Gadgetory

sometimes it seems like everything technology touches turns to gold with the possible exception of Groupon but the auto industry's had a rather uneven relationship with the latest tech I'm Brian Cooley with the top five car tech flops that were actually just ahead of their time number five hidden headlights I put these down at number five because they did have a good run what would my 67 cougar be without them but they're the mark of a dated car today as automakers instead have moved on to sleek high-tech headlight clusters built into the body and they're all too happy to avoid the complication and cost of anything that pops up via a motor and a hinge in this electronic era number four digital instrument panels oh yeah these first flourished in the late 70s are pretty much gone by the 90s horrid looking digit displays that were hard to read expensive to repair and look like something you made from a kit a slew of Lincoln's caddies and even aston martins mistook this look for luxury today it's descended the LCD panel is taking over number three break by wire rankings a pretty basic thing in a car you like it to work consistently but Mercedes sensotronic system didn't always do that it replaced the actual pumping of hydraulic fluid connected to the pedal with a digital sensor in the pedal that told a computer how to apply the brakes except when it kind of didn't Mercedes killed the system after four years of freaking people out today though electro hydraulic braking is once again common as part of stability control and lane departure technology number two cylinder management Cadillacs v8 6:4 engine could drop down from eight to six or even four cylinders for better fuel economy cool except it was 1981 and the technology was a mess of vintage electronics and mechanical parts that moved engine things around on the fly resulting in a car that bucked and surged all the way back to the dealer today cylinder deactivation is back and smooth thanks to more sophisticated electronic and fuel injection but the number one flop in recent car Tech history his BMWs iDrive when the first generation of this knob and screen interface debuted in the early 2000s it was infuriating the screen layout was just clunky and it can only be navigated by this knob with silly haptic feedback and almost no helper buttons around it it made you beg for a touchscreen and it was the most universally hated car tech that I can recall but look who's laughing now as almost every car has some kind of similar human machine interface and BMWs current I drive it's one of the best to stay on top of all the new car tech future flops and otherwise go to see net on cars.com i'm brian coulis thanks for watching