Automotive: Detroit unveils sophisticated electronics: Engines are more completely controlled, an electronic suspension debuts, synthetic voices tell more, and on-board diagnostics proliferate

Electronic fuel control on some 1984 Buick engines is so precise that much of the usual add-on emissions-control hardware is not needed. Electronically controlled air springs on the 1984 Lincoln Mark VII and Continental adjust road clearance, front and rear, to compensate for any variation in passenger and luggage weight. The voice information system on the 1984 Oldsmobile Toronado alerts a driver to a problem with the car, describes its seriousness, and suggests what can be done about it; then it updates the driver on the effectiveness of any corrective actions taken. An on-board memory diagnostic feature for some 1984 Chrysler engines flashes numerical codes on and off on the instrument panel to identify the source and cause of engine-system failures.