ArcaMax

Well, it used to.

Modern high-performance cars take care of that for you - or can, if you want them to. It's called launch control and does what it sounds like it does. Launches the car in a controlled manner. When engaged, all the driver typically has to do is point the car in the direction intended and stand on the gas.

The car - and the computers - will do the rest. Given the extreme power now available (as in the 707 hp Dodge Hellcat I recently reviewed) launch control is probably a really good idea. And not just for the best-case quarter-mile times, either. But to keep the potential mayhem of 700-plus hp cars like the Hellcat in check - which may keep Uncle off our backs.

* "Hold" mode -

Even with an automatic transmission, stop and go traffic can be a grind. You may not have to continuously push a clutch pedal in and out at stoplights and when traffic comes to a temporary standstill. But you will have to keep your foot on the brake - if you want to keep the car from rolling forward and into standing still traffic. If you car doesn't have "hold" mode.

Hyundai/Kia came out with this helpful little feature first but it is now available in many other makes and models as well. By pushing the "hold" button, you can take your foot off the brake - and the car will not move - even though the transmission is still in Drive and not Park. When the light goes green - or you're ready to roll - just depress the button again.

* LCD instrument cluster -

Since the days of the Model T 100 years ago, car designers (and car buyers) have been limited in terms of the available info about what the car's doing at any given moment by the limitations imposed by the available dashboard real estate. Because the instruments - gauges - were physical. Only so much space for so many gauges. Usually, you got a speedometer and fuel gauge - or a tachometer (and maybe a volt gauge). But not also an oil temperature and vacuum gauge. Because not all of them would fit.

The advent of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) or "flat screen" instrument clusters has opened up almost limitless possibilities. In a car so equipped, the driver can toggle through multiple displays, customized to suit. For example, the instrument cluster in the 2015 Lexus NX I reviewed recently (here) could be changed from a Sport display with a tachometer and related gauges of interest to the leadfoot - or the driver could dial up an Eco display that replaced the tachometer with a large fuel economy (real-time and projected) display, along with related ancillary gauges.

Usually, you can tailor the look of the cluster to suit, too - from background lighting to analog vs. digital appearance.

LCD clusters were exclusive to very high end cars like the Mercedes S Class as recently as two or three years ago but have already filtered down to family-priced cars like the Buick Regal I'm test driving this week. Within another couple of years at most, probably most if not all new cars will come with or offer LCD displays.

========

www.ericpetersautos.com or EPeters952@aol.com for comments.