Makes Me Feel Old....

I took my car in for its biannual car inspection.  It's a government requirement and most people view it as a means to try and get older cars off the road (the inspection costs increase as ones car ages).  Anyways, I opted to get a courtesy car this time and has handed the keys to a Daihatsu Move Canbus...well, actually I was handed the remote key that unlocks the door.  There's no physical metal key attached to the unit.

When the fellow from the dealership walked me through how to start up the car and use the remote control I felt a bit out of place.  The car's engine is started with the press of a button: put pressure on the brake pedal and push the "Start" button (gosh...writing that makes this sound like a review of the latest version of Microsoft Windows).  I commented to the fellow "Sorry if I sound like some old man trying to get my head around the car...".

I sussed out on the weekend when I got a ride up to Yamagata why I've recently heard so many car engines being started up when the light goes green at intersections.  Most new cars have an auto-idling feature.  Once the on-board computer senses the car is stopped and the brakes are engaged, it shuts the engine off.  The courtesy car I got has the same feature.  I've noticed it's quite sensitive.  The computer won't shut the engine off until one has come to a complete stop and stepped on the brake pedal firmly.  Interesting....

Postscript:  A photo of the above mentioned Daihatsu Move Canbus.