Nice Touches

[JimW]

custom88 said:

macadamiaman said:

Is it just me or in the 2nd gen the headrests tilt forward but don't stay if you lean on them? A bit useless in my opinion..

And in my car, the "battery saver" only activates after the battery dies, stupid car, or maybe the battery's getting old, it's 4 years now.

the head rest on the second gen were designed to be better for your neck in an accident. I think in an accident the headrest goes forward then locks to protect your neck. otherwise you can do with it what you please. I have mine tilted slightly forward on both seats. Gives it a luxury feel.

Good point Dano, however if you tilt the smaller headrests that the classic has in just the right position, and if you are the correct height for the seat....you can get the headrest to angle properly at the top of your neck/base of the skull (essentially the top of the spine) where whiplash injuries occur. Being 5'-9 I find that my back is just the right height for the seat back/headrest combo.

I havent been in another car that offers that level of personal comfort.

[Custom88]

jimw said:

custom88 said:

the head rest on the second gen were designed to be better for your neck in an accident. I think in an accident the headrest goes forward then locks to protect your neck. otherwise you can do with it what you please. I have mine tilted slightly forward on both seats. Gives it a luxury feel.

Good point Dano, however if you tilt the smaller headrests that the classic has in just the right position, and if you are the correct height for the seat....you can get the headrest to angle properly at the top of your neck/base of the skull (essentially the top of the spine) where whiplash injuries occur. Being 5'-9 I find that my back is just the right height for the seat back/headrest combo.

I havent been in another car that offers that level of personal comfort.

Very good point. I think the reason why the classic headrest locks is so the driver can set the headrest up to an appropriate position that would minimize whiplash for that one individual. The 2nd gen makes it a little easier where the headrest tilts automatically in a crash, you just need to pick the appropriate height for the headrest. Luckily the 2nd gen has the taller headrests. I'm 6'1 and the taller headrest comes in handy.

[JimW]

As for some more nice touches, I prefer the integrated "sculpted" fog lights on the second genn. The Classic has foggers that are intergrated into a plastic lower cowl and are subject to condensation and a lot of road abuse.

Definitely +1 design upgrade on the 2nd gen over the Classic.

[Custom88]

Another one of my favorite features is you can set the dome lights to only illuminate the floor and no overhead lights, or you can set all the lights to come on when you open the door. I like the stealthy floor-only lights sometimes. It's pretty cool!

[stevensolds]

jimw said:

Call me silly, but I just noticed we have nice chrome plated interior door handles. It was kinda nice to see that classy lil finish like that.

What kinda small detail about the inside of your Aurora surpises you?

We do? Let me go check.

Edit: Yep. You are right. Never noticed that myself.

[JimW]

custom88 said:

Another one of my favorite features is you can set the dome lights to only illuminate the floor and no overhead lights, or you can set all the lights to come on when you open the door. I like the stealthy floor-only lights sometimes. It's pretty cool!

I dont think the Classic has that feature.

haha! Steven, goin back to the first post in the thread eh?!

[macadamiaman]

Actually the floor lighting is only for the driver's side of the floor - and the ring of light around the ignition - very helpful for those late night stealthy parking jobs

The 2nd gen actually has an "exit" button between the 1 and 2 memories that puts the seatback to the farthest back position - but it's also programmable to any other seat position, so you can program a third if you wanted to

[Custom88]

macadamiaman said:

Actually the floor lighting is only for the driver's side of the floor - and the ring of light around the ignition - very helpful for those late night stealthy parking jobs

The 2nd gen actually has an "exit" button between the 1 and 2 memories that puts the seatback to the farthest back position - but it's also programmable to any other seat position, so you can program a third if you wanted to

wierd. My passenger side floor lights up too when the selector is all the way to the left.

[macadamiaman]

Hmm... probably a dead bulb then, never even thoght about it. I'm probably going to get rid of the driver's side bulb as well though, I like complete stealthiness when I want it

[Flybrian]

Trunk and fuel door buttons on the dash. So many cars bury them in the glove box to protect against sticky-fingered valets and even worse some (usually imports) have them in some awkward places on the floorboard so you can open both by accident.

Even better, they're symmetrical with the light controls on the left side of the wheel.

Also, on the '95s and '96s, the old-school chromed GM seat belt buckles. Those look classier than the red plastic ones afterwards, IMO.

[eurora]

My passenger was amazed today when he saw how many sunshades I opened - one... two... threeeee... FOUR

[macadamiaman]

huh? that went over my head...

[Custom88]

me too? I think they meant both sun visors, then the little sliders that come out from the visor too? There's also the sunshade on the sunroof..

[eurora]

umm... yes, Custom88, i think "visor" should be the correct term, so i meant drivers sunvisor contains four parts.. and my passenger was impressed by that...

[macadamiaman]

ah yes, those are cool
...though a bit too much plastic. On my girlfriend's 2002 Sable (cheaper car!), they're covered in a nice cloth and thicker and stuff. The 2nd gen has one, two, three, four, five, six

[JimW]

Thats a bit of overkill, but it is nice to have those shades.

Its not really a niiiice touch, but its nice to see the fuel release "string" in the trunk. It seems whenever we have freezing rain, the gas door likes to freeze closed. Without that manual release I'd be screwed.

IIRC the release in my Bonneville is a piston style release, not a pull string....either way, its handy.

[Roop]

i like the way the car comes to life at night. it's the best time to drive it. hit the unlock button on a dark night. all interior and exterior lights come on to make it easy to get on board. once you're inside everything is lit. you can adjust the brightness with a single knob but it's cooler to crank it up. i like the way light bends around the contoured exterior surfaces. i think this car was meant for high speed cruising at night.

the compass is more of a gimmick but the ability for the mirror to change it's darkness on the fly is wild. i was very impressed by that. unfortunatley having over-researched the car it was the only thing that really surprised me.

[MBowen574]

My favorite auxilliary feature would be either the automatic wipers (but not lights... too much GM nannying there!) or the super-awesome row of LEDs we have as our third, high-mount brakelight.

My favorite performance feature is the way you just have to barely give the ignition a quick twist and the car starts itself. That gives it such a... sophisticated feel. Like you're cranking the ignition to a spaceship or something. ;D ;D ;D

My favorite styling feature is what I've come to lovingly refer to as the Aurora Curve. You can see it on the second-gen between the lower front air inlets and foglights, while on the Classic, it's the C-pillar between the back door and rear windshield glass.

[MBowen574]

The Classic curve.



The Second-Gen curve.

[Flybrian]

I know this thread is old and dead, but these are cool things that haven't yet been mentioned...

Retractable coathooks...


Child seat belt teather with holder (what other car has this??)...


And two others that are 'interior' in the sense that they aren't on the sheetmetal; the fuel door area with its built-in fuelcap cradle (no broken teathers) and just beneath the neck, that little hole that drains fuel out of the fuel door area when you top-off too much so it doesn't overflow onto the body...


And this massive dead space between the radiator and the front fascia.

I'll admit, once I left a two rags, a detail brush, and a small bottle of window cleaner in there for a 300-mile trip to Orlando and back!

Such a thoughtful car we have.

[macadamiaman]

I like how the second gen did away with these things

[95mushroom]

flybrian said:

Child seat belt teather with holder (what other car has this??)...

Becareful with those. I would fasten them down somehow (double-sided tape). If anyone ever sits in the back. I've have both sides closed in the door my passengers and shatter. A little piece of me died each time too.

[Genopsyde]

not interior, but I dig the heated side mirrors.

[NYsteve]

flybrian said:

Child seat belt teather with holder (what other car has this??)...

I've seen cheap $20k Saturns with those (although it was a 2003). And to hide 'em, just push them back behind the seat.


I personaly love the steering wheel controls, and the way the lights on the panel light up when you crank the fan. It just looks cool, and no other car has that (to my knowledge).

[eurora]

flybrian said:

... that little hole that drains fuel out of the fuel door area when you top-off too much so it doesn't overflow onto the body...

...

for me its rather annoying - NEVER have seen it usable as "gasoline drain hole" although always fill to full. Often i see that hole works backwards - seasonly it lets dirt into chamber. Could close it with something, just cant remember to do it when its clean. ;D

[Aurora40]

It doesn't let dirt in, it lets water run out. So when it rains, dirt on the car runs down into that area with the rain water, the water runs out, and leaves some of the dirt behind. If you plug it up, expect to have problems driving your car after a hard rain, as the rain will likely go down your tank instead.

[A-boy95]

guys and gals i like the whole car I'm just surprised to have all he power goodies ans such, my sunbird had nothing at all, no cup holders NOTHING, but my aurora i have named Amy(i have a thing for naming cars) lol
but yea the funny thing is my mom and dad are jealous,
a 18 year old with a nice car hmmmm

[MBowen574]

aurora40 said:

One thing I hate about the delayed-power is that it will shut off if a passenger opens a door... What's up with that? Passengers always jump right out, leaving you to put up the windows, etc.

The driver will always get out of the car, so why not have it bound to that door only (plus it times out after 10 mins anyway)?? That's how it worked when it first came out, only the driver's door cancelled it...

I know this is older than Methuselah, but I thought I'd throw this out there:

My Galant has retained power for the windows and moonroof (not the radio, though) for 90 seconds, and it's linked only to the driver's door. This provides the benefits you mentioned, but Mitsubishi was sued in 1996 because someone in the passenger's seat got out and put their arm through the sunroof of a Galant and the driver closed it on the arm, hurting the person. They sued, and Mitsu changed it to the type that ends when any doors are opened after the '97 model year.