Does a carputer take away from enjoying driving?

stonep · 07-16-2005, 03:21 PM

This question is more geared towards owners with performance vehicles, most likly stick shift. I'm curious if you look at yourself and find more time being spent on the carputer rather then why you bought your car in the first place? It would appear in somes way that having a 300hp vehicle with 6 speed wouldn't go well with a carputer, mainly because I'd rather step in my vehicle and think of nothing but the pure enjoyment of whipping around a twistie or hill, nothing but me connecting with my car (People with automatic wouldn't understand naturally

) I certainly love having GPS and mp3 built into my car, but frankly a PURE SQ AFTERMARKET HU woudl be enough for the audio, and would give you limited side distractions.

I'm not really talking about driving and viewing the screen, causing accidents, again this is just the fact that maybe a carputer can takeawy from connecting with your car, perhaps one of the main reasons atleast some of us got our performance vehicles.

Honestly I think a carputer can be perfect in a big SUV, hummer, type vehicle. But when it comes to sports cars , I'm not so sure a carputer is something I'd want. Thoughts ?

Peoples · 07-16-2005, 03:33 PM

i'd probably agree, if i had a sports car, i probably wouldnt put a computer in it. For my car however, i'm a daily driver.......i put about 20,000 miles on my car every 6 months. Everywhere i go for the most part is at least 40 miles away. So in a single day i normally drive about 120-150 miles. To work, then to my gf's house, then back to my place. With all that driving, and having an automatic the computer makes the ride much more enjoyable.
However if I were to purchase a muscle car, I'd probably just put in a nice sound system.

Peoples · 07-16-2005, 03:35 PM

well, see ya, i'm gonna go enjoy another 60 mile drive

stonep · 07-16-2005, 03:41 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Peoples

well, see ya, i'm gonna go enjoy another 60 mile drive

lol.

Thats alot of driving man. My drives are typically 5-6 miles to work, down to the store, simple things. Pretty rare if I drive more then 10-15 miles per day.

-zip- · 07-16-2005, 03:47 PM

You can have both. Just turn off the carputer if you don't need it or want to drive without distractions.

I do not power mine up ALL the time, no Vette or 350z here but sometimes no matter what car you have you are not in the "mood" for the carputer to be on.

I do have a stick though

seanz0rz · 07-16-2005, 03:48 PM

i too have an auto.

i think a carputer would have to change some for an manual for it to remain fun to drive. things like good voice command, an extremely simple display, etc.

personally, if i had a muscle or sports car, as i have driven in the past, its more fun to drive with no music, just listening to the sound of that 502 big block and the passenger screaming for mercy. hehe. i understand the connecting with the car, even with my auto. i can feel when im low on gas because the back end lightens up alot. lol.

for my daily driver and traveler, i need gps, as i am self employed doing at-home computer service, people live in weird places, places id never find on my own.

i think if i had a sports/muscle car, id think alot harder about what i use my comp for and what it should look like. maybe just a simple alpha-numeric display in the cluster. something a little more classic.

markuskj · 07-16-2005, 04:56 PM

I have a Lotus Esprit V8 and have fitted a car PC recently. It takes nothing away from drivint at all, enhances it to be honest. If you want to burn around the twisties then you turn of off (or up if a particularily good driving track comes on). Also things like hands free and GPS are useful to work out when I end up.

Altimat · 07-16-2005, 05:12 PM

Doesn't matter too much if you have a performance car or not with traffic the way it is nowadays. There is not much driving enjoyment to be had during the average commute anyway - in which case the carputer can only add enjoyment. When you do go sport-driving leave it off, or load your playlist and then drive.

Bugbyte · 07-16-2005, 08:20 PM

I drive stick and with the Car PC it's way better.

On the other hand, it's a stinkin' Beetle so perhaps I'd feel different if it were a sports car.

.....nah. It'd be a sports car with the extra oomph of a Car PC.

chirowolf · 07-21-2005, 10:32 AM

Are you kidding. My carputer is great in my sports car. I have a six speed infiniti G35 coupe (infinitis version of the 350Z) I load up a hot play list and destination in the navi and go. i dont have to look for exits, the navi will tell me. I dont have to worry that I will get a downer song because I have already loaded up a kicken playlist to drive by. Heck I even know what twisties are coming up from a quick glance at the navi and Im planing my gear changes to make them as fun as posssible. Oh and if my wifes with me ,toss in a dvd to distract her from the sppedometer and the scary curves up ahead. And at the end of the day plug in the OBD II and see how everything working inside (dont actuall y have that part yet, but I think all carputers are a work in progress) I cant even imagine having a car with out the carputer now. While looking at new cars I find myself excluding cars whic do not have a place to retrofit a touch screen. I think carputer are here to stay for all cars and trucks. give me time i think I can get a xenerc on my bike. LOL

stevieg · 07-21-2005, 10:54 AM

I don't agree a Car PC spoils the fun of driving. I don't see how it would make any difference, manual or automatic. In the UK 'stick shift' is pretty much the norm, so obviously it's quite natural in the UK to drive a manual car without any extra thought.

The main thing is, I suppose is it stops detracting from the driving. If you drive best to music - then it's usually easier to pop you're driving tracks on in a playlist, and set the navigation to direct you (if you're driving in the unknown) so you can concentrate on driving fast. It's also been useful in a few situations with my passenger 'reading the road' ahead (like a rally navigator) so I can drive the twisty country roads a little faster!

Enforcer · 07-21-2005, 11:17 AM

I think driving a performance car without a PC these days is sooooooooo dangerous.

I mean you need to know where those damn pesky speed cameras are.

and as stated above DVD screens for the passengers to distract their attention away from the speedo is a must.

stevieg · 07-21-2005, 11:25 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Enforcer

and as stated above DVD screens for the passengers to distract their attention away from the speedo is a must.

Yeah nothing's more likely to cause a crash than the missus screaming 'look how fast you're going.. we're going to die!!!' when you've got the car sideways round a corner and you *need* to concentrate!

FociMan · 07-21-2005, 11:25 AM

I agree with Stevieg. Most cars in the UK are manual and quite frankyl the only people with automatic gearboxes are nonces driving big Mercs or Beamers. I would never consider driving an automatic because it's not like driving at all... As for carputers reducing the enjoyment of driving, I've never heard anything so rediculous in all my life!!

No offence of course...

fantomas · 07-21-2005, 11:50 AM

300 hp...6 speed... you drive an STi?

i'm still working on putting the carputer in my wrx, but in my 96 accord 5 speed, seemed to be much easier to queue up driving music or other "goodies" when stuck in gridlock traffic.

the only way i would get an auto is if i lot my left leg, or lived on long island for more than 5 years. stick + bumper to bumper traffic = sucks.