TUCSON / SPORTAGE RECALL

See what happens when you try to make cars too "smart"? ;-)

Indeed! Anyone who has been involved in software development and the debugging cycle should get the willies when looking at cars with computer-controlled throttle and brakes. Fortunately the wife's 2000 Sonata doesn't fall into this category. (Articles like the one about this recall make me appreciate my '75 Hornet even more!)

The service info for this recall is already available at Hyundai dealers. I downloaded the programming info yesterday and we've already reprogrammed a couple stock units today.

All Hyundai dealers should have what they need to perform this recall at this time. You should be able to call and set up an appointment. Have your VIN in hand so they can verify the recall applies to your vehicle.

If they haven't yet downloaded the reflash onto their reprogramming cartridge, you may need to wait a significant period of time. The download time yesterday was about 1.5 hours to update our card.

I really have to wonder if things like ABS and TC are really creating more problems than they're solving by further "dumbing down" of an already incompetent population of drivers. The more divorced we become from the driving process and the knowing the limits of performance of our cars, the less able we are to deal with difficult driving situations. Add to that the increasing size and power of the current offerings here, poor driver training and the public perception that airbags, ABS and TC are all you need to drive safely, and it's no wonder that the number of fatalities on our highways is so high, despite the fact that our cars are getting increasingly "smarter".

Unfortunately, most drivers in northern climates (at least in the US) don't put snow tires on their vehicles, for one of several reasons:

- They've been lulled into believing the myth of the "all season" tire. There is no such thing, unless you consider tires that are equally bad under all conditions to be "all season".

- They think that FWD/ABS/TC is the answer to driving safely in the winter. None of the above will prevent an incompetent driver or a vehicle with inadequate traction from ending up in a ditch.

- They have never driven a vehicle with snow tires and have no idea what a huge difference it makes.

- They don't want to spend the money.

Over the years, I've managed to convince a few people to put snows on their cars (ALWAYS on all 4 wheels) and every one of them has been stunned at the difference it makes. If more people bought snow tires rather than SUVs, there'd probably be far fewer accidents in the winter.

Yeah, I hear ya.

No doubt about it and the tires don't even have to be particularly worn. I bought my Elantra GT last April and due to tight finances, decided to try to get through this winter without buying snows. After struggling through a couple of months of frequent snow storms, I bit the bullet and bought Nokian snows on steel wheels for it. Of course, the difference was night and day, and driving the rest of the winter was a breeze.

That's what I see a lot of every year. The average driver is simply clueless about vehicle dynamics and people are convinced that four wheel drive makes them invincible. For many, it's actually much LESS safe. The added traction it provides when accelerating makes them think it's safe to drive faster than is prudent. Unfortunately, they don't realize that FWD doesn't help them when you have to corner or brake. Some FWD systems actually hamper braking, making the problem even worse. The end result is a trip to the ditch for many of them. The lucky ones stay upright and don't hit anything hard. The unlucky ones, oh well...