distance. You cannot unlock the passenger door if the remote is by the driver door, you cannot pop the trunk unless the remote is immediately behind the trunk lid, and the car won't start unless the remote is inside the vehicle. It's possible after looking at the direction of the physical sensor in the center console that the car won't start unless the remote is in one of the front seats, but I haven't yet tested that.
 


VooDuuChild

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Neat little feature here too....go ahead and toss the keys on the front seat. Get out. shut door. Try to lock it with button. Nope. No more locking keys inside. Also, open your trunk, toss the keys in, shut the trunk. Nope...they're not getting stuck in there either. And I agree with others above...break hold, amazing. However, considering I drive the coupe, I'm not really impressed with the turning radius. My full size, seats seven Jeep Commander with a Hemi turns far sharper and so does my 92 Wrangler. What's annoying is if you ever wanna change the radio in this thing, ha. Yeah...good luck.
 

Erin Tyres

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The keyless Civics have an anti theft feature to lock the steering when the engine is shut off. In other words, the car's computer decides when to lock the steering. It works fine, but if that steering wheel ever locks up at 40 mph on Route 66, I am going to be in big trouble.
 

JonnyFlash

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...I love finesse driving.. using my slow roll is always part of that. I won't miss a chance to predict the light and have a slow roll going forward already in the works and the brake hold keeps throwing a wrench into things There are many other situations of course as well that you just want to roll. I still haven't figured out when and why it decides to use it.. so far i haven't seen any common denominator. But I always leave it off and the point is that sometimes the car employs it anyway.
You know brake hold and anti-roll back are separate things right? The brake hold system can be turned on and off and just keeps the brakes applied when you come to a stop so you can take your foot off the brake.
 

saz468

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I like all features on my car. A while ago my brother in law’s nephew was so impressed that his BMW had the walk away locking feature and praised the other features my reply to him was that my Honda Civic has the same thing and other cars too
 

cafecito820

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The car will not start if you are not sitting in the car.
Maybe I'm misunderstanding you here, but are you saying there's some kind of weight sensor that needs to be activated before the car will start? Because I definitely started my SI last night while standing outside the door (cleaning out trash).
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