Toyota just lost a sale

I'm not... now I'm not a target buyer for a Prius, I always wondered about cramming that much electronics into a car and how good an idea it was to have that much fly by wire stuff, recent events have only made it less likely for me to buy one. I like nice direct connections between my feet and the throttle, brakes, clutch etc. - maybe not the most efficient but definitely the safest.

nate

I have had this same concern myself. Now, I am an electronics technician, so the thought of my Scion's drive-by-wire throttle quitting in the middle of East Overshoe, VT doesn't bother me TOO much; I have AAA 100 mile tow service and rearely venture further than that.

What does bother me is that, perhaps when the potentiometer goes it also takes the ECU with it, and now what was a ~$10 repair is now a $1210 repair. Plus, a lot of people say it's in my head, but I NEVER stalled a car as much off the line as this one! There is a slight hesitation that you can correct in a car with a traditional throttle linkage that can't be trimmed out. I read in a Scion forum you can adjust the pot to take out the slack, but I found it only works until the ECU relearns the pot setting and...it comes back again.

I don't even want to think of drive-by-wire steering or brakes. Anyone got an '88 Corolla for sale?

Do they have ass pads?

AZ Nomad wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@ip70-176-155-130.ph.ph.cox.net:

I'm not too sure about the "all vanished" thing. Apparently there were about 10,000 cases of UA from 1985 to 2003. And:

Since by about 1991 just about all new AT-equipped vehicles came with brake interlocks, I suspect a good chunk of those 10,000 drivers managed to find a way to get a car to go out of control even with the interlock in the way.

After all, the interlock only comes into play when moving out of Park. It's still possible to mess up afterwards. One of those incidents is mentioned in the LA Times articles I referenced above.

snipped-for-privacy@mucks.net wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Hey, I just had a Jimmy Neutron-type Brain Blast! Just remove the gas pedal from the vehicle entirely. With only a brake pedal to push, it will be next to impossible to get yourself into an accident. Problem solved!

My idea is so brilliant I'll have to consider patenting it.

In a short while, the accelerator will all be by wire, mostly because we'll be driving electric. Maybe braking too. I'm not so sure about the steering because there's no compelling reason to go that route. You can say goodbye to the clutch pedal. :-(

I still think the whole problem is the nut behind the steering wheel.

Toyota is not one to take things lightly. They probably determined the cause is Operator Error, and are now going to make changes to protect themselves from us...

Overreaction. This is really an "un-problem". Toyota is going the second mile to try to eliminate this accelerator pedal hanging in an overly long carpet.

It ISNT a quality issue, but rather a perceived safety hazard which is being dealt with quickly.

Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@e86.GTS:

Oh, the "loose nut" theory again, huh?

How about we drill the nut and safety-wire it, like on an old race car? The nut might complain a bit, especially during the drilling part. But hey, it's for his own good, right?

This could help solve the problem...

Hachiroku $B%O%A%m%/(B wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@e86.GTS:

Would drilling those be more fun than drilling a nut? Inquiring minds want to know.

Holy nipple chafe!

Nate Nagel wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@news3.newsguy.com:

I've owned cars that had the pedal affixed to the floorboard and pivoted at that connection. This would be counter to the common modern practice of hinging the gas pedal from a pivot point above the driver's foot.

It seems to my increasingly ancient and foggy brain that hinging the pedal at the BOTTOM would necessarily prevent a floormat from being able to creep beneath such a floor-hinged pedal. The floor mat might eventually creep on TOP of the pedal and try to hold it down, but I think you'd get a fairly progressive warning as that occurred.

So...

My first very silly question: Why don't they hinge the gas pedal at the floor anymore?

My second very silly question: What was wrong with the old BMC practice of putting a little metal roller on the end of the throttle-pedal rod instead of a great big rubber pad?

dsi1 wrote in news:CZ_Pm.45448$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe09.iad:

I can make them better. I know how.

Makes one wonder how female auto racers fare in a crash whilst in the regulation 5-link harness.

The issue with both is that they create holes in the floor and rust attacks those spots. Suspended pedals don't have that problem.

That hesitation is one thing that really annoys me about my company car ('08 Impala) oddly I never noticed it on my old (now my mom's) GTI 1.8T which also has a DBW throttle control.

I guess that's good because the Impala is an automatic and the GTI is obviously a stick; would suck balls if the situtation were reversed. Well, actually, I would never have bought the GTI if it'd had that issue...

nate

Got me. I actually liked the feel of bottom hinged pedals, although the only cars I've driven with them are old Porsches and Studebakers.

However, I have had a Studebaker gas pedal stick under the edge of a firewall insulator once...

nate

Suspended pedals also are better for power adjustable pedal setups.