pet connection

Normally, I love gadgets. The more techno-friendly the better. Especially when it comes to DogCars. The more cool gadgets they have the better, I say.

So it’s not surprising that I was eagerly anticipating the arrival this week of the 2008 Infiniti M45 AWD sedan. While not a DogCar in the true sense of the requirements, this is definitely a techno-geek’s dream car. The M45 is filled to the roof with new gadgets that are designed to make your ride safer, smarter and more comfortable than you’ve ever experienced before.

There’s the Intelligent Cruise Control, which senses when a vehicle moves in front of you and slows down the car to keep a safe distance. And there’s the rear-view backup monitor that not only provides a high-def color view of the space behind your vehicle, but also outlines the direction you will go with your wheels turned the way they are currently pointed. That’s a very helpful safety feature for sure.

But the moment I got into the M45 and took it on the freeway, I started to become irritated by an incessant beeping noise. I quickly surmised that the M45 has what is called a “Lane Departure Warning system” (LDW) that alerts the driver (and the rest of the passengers) when you start to drift toward one edge of the lane or the other.

On paper, this sounds like a great safety device. As drivers, we are supposed to stay in our appointed lanes, so any device that helps achieve that goal would be a good thing, right? Not if it irritates you so much that you have to pull over to turn it off before you go crazy! It took me about five minutes of driving with this bleeping beeping device before I was ready to pull the plug on its bratty behavior.

Fortunately, there’s an on/off button on the lower part of the dashboard (near where you might expect find the hood latch) that can end the misery. However, it resets itself every time the vehicle is turned off, so I quickly got in the habit of getting in, turning the engine on, putting on my seat belt and turning off the LDW button.

A safety device is no good if it irritates you to the point of wanting it off all the time.

In addition to that precious toy, the M45 has an added optional safety feature called the “Lane Departure Prevention System” (LDP) that adds to the LDW by sensing an inadvertent lane change and gently forcing the vehicle back into the correct lane.

Here’s how Infiniti describes it:

LDP takes Infiniti’s existing Lane Departure Warning system (currently implemented on the FX and previously on the 2007 M) one step further by utilizing the Vehicle Dynamic Control to apply slight brake pressure to the wheels opposite the side of the lane departure direction to help prevent the M from inadvertently traveling out of its intended lane.

Like Lane Departure Warning, the LDP system uses a small camera installed behind the windshield to detect lane markers in front of the vehicle and calculate its position relative to lane markers and warn the driver of lane drift (pending lane change without use of the turn signal) with a visual display and audible buzzer. If the driver does not return the vehicle in the direction of the center of the travel lane, the LDP system assists the driver by using gentle control (generating part of the necessary yaw movement), using the VDC’s brake actuator to control the brake pressure of each individual wheel to generate the intended movement.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t like it when someone or something tries to take control of the steering wheel. It just doesn’t feel right. Fortunately, the LDP is only activated when you push the button. Which you might do when you are setting out on a late night drive and are concerned about falling asleep and drifting into another lane. If, that is , you are awake enough to remember to turn the darn thing on.

Infiniti, I love your cars and absolutely loved driving the M45. It’s smooth, comfortable and powerful. But if I were to purchase this vehicle, I would forgo paying the additional $2,800 for this Advanced Technology Package . . . and get a cup of coffee instead.