[AT] driver convenience systems
Jim Becker
mr.jebecker at gmail.com
Fri Jan 24 18:53:51 PST 2020
Since my cell phone is paired up with bluetooth and the car has a "built-in"
cell phone as part of onStar, I'm not always sure which phone I'm using. I
know which one it is when it tells me I don't have any minutes, which the
built-in phone never has. I should have said it doesn't let anyone key an
actual phone number on the control panel, evidently regardless of which
phone you are using. I never have been able to use the saved contacts on my
phone either. That may be me, not the system. It will let me use the
contact list of the built-in phone. I am able to answer my phone through
bluetooth, no problem. Some of what I'm remembering may be with my 2012
Cruz rather than the 2019 equinox, but I think they both behave about the
same regarding the cell phones.
I have found that it doesn't take long with your hands off the wheel before
it yells at you. It watches for any slight movement of the steering wheel
and complains if there isn't any. (I suspect it uses an algorithm much like
VW used to cheat on the Diesel testing. But rather than changing the engine
control to cheat mode, it tells you to pay attention.) It appears that it
also feels for resistance from your hands on the wheel when it corrects for
lane departure. If you get on a stretch of perfectly straight road and aim
yourself precisely down the center of the lane, it can yell at you even if
your hands are on the wheel. It is not easy to duplicate that trick. I
doubt it would be possible anywhere in Pennsylvania.
Another thing I would like is more control over is the camera displays. It
turns on when you are in reverse and stays on (switching to front camera) as
long as your forward speed is very slow. It would be nice if I could switch
it on manually, for example when pulling into a some sparking spaces or the
garage.
I would like a "straight ahead" signal too. I'll confess that on occasion
when I see somebody that seems not trustworthy, I will pull the stalk and
turn on my high beams (daytime) to help them notice I am there.
Jim Becker
-----Original Message-----
From: Roger Moffat
Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2020 9:34 PM
To: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group
Subject: Re: [AT] driver convenience systems
I have a 2019 Equinox…
The headlights can be manually put onto high beam by pushing the lever
forwards, and then returned to low beam by pushing the lever forwards again.
While driving I can view the oil life, along with tyre pressures, fuel
economy, speed etc by cycling through the screens using the up and down
arrows on the right side of the steering wheel.
When you say a passenger can’t make a phone call - are you meaning for a
vehicle that has phone service built into it, and by using the keypad on the
touchscreen? I haven’t tried that as we don’t have the phone/data service
active in the vehicle - our cell phones are paired to the car and we can
answer either of them, or initiate calls using the car’s controls.
Roger
> On Jan 23, 2020, at 10:13 PM, Jim Becker <mr.jebecker at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> The Equinox is a 2019. The bright/dim function of the turn lever is as
> you both describe. However, if the autodim is turned on and you do those
> operations, the autodim takes over as soon as you let go of the lever.
> That is nice if you want to flash somebody then let the autodim take over
> again. In other situations, like when you turn onto a private road and
> want the brights, it would be nice to have the manual override shut off
> the auto function.
>
> There are some functions that are blocked when moving. Mostly they make
> sense. However, it is annoying that, for example, a passenger can't make
> a phone call when the car is moving. I agree there is no need to check
> oil life while moving. On the other hand, tire pressure is an operating
> parameter that you (or at least I) want to see while moving. When I feel
> some odd behavior, it is nice to be able to check for a low tire.
>
> Jim Becker
>
> -----Original Message----- From: szabelski at wildblue.net
> Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2020 3:04 PM
> To: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group
> Subject: Re: [AT] driver convenience systems
>
> Todd,
>
> If you Equinox is anything like my 2016 Colorado, you can turn on the
> brights by pushing the turn signal lever forward, and turn them of by
> either pulling it backwards, or by pushing it forward a second time. You
> can also just flash the highs by pulling back on the turn lever and
> letting it go, it returns to the off sate automatically. Nice feature
> since all you have to do is pull back, release, pull back, release, etc to
> flash the lights instead of push forward, pull back, push forward, pull
> back, etc.
>
> Carl
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: farmallgray at aol.com
> To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
> Sent: Thu, 23 Jan 2020 10:09:16 -0500 (EST)
> Subject: Re: [AT] driver convenience systems
>
> Jim,What year is your wife's Equinox? We just got a 2020 and I think with
> it you can put the high beams on manually by just pushing forward on the
> lever. We haven't driven it much yet so I'm still figuring things out. We
> got it at thanksgiving time and have only put 300 miles on it.I was a bit
> dubious about the auto dim function, but I must say it seems to work quite
> well.
>
> Todd MarkleSpring Mills, Pa.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jim Becker <mr.jebecker at gmail.com>
> To: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Sent: Wed, Jan 22, 2020 7:48 pm
> Subject: Re: [AT] driver convenience systems
>
> My wife’s car (Chevy Equinox) has autodimming lights. It has a dedicated
> button on the turn signal lever for turning the feature on or off. It
> works pretty well in most circumstances. It has what I consider a bit of
> a problem on a road with a lot of up and down. You enter a dip and even
> with another car coming towards you in the next dip it turns the brights
> on. It leaves them on until both vehicles get far enough up the next hump
> to establish line of sight to each other’s headlights. Doing it manually,
> you can see the scatter from the other lights and dim (or leave dim)
> before you have direct line of sight. On that type road, it is better to
> shut the autodim off and stick with low beams if there is oncoming
> traffic. I had another situation a couple nights ago. I was entering a
> large sweeping curve, one of those flatland curves with about an 800 ft.
> radius. Another car was entering from the other end and he had a
> headlight out. I guess it dimmed at a reasonable distance but I would
> have dimmed way before the autodimmer did it. That was one of those
> oddball situations people dream up to prove the system doesn’t work.
> Having a convenient way to shut the feature off is probably the answer. By
> the way, the manual lists a half dozen situations where the system may not
> dim the lights, including both I just described. Following that list it
> says: “The IntelliBeam system may need to be disabled if any of the above
> conditions exist.” Jim Becker From: Stephen Offiler Sent: Wednesday,
> January 22, 2020 4:33 PMTo: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group
> Subject: Re: [AT] driver convenience systems I have no answer; doesn't
> seem like there'd be any federal requirement, so I'd guess it's the whim
> of the Ram product and marketing people. I think it would bug me enough to
> shut it off, and I guess I find it interesting that you like it enough on
> the open road to deal with it below 15mph. SO On Wed, Jan 22, 2020 at
> 3:43 PM Spencer Yost <spencer at rdfarms.com> wrote:
>
> You can toggle a setting that allows the lighting stalk to be “normal”
> brights on/off or be auto dim on/off. But it’s a touch screen setting and
> 3 menus down.... I live on a private road that is dark and unlit. It
> also has speedbumps (don’t get me started on that - crazy neighbors
> insisted when we finally paved it). Slowing down for the speedbumps
> triggers this behavior. I also have a long dark drive to the shed with
> the baler and the Ford and continues down to one barn. My speed on that
> driveway is too slow for them to even come on. Also, sometimes you
> just want to be stopped but still have the bright lights on. Funny
> thing is, if It didn’t do such a great job on the road in normal
> circumstances, I’d turn autodim off and leave it off. But I really like it
> under those normal circumstances. So I find myself doing without bright
> lights in slow/stopped circumstances or fumbling with a touchscreen.
> Seems ridiculous. Why would I not want bright lights below 15mph?
> Spencer
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jan 22, 2020, at 1:53 PM, Stephen Offiler <soffiler at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> Spencer: presumably one can shut the auto-dimming function off? I can
> totally see the 15mph irritation. My tractor-hauling rig is a '16 F-250
> but it's pretty basic "XL" trim level. Not much auto-anything beyond the
> transmission. Which is fine with me! Steve O. On Wed, Jan 22, 2020
> at 1:30 PM Spencer Yost <spencer at rdfarms.com> wrote:
>
> My 2016 Ram antique tractor hauling truck has auto dimming and clearly
> uses a camera and AI to recognize headlights AND taillights. Does really
> well. Only issues are some security/street lights will fool it and they
> turn off. Even then the truck has to be approaching at just the right
> vector. Minor thing in my mind. Other one is speed. Below 15mph the
> brights go off. This is a bigger deal and pisses me off driving on the
> beach or a gravel rd when I am traveling between 12-18 mph and they turn
> on and off and on and off and ...... Spencer
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Jan 22, 2020, at 7:07 AM, Dean Vinson <dean at vinsonfarm.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> I rented a car last month while visiting relatives in another state.
> Toyota Camry, I think, whatever the rental place considered a “full size”
> car. With the headlight switch in Auto mode, it would automatically
> switch the high beams on and off depending on whether oncoming car
> headlights were visible. Freaked me out when it first happened. I
> watched attentively for a while and it worked fine, never left the high
> beams on when I would have switched them off. But I stopped using Auto
> mode after that and just used the normal On setting and controlled the
> high beams manually… too much habit, muscle memory, and lingering distrust
> of the new system. As I think about it, maybe the auto bright/dim
> control isn’t a bad feature, since there are sure a bunch of morons out
> there who don’t think it’s important to switch to low beams when they’re
> *behind* another car. Hopefully the technology provides that capability
> too… Dean Vinson Saint Paris, OH From: AT
> [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Aaron Dickinson
> Sent: Monday, January 20, 2020 5:05 PM
> To: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Subject: Re: [AT] driver convenience systems Rain, fog, Snow all can
> allow enough ambient light to fool the auto headlamps to think they are
> not necessary. My complaint when they first came out with daytime running
> lights with auto headlamps, was fear that it would make drivers
> lazy/ignorant about when and how to use their headlights. I have seen too
> many times when lights are not on or fully on when they should be. Little
> concerned about the driver alert systems. Surprised at the number of
> drivers that don’t know how to position their mirrors, or have awareness
> of their surroundings. Like many on the list, I drive a pickup truck often
> towing a trailer, be it a flatbed, travel, or enclosed. I am able to
> adjust my mirrors to nearly eliminate blind spots, those that remain are
> monitored for vehicles entering and leaving. Aaron Dickinson Mason,
> Michigan From: Jim Becker
> Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2020 9:49 PM
> To: 'Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group'
> Subject: Re: [AT] tractor hauler a pain to install headlights. Yeah,
> what Brian said about DRLs, except maybe not at 80%. Automatic lights
> respond to light levels and should turn on both front and rear. Most if
> not all also have an instrument panel indicator so the driver can tell if
> the automatic lights are on. They do not know when it is raining as light
> levels in rain are usually above the level that turns on the lights. It
> is still up to the driver to turn on lights in the rain. Jim Becker
> From: Brian VanDragt Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2020 8:35 PM To:
> 'Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group' Subject: Re: [AT] tractor
> hauler a pain to install headlights. I don’t know how all the auto
> mode lights work, but my ‘99 Chevy Tahoe has daytime running lights and no
> auto mode. Daytime running lights are the front headlights only and are
> always on at 80% brightness whenever the engine is running and the parking
> brake is not set. I don’t consider these auto mode lights. If I want my
> rear lights on and the headlights up to full brightness when it is getting
> dark or when it is raining, I have to turn my lights on manually. Daytime
> running lights are to make oncoming traffic more visible in shaded areas.
> Brian From: AT [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf
> Of Gilbert Schwartz
> Sent: Sunday, January 19, 2020 9:23 PM
> To: Antique Tractor Email Discussion Group; Howard Pletcher
> Subject: Re: [AT] tractor hauler a pain to install headlights. Howard,
> I am glad to hear that on your escape. The last four vehicles I have had
> would not turn on the rear lights when the auto mode turned on the front
> lights. One of those vehicles was a pickup truck. Now I am wondering what
> condition turns the lights on in auto mode. Several years ago my wife was
> driving in a rainstorm while I was behind her. When we stopped I raised
> the roof because she had no lights on. She advised me real quick "I had
> them on auto mode".
> The next time you are out in the daylight take a look at the oncoming
> traffic and see how many have lights on the front but none on the rear,
> unless of course they are applying their brakes.
> I am guessing now that the insurance explanation says it all. I thought
> for sure that EPA had something to do with it.
> I guess I am just getting too old, I am one of those people that just
> don't matter anymore.
> On January 19, 2020 at 8:02 PM Howard Pletcher <hrpletch at gmail.com> wrote:
> ???? I don't think a dangerous situation like that can be industrywide.
> My Ford Escape turns on both front and rear in the auto mode. Howard
> On Sun, Jan 19, 2020 at 8:50 PM Gilbert Schwartz < vschwartz1 at comcast.net>
> wrote:
> While we are talking about vehicle lights, please, someone explain to me
> why or how anyone would want to have lights on the front of their vehicle
> with no lights on the rear. It appears that this condition is industrywide
> and seems to be always in the "AUTO" mode on the headlight switch.
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