Poll: What options can you most live without on a new car?

[Ron Ward]

SEMA is just around the corner. This pinnacle showcase of the automotive aftermarket brings together thousands of suppliers offering everything from mud tires to air fresheners. The aftermarket affords car owners the opportunity to personalize thier vehicle as they see fit. It would seem that with such an enormous amount of aftermarket support, the new car market would cater to the demand for a base model, no frills car to which the consumer/enthusiast could use as a platform on which to create their own special ride.

As I see it, auto manufacturers, in their quest to relieve consumers of as much money as they can, have been equipping cars with more and more stuff that drivers don't really need or (at least in my case) want. These options add not only to the bottom line, but also to the total weight of the car. Let's face it folks, the base weight of todays cars could be substantially reduced, thus improving performance and fuel economy.

What options could you most live without?

In your comments, let's hear what options you consider to be "must haves."

[Stich496]

I want them to go back to the basic car... no abs, no computer control of the engine power,(torque management) traction control, or stability control.. all that is don't in the drivers seat.. not the ecu,, leave that gps on the shelf,
the 50 f'n air bags and the 300 lb of sound deadner,
give me 4 wheels a few seats a stear wheel and 3 pedals,
must have a/c, must have the aval. of the highest hp engine package in a stripped out bare bones model.. not if you want the power you need a loaded pig..
oh and give me rims with a dish to them.. if I want wheels that look like hub caps , i'd get steelies..
oh and take your sealed hub bearings and stuff them.. bring back repackable bearings, oh and zerk fittings.. the greased for life crap has got to go..

[Thumpin455]

Im with Stitch, but up here I dont need AC, its nice and all but if I were to buy a new pony car, it would have to be built without all that crap. I can use a map, I know when to lift, its cool up here, the windows can crank down on their own, and yes I want to be able to grease my damn car.

[Beagle]

The truck's A/C has needed o-rings and a charge for almost two years, but it's October so I don't need it now. My DD Escape, I wasn't paying attention... no Cruise control! WTF?! I thought that was standard any more. I don't use one much so I didn't even notice when I bought it.

I've got a ~3 pound GPS, ABS, cruise, and traction (lack of) control built right in.

The Falcon wagon has manual steering, something like 17 turns lock to lock or there abouts. I forgot about that one. If and when I ever get around to the LSC or the Tbird, they will get a manual rack.

[SpiderGearsMan]

new cars lol

[SuperBuickGuy]

In my DD, I want most of it - in my hobby cars, none. It is interesting, though, at how much animosity there is against traction control and ABS - both of which work towards making a car that would be a hobby car into a DD. With the rain in Seattle without ABS and Traction control, 400 hp and wide, low profile tires would be a deadly combination.... yeah, I know everyone else is a race car driver and never crashes - but I'll admit it, the ABS on my GTO system has saved me a few times when someone has done something really stupid in front of me.... traction control does the same thing accelerate away from a light and you can easily swap ends with TC off on dry pavement (okay, I was hooning but still, it was so easy to do that) on wet pavement getting the car moving with the 6 speed does take concentration.

[Beagle]

The traction control on my Escape has gotten me stuck in the mud twice because it controlled spin so well the trucklet stopped moving forward. Dumbass behind the wheel forgot to turn it off. I wish it would not default to "ON"

Okay, I'll fess up. A/C is mandatory here, and the ABS on my 2k Lightning was pretty awesome. The Escape won't go fast enough to need ABS.

[oldsman496]

The Falcon wagon has manual steering, something like 17 turns lock to lock or there abouts. I forgot about that one. If and when I ever get around to the LSC or the Tbird, they will get a manual rack.

According to the internet, your wagon actually has 27 turns lock to lock

I run a WS6 type of Saginaw box but without the pump. its 2.5 turns lock to lock. an yeah,... it's really heavy,.. and it's tried to break my fingers once or twice... but i prefer it...

I think most of the folks on this board would drive a new car, if it contained nuthin' but a roller chassis with a seat.... (well, ok, .. the seat would be an option).... if it was fast as hell.

[antmnte]

Depends on what kinda car. A Caddy, it better have everything but a regular middle of the road car I can do without the GPS, high end stereo, memory seats,DVD player but I want a power moonroof.

[Barry Donovan]

I want them to go back to the basic car... no abs, no computer control of the engine power,(torque management) traction control, or stability control.. all that is don't in the drivers seat.. not the ecu,, leave that gps on the shelf,
the 50 f'n air bags and the 300 lb of sound deadner,
give me 4 wheels a few seats a stear wheel and 3 pedals,
must have a/c, must have the aval. of the highest hp engine package in a stripped out bare bones model.. not if you want the power you need a loaded pig..
oh and give me rims with a dish to them.. if I want wheels that look like hub caps , i'd get steelies..
oh and take your sealed hub bearings and stuff them.. bring back repackable bearings, oh and zerk fittings.. the greased for life crap has got to go..

I agree with all of that.

the zerks have been gone, getting away with less stress on better geometry. As a former quick lube guy.. there are some headed for record books if to truly identify the sealed winners.
driveshafts .. that sucks as a sealed item. Balljoints on rack and pinion, 4 wheel independent.. boasts a win, no zerk for most.

bearings, I repack too..I did not know they made sealed ones.

some things left out are choice of rack and pinion or the old crazy box.

I have only taken a liking to one power item on the doors, that would be locks.

Manual windows a must have, especially aftyer the wrecks I have been in.

[Stich496]

In my DD, I want most of it - in my hobby cars, none. It is interesting, though, at how much animosity there is against traction control and ABS - both of which work towards making a car that would be a hobby car into a DD. With the rain in Seattle without ABS and Traction control, 400 hp and wide, low profile tires would be a deadly combination.... yeah, I know everyone else is a race car driver and never crashes - but I'll admit it, the ABS on my GTO system has saved me a few times when someone has done something really stupid in front of me.... traction control does the same thing accelerate away from a light and you can easily swap ends with TC off on dry pavement (okay, I was hooning but still, it was so easy to do that) on wet pavement getting the car moving with the 6 speed does take concentration.

my point was make the dam cars so you don't HAVE to have it.. traction control and abs just makes the driver LAZY..
ever try to stop a car on a snowy road with that stupid abs, might as well not have brakes at all.. as far as the 400hp.. you don't have that at 900 rpm, nor at 1500rpm.. ABS STABILITY CONTROL IS THE REASON FOR MORE ROLLOVERS THAN ANYTHING ELSE..
in the old days, if you evened up in a slide sideways on the hyway, you couls lock up the rears and slide 180* and stop... or control the slide with your foot..
today, you end up in that spot and instead of keeping the rears locks and having zero traction allowing the vehicle to slide on it's tires, the brakes and ecu "programed" stabilit control is doing everything it can to gain traction at the rear wheels, and ya know what happens when half way through a slide the outside tire gets that grip, up and over you go.. now you slide on thy roof.. brillant..
the law says you are to be in control of the vehicle at all times, and sorry, new cars you are never in control of the vehicle, as it thinks it knows better than the driver that has eyes..
also these "driver aids" only make drivers brave, and don't allow 99% of drivers to learn the car/tires limits,
some love those aids, I'll stick to my use of my feet, not some computer program..

[Thumpin455]

I just dont need all of it. I have driven 500hp cars that have 500ftlbs just off idle in the rain, and the tires were more of a problem than the power. 295 wide drag radials arent exactly rain tires so it was limited to about 40mph.

I like the ABS in some instances, in the snow it works like crap but if you cant drive in the snow up here ABS isnt going to make a difference. I dont drive the high powered cars in the snow unless I am on the way back home from a long trip this time of year and I have no choice. Then it is more an issue with tires than anything else. It is nice when pulling a trailer or just driving the car kinda hard, but after tooling around in the GTO or one of the 2nd gen Birds, then hopping in the LS1 Formula, it takes some getting used to.

Its nice having AC in the 98 Formula, but it isnt absolutely mandatory for me. It isnt that fast, only mid 13s, and the power windows are more of a problem than a nicety. I would love to have a new GTO, but I dont need a 4400lb one with power everything and leather butt wiping standard. Give me the same car but set up like a Roadrunner or T37 with the same engine and trans in a 3000lb body. More fun, easier on fuel, and less to go wrong with it. Simplicity is what I like. I drove from 1985 until 2001 without AC in anything I owned, and now I have it in two vehicles, one only gets driven in winter, so its useless to me. I was amazed it worked in a 99 Blazer.

I agree that a car that does too much for you makes you complacent, and that leads to being inattentive. We all know what driving inattentively leads to. Also idiots who would have reached equilibrium with room temperature from an accident they had in the 60s or 70s is now still around to make the same mistakes again, and again, and again, and again..... and take a car of theirs, and one of ours along with it. Cars get safer, drivers get worse because the stupid ones survive worse crashes.

[bnjny]

I'm sorry to say, that cars will never come stripped of what is considered safety requirements. Most people want ABS and traction control on their family cars, as standard. Maybe on a specialty car, like a Camaro SS or the like. A optional stripper version maybe work... Air bags will never go away, till something better comes along...

The issue with car accidents in the US is not ABS or traction control, but the driver. Lack of training and experience.

[Stich496]

I'm sorry to say, that cars will never come stripped of what is considered safety requirements. Most people want ABS and traction control on their family cars, as standard. Maybe on a specialty car, like a Camaro SS or the like. A optional stripper version maybe work... Air bags will never go away, till something better comes along...

The issue with car accidents in the US is not ABS or traction control, but the driver. Lack of training and experience.

true to a point but you can't control a car thats system is unpredictable when in a swift response..

and as the economy gets worse(we haven't seen nothing yet) they will build and stock strippers, they'll have to..
the new c.a.f.e. might just help this allong, as a lite car gets more mpg. and buyers here will not downsize their cars..
automakers tried that, and we the buyers moved to trucks..

[SpiderGearsMan]

abs was standard on GM cars from 1993 to 2001
to keep prices down , it is now an option on a lot of cars ..I would skip it