What makes some cars more tiresome ?

Joined
Apr 5, 2018
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230
Location
Azerbaijan
Hi Friends.
I couldn't have chance to test too many cars.
I firstly drove Daewoo Nexia 1.5 Manual, Then ML320 W163(Auto) and then BMW E60 2.2 2004 (auto)
I mostly drive in city. Too much traffic jams. So of course, when i changed my car from Manual (Nexia) to automatic (W163) , there were some improvement. It was not too much though. With w163, After driving one hour on high traffic road, i was getting really tired. Then recently had recently driven E60, The experience was too different, that i could not explain. I have driven it for entire day in the high traffic roads. 0 Fatique. It was as if someone was driving the car for me.
Surely, E60 is more comfortable than ML, but the difference is not too much in city (I optimized w163's comfort, so it is no more harsh like a truck). Performance difference should not be more than 15%.
So i want to know if it is just slight difference in comfort and performance that makes huge difference in fatique ? Or are there any other hidden variables ? :)
Such brake /Gas pedal sensitivity, Steering wheel settings? Better view from windows and mirrors ? Or sitting close to ground in Sedan make me feel secure ? :)
After e60, i again tried w163 to see if i can find what makes me tired with it, i couldn't find anything uncomfortable in short test. decent performance, decent ride quality, decent noise insulation,


I have a friend, Who changed his car from Lexus RX350 2010 to Lexus GX460 2014. At the end of every day, he is complaining about how new car makes him feel tired.


Unlike me, you may have owned many cars.
Can you please tell if you have the similar experience and what quality of the car do you think affect it most ?

Here is an interesting article : https://www.sciencealert.com/the-hidden-way-car-driving-vibrations-make-you-sleepy

Regards.
 
all asian cars except the Honda odyssey are in my opinion the most inferior automobiles, they are overpriced , and also the worst when it comes to overall interior enviroment.

All german cars especially volkswagen have the best interiors there are, sturdy, and with purpose. I always felt that volkswagens had that weird finish in them from the motor to the inside, which is how comfortable they can be and able to be driven for hours upon hours.

The honda odessey makes me feel like I am driving at 3 AM at night everytime, very comfortable, and can be stressed (same with all volkswagens) at any given moment.
 
This can also be an "age thing". My 2003 Dodge Durango used to be my daily driver.....especially when I was younger. I still enjoy driving it, love the V8 Power, 4WD when I need it, and lots of room with comfy seats......I don't like putting gas in it though. My Dart is my daily driver now.....super fun to drive, handles like it is on rails, cheap on insurance, maintenance, and uses lots less gas by comparison.

That being said, I am firm believer that you should drive what YOU want. You are the one paying the bills, taking the risks, and using it for pleasure, and necessity. What is not cool is people who buy a vehicle on a whim, and then complain, and cry about the cost of it.....gas, repairs, insurance etc.

I always see lots of Vehicle Whiners in the DMV whenever I have to go there. Last time I was there renewing my plates, guy in front of me had bought a new car, not sure what kind, but his sales tax bill was over 6k.....he was not happy.....too bad so sad.
 
My parents bought a 93 Thunderbird LX new in Wyoming and then retired to Florida, where the trip to the nearest large city is 26 miles. A couple years into ownership my dad complained that he was exhausted whenever they got where they were going in that car. I think the seats had lousy support and caused his body to be under constant stress trying to accommodate for that lack of support. Seating position, close to the floor with his legs stretched out in front of him was also not helping. They traded it for a Grand Marquis and all those problems vanished. They drove that car across the country and back.
 
I drive commercial trucks for a living and the newer trucks with full air ride and quieter engines are less fatiguing to drive vs older leaf spring, solid cab mount trucks.
 
I had a Grand Marquis that was just *not* comfortable. It had the base bench seat which was like sitting on a barstool or one of those pregnancy balls. I was always clenching by butt going around corners so I wouldn't fall out.

My w123 benz had decent seats and side support but the lack of acceleration and somewhat loose steering didn't inspire confidence. It did have very very good suspension so I wouldn't clench up if I couldn't avoid a pothole.

The roads around here are very heavily (and unevenly) crowned and I'm not comfortable driving on them in winter because I'm always subconsciously doing the "butt gyro" math as to what would happen if I hit black ice. That's mentally exhausting.
 
Wylie, you are spot on. That era for Ford interiors was bad. Seats were really cheap, many of those "Fox Body" chassis variants did not ride well.

Ford tried to engineer that chassis / platform to accept all engines offered at the time with minimal changes in suspension variance and geometry.....needless to say it was a total compromise across all of the models that used it. Almost as bad, notice I said almost as GM BADGE ENGINEERING.
 
Night driving is generally more tiresome for me, if there's significant traffic lights and especially the modern ultra bright headlights, and double or triple or even quadruple lights folks are putting on vehicles now. It should be illegal and enforced with a stiff penalty to have overly bright lights. This is worse with large side mirrors and someone right behind you. A few months back a guy in a lifted truck with airport runway lights on his truck flooded my car with light and nearly blinded me from all my mirrors.

Some car seats are not comfortable, and I often have to bring a lumbar support pillow and that resolves the problem. Some have a great elbow ledge on the door, and some do not. Some have a excellent correct height arm rest, some do not. Some have cool light tones on the dash, some are just too bright. Some have pedals in comfortable natural positions, and some are too far left or right of center, and cause odd body angles and tiresome legs. These all contribute.
 
All cars are boring these days. Push button start and automatics are boring to me. Sometimes I think I’ll fall asleep driving my Escape down route 460 on the way to and from work because it’s an automatic and it’s dark outside too so that doesn’t help lol. Also cars with cruise control. I don’t mind cruise control but then you aren’t doing anything but steering until you need to stop.
 
Just sold my Tesla Model 3 after having it for 6-7 weeks. One thing about it was it was not relaxing to drive. Constantly messing with something, even without AutoPilot on it needed a lot of steering input on the freeway.

My 15’ Genesis was incredible to drive. Relaxing and engaging at the same time.

My 14’ Grand Cherokee is decent out on the road. A little gutless but that’s ok.
 
Wylie, you are spot on. That era for Ford interiors was bad. Seats were really cheap, many of those "Fox Body" chassis variants did not ride well.

Ford tried to engineer that chassis / platform to accept all engines offered at the time with minimal changes in suspension variance and geometry.....needless to say it was a total compromise across all of the models that used it. Almost as bad, notice I said almost as GM BADGE ENGINEERING.
The 93 actually wasn't a Fox. They moved the T-Bird off the Fox platform in 1989. But it was still uncomfortable and tiring to drive. The Supercoupe was at least entertaining to drive, but the V6 LX was mediocre in every possible way.
 
Needing an alignment and bad tires make driving more tiresome. Driving Big rigs in the snow all day long with slippery roads. I wouldn't use the cruise then and I was happy to park it at the end of the day and sleep well that night.
 
Bad seats, droning road noise and constant attempts to get the vehicle to track straight are hallmarks of a tiresome to drive vehicle. Add in terrible headlights at night to top it all off. ( my civic )
 
My vote is:
1. Poor straight line tracking/stability.
2. Uncomfortable or badly proportioned seats and driving position (the anti VW)
3. NVH from uncompliant or badly tuned suspension and coarse thrashy engine.
You hit the nail on the head. I drive A LOT, and sometimes rent as many as 3 cars per week. My trips are 400 to 1350 miles in one day! (Did 1354 miles yesterday through the night and arrived today in the 2011)

Of my 3 F150's, the 2009 is by far the best for long trips. The 2011 is the worst and the 2018 is mid.

The 09 has a big, smooth and pleasant 5.4L V8. It's also a steel body 4x4 truck with 275-55-20 tires on wide rims. Hyd steering that is butter smooth, tracks perfectly, never wanders. Did I mention it's an absolute pleasure to drive, and I hate trucks!

The 11 is a 3.5 ecoboost and it vibrates at a lower frequency and groans. Quite simply it sounds like a delivery truck and it gets on my nerves. It also has skinny tires and does not track as well and has first gen elec steering with awful feel.

The 18 has a smooth enough 2.7L V6 with a 10 speed auto that is constantly shifting. It's a jiggly aluminum body 4x4 with numb electric steering.
 
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