"Not Industry Friendly" (Politics)

[AVGWarhawk]

No sir, Toyota is in a bit of a pickle. This acceleration problem was noted back in 2002. Was Toyota slow in finding a fix? Yes. Was the NHTSA slow in directing Toyota to recall these cars? Yes. The cars are killing people. The floor mat deal all started as, "faulty installation of floor mats by the customer." WTH? The customer installed the mat incorrectly? That was pure BS. Then Toyota said the gas pedals were the cause. Toyota fingered a Illinois company who makes the pedal. It is made to Toyota's specifications! This company went ballistic. Especially when the issue started in 2002 and this Illinois company did not make the pedal until 2005! It is a cover up and Toyota was attempting to pull the wool over the consumers eyes. Toyota will lose 2 billion this year as a result of this poorly handled issue. Now Mr. Toyoda wants to call foul with Washington? Come on, the last fatality was a state trooper and his family. He removed the floor mat as instructed by Toyota. He and his family ended up in a lake upside down and dead. The floor mat was found in his trunk! The cars are throttled wireless. This is an electical issue with a cableless throttle. Cutting up pedals and removing floor mats was just a way to hold off finding the real problem. Now Toyota says a postage sized piece of metal installed on the pedal will fix it. Yeah sure. Currently the lawsuits lining up for Toyota has gone critical. Negligence, wrongful death and time loss seems to be the leaders for the lawsuits. It will be sometime before Toyota digs out of this one.

This story is far from over.

[Lionclaw]

Excuse me for going a bit off topic.


Wireless throttle?

How long has that been going on?

Same with brakes, I read some time ago about the Toyota Prius which has brake problems due to software bug/fault.

Software for brakes?


Why do they fix issues that aren't broken?

Or is there something bad with the gaspedal connected with a wire to the engine, and brakes with brake lines with hydraulic fluid?

[August]

Originally Posted by Lionclaw

...and brakes with brake lines with hydraulic fluid?

I thought that Anti-lock braking systems required electronic control.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by August

I thought that Anti-lock braking systems required electronic control.

They do I believe the point he was trying to get to is .. what the heck was wrong with good old 'analog' braking systems... it worked so why improve it?

By improving it and adding levels of complexity adds to the chance of something going wrong.

By the way I had a Volkswagon bug with a sticky throttle cable wayyyyy back when I was a young punk. No electronics involved there

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

They do I believe the point he was trying to get to is .. what the heck was wrong with good old 'analog' braking systems... it worked so why improve it?

By improving it and adding levels of complexity adds to the chance of something going wrong.

By the way I had a Volkswagon bug with a sticky throttle cable wayyyyy back when I was a young punk. No electronics involved there

There are a couple of reasons for electronic braking systems. These systems react much quicker that the human can. ie, wheels lock up the system will detect this much more quickly than the human can. Plus, most people lay into the brakes thus locking the wheels. It has been deteremined that the stopping distance is greatly reduced if the antilock brake system does the brake pumping for the driver instead of the driver pumping the brake and or not pumping at all to prevent lock up. Also, rear brakes always have a habit of locking as weight is transfered to the front under braking situations. Locked rear wheels can lead to a spin out. As a kid I used to force that spin out but that is a different story. So, the possiblity of spin out due to locked rear wheels is reduced. To further this great idea the engineers also discovered that these systems can help prevent wheel spin! Once the sensor detects the wheel spinning like mad it sends a signal to reduce fuel flow, retarding the engine timing thus reducing power to the wheels preventing spin. Normally this gets folks out of trouble while driving. I know it helps my wife in her truck. These systems go even further in helping prevent roll over by apply the brakes when roll over/spin out situation is presenting itself. I have experienced this with the truck as well. The rear tire will spin in a hard corner, usually in rain, the systems activates slows the truck for a spit second and the tire is planeted to the ground. Overall, I'm very impressed with the performance of this technology.

[Lionclaw]

Originally Posted by August

I thought that Anti-lock braking systems required electronic control.

Yes of course.

Traction control, as well.

[AVGWarhawk]

Cable-less throttles have been around a while. My 06 VW Passat is a fly-by-wire throttle. So are the Toyotas. My VW also has electromagnetic steering. No powersteering pump or fluid.

The Prius has noted to have poor braking under rough road conditions and a hesitation to brake under certain conditions. Not good at stop signs! This braking is handled electronically via wheel sensors that detect if the wheel has stopped rotating. This same sensor also detects wheel slipage. Yes, a software adjustment can remedy the problem. Unfortunate Toyota waited so long on this issue like they did with the sudden accelerations problem.

Also, tranmissions are handled electronically for shift points. These two can be adjusted via computer software.