Pretty sad they need special chips to turn the HVAC on and off, to get the engine to hibernate then wake up, or to get heated / cooled seats to work. I wonder what was used in 2008 on my Saturn Astra or Sky to do those things except the engine gag. The engine gag is just that, a gag. It provides little to no improvement in fuel economy and probably lessens the life of the starter, battery, and engine. I found reaching towards the dash and turning the key (yes, key, not some gimmicky button) to kill the engine works just as well. And the computer controlled tranny? When we had manual tranny cars is able to match the speed to the ration quite well, thank you. And most of the "auto-stick" trannys won't let you decide when to up or downshift because some goof programmer who doesn't know how to drive, only operate, a motor vehicle decided that was a good idea. (No, it's not.)
I agree completely with Jake and Doctor Syntax wrote. And a very simple way to not freeze / burn your arse is to return to cloth seats. My Astra did have heated cloth seats which I turned on when the brass monkeys were clutching theirs, but for the most part they were unnecessary. Leather seats, on the other hand, are a waste and in my opinion dangerous. Ever notice how many F1 and Indy cars have leather seats?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
