I drive a Kia Seltos and while I got it because I wanted AWD, I found that anything past that has really made me second guess what Kia thinks a driver needs in the present day.
The first thing that I found wrong, was when I went to plug my IPod Touch into the USB socket in the front of the vehicle, underneath the control deck with the A/C. To find that it didn’t work except charge the IPod. When I did this with an old Sportage I drove, that was how I got my music when I didn’t want to listen to the radio.
But Kia thought we didn’t need this functionality. No, I will not fumble with ApplePlay to get music, because fuck Apple. Instead, I have to connect the IPod via Bluetooth which meant I could never pause/play, I have to risk taking my attention off driving to fiddle with the IPod to pause/play. I could also never see what song was playing nor can I navigate easily, because everything was No Info.
Speaking of this issue, I’ve had moments where I had to fight with the connectivity of the IPod and my vehicle. Where, the IPod would not be playing through the vehicle’s speakers, it would try to play from it’s little speakers. I don’t get this, it’s charged, it’s connected, the bluetooth connectivity is connected when I check both the device listing on the home dashboard and the IPod itself. But this is what the vehicle decides to do with my IPod instead of retaining connection to allow it to play on the speakers.
I actually have to randomly press buttons like disconnecting or changing devices and even sometimes having to stop Android Auto from hogging everything to finally get things working. SOME OF THE TIME, mind you.
Since I mentioned it, let me talk about Android Auto. I’m not a fan of it, it is a hog and practically takes hold of everything. Sometimes I can’t even change over to the IPod because Android Auto wants you to disconnect everything to even switch! Thanks Kia, for incorporating this level of obnoxiousness.
Other things I hate with Kia is when they feel they need to tell you what’s playing on the little screen where you need to know PSI, MPH and all that. When, we already see it on the bigger fucking interface screen on the dashboard!
The need to always hit ‘Confirm’ when presented this lecture of driving safely. Fuck off. I can ignore it when I go in reverse or just drive as normal, it’ll take awhile for it to go away.
Driving in reverse, presents the backup camera. I’ve noted that the backup camera will still remain on for a little longer even when driving forward. Why?
That stupid Auto Start/Stop system. A lot of vehicle manufacturers adopted this stupid feature. Kia included. I don’t see the point. Quite frankly, I see nothing but a huge safety hazard. What if you’re dealing with slippery conditions? What if you’re in snowy climates? What if there is no time for that when dealing with speedy drivers and heavy traffic? Who thought this was a good fucking idea?
I don’t care for Kia’s idea to digitize the dashboard and interface to finger-touching. Looking forward to cold conditions fucking it up if not already by making them dimmed or so. It’s just ugly.
What does any of that have to do with the start/stop system?
Really? You had to ask this?
What use does an Auto-Start/Stop system have in those kind of conditions? I doubt you have an answer.
It stops the engine. When you’re standing still. Are you sure you know how the system works?
Start/Stop system doesn’t do anything in these conditions. All it does is that it stops engine when you are stationary. Say, on a red light or in a traffic jam. It will reignite once either you start moving or battery voltage drops below certain point. Other than that, it has no effect either positive or negative in situations you have described.