Wheel Play.(how consumers respond to high-technology gadgets in automobiles)(Brief Article)(Column)

Byline: Matt Davis

Being all too willing to admit that I'm a dummy when it comes to some things, I'm the king of All Dumb when it comes to onboard computers. Along with car PCs, I'd have to include any of the latest car stereo systems or the expanding number of buttons on many steering wheels. There are myriad hot and cold examples cited on the pages of this publication. When there's a really good example, like the gear on Infinitis and Lexuses, even then the review is not a boffo hit. We're hip and warming to it, but hesitation remains in the rush across the field of lilacs to embrace it.

Why? Computers and push-button commands are there to help us, but it may just be too many cooks in one kitchen wreaking havoc on the broth. When Too Much Help Hurts next on Fox.

My dream car for a long time was a 1994 Nissan Sentra SE-R. That car was so close to a perfect automobile. What made it better still is that you could get it in an SCCA trim package-stripped. No automatic nothing. Room for four, one honest engine and a terrific suspension setup. No electrics to go wiggy. It used to be called ``no stove, no harp''-without heat and radio. Air conditioning flowed through crank windows. Such joy that car.

That said, onboard tech features are now mostly great, and they're not going away. Still, I want to be able to find them. The Japanese are such high-tech hounds that the average local motorist actually does know most of the stuff of which the unit is capable. Europeans vary: Up north there's a ...