Free power increase!

Jun 04, 2005 25 Replies

I've wonder about this - I've seen cars with the traditional cruise control (ie vacuum servo, actuating the throttle, and so moving the pedal). I've also heard about later generations of the same car / engine with electronic throttle, where they still used the vacuum servo.

Dunno whether that's accurate, and if so, why.

I've also heard people discussing cruise control in modern cars with electronic throttles, that have found it disconcerting - as in those instances, the cruise control action wasn't reflected in the throttle pedal position, and they found it odd when they wanted to temporarily accelerate.

No idea ! But I can tell you that Vauxhall's system *is* s**te :)

You're not wrong. But it's much more preferable to the stupid power-drop system. If you manage to totally break traction, then you don't actually move ! Which as you can imagine, isn't the best when you're pulling out into traffic :)

Most do both now, and will allow wheelspin to a certain degree (otherwise you'd go nowhere on ice and snow too)

The only way the rules allow it to. Any automated braking system is banned as is any way of applying the brakes to a single wheel. (It was classed as 4 wheel steering)

Ours has a servo motor rather than a vacuum unit...?

McBrake-gate.

Was that ever truly shown as being an individual wheel, or was it a rear wheel thing?

Have you heard F1 traction control in the flesh? Sounds truly horrible - kinda rough and machine-gun like.

Gear changes sound like gun-shot.

And although there is a certain smell of fumes (oil / fuel, whatever) near the track, the time I find out most pungent was the inaugural Rockingham CART race.

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