Look Ma, No Keys: Top 5 Keyless Innovations

The car key, truly the most important part of the car-driving experience. There’s an undeniable tactile pleasure to be had from thumbing the key and ever so gently sliding it into the awaiting ignition and hearing and feeling your ride come to life. (Is it hot in here or is it just me?) That used to be the case, but now we live in the 21st century and car keys and all their allure are quickly becoming a thing of the past. Check out five of the coolest keyless car gadgets to ever hit the pavement.

Remote Keyless Entry/Starter – Don’t you get tired of this scene in horror flicks? The heroine is running for the car with the killer right on her heels. She fumbles with the keys before opening the car door, narrowly escaping the psycho’s weapon. And just when you think she’s in the clear, she drops the $@#^!#% keys? Thanks to the remote keyless Entry systems on most cars, this scene will be rendered obsolete thanks to Remote Keyless Entry or RKE. With the push of a button our heroine can not only start her car, but unlock it way before she comes barreling out of the impending chase scene, saving our poor, worn-out vocal cords.

Telematics – Can your car call someone if you’re involved in an accident if you’ve been knocked unconscious? Can it give you directions to the nearest Thai spot or make a phone call at the sound of your voice? Thank telematics, the science behind all the GPS, communication, navigation systems we’ve come to know in love. General Motors On-Star system is one of the most well known in the states, but Mercedes-Benz has stepped things up a notch with its mbrace system. Lucky iPhone and Blackberry users can locate their car by using an app that shows its location. Just in time for the holiday rush at the mall.

Stolen Vehicle Slowdown – Someone just stole your ride. Unless you’re an action hero, there’s no way you can catch up to the car, beat the jacker senseless and effortlessly turn off the car. No worries, On-Star has you covered. The telematics company started outfitting its 2009 fleet of cars with its new stolen vehicle slowdown feature. Once the jerk peels out with your car, call the police and let them know your car has On-Star. They’ll contact On-Star who will promptly disable the gas pedal, bringing the car to a stop with a steady deceleration, and avoiding any potentially dangerous car chases. One unlucky car thief found this out the hard way. We’ll see him in 3-5.

MMI Touch System – All this hands-free action have you bummed? Audi is bringing a little touchscreen action that will brighten up your day. The smoking hot 2011 Audi A8 will be packing the MMI Touch System for all your tactile wants and needs while driving. Instead of fumbling around with knobs, dials, and the like to enter a phone number or destination into your navigation system, you write it the screen. Just take the old pointer finger and form the letters or numbers and the system will recognize it. Best of all, the driver never has to take their eyes off the road.

Drive by App – No it’s not a tale of apps gone bad. Some kooky engineers have created an application that can actually control a car. Using the iPhone’s accelerometer, the brainy daredevils can steer the car left and right. They utilize sliders on the app to control the gas and the brake while they sit on the hood or roof of the car. Sure it looks a little crazy now and its more than a little bit dangerous, but this could be the future of driving. There are already cars that can park themselves. It’s not a far stretch of the imagine to envision car than can pilot themselves.