CabinWatch
Vehicle: 2018 Honda Odyssey minivan
What it is: CabinWatch allows parents to keep an eye on their kids in the back seats without having to turn around or even look into the rear view. A fisheye camera mounted along the ceiling feeds video of the second and third rows of seats to the infotainment system in the front cockpit.
Combined with CabinTalk, a god-voiced microphone system that can interrupt your kids’ headphones, it can make the Odyssey feel like a real Griswold cell phone. Do you need it? Probably not, but Honda’s child management system could soon be one of several to make its debut in the tech-heavy minivan class.
Stinger vents
Vehicle: 2018 Kia Stinger GT sedan
What they are: they are ventilated! Gorgeous air vents prominently positioned in the center section of a Kia rocket aimed directly at German sports sedans. Are you asking why we have vents? They are beautiful and different from Kia’s glossy vents, as usual, on the sides of the dashboard. Look closely at the three round holes and you may be wondering where you’ve seen this design before.
The guy in charge has previously used round air vents on an Audi TT. This is a continuation of the trend of luxury car features that seep right into mainstream vehicles. Let’s be real for a second. These vents work just like most others: air flows through them, but we applaud the attention to detail in one of the most used parts of any car’s interior that is all too often completely ignored.
Intuitive pedestrian detection
Vehicle: 2018 Lexus LS 500 sedan
What it is: Intuitive pedestrian detection appears to make it harder to mow down a stray pedestrian, available as part of the LS 500’s “Advanced Safety Package”.
Although the technical details of its operation have not been disclosed, Lexus claims that “if a pedestrian is detected in the lane ahead and a collision is imminent, the LS is designed to automatically brake and potentially turn around the person while staying in the lane.” In other words, using active assistance in steering, the LS 500 could potentially swerve to avoid hitting a wandering pedestrian, but it’s not yet clear how the system evaluates other, surrounding obstacles or what it considers a “lane of traffic.”
Laser scanners
Vehicle: Volkswagen ID Buzz Concept
What they are: Volkswagen’s electric van concept uses lasers as autonomous driving aids to help it “see” the road ahead. Adding lasers to the Microbus renaissance is much more than an Austin Powers-style fantasy. Four laser scanners are installed on the roof of the ID Buzz, which light up depending on the selected driving mode. ID Buzz is supposed to be completely autonomous, with laser scanners expanding and lighting up in self-driving mode.
VW wants you to think of them as a set of technological eyes looking down the road. Given that they will focus their light on you if you pass by, they are not that far away. While the ID Buzz is clearly not a production car, you can use those damn lasers as a way for VW to show off the technology it’s currently working on for real cars.
Dynamic Steering
Vehicle: 2018 Audi SQ5 SUV
What it is: Dynamic steering is Audi’s way of making steering feel more natural and intuitive. This is an advanced steering mechanism that facilitates not only more intense cornering, but also nimble maneuvering in parking lots. Technically speaking, this means that the variable ratio steering changes how much force you have to use to turn the wheel, depending on the speed of the vehicle and other systems being controlled.
Think of it as two steps away from what the regular “sport mode” can do. For now, Audi only offers dynamic steering on its S models: a hint that the SQ5 stands for business. Do you need it? We’ll wait until we’ve driven the SQ5 to see if variable steering is really needed in a performance SUV, but in theory it should be the best of both worlds.
New GMC turbodiesel
Vehicle: 2018 GMC Terrain SUV
What it’s like: GM’s most fearless challenge in a while. Look, there are plenty of other features to talk about on the new Terrain, such as a shift button and rear end styling, but it took courage to introduce a 1.6-liter diesel – mostly for fuel economy – into a midsize American SUV.
In the SUV class, where all models tend to look the same and play catch-up by offering similar features, the Terrain joins the Mazda CX-5 with a unique edge.
Expect around 140 hp. and 240 lb-ft of torque, and an estimated highway fuel economy of 40 mpg. That’s enough to propel the Terrain to the top of the pseudo-luxury, “premium” class in terms of fuel rating.