On Mar 1, 5:52*pm, wrote:
On Mon, 1 Mar 2010 13:01:22 -0800 (PST), DerbyDad03
wrote:
On Mar 1, 3:21 pm, wrote:
On Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:08:01 -0600, AZ Nomad
wrote:
On Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:15:57 -0500, wrote:
On Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:00:44 -0600, AZ Nomad
wrote:
On Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:39:39 -0500, Tony wrote:
mm wrote:
My friend had a Rav 4. I don't know what that is. Today my friend
says it has unintended acceleration, but only a little. !!!!
If I owned one of those Toyota vehicles affected, I would install an
auxiliary engine kill switch before I drove it again.
I would simply assure myself that I could tell the difference between
the brake and accelerator pedals. This is the same ****ing hysteria
that struct audi ten years ago. The reports vanished when audi
installed an interlock so that the driver had to have his boot on the
brake pedal before putting the car in gear.
Not even remotely the same thing.
And you were there in each and every case? People occasionally stomp
on the wrong pedal. It happens every week all the time. The only
thing different now is the media hysteria.
The only hysteria evident is yours.
The Toyotas, when they "run away" seem to do it while the driver is
just cruising along, sometimes already at highway speeds. Has nothing
to do with a foot hitting the gas pedal rather than the brake pedal.
In fact, part of the problem is that at 70-80 MPH with both feet
standing on the brakes, you can't stop the vehicle.
This has been widely reported.
The problem with Audis would happen when the car was being moved from
a standing position because of the size and position of the pedals
making it easy to push the wrong one without realizing it.
Also widely reported.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
"In fact, part of the problem is that at 70-80 MPH with both feet
standing on the brakes, you can't stop the vehicle."
I'm admittingy tossing out "partial information" here, since I can't
cite the source.
The other I heard a gentleman who was being interviewed on the radio -
who I believe was a spokesman from some Auto Safety organization - who
stated:
"In any passenger vehicle, even the weakest set of brakes is more
powerful than the strongest engine. There is no reason that a driver
should not be able to stop a Toyota when it exhibits the run-away
problem. The key is to not panic, apply the brakes, shift into neutral
and pull to the side of the road."
Sounds easy enough. ;-)
And false.
If you get the car in neutral, you will be able to stop it. If the car
remains in gear, Hulk Hogan couldn't stop it.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
I'm curious about the truth here too. My thoughts for years were that
the brakes could stop the car, even under full throttle, either by
stalling the engine or possibly through failure of some drive train
component. However after reading so many of the recent run away car
stories, I'm not so sure. I did some googling and came up with this
newspaper article where they claim the brakes will stop it and that
Car and Driver Mag recently proved it with tests.
http://www.rgj.com/article/20100228/COL06/2280360
If it's an everyday vehicle, say a Camry, it will stop in little more
distance than if the throttle weren't stuck. Recent tests by Car and
Driver magazine confirm some I did for another publication years ago,
when Audi faced allegations of runaways. The March 2010 issue reports
that a test Toyota Camry stopped from 70 mph in 174 feet with the
throttle closed, 190 feet with it open. At full throttle, an Infinity
G37 needed just six feet more from 100 mph than with the throttle
closed.
You can test this yourself, though I'd use a borrowed car: Run it up
to highway speed (in a safe spot, with no responsibility falling on me
or the Reno Gazette-Journal), then simultaneously floor the brake and
gas. If you can ignore the mechanical suffering, the brakes will
impose stoppage sufficient to overcome the go-age imposed by the
engine."
This sounds like a good test for MythBusters on TV to do. I think
one major factor could be HOW you apply the brakes. To be
successful, you'd probably have to really stand on them with absolute
maximum force. That is probably not how the typical person will
react. I would suspect they would apply somewhat firmer pressure, but
being used to power brakes, not really go full force on them. And
then, if you start to try to use them without going to max right away,
at these kinds of speeds the brakes will quickly overheat, fade and
then not be capable of stopping the car.