I agree. I do enjoy to make things efficient, but within proper limits. I myself drove an old car, 1989 Ford Orion (Escort sedan-version a'la Golf/Jetta) and it had just a simple early mechanical ABS-system that really never worked, and manual steering and load-sensitive brake-force valve in the back and I think it was nice to "read". The new 2001 Peugeot 206 is much quiter and the PAS (non-electric to my knowledge) is bad, it often looses full "steam" when turning at low speeds almost ripping my arms off but I can steer wildly with 1 finger on each spoke of the wheel at freeway speed, and the Orion 1.6 mk2 weighed 875kg and the 206 1.4 950 kg but I've driven a Orion mk3 1.8 16V Zetec model with manual steering at 1050kg and it was no problem so I don't understand the design for the 206 since it just adds weight and swallows power and gives false readings thrue the wheel which is bad for slippery driving conditions.
Modern cars are so insolated from noise and vibration that I dare to say that what the driver gains by less fatigue does not match the risk of lack of control-feel for the car, and the new steps with ESP, brake-assist (and ABS that's made un-noticeable which is also bad) and even fly-by-wire brakes with no mechanical link and steering-systems that working to help the ESP can change the steering.wheel angle from what you turn, it's insane. Either you drive the car or you don't. I understand there have been good advancements like ABS, maybe also EBD and TC but ESP is pushing it unless it's for a road-train with a trailer, and brake-assist and the fly-by-wire brakes and steering (that used to be illegal btw) is overboard.
This may seem off-topic but driver or pilot, it's similar, you are controller of a vehicle and need to be able to operate that vehicle safely and that means you need to know what it does and if you can't feel anything, you can't tell much. The 206 is technically a older car with a new design, so the car has proven to be made with bad botched compromises to give it modern levels of comfort, like suspension-bushins so soft I have felt what could only be the links banging into each-other going over mild bumps and especially when steering out of a parkinglot with one wheel on ice then jerking the car sideways like one wheel's camber was changed when the wheel gained grip again and I was going slowly, and metal-klang thrue the steering over bumps also hint of bushings that are too soft, and that goes for the engine-mounts too after a bad start timed with misfiring on the electronic engine-management and the car's engine is quite weak, really weak.
Ok, the short of the long (danish version of: long story short) then I think a person should not only focus on the vehicle control but also know more than basics on it and should be able to tell what that vehicle is doing and not rely solely on one system, in planes that would be fly-by-wire or glass-cockpit instruments and in cars there should be wheel-feedback and noise-feedback etc.
I fear this looks more like a narrow-minded rant than a serious but serious discussion about vehicle-control but I hope you see the sincere, serious but calm points I'm trying to make, and that I hope to hear your experience in these matters to gain wider perspective.
Frank
