10 Useful Tech Features You’d Want in Your New Car
Nowadays, cool in-car technology features are not reserved just for expensive continental or futuristic cars. Almost every car for every budget has some excellent advanced technology that makes driving safer, easier and better for you. Here’s a list of 10 of our favourite in-car technology features!
1. Remote Controlled Systems
The idea of being able to control your car from an app on your phone sounded a bit too advanced at first, but these days, it’s a pretty common feature. We really like this feature as it offers a lot of convenience for drivers. Being able to start your engine or aircon systems even before getting to your car is a really useful feature, especially on a hot and humid day in Singapore!
Some of these apps, like the BMW Connected app, allow you to send your routes to the car, shows you where your car is parked and even lets you control the headlights or honk your car. Cool, right?
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2. Adaptive Cruise Control
While adaptive cruise control is more of a safety feature, it’s still a really cool use of technology. Compared to normal cruise control, adaptive cruise control is a lot more advanced.
It uses a system of sensors and cameras to capture what’s around you. Because of this, your car will be able to automatically keep pace with other cars ahead of you. So, taking that long drive on a highway feels a lot easier and smoother.
For city driving in Singapore, the function might not be as useful but it’s a great feature for driving on the expressway or when you travel in Malaysia.
3. Cooled/Ventilated Seats
We’ve all experienced this at least once; taking a seat in your car after leaving it parked in the hot sun for a couple of hours. Or driving for 4 hours non-stop to KL, your seats will be hot as hell and it’s really quite a painful and annoying experience.
Thank god for the invention of ventilated/cooled seats! It’s one of the most in-demand features for many new car buyers worldwide. It provides a cooling effect on your seats through the use of fans that draw air from the back of the front seats.
This feature is extremely helpful in Singapore’s climate and a must-have (if the option is available) for any car buyer.
4. Apple Carplay
The ability to connect your phone to your car’s infotainment system is pretty common but usually has limited functions. With Apple Carplay, you get to control (most) of your car’s functions through your infotainment system. This is really useful when replying messages or answering calls in a safe manner.
The system is really easy to use and the added convenience of being able to use a lot of the apps on your phone simply an added bonus. Also, it’s good to hear that a lot of carmakers are including Apple Carplay or Android Auto as a standard in their new car models. So, you won’t have to pay extra just to have this in your car!
5. Assisted Steering
In recent years, a lot of new car models come with USB ports for you to charge your phones. It’s certainly a convenient feature to have in your car and something most drivers look for when buying a car. However, this means that you still have to bring your cable around or fork out some cash to buy an extra cable.
In this wireless era we live in, this might seem like a bit of a chore. So, wireless charging ports built in your car is the better option. Many newer continental cars like the BMW 118i M-Sport has this built in the car, with other models slowly following the trend. But remember, this is only helpful if your phone has wireless charging capabilities, otherwise it’s pointless!
7. Driver Profiles
This is something that’s definitely not brand new and even though it’s really simple, not every car comes with it as a standard. As many car owners in Singapore share their cars with their kids or their spouses, having the driver profile function helps make the switching between different drivers really seamless. The function remembers all your personal settings and allows you to switch between driver profiles with just a single click of a button.
8. Parking cameras
Another feature that’s not exactly new but is really helpful is parking cameras.
Usually, the parking camera was only available when reversing your car, which is not very very helpful all the time. But in recent years, carmakers have introduced 360-camera options which give you a full view of your surroundings when parking.
It makes things easier and safer when manoeuvring through tight spots, so getting in and out of a parallel parking spot in Geylang will be a lot easier. This is a useful function for parking and maybe the next best ‘parking assistant’ after automatic parking.
9. Collision Avoidance System
A cool must-have feature is the collision avoidance system that’s present in many of the lasted new continental cars. It’s a pre-crash system that comes as either a forward or mitigation warning system. The technology helps to reduce the severity of a collision as it measures your car’s speed and the distance between your car and the car in front.
However, the system is actually not fully automatic. Instead, your car will send you visual or audio signal alerts when you’re about to collide to the car in front of you so that you can apply the brakes and take actions to avoid a crash.
10. Voice Control/Activation
Voice assistant systems like the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant and Mercedes-Benz User Experience are amazing additions in in-car technology. They function really similar to Siri and make driving a breeze. You can tell it to route you to certain places, suggest some restaurants to dine in and even control certain functions in your car.
Let us know in the comments below, what are some of your favourite in-car technology you look out for in a car?
