Clarity for the kids

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by 2020, Sep 17, 2018.

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  1. 2020

    2020 Member

    Just discovered this forum, great source of information. Just purchased the Clarity plug in hybrid for the kids. I have 3 coming up on their driving licenses all within the year. I wanted a full electric car, however no reasonable choices nor any deals. Decided on the Clarity- 40-45 miles of EV driving is plenty for them. 2 major gripes I have with this car are the advertised safety features and the ugliness of the car. One of the major reasons I bought a new car for the kids is for the safety features- kids are mentally challenged these days and any help is beneficial especially with the unrelenting traffic of Atlanta. Totally dissappointed. There are no active safety features of this car that are worth it- no blind spot warning, no impending accident safety measures, back up sensors, and no cross traffic warning. I have a new Mercedes and my neighbors bought a new Mazda car for the kids. These cars have the aforementioned features that are activated every time the car is turned on and work very well. Many of the Honda's features only work when activating the Adaptive Cruise Control and even then they are terrible.

    I am in the process of cleaning up the "ugliness" of the car. I will keep you guys posted.

    Otherwise the car is great. By the way, the first day I got the car one of the kids was driving and scraaape. Hit the curb and scraped the wheels. Thank god I purchased the tire and wheel warranty.
     
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  3. Kendalf

    Kendalf Active Member

    I was initially disappointed that the Clarity didn't come with blind spot warning, but now I am glad for the right hand mirror camera. Sensors can fail or be fooled, so I actually prefer the fact that I can visually see what's in my blind spot through the camera rather than rely on an indicator light. Same goes for the back up camera rather than just sensors. Maybe I'm just old school in preferring to check with my eyes (or at least a video image).

    The lack of cross traffic warning is certainly a loss. The Collision Mitigation System is okay, but it has failed to detect a car cutting in front of me several times. This system does not require ACC to be on to operate.

    But coming from a car with none of these safety features, I'm pretty satisfied. The way I see it, all these features are an additional supplement but no substitute to active awareness and defensive driving. My concern is with drivers who overly rely on these features and drive more distractedly than they would in a car that does not have any of these features.
     
    Carro con enchufe likes this.
  4. JCEV

    JCEV Active Member

    At least your kids won't become lazy when driving :). You'll also be surprised at how much more attention the Clarity gets over Mercedes and Audi's at least in my experience( unless you have the 2 seater sports cars). I do wish it had front sensors , otherwise it doesnt need much else.

    Plugin hybrid vehicles add a good 10 to 15 thousand to a car , you really are getting a deal so don't expect the world at its price point.
     
  5. Candice

    Candice Active Member

    The fact that adults get into Teslas and ignore the warnings and cause accidents should tell you that safety features are not fool proof. Every bit of help we can give our kids makes the roads safer and we all benefit from that. But just as smart phones make some people dumber, some safety features actually make some people worse drivers. I like the tone of this forum because I am not a "car person" but this car made me a Clarity and an EV enthusiast. There are really no threads on here extolling the virtues of all of the Claritys safety features. We appreciate what was built into the car for what it costs. It is too bad that you don't like the look of the car. I happen to like it a lot but it is in the eyes of the beholder.
     
    Jan and David A like this.
  6. Viking79

    Viking79 Well-Known Member

    They are no more or less retarded than the previous generation. Why did you buy a car that you thought was ugly and didn't have the features you wanted?

    Get your kids into a quality driving school. Blind spot monitoring is overrated, but nice. I wish the Clarity had it, but to say the active safety features are worthless is selling the car short. Seems a Leaf or something might meet your requirements.
     
    mcdull and K8QM like this.
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  8. Crota

    Crota Member

    I don't know if I read it here, thought it up for myself or found it else where but here is something to think about regarding the crash safety of the Clarity.

    Even though there are no crash ratings for the Clarity available yet. (Please let me know if I am wrong or if they have since been released) The fact that the basic frame for all 3 cars are the same, once again another assumption or something I read, AND one of those model is a Hydrogen Fuel Cell vehicle makes me believe it will do well in crash tests. Most Hydrogen cars are built to a very high standard due to the volatility of Hydrogen and if all 3 basic frames are the same, well we get an extra strong vehicle. There are a lot of educated assumptions here but I maybe wrong.
     
    KentuckyKen likes this.
  9. leehinde

    leehinde Active Member

    Since we're dogging his parenting style ( JUST KIDDING ), I think this is a horrible car for new car drivers. So. Many. Distractions.
     
    Pegsie likes this.
  10. Ordell98

    Ordell98 New Member

    Dude, don’t say retarded, it’s 2018.
     
  11. 2020

    2020 Member

    If I wanted to be old school I would have given them my 1968 VW Bus to drive. If they were boys, I would definitely man them up and make them drive the Bus (sorry for my language, so 70s).
     
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  13. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    Give them the Merc with the loud beeper and you drive the Clarity--you'll enjoy it more. Everyone here will back me up (right, everyone?).
     
    Oak Hill Dan, Candice and iluvscuba like this.
  14. JCEV

    JCEV Active Member

    Yep the clarity is the superior drive :) ;)

    Also the kids love the fender look. At least thats why they love to lower the car, Honda did it for them :) [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2018
  15. weave

    weave Active Member

    Ugly? So far it's mostly teenagers who have been telling me they love how good my car looks. Teenagers don't worry about feelings and if they thought it was ugly, they'd point and laugh.

    How about the KONA? Now THAT is ugly IMO. That fake grill up front! Ugh... https://www.hyundaiusa.com/kona-electric/index.aspx
     
    Jack likes this.
  16. Carro con enchufe

    Carro con enchufe Active Member

    I thought the OP was talking about kids carseats in the back of the car, so I clicked on the thread, as I have 2 careseats in the backseat of my Clarity.

    Not what I expected, LOL.
     
    iluvscuba likes this.
  17. LAF

    LAF Active Member

    Regarding safety- probably the most important feature of this car is that it weighs 4000 lbs!
     
  18. I do think it's all about generation.
    The new Civic, targeting young people, is selling very well and I think Clarity and Civic are sharing the design clues.
    If you're looking for a Accord style, you will be disappointed.

    And Clarity looks good to me even I'm not young by age. Also, I think Tesla is ugly.
     
  19. marshall

    marshall Well-Known Member

    I have to agree. Honda put the money in a larger battery and cut costs by removing the safety features. Eventually, the new models will get the safety features.

    The Clarity I saw at the National Drive Electric Week wheels rims where beat up with gashes. As expected, the passenger side looked the worst. It looked like the wheel rims stick out a bit too far and get curb scuffed pretty bad. The owner probably should have installed some type of curb feeler.
     
  20. Dustin

    Dustin Member

    How so? That just makes the behemoths stopping distance long on the green tires.

    Sent from my SM-G965U using Inside EVs mobile app
     
  21. jorgie393

    jorgie393 Well-Known Member

    I believe LAF is right (as are you......except for the word "just"). All else equal, stopping distance is longer for a heavier car. But once a collision has occurred, injury to the occupants is less likely for a heavier car.

    When two objects collide and end up stuck together, the larger object dominates the final (combined) speed, so the lighter object changes speed more (and faster) and therefore undergoes higher peak forces. For human occupants of each side, the peak forces are what cause injury. This is also true to a degree even for glancing collisions and for collisions with regular objects.

    Consider when a small object (an insect) collides with your windshield. Afterwards, the insect and your car are moving together; but the insect undergoes very high peak forces, enough to explode it, while your car is imperceptibly slowed. Lighter=more damage. Conversely, think of movies where a train goes off the track and runs through a city. It slows gradually, regardless of what it crashes through. Low peak forces: less damage to participants.

    This is why seat belts are generally considered unhelpful in trains, in formal safety studies, as the sudden deceleration of the car that seatbelts protect against, where people fly out the front, doesn't happen to occupants of trains (or at least not often enough to counter the problems with seatbelts, like getting caught in them).

    Anyway, this is why heavier cars are safer in car-car collisions and to some degree car-obstacle collisions. I'm not sure how numerically relevant this for the Clarity but LAF has it in the right direction, as I understand it. "Crumple zones" are another way of reducing the peak forces, also.

    [Edit: This is based on conservation of momentum, in physics world. For the picky, I confess that I am using force somewhat sloppily, where sometimes it should be acceleration].
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2018
  22. Dustin

    Dustin Member

    A car with less mass would require less force to stop. This is a negative in certain situations such as what you mention like a significant change in direction while stuck to another object. I could see less mass being beneficial in some collisions involving an object or a glancing collision, wherein both would involve lower collision forces with a less massive vehicle.

    All in all not disagreeing with you and think a new vehicle is always a better option versus even a 10 year old car.

    Sent from my SM-G965U using Inside EVs mobile app
     
  23. 2020

    2020 Member

    Tried this with my wife’s Cayenne a couple of years ago- no effect.


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