{"id":30202,"date":"2022-12-16T13:07:55","date_gmt":"2022-12-16T17:07:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=30202"},"modified":"2022-12-16T13:07:55","modified_gmt":"2022-12-16T17:07:55","slug":"payne-here-are-the-best-auto-features-of-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/payne-here-are-the-best-auto-features-of-2022","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Here are the best auto features of 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

Like elves in Santa\u2019s workshop, auto engineers are busy every year making new toys.<\/p>\n

With a new digital toolbox to play with they have more opportunities than ever to make their elfin dreams come true. Electronics, electric motors and Wi-Fi are transforming the auto landscape. Increasingly integrated with smartphones, auto cabins are juiced with voice command features, wireless charging, graphic displays and more.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Heck, sometimes you don\u2019t even need to drive the car at all. I tested dozens of new chariots this year from $170K EVs to $23K pickup trucks. They are engorged with new gizmos, but also some cool, old-school mechanical goodies.<\/p>\n

Here are my favorite auto features of 2022.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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Mega-frunk.<\/strong>\u00a0Ford F-150 Raptor R owners will wow Woodward Dream Cruisers by propping open their hoods to show off the 700-horsepower V-8 underneath. F-150 Lightning owners will pop their hoods to reveal … lots of space. With no engine up front and its batteries under the floorboards, Ford\u2019s first electric truck boasts the biggest frunk (front trunk) in the industry \u2014 dwarfing Tesla frunks that pioneered the feature. Customers that like having a pickup bed but miss an SUV\u2019s hatchback utility have the best of both worlds. The Mega Power Frunk (Ford\u2019s term) can hold 14.1 cubic feet of cargo \u2014 two golf bags, for instance \u2014 weighing up to 400 pounds.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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Opaque sunroof.<\/strong>\u00a0The BMW iX is a rolling science lab, including the electrochromic roof. The largest glass opening ever fitted on a Bimmer, the panoramic glass spans the cabin without any struts. Poke the ceiling button behind the rear-view mirror and the roof transforms from opaque to transparent. Park the car and it will automatically default to opaque to keep the cabin cool. Its secret? Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal tech, which applies voltage to a layer of film in the glass.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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FSD.<\/strong>\u00a0Tesla\u2019s Full Self-Driving feature is finally available to any owner who wants to download it \u2014 assuming they have the hardware to support it (a $15,000 option). FSD has been available to select customers since 2020, and the company is now confident enough to make the technology widely available. The Level 2 system (Level 4 means the car can actually drive without human supervision) hardly lives up to its name, given that a driver must be engaged at all times. But the system is a fascinating glimpse at autonomous car progress as it takes turns on its own, navigates traffic and even turns right on red.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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Hidden climate\/radio controls.<\/strong>\u00a0I love Easter eggs, and one of my favorites is in the handsome console of the Kia EV6 and Kia Sportage SUV. For aesthetic simplification, the infotainment and climate controls have been combined in a single black strip. Select the volume\/fan button and the controls will change for the features you want to access. For those who prefer rotary dials, however, the feature may drive you mad.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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Pullover blind.<\/strong>\u00a0Honda invented this nifty shade in its 10th<\/sup>\u00a0generation Civic hatchback and it returns for the 11th<\/sup>\u00a0gen. It\u2019s highlighted this year by the relentless Civic Type R that thrills with is sporty suspension and 315 horsepower. But the hatch shows off the car\u2019s utilitarian side: You can store valuables in back \u2014 then just pull the blind across the cargo bay like a window shade. No cumbersome hooks or snaps required.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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Four-wheel-steer.<\/strong>\u00a0Once the domain of whip-quick Porsches, all-wheel-steer is found in other applications this year. The ginormous GMC Hummer EV got AWS to help negotiate tight trails off-road. The Mercedes EQE is hardly a Porsche when it comes to handling, but its AWS system makes U-turns and tight city parking garages easier to handle. AWS requires adding a steering rack in the rear, so it ain\u2019t cheap, but I\u2019m betting engineers will figure out how to make the feature more available to mainstream vehicles over time.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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Third screen.<\/strong>\u00a0Our vehicles are turning into moving theaters with screens everywhere, including the rear seats so kiddies can enjoy movies on endless road trips. The latest screen innovation comes from the Jeep Grand Wagoneer and Mercedes models that add a third screen for the right-seat front passenger. Integrated into the dash above the glove compartment, the screen allows the co-pilot to set navigation and radio stations (and, of course, watch videos).<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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Three-headed monster.<\/strong>\u00a0Three-cylinder engines have generally been deployed to gain better fuel efficiency. Think my favorite ol\u2019 Ford Fiesta 3-banger, which got 43 mpg highway and helped the brand meet fuel economy standards. The Toyota GR Corolla hellion begs to differ. Corolla\u2019s pocket rocket model squeezes 300 horsepower from its 1.6-liter, 3-cylinder mill (that\u2019s a gobsmacking 185 horses per liter). Fuel efficiency? A thirsty 20 mpg.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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Tachometer head-up display.<\/strong>\u00a0Speaking of screens, head-up displays are getting more common \u2014 and more innovative. You can now find HUDs \u2014 which project car information onto the windshield \u2014 on daily drivers like the common Mazda3. Higher on the food chain, models like the BMW M4 offer multiple HUD configurations, including a horizontal RPM display so enthusiasts never have to take their eyes off the track while paddle-shifting through the gears.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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Remote parallel park.<\/strong>\u00a0Tesla has been at the forefront of remote vehicle manipulation with its Summon feature so you can pull your car out of tight garage spaces using a phone app. The Genesis GV60 this year took the technology to its logical next step: allowing customers to self-park their car into perpendicular\/parallel parking spaces using their key fob.<\/p>\n

\"Vehicles<\/p>\n
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Wireless navigation and charging.<\/strong>\u00a0Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are must-have features these days, but the drawback is they are a drain on the phone\u2019s battery without a cord attached. Here comes wireless charging \u2014 an option on a growing list of vehicles \u2014 to save the day. Set your destination on your phone, throw it onto the charging pad and the car will wirelessly charge while navigating to your destination.<\/p>\n

\"Transparent<\/p>\n
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Transparent Trailer View.<\/strong>\u00a0This bit of stage magic has been around for a couple of years, but it is becoming more common on light-duty trucks like the GMC Sierra. Though complicated to set up, the system uses multiple cameras on the vehicle to \u2014\u00a0poof!<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 make your trailer disappear on your center console screen so you can see the traffic behind you.<\/p>\n

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like elves in Santa\u2019s workshop, auto engineers are busy every year making new toys. With a new digital toolbox to play with they have more opportunities than ever to make their elfin dreams come true. Electronics, electric motors and Wi-Fi are transforming the auto landscape. Increasingly integrated with smartphones, auto cabins are juiced with voice […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30202"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30202"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30203,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30202\/revisions\/30203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}