10 secret features of your car you don't know about

Mobile phones are infamous for having many hidden features. The simple (and relatively popular) ones include the ability to take screenshots by simultaneously pressing a few buttons (Android) or using the volume rocker as a shutter key for camera (iPhone), but cars can’t have hidden features, can they. As it turns out, yes, they can. In a very informative thread on Team-BHP, a couple of owners have talked about some nifty features that add value to your car. A few of those:

Side Parking Light

Imagine you park your car in a dimly lit lane and want it to be visible enough, what do you do? Turn on the parking lights, right, but that’s going to use a considerable amount of energy off the battery. There’s a way of halving the consumption. The parking light (both at front and rear) can be turned on but only for one side. You can do so by activating the indicator of the side you want the parking light to glow, and then locking the car – considering that you’re parking it. The feature was said to available on the Volkswagen and Skoda products. A user confirmed the availability of Fiat Punto as well.

Extended power window use

Using power windows but without having to turn on the ignition (or even inserting the key) is possible. Certain car models allow the use of features like power windows even after the key is taken out. With the ability to roll up windows is good, given how often we forget doing so when turning the car off. New generation Hyundai cars are said to have the feature.

Detailed onboard diagnostics

Tuners generally have various dials on their cars’ dashboards with readouts for temperature, RPM (tachometer), etc. You can get vital information like battery voltage, temperature, etc. in your Ford Figo (previous generation; not tested on the new car). A preset series of button presses will make the MID (Multi Information Display) display certain values under the ‘test’ mode.

Remote Window operation

Do you remember how Batman could call his Batmobile (long before he turned into the widely appreciated tough guy with a tough voice – played by Christian Bale) by pressing a button on his belt? Well, we’re still not there yet, but you sure can make your car roll down its windows as you approach the car. And fret not, you can also make it rolls the windows up all by itself. This was found on the Polo GT TSI, and can be done by pressing and holding the unlock/lock button on the remote key fob.

Change of units in temperature readouts

Another Volkswagen feature, it lets you change the temperature units from F (Fahrenheit) to C (Celsius) and vice versa. It’s available on the Climatronic systems only (VW’s term for Climate Control) which has a proper temperature readout panel. You can do so by pressing the ‘Auto’ and ‘AC’ buttons simultaneously for three seconds. The feature isn’t as useful as the ones mentioned above, but it certainly is an interesting one.