So, the Toyota stuck accelerator problem

[jzmtl]

We all heard the horror stories on news, how people's toyotas suddenly lose control and run free. Well after 10 months of investigation, DOT has found the problem, the good old loose nut behind steering wheel...

An intensive 10 month Dept. of Transportation investigation found no fault with Toyota’s throttle control systems

And what came out of the investigation for rest of us?

Toyota now includes “brake override” on all its new vehicles. This system automatically cuts engine power as soon as the brake pedal is pressed in order to prevent unwanted acceleration.

NHTSA said that, by the end of this year, it would propose a rule requiring brake override on all new vehicles.

No more brake torque, aka hold down brake pedel, rev up the engine and release brake, to get a better start on steep hill, or red light if you prefer.

Again thanks to the genius drivers we have on the road...

[Chako]

The solution is very easy on this one...don't buy a Toyota. 

[Grant Lamontagne]

I wished I had a Toyota so I could have settled a few scores and blamed my car too. 

Def

[thebullfrog]

How about we just do away with automatic transmissions? Make people learn how to pay attention and think on the road, no need for any BS override whatsoever, and just all around a damn better world.

[Grant Lamontagne]

That would make life difficult with disabled or missing limbs.  And, while I personally prefer a manual, there are times when it's nice having an automatic.

Def

[jzmtl]

Indeed, come drive in our rush hour right after a snow storm. 

[thebullfrog]

Theres always exceptions for certain situations, and I have driven in traffic in a blizzard, i prefer the greater control of a stick in those situations. Thing is, I have an auto now. And I effing hate it. Never again.

[jzmtl]

Theres always exceptions for certain situations, and I have driven in traffic in a blizzard, i prefer the greater control of a stick in those situations. Thing is, I have an auto now. And I effing hate it. Never again.

Oh it's not about the control, it's crawling for three hours in stop and go traffic, squeeze into the smallest opening in traffic and keep out the crazies that jump lane every minute that kills ya. 

[Neil]

A slight aside.  Why is it that here in the UK automatics are an oddity and in the US they are the norm?  I would have thought one was better than the other and eventually everyone (ish) would go the same way.  I've never driven an automatic so I have no reference to personally compare.

[thebullfrog]

Because Americans are inherently lazy, that's why.

[ducktapehero]

Because Americans are inherently lazy, that's why.

Hey now







I'm not lazy, I'm a black belt in the immobile arts.

[Neil]

Believe me, that's a pretty universal trait   So I'm still surprised we don't tend to use them.

[NutSAK]

A slight aside.  Why is it that here in the UK automatics are an oddity and in the US they are the norm?  I would have thought one was better than the other and eventually everyone (ish) would go the same way.  I've never driven an automatic so I have no reference to personally compare.

Fuel prices?  I'm sure it's not the only reason, but it could be a factor.

Three of the four vehicles I own have manual transmissions, and I can get considerably better fuel mileage with them than their automatic counterparts.  If our fuel prices were anywhere near as high as yours, perhaps more Americans would realize this.

Many Americans clearly couldn't care less about fuel mileage.

[Pacu]

i have stick in the jeep    way fun to drive that way. I think an automatic 4x4 or sports car takes away from the ride.

In the ole civic though there was no way as tall and big as i am i could have reached the clutch. My big foot would have hit the gas, brake and clutch at the same time.

[thebullfrog]

It's really ingrained socially. Europe tends to be filled with old cities, with smaller tighter roads, fuel is way the crap more expensive. Smaller, more efficient, and more nimble cars are almost a part of the culture. This basically goes hand in hand with manual transmissions. In the US we have ungodly amounts of open highway, even in our cities roads are comparatively large and accommodating. Ever since our highway system became heavily romanticized, it became a cultural thing. We as a nation tend to favor such large, heavy, inefficient, comfortable, easy to drive cars because it goes hand in hand with spending hours on the open highway just cruising in a straight line. Now while doing this isn't so prevalent any more, that original ideal tends to get passed down the generations leading to a culture that feels a large car is a sign of safety, power, what-have-you, and the ease of driving an automatic falls right into that image. It gets exaggerated down the years because with every generation there's fewer people that are even capable of riving stick, so less people are taught how to. Hell, they don't even teach it in driver's ed any more. If you wanna learn stick you need to seek it out yourself, so since noone can do it, they don't sell. That leads to manufacturers not even offering manual as an option even if it is an option in other markets, which leads back into the cycle. The result is that we as a nation almost view stick shifts as the thing of race cars, and well, thats about it lol. Whereas in Europe they are still seen as a way to save money on gas, a way to make slower, more efficient cars feel more engaging to drive. In the US cars are fun if they are fast going straight down our big-ass highways, in Europe they're fun if they can whip around all those tight bends fast, the kind of driving that lends itself to manual control. Over the decades these factors have created the rift you speak of.

Or, in layman's terms, us Americans are inherently lazy (when it comes to driving.)

[Carlos]

Automatic transmissions car are much more expensive around here. On my last car, going to automatics would add 5k € to the bill! That's a lot of money. So people will prefer spending more money on a bigger vehicle or on extra features (roof window, navigation... ) or simply saving it.

Now about Toyota, does it mean the cars were ok from the start? If so, why does that problem was reported only on Toyotas and not on other brands?

[thebullfrog]

There was one actual failure. Everything after that was basically people trying to scam Toyota, but the press being the press blew it way out of proportion and helped fuel a witch hunt. Doesn't help that there were indeed safety issues Toyota and theyre suppliers were covering up, but whole "unintended acceleration" thing was little more than people looking for easy money, publicity, and the press doing what it does getting ratings through fear tactics.

[gustophersmob]

We all heard the horror stories on news, how people's toyotas suddenly lose control and run free. Well after 10 months of investigation, DOT has found the problem, the good old loose nut behind steering wheel...

An intensive 10 month Dept. of Transportation investigation found no fault with Toyota’s throttle control systems

And what came out of the investigation for rest of us?

Toyota now includes “brake override” on all its new vehicles. This system automatically cuts engine power as soon as the brake pedal is pressed in order to prevent unwanted acceleration.

NHTSA said that, by the end of this year, it would propose a rule requiring brake override on all new vehicles.

No more brake torque, aka hold down brake pedel, rev up the engine and release brake, to get a better start on steep hill, or red light if you prefer.

Again thanks to the genius drivers we have on the road...

This is STUPID.  I am so tired of nanny-cars. 

I like this guys take on it (scroll down to see "The Spike," a perfect solution  )

*actually, the rest of his site is pretty cool too, if you are into cars.

[thebullfrog]

I agree. I'm pretty much resigned to the fact that my next car is going to be something older, possibly from the 90's, in good enough shape for me to keep it running for a good long time. New cars bug the crap out of me with BS like brake override, anti-skid control, OnStar garbage, tire pressure monitoring you have to pay out the ass for when you get tires (or even rotate them), parking assistance, radar collision systems, etc, etc,. I want to DRIVE my car, not be carted around inside of it while I drink my starbucks and update Twitter via my cell phone. I really think that cars reached their pinnacle in the early to mid 90's. We had awesome sports cars available, there were some cool technologies manufacturers were playing with, but they were still simple enough to keep you in control of the car. Sure, we have faster cars now, maybe even safer in some regards, but all the pointless crap we have now ruins the EXPERIENCE of driving. We use hybrids to get 30 mpg because of how heavy cars have gotten, in 1990 you could get like 40 mpg with a CRX, or Festiva, and not have to spend an extra 10 grand for the car, Toyota still made cars that ran, well infinitely really, and Hell we had the MR2 and Supra still. And the 3000GT, the FD RX-7, the Mustang still had the 5.0, the Camaro/Firebird had just gotten the LT-1, and the Eclipse/Talon/Laser was showing America the future with AWD and over boosted 4 cylinders. SUV's weren't EVERYWHERE, and the ones that were around were still built on TRUCK frames, not glorified mini-vans. Trucks were still work trucks, not family vehicles with DVD players. As far as my generation is concerned I think the early 90's were the golden age. Taurus SHO anyone?

[duckman1975]

[thebullfrog]

 

[J-sews]

Whoa, I wasn't expecting that!