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I wish someone would make a truly dumb car. Sure you can have microcontrollers for emissions, safety, etc but beyond that give me a 1970s user interface and ma

I wish someone would make a truly dumb car. Sure you can have microcontrollers for emissions, safety, etc but beyond that give me a 1970s user interface and make the car as independent of technology as possible.

poulpy123 3y ago
My 2012 Dacia Sandero is as dumb as you can be nowadays I think.
- whstl 3y ago
  Great news! [1] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7-7Ps8EWnk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7-7Ps8EWnk
thot_experiment 3y ago
100% this, an electric car could be so reliable and simple to work on and repair if we wanted it to be.
shwouchk 3y ago
Nissan Versa. It’s also one of the cheapest cars available. Enjoy
clumsysmurf 3y ago
That's why I have kept my '97 dodge dakota all this time... Like you said, dumb, but also using standard components like headlamp bulbs for repair-ability.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
pyaamb 3y ago
Absolutely this. Been hoping that this will become a cool trend someday. Perhaps when teen-age Gen-Alpha or Gen-Beta kids seek to differentiate themselves from their Algorithm-controlled over-sharing IG/Tiktok parents.
markx2 3y ago
My eldest daughter knows her way around cars, and she refuses to buy any car that has any sort of computer in it. She knows how to change this, repair that, fit whatever and is very happy doing that. But she also knows that as a female if she goes into any garage for a 'diagnostic' she will be overcharged. In fact even for something normal with a 'non-computer' car she will be overcharged. Cars without computers are like gold.
- heywhatupboys 3y ago
  any car builtin the last 100 years have electrical components. Any car built in the last 50 have "computers".
  - inportb 3y ago
    Even the camshaft-crankshaft system could be considered an analog computer that renders (in realtime) the positions of the valves based on the phase of the pistons. Any car with an internal combustion engine has "computers."
- trentgreene 3y ago
  As a fellow “analog” automotive enthusiast, I’m curious how she defines computer in this situation? Given that ECUs / microprocessors have been standard on cars since the late 60s / early 70s. For me it’s the network connections and updates that scare me. The software on my ‘99 Benz hasn’t changed in 24 years, and I don’t need it too.
  - trentgreene 3y ago
    I’ll add a small point to this. The computers my old cars do have, I’m quite thankful for. Being able to purchase a ~100-200 buck code reader and easily plug it in and figure out what my warning lights are trying to tell me has been a great educational tool and saved me a ton in maintenance.
    - mistercheph 3y ago
josephcsible 3y ago
https://bollingermotors.com/b1-b2/ https://bollingermotors.com/b1-b2/
KennyBlanken 3y ago
It would not be economically feasible to build. CANBUS has revolutionized cars; now cars look more like a human body, with power and data being distributed to major points and then branching out. Before, everything ran from the fusebox. That meant a LOT of wiring, among other things. Copper is expensive and heavy. Car makers had a lot of incentive to save weight and cost so the wiring was as thin as they could get away with, so stuff never worked quite right. It would be dangerous, because various driver warning systems and such would not be possible. System that are having a significant impact on per-mile safety for vehicle occupants (road safety for vulnerable road users has plunged.) It would not be economically viable to operate, because engines are efficient as they are thanks to things like variable valve timing, direct injection, and so on. Some ECUs can sense how good the combustion was on a particular firing cycle via resistance across the spark plug after the ignition event. None of that would be possible with a "dumb" car. It would also not be economically feasible to repair, because the diagnostic time would be crazy. Trying to diagnose "dumb" cars from the 80's and 90's was a nightmare. You could spend hours just trying to figure out what was wrong in a maze of wiring, relays, resistive packs, analog sensors, vacuum lines, etc. Dealerships are staffed by low-level techs, people on their way to something else or starting their own shop. Car companies couldn't possibly train them on all the intricacies of analog "dumb" car technology anymore. Now? I plug in a OBD2 wireless module, tap "scan" on my phone, drink a cup of tea while it systematically talks to every module in the car, and I not only get fault codes, they've likely got time and mileage stamps, an indication of whether they were intermittent or continuous. I can trigger a test on a component. I can see what the ECU or body control module THINKS is going on versus what's actually going on. I can tell the body control module to adapt to a new analog sensor. all without needing to so much as pop the hood, remove a single screw, or upholstery clip. It's a fucking dream. The shittiness in "smart" cars is because legislation in the US hasn't kept pace with technology, and that is because legislation and regulation in the US is dominated by corporate interests.
Avshalom 3y ago
I know motorcycles are basically just an occasionally-useful game of russian roulette but every fucking automotive news cycle has me thinking about how they're basically the only way to buy just a motor and some wheels anymore.
- sam_lowry_ 3y ago
  You'd better check twice. Some had dial-out networking for years, like BMW.
  - Avshalom 3y ago
    oh, well, shit, there goes the g310gs I had being eyeing for noodling around the state.
lando2319 3y ago
Great idea for another country, I the US there are just too many laws.

poulpy123 3y ago

My 2012 Dacia Sandero is as dumb as you can be nowadays I think.

whstl 3y ago
Great news! [1] [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7-7Ps8EWnk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7-7Ps8EWnk

thot_experiment 3y ago

100% this, an electric car could be so reliable and simple to work on and repair if we wanted it to be.

shwouchk 3y ago

Nissan Versa. It’s also one of the cheapest cars available. Enjoy

clumsysmurf 3y ago

That's why I have kept my '97 dodge dakota all this time... Like you said, dumb, but also using standard components like headlamp bulbs for repair-ability.

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

pyaamb 3y ago

Absolutely this. Been hoping that this will become a cool trend someday. Perhaps when teen-age Gen-Alpha or Gen-Beta kids seek to differentiate themselves from their Algorithm-controlled over-sharing IG/Tiktok parents.

markx2 3y ago

My eldest daughter knows her way around cars, and she refuses to buy any car that has any sort of computer in it. She knows how to change this, repair that, fit whatever and is very happy doing that. But she also knows that as a female if she goes into any garage for a 'diagnostic' she will be overcharged. In fact even for something normal with a 'non-computer' car she will be overcharged. Cars without computers are like gold.

heywhatupboys 3y ago
any car builtin the last 100 years have electrical components. Any car built in the last 50 have "computers".
- inportb 3y ago
  Even the camshaft-crankshaft system could be considered an analog computer that renders (in realtime) the positions of the valves based on the phase of the pistons. Any car with an internal combustion engine has "computers."
trentgreene 3y ago
As a fellow “analog” automotive enthusiast, I’m curious how she defines computer in this situation? Given that ECUs / microprocessors have been standard on cars since the late 60s / early 70s. For me it’s the network connections and updates that scare me. The software on my ‘99 Benz hasn’t changed in 24 years, and I don’t need it too.
- trentgreene 3y ago
  I’ll add a small point to this. The computers my old cars do have, I’m quite thankful for. Being able to purchase a ~100-200 buck code reader and easily plug it in and figure out what my warning lights are trying to tell me has been a great educational tool and saved me a ton in maintenance.
  - mistercheph 3y ago

josephcsible 3y ago

https://bollingermotors.com/b1-b2/ https://bollingermotors.com/b1-b2/

KennyBlanken 3y ago

It would not be economically feasible to build. CANBUS has revolutionized cars; now cars look more like a human body, with power and data being distributed to major points and then branching out. Before, everything ran from the fusebox. That meant a LOT of wiring, among other things. Copper is expensive and heavy. Car makers had a lot of incentive to save weight and cost so the wiring was as thin as they could get away with, so stuff never worked quite right. It would be dangerous, because various driver warning systems and such would not be possible. System that are having a significant impact on per-mile safety for vehicle occupants (road safety for vulnerable road users has plunged.) It would not be economically viable to operate, because engines are efficient as they are thanks to things like variable valve timing, direct injection, and so on. Some ECUs can sense how good the combustion was on a particular firing cycle via resistance across the spark plug after the ignition event. None of that would be possible with a "dumb" car. It would also not be economically feasible to repair, because the diagnostic time would be crazy. Trying to diagnose "dumb" cars from the 80's and 90's was a nightmare. You could spend hours just trying to figure out what was wrong in a maze of wiring, relays, resistive packs, analog sensors, vacuum lines, etc. Dealerships are staffed by low-level techs, people on their way to something else or starting their own shop. Car companies couldn't possibly train them on all the intricacies of analog "dumb" car technology anymore. Now? I plug in a OBD2 wireless module, tap "scan" on my phone, drink a cup of tea while it systematically talks to every module in the car, and I not only get fault codes, they've likely got time and mileage stamps, an indication of whether they were intermittent or continuous. I can trigger a test on a component. I can see what the ECU or body control module THINKS is going on versus what's actually going on. I can tell the body control module to adapt to a new analog sensor. all without needing to so much as pop the hood, remove a single screw, or upholstery clip. It's a fucking dream. The shittiness in "smart" cars is because legislation in the US hasn't kept pace with technology, and that is because legislation and regulation in the US is dominated by corporate interests.

Avshalom 3y ago

I know motorcycles are basically just an occasionally-useful game of russian roulette but every fucking automotive news cycle has me thinking about how they're basically the only way to buy just a motor and some wheels anymore.

sam_lowry_ 3y ago
You'd better check twice. Some had dial-out networking for years, like BMW.
- Avshalom 3y ago
  oh, well, shit, there goes the g310gs I had being eyeing for noodling around the state.

lando2319 3y ago

Great idea for another country, I the US there are just too many laws.