The best of the best auto features

Posted by hpayne on July 22, 2014

Best ottoman: Honda Fit. Seriously. Get in the backseat, fold the front passenger seatback flat. Put your legs up and stay awhile. (Henry Payne / The Detroit News)

From compacts to muscle cars to crossovers to land yachts, Americans have never had such a broad vehicle menu and I have the pleasure of sampling it for you 365 days a year. It’s not a bad gig. We auto pundits spill gallons of ink picking the Best Sedan, Best SUV, Best Sports Car, and so on.

But what of the myriad features stuffed into the fastest, sexiest, most complex consumer products on earth?

Even before the acceleration of digital wizardry into cars, auto features were worth their own best list. Teams of engineers are assigned to every corner of a vehicle in order to tease out that last styling or ergonomic detail that will make a customer choose, say, a Jeep Grand Cherokee over a Hyundai Santa Fe.

Herewith my 2014 list of the best of the best features in autos today – mechanical, digital, aesthetic, and otherwise. This is hardly a comprehensive list – and I will humbly admit to C pillar-sized blind spots. I have not driven all 290-plus models out there. What did I miss? What is your favorite feature? Please add your “Best of” choice in the Comments field below. First, let’s turn on the lights. . . .

Best headlights: Cadillac Escalade. Bordered by an LED tube waterfall, a ladder of five LED bulbs – each separated by heat-dispersing fins – light the big ute’s path. The Fox Theater’s marquee doesn’t have this much bling.

Best fog lights: VW Golf. Lux vehicles swivel their headlights to follow your path, but only the common Golf (and its Beetle bro’) use their inside fog lamps to illuminate a corner’s apex. High curb? Pothole? You’ll see it.

Best grille: Mercedes CLA250. Put Merc’s star in the middle of a pentagon grille. Then place jewel-like droplets on a thin mesh that radiate out from the logo like ripples on a pond. Eat your heart out Tiffany’s.

Best launch control: Corvette C7. Other supercars – Alfa Romeo 4C, Nissan GTR — offer automatic tranny launch controls so idiot-proof you feel like a passenger on board Cedar Point’s Top Thrill Dragster ‘coaster. The 455-horsepower Stingray gives it to you with a manual. It’s life-altering. Not for the feint-of-heart, it offers a test of your shifter reflexes as you rocket from zero-60 (popping the clutch with your right foot on the floor at a rib cage-rattling 4000 RPM) in 3.8 seconds.

Best alternative drive system: Chevy Volt/Cadillac ELR. Yeah, yeah, I love the electric Tesla Model S, too. Staggering acceleration. Innovative electronics. Acres of interior space. But what if you’ve gotta drive to Marquette? Until electric cars are as cheap as Civics, the charging infrastructure won’t happen. The GM batteries will get you to work. The gas engine will get you Up North.

Best blind spot warning: Acura MDX. I like blind-spot assist. Especially in large SUVs with blind spots the size of Oklahoma. But can I always see the little, blinking car icon? On the outside of my passenger mirror? In the sun? MDX blind-spot indicators are inside the vehicle on the A pillars. Smart.

Best smart key: Hyundai Equus. Approach the Equus and the big sedan senses the key in your pocket, instantly unlocking the doors and opening the side mirrors like hands to greet you. (Okay, it’s a little eerie.)

Best paddle shifters: Mazda MX-5. With all the mighty supercars out there with steering wheel-mounted shifters, who woulda thunk the mini MX-5 would pioneer paired, up-and-down shifters on both sides of the wheel? No longer are both hands a slave to the wheel when shifting.

Best ottoman: Honda Fit. Seriously. Get in the backseat, fold the front passenger seat back flat. Put your legs up and stay a while.

Best touch screen: Chrysler UConnect. I prefer dials whenever possible, but given the amount of stuff you can pack into touch screen systems (not to mention the feds mandating backup cameras), they are to stay. UConnect – in Jeeps, Chryslers, et al – is one useful guide dog.

Best center console: Tesla Model S. A 17-inch tablet. No surprise, it’s from the Silicon Valley-based automaker.

Best backseat: Chrysler/Dodge Stow n’ Go. These ridiculously versatile thrones fold up for easy access to the third row, or fold into the floor, or offer floor storage when upright, or eject you before a crash – safely deploying parachutes for a soft landing (okay, I made that last one up).

Best liftgate: Ford Escape. No contest. Swing your foot under the bumper and the hatch opens.

 

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