modern creature comforts. I mean from the real basics of power steering, vacuum assisted brakes all the way to heated seats. What could you live without day to day and not want drive your car off a cliff given your daily commute?

I had to work on a car today with no power steering and it got me thinking about this. After cranking and cranking away on the steering wheel only to move the wheels a matter of inches, I've realized I certainly can't live the basics like that.

 

I need.

 

if i've never driven a car w/ the creature comforts, yes.

 

No idea how a car is like without that stuff Started out with a Legend, now I drive a TL. The work truck is a chevy S10 POS though...I feel like im in the stoneage driving that thing with the manual windows

 

i've driven a car with no a/c, no leather, no sunroof, and no radio. i think i could handle it.

 

my first civic no ps,no a/c, manual windows,5 speed, had nothing

 

This sounds pretty much like any pre-1980 British sports car (and most of the post-1980 ones, after everything broke ).
Come to think of it, I would need A/C and a radio, but no other extras like P/S, P/B, navigation, leather, etc. I've never had a car without air conditioning, but I could live with manual steering, non-power brakes, cloth seats, no stereo and manual windows if it was a roadster or sports car. I would just have to shift towards redline a lot to distract myself from the lack of a stereo.

 

No I need them all. Power steering is one of the best inventions ever...

 

I've driven a 1968 Chevy Apache pickup truck and it had absolutely nothing ... 4spd, no power steering, and not even a radio ... I swear my arms got bigger driving it for 1 day.

 

I suppose it depends. My VW thing was always easy to drive with manual steering and brakes. My first vehicle was a 56 ford f-100 with no power steering and a 429ci lump of iron in the front. I think I converted that to power steering after like 6 months.

 

Try driving a car with no power brakes and no discs....Drums all the way around

 

I could live without 99% of modern comforts .. however, that 1% belongs to power steering.

 

Heh heh, my '67 Camaro. Stand on the brakes and it would slew a couple feet side to side.

Come to think of it, that car had no A/C, no power steering, non-power 4 wheel drum brakes, manual windows, no creature comforts of any kind. It had a radio, but I had to jam a pen into the cassette slot for it to work.

It was very fast though....

I can live without all the creature comforts, but no power windows is the one that I would hate living without the most.

 

I'm sure I could drive without the creature comforts, but I wouldn't want to.

 

I don't know what it's like not to have power assist brakes. If it's anything like trying to stop your car when your engine is off and your battery is dead, that isn't very much fun

I think my econo car has all the creature comforts I really want and need. Power windows, door locks, power steering, brakes, radio, keyless entry. I don't think that's too much to ask for. I don't even have cruise control.

 

I could drive a car without any creature comforts or accessories if it was entertaining. Some of the most pleasurable cars I have owned and driven have had next to nothing for comfort accessories, but sure as hell brought a smile to my face when I drove them.

I'd rather drive a car without any comfort options that actually makes me aware that I'm driving instead of one fully equipped that isolates me from the road. This may be why I enjoy motorcycling so much.

Terry

 

My dad's 92 Land Cruiser is on brake drums. It's fine for me!!

 

i'd drive anything.

my first car was a bmw 320i and it didn't have power steering. in retrospect, i liked not having power steering.

 

when i had 96 taurus, alternator failed on me on downhill.

now try driving w/o power steering and BRAKES.

I almost died and had to brake with two legs with full strength.

and no, i wont drive a car w/o those

 

My 88 CRX Si didn't have power steering, but then again it was basically an oversized go-cart, so it was wonderful, but other than that I've never been without it. Anything bigger than a tiny sportscar wouldn't be very fun.

 

I've driven cars without power steering on a daily basis and its fine. I actually like the feel so it more than makes up for the extra effort while parking.

Honestly A/C is the only "comfort" item I couldn't live without. You would probably die or want to without it in the summer. I actually lived without A/C but I didn't really wanna go anywhere. Power anything is not really necessary, just very convenient to the point where we couldn't see ourselves without it, BUT we can live without it. I've even driven without a radio on a daily basis for a few months but I think I started to go crazy. ABS I could live without of course but I would prefer it, and a power brake booster is the only other necessity IMO. Your foot will get tired as hell.

I prefer cloth over leather for almost anything. Less maintenance, more comfortable. We just get spoiled too much, this is why when you start off with a beater or a POS you appreciate the finer things.

Unless my car was a heavyweight (3000+ lbs) or had good steering feel/weight to begin with I almost always disable the power steering one way or another.

 

Actually looking into a daily that doesnt have power locks, windows or anything like that.

However it has power steering, ABS and a/c, and thats all I need.

 

Sounds like my 1995 Civic Hatchback....

 

I can live without ABS, and have.

I had power steering go out on my in the middle of a 300 mile work trip...which included some heavy off roading back in Feb/Mar. On the highway its actually decent, much tighter. But local, slower driving is a pain, and off roading, total pain. I was happy to get that belt replaced when I got home.

But, more or less, I made this choice when I decided to get my current pathfinder. No more climate control, home link, etc etc etc...I've been fine and content ever since.

 

Doesn't really bother me too much when I'm in the 67 mustang. Too fucking loud when I'm on a long trip though. I don't know if I could make it a daily driver again. I like having a heater sometimes.

 

My first car (1974 Toyota Corona) had neither power steering nor AC but it did have a heater (living in NJ, a heater is more important to me than AC). And given the age of the car when I did own it (mid-80s), I never had to worry about replacing the PS pump or AC compressor.

That said, I could go without PS & AC if I had a car dedicated for local purposes (i.e.: park/ride or grocery duty). Longer jaunts would make it "a bit" less bearable.

 

my father had a 63 corvette convertible with no power anything...breaks, steering, windows, damn, the car didnt even have a radio...hard-top delete as well, it was white with red interior, and without all of these modern commodities it was still a classy car, drove it a couple of times but i was 17 at the time and dont think my pops wanted his baby in his retarded baby's hands..haha

 

LOL... for about 2 years I drove a 1964 Impala SS with no a/c , crank windows, regular drum brakes and when the PS went out I was fine with it... That car was so fun to drive... I didnt care! I wish I had one to drive right now...

I also had a 1961 SS (pretty much the same set up) that sounded so good (327 with 300Hp heads and headers with dual cherry bombs!), I never turned on the original AM radio... it did have PS though...... I drove that for about a year....

 

Whats power steering?

 

I think it all depends of the driving experience. Consider - if you had the chance to drive some exotic that handled like it was hard wired to your brain, you probably wouldn't whine about the lack of a radio or air conditioning. There is enough other visceral entertainment to make up for it.

That said, after I experienced heated seats and mirrors, I view any car without them as.... deficient. And the CL had the passenger rear view that tilted down when you put it in reverse. What a great feature, I'd pay extra for that.

The GTO has the radio that adjusts its own volume when the road noise goes up. Never thought I would like that, but my Miata doesn't have it. It's SUCH A PAIN to have to adjust it manuall!!

The Miata does have the keyless ignition, which I always thought was a BS feature. But to be able to lock, unlock, open the trunk, and start the car without taking anything out of your pocket is really nice.

At the end of the day, I think it's all about the interface; it's the parts of the car that you touch or interact with that really make it a nice experience.

Give me all that stuff!

 

My mom's old Mazda was power nothing. I didn't have a problem driving it back then. Now, I would have to say I'm too spoilt. I like the comforts. I can still drive it if I have to, but I'd rather not.

 

Parallel parking in NYC w/o power steering
I try not to use the back up camera most of the time so I don't get use to it.

Other than that the rest depends on how long I'm going to be in the car and the weather

 

I could survive just fine without some of the comforts.

Mechanically, I would want power steering, better braking systems all and all the other mechanical jazz.

I could do without:

Computer climate control systems. Give me a knob or a slider and I'll adjust the temperature myself.

Power Windows, I could do without them. Besides, If the motor ever breaks they're expensive as hell to replace

I could do without navigation, I did just fine without it in the past.

I wouldn't give up power locks because it'd be a pain to have to check every door to make sure it's locked and I wouldn't want to ever have that one time I missed one and it was stolen or broken into.

Definietely could do without heated seats, but I wish that auto manufactuers would wake up and be smart about the packages they offer us. Why does Europe need hot weather packages more so than so cal and why do we only get cold weather packages when most of the southern states is warmer for most of the year.

 

I can handle it, but I like having power steering and AC... power windows, power/heated seats I could live without...

I really need to get my bus on the road which had ZERO creature comforts...

It's nice sometimes to drive a "simple" car

 

My Murano and AV6 both have auto climate control and I find that I adjust the temperature more often in these two cars than I ever have in the cars that I have owned with it.

Oh! ...and cruise control is fairly useless in NJ!!!

 

Definitely, Cruise control is the most overrated feature ever.

 

my 69 dart had nothing. it started out with a 225/904. it ended up with a 426 wedge/727. i would give up all the creature comforts to drive it daily again. that car could do anything i wanted...except idle in traffic.

my 61 300g was the exact opposite. it had power steering, power brakes, a/c, autopilot, power seats, and an am radio that had auto seek.

 

I could and have lived without most. If i could choose, id "Prefer" to have power steering and power assisted brakes. The other stuff is just creature comfort. I wish every thing on the car was a option you could add, because i could take off alot from a cars list. (though i would add cruise as im on teh HWY a lot and use it daily)

 

Oh yea, and I can do without the power seats as well.

 

Someone find me a headliner for the TL without the moon roof hole and they can have my moon roof!