I drive around 30,000 miles in my car each year, so I know a thing or two about road trips. Whether it’s for work or play, the main thing to ensure before embarking on any road trip is feeling comfortable in your own car, and that looks different for every person. For me, my car has to be clean, which is where things like theHedgehog TurboVACand several other gadgets come in to help.
However, what if you don’t want any of those gadgets? What if you want your car to be road trip-ready straight from the factory floor? You’d be forgiven for wanting this to be the case with prices where they are today, surely, but what boxes do you need to check? Well, just as those gadgets come in to help me, that’s where I come in to help you decide what features you need on your next car before taking off on that cross-country road trip you may or may not ever get the PTO for.
This is not meant to be five gadgets or things you’re able to purchase to add to your car, but rather five features that come on newer vehicles straight from the factory. Our list ofmust-have road trip gadgetswas published earlier this summer.
5 gadgets I use to make my old car feel like a 2025 model
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5Level two autonomous driving
For when your hands just need a little break
Very few companies on the current market (TeslaandMercedes) have made it tolevel three autonomous driving, but a vast array of companies now offer level two autonomy on some of their higher-trimmed vehicles, such asFord’s Blue CruiseorGM’s Super Cruise. Level two autonomy allows the driver to keep their hands off the wheel in a resting position while supervising the car’s actions on the open road, and is the closest thing the mass market has now to full autonomy. Where this comes in handy, though, is one of the most arduous parts of any long journey – the interstate marathon.
Recently, my fiancée and I packed up everything we owned and moved to Texas. The entire car ride took well over 13 hours, most of which was spent on U.S. Interstate 20. On and on we went for hundreds of miles, with my hands in the same position mostly, only moving to follow the occasional curve in the highway. What I would have given to be able to just turn on any sort of autonomous mode was a long list. It might seem obvious, but if you can swing the price tag, at least somewhat autonomous driving is a must for any new vehicle that you plan to spend a lot of time inside.
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4Ventilated Seats
As heated seats have become standard, ventilation is now a must
To be clear, there’s adifference between ventilated and cooled seats, although the terms are often used interchangeably. Ventilated seats simply have small fans that push air up through the perforations on the seat’s surface. Cooled seats actually have some sort of cooling element, whether it’s a compressor or otherwise, that blows actual cooled air through the seat. Personally, ventilation is fine with me, as the main thing you want to focus on here is that at minimum, air keeps moving around the seat tray as opposed to just stagnating.
And that’s for a very good reason, too. Prepare yourselves, it’s honesty hour.
Humans sweat. And not only can that sweat really dampen your driving experience (pun intended), it can also actually hurt the leather in your seats. For instance, have you ever noticed how a leather-wrapped steering wheel smooths over after some time? The oil from your hands causes that phenomenon, and the same can be said for your seats, especially if you usually drive in shorts. Ventilated seats not only make you more comfortable as you drive, but they also protect your car’s leather interior, which is a win-win in just about every case.
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3Built-in navigation
CarPlay and Android Auto are wonderful, but don’t always work
I might be the world’s biggest fan of manufacturers who still take the time and effort to perfect their own in-house infotainment system. There are very few companies left that still do it right, and it’s because they do it right just about every time. For instance,Mercedes-Benzhas produced solid infotainment systems for quite some time now, including their built-in navigation technology. The trouble with CarPlay and Android Auto is that, sometimes, it just doesn’t work, whether it’s low phone signal, a glitch, or something else. Built-in navigation will rarely, if ever, let you down, and it’s why I still prefer a good in-house system over what CarPlay can provide.
Don’t get me wrong, these instances of automotive manufacturers beating out tech companies for better in-car software are few and far between, but when it happens, it makes it so that I rarely want to turn CarPlay or Android Auto on for a second, because the car I’m in isn’t only better off for making the system cohesive, but it looks like its self, and that’s something that everyone with the same CarPlay or Android Auto infotainment screen can’t say.
Don’t hit the gas if you haven’t downloaded these underrated Android Auto apps I love
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2USB-C charging in every row
Nearly every automaker has already made the switch to USB-C
We have no kids or pets, so we didn’t exactly have rear-seat passengers with us on our big move across the country. However, I do give car advice to plenty of friends and family that do, and one of the biggest points I always try to make is ensuring that the chargers in the rear of the car are also USB-C in addition to the front. It ensures fast charging and compatibility with new devices and ones to come after that, which saves you from having to buy an adapter or have an old-fashioned 12-v plug to make things work.
Additionally, going full Type-C in the rear rows means that you can power larger devices. For instance, if you’d like to mount iPads to the rear headrests,Kia’sgot the perfect idea with their in-seat charging ports. They’re mounted halfway up the backrest of the front two seats, which is just far enough away to stretch an iPad power chord while still maintaining a mess-free rear floorboard. The things these companies come up with, I tell ya.
1Noise-cancelling cabin systems
These are as sci-fi as it gets for the moment
The deletion of road noise is something that companies have been after for quite some time now. For instance, road noise cancellation is why most wheel well liners are now cloth instead of plastic. It absorbs sound much better than the alternative. Automakers today want their cabins to be as quiet as possible, andHyundairecently had a significant breakthrough in this department. The company dubbed this new technology theRANC system, which stands for Road-noise Active Noise Control. This might sound like a convoluted way to achieve a solid acronym, but the science behind it makes a lot of sense.
The car itself listens to the noise of the tires going over the pavement, and then, through its own on-board system, emits an inverted sound wave that is supposed to cancel out the annoying one coming into the cabin. Hyundai partnered with an international audio company called Harman to achieve this new piece of tech. One thing is for certain, though – with more companies adapting similar technologies on a daily basis, inside a car might be the quietest place to hang out in the near future.
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