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We have had minivans (Dodge, Nissan, Chrysler) when our children were living at home, luxury cars (Acura, BMW, Infinity) when I was working, and an economy car when we retired (Hyundai Accent).
I can feel and see a portion of minivan utility (seats 5 comfortably, easy exit and entry), BMW luxury and driving dynamics (interior and handling), and economy car practicality (PHEV, Kia value).
I had a chance yesterday to dirve the Niro on the freeway and try out the smart cruise control, lane keeping assist and navigation.
Smart cruise control
This worked better and I liked it more than I expected. I was able to maintain a comfortable distance from the car ahead. It also adjusted quite nicely to cars moving in and out of the space between me and the car ahead.
Lane keeping assist
Last year I almost drove off the freeway because of falling asleep during the day. Only the rumble strip on the side of the road woke me up. This feature nudges the steering wheel and beeps at you is you stray out of your lane. It also beeps at you if you take your hands of the wheel for more than a few seconds. I liked it.
Navigation and audio
Thanks to android auto and an $8 cell phone (non activated) I now have navigation and my entire audio collection in our Niro. I find google maps to be a fit of a pain to use since to use it off line one has to load maps covering the trip you are planning. You can't just load maps state by state but have to select an area manually to download using wifi before you set out on your trip.
Thanks to android auto and an $8 cell phone (non activated) I now have navigation and my entire audio collection in our Niro. I find google maps to be a fit of a pain to use since to use it off line one has to load maps covering the trip you are planning. You can't just load maps state by state but have to select an area manually to download using wifi before you set out on your trip.
Using it with an actual active cell phone is much less of a pain to use, because you get the live map updates and traffic updates. You also get the option of using Waze for navigation instead (it only works online but has great live traffic rerouting and such).
Unfortunately, as you've noticed, the AA maps solutions really work best when used "online," if you wanted an offline solution, the built in nav system would work better. I'm assuming your model didn't come with it though?
A couple things I don't like.
Wipers are totally inadequate in a downpour.
No stop and go or even just stop and hold capability.
LKAS not as good as on other vehicles I own and really should pull the car over and stop if driver becomes disabled. When LKAS fails, should get AUDIBLE warning, not just a light turning white.
Plastic wheel covers on PHEV are ridiculously expensive.
Response of infotainment system is slow as is the response time in phone app.
I won't mention handling and braking because it is an economy car on fuel economy tires. It does no worse than its competitors.
Lots of things to like that far outweigh the above. Some of them small, like ventilated seats and a real transmission instead of a lousy CVT. Free telamatics for 10 years. Try to find these on its competition.
the point is i don't want a phone with a cell plan in the car. What I have now cost me $8 and $0/month. And it works just fine. Just a small pain to set up.
I like the idea of a permanent phone, but yes... the idea is to use your own phone so you aren't distracted with calls and texts.
I see how someone with a potatoe phone would want a dedicated phone. Maybe they still set it up to use calls over bluetooth.
Does android auto cancel bluetooth?
Anyway, this car is an awesome value. The BEV will be too when it goes toe to toe with the bolt and wins or ties each spec, but it probably 5k cheaper with LKAS and AEB standard.
I don't use Android Auto. I simply mount my phone on the dash and use it stand alone. If you do that, you could use Copilot, which stores maps for offline use. (I'm guessing there may be others.)
I have had the LKAS try to pull me into a new lane as the road goes from 2 to 3 lanes. Otherwise very happy. Wish you could go a bit longer before the system barks at you to grab the wheel. Will this change in the future?
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