The Dozens of Computers That Make Modern Cars Go (and Stop)

Unless your driving something pre 1974 or so, you are driving a vehicle with a computer "running/controlling" it!

It is a big quantum leap in the understanding needed for troubleshooting and repair, and perhaps a compromise in ultimate reliability under Mad Max conditions. But all in all, computerized engine controls are a good thing *if well implemented* and maintained. They play a huge role in the ability of today's engines to make lots of power and get decent mileage too, and also in the way city air doesn't make your eyes water like it did in the Bad Old Days.

As for antilock brakes, traction control, stability control, etc., expert drivers may be able to eke out a margin of safety and performance that the computer cannot. But most drivers are less than expert, and many of them are not even very good. When whaling away anywhere near the vehicle's performance limits, especially if they are also trying to cope with an inherently dangerous situation, most folks really are better off with Mr. Roboto down there figuring out the best way to implement their wishes.

(Mind you, a badly implemented control system, one that gets the rates and the logic wrong, or doesn't "fail safe" (a widely misunderstood term -- it doesn't mean "safe from failure," which would be silly, but rather "the least menacing consequence occurs if it fails,"), or which fails often even if it does fail safe, is a curse in any context!)

--Joe