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Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

jalopnik.com

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Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#301

Post by hellbannedguy »

avemg wrote: post #248
mthoms wrote: post #181

Mini’s statement only highlights the absurdity (emphasis mine): >With regard to the turn indicator light pattern, there should be no trouble at all for a driver to understand, when seeing the full rear of the car , which direction is being indicated So what about when you can only see half of the car? Like when it’s changing lanes or pulling out of a parking spot? You know, like those times when a signal is MOST usef…

The design is dumb but you’re really stretching. I don’t need to see the entire rear of the car to know which way the blinker is indicating. If I did then that would mean 99% of the cars on the road, which have no arrow at all, would suffer from this ambiguity.

I could care less about this tiny problem.

Is there a Mini owner satisfied with the mechanical part of their vechicle after 70k?

They have such a low oil pan, you don't dare not check it.

And every owner complains of things breaking down. A few days ago I was talking to a Mini owner.

Age friend has to go to England for a year, and gave the car to this guy, with the caviet of taking care of maintance.

The car had 50k--so it was new? First week a new Serpintine Belt.

Then faulty sensors, and a list of problems he was listing off.

They are cute though. I'm looking for a salvaged one to electrify.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#302

Post by jobigoud »

chrisseaton wrote: post #17
malyk wrote: post #11

So the left turn signal is an arrow pointing to the right? And the right turn signal is an arrow pointing to the left? How does that pass, well, anything at all without someone saying “that might not be the best idea”!

How could anyone be confused? They’re on the side the car is turning - like every other turn signal you’ve seen in your entire life.

> like every other turn signal you’ve seen in your entire life.

You don't know a priori that they work like other turn signals.

You are presented with a new paradigm. Blinking side AND arrow direction. All bets are off. You now have to decide whether they indeed kept them on the right side or if they innovated and it's the arrows that are right.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#303

Post by olex »

unilynx wrote: post #286
japhyr wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the Pulse[0] "safety system". I was trying to buy a new truck this spring, and going through the back-and-forth of talking to a number of dealers. I had a vehicle specced out, and ready to commit to, and I asked to review the final paperwork. There was a $400 charge listed that hadn't been disclosed earlier. I was frustrated because I'd asked numerous times, "Am I going to see any additional charges on the fi…

The emergency braking (I didn't know it was Europe-specific) flashes the hazard lights (turn indicators), not the brake lights. And at least in my Auris it also flashed the hazard light indicator inside the car

Many EU-spec cars have the brake lights flash under emergency braking, and the hazards come on if the car comes to a stop after that. This is how it was implemented in several cars I owned - a C-class, an Audi A5, and now in a EU-spec Model 3 as well.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#304

Post by forgetfulness »

afavour wrote: post #225
thiht wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So what about when you can only see half of the car? Like when it’s changing lanes or pulling out of a parking spot? You know, like those times when a signal is MOST useful? You either see which side of the car you're seeing, or you don't and the shape of the light doesn't matter. When you drive, you don't interpret the light of the turn signal, you interpret where it is. For me that's one thing that looks stupid o…

What about when it’s dark?

And say, you're a cyclist, going somewhat fast but not having headlights that would illuminate the rear of the car as to make out the relation of these arrows and the vehicle.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#305

Post by chrisseaton »

jobigoud wrote: post #302
chrisseaton wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How could anyone be confused? They’re on the side the car is turning - like every other turn signal you’ve seen in your entire life.

> like every other turn signal you’ve seen in your entire life. You don't know a priori that they work like other turn signals. You are presented with a new paradigm. Blinking side AND arrow direction. All bets are off. You now have to decide whether they indeed kept them on the right side or if they innovated and it's the arrows that are right.

> All bets are off.

It's a turn signal on a car. It's not the enigma you're making it out to be. Thousands of these on the road for like a decade. Absolutely nobody is actually confused.

A whole lot of people pretending to be mystified for some reason in this thread.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#306

Post by wolpoli »

billh wrote: post #234
japhyr wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the Pulse[0] "safety system". I was trying to buy a new truck this spring, and going through the back-and-forth of talking to a number of dealers. I had a vehicle specced out, and ready to commit to, and I asked to review the final paperwork. There was a $400 charge listed that hadn't been disclosed earlier. I was frustrated because I'd asked numerous times, "Am I going to see any additional charges on the fi…

Pulse has a "Gross Margin Analysis" spreadsheet published (probably unintentionally) on their website[1]. It shows that they're charging dealerships $59.00 for the part and it installs in about 15 minutes. At a 500% markup, it feels less about your safety and more about the dealerships/pulseprotects income safety. 1. (warning xls) https://www.pulseprotects.com/wp-content/uploads/Pulse-Prote...

> Dealership Monthly Investment calculation is based upon a Dealership un-installing modules on vehicles sold without Pulse.

The profit calculation is based on preinstalling the system on every vehicle that goes on the lot, and then uninstalling it on request. This means opting out costs the dealership real money, from installing and then uninstalling it.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#307

Post by oblio »

blendergeek wrote: post #270
oblio wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speed cameras I can (kind of) understand, but what possible reasonable explanation could they have for blocking red light camera installation?

Many people oppose automated law enforcement in (almost) all forms.

Why, for this specific case?

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#308

Post by kazen44 »

wiether wrote: post #262
MerelyMortal wrote: post #6

> Mini has not heard any concerns from customers regarding the rear turn indicators I wouldn't expect them to: they cannot see their own turn signal lights while driving. If they happen to be behind another Mini, they already know about it and it may not throw them off-guard like others who aren't familiar with it.

> Mini has not heard any concerns from customers regarding the rear turn indicators That perfectly summarize the car industry. Manufacturers only care about the people in the car. It's not their problem if their car are death machines for everyone outside.

in my experience this is not true for most european manufacturers. (no clue about american ones).

Volvo for instance, does a great job of thinking about safety in their cars, and so do the big three german manufacturers in my experience.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#309

Post by mattbee »

The headline & picture made me laugh because I've seen these for years in the UK and never seen them as arrows. Actually looking at these lights as sold in the UK, they have a vertical bar on the inside, so it's not quite as "arrowy" - e.g. https://cdn.bmwblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/P90289429...

I'm not sure what the motivation is for the redesign, it does look less Union Jack-like.

Re: Congratulations, Mini, you made the stupidest turn signals ever

#310

Post by alkonaut »

Apart from the US (where paper checks still circulate and I assume fax machines are everywhere) are there other places where blinking the red tail light is an acceptable indicator signal? What’s wrong with just mandating indicator ligts? Every car manufacturer can make them - because obviously they are required elsewhere - so why go through the trouble and cost of manufacturing a worse solution as well?
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