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Perfect time to buy a Toyota, also I'd evaluate Toyota stock.
For model year 2009, Volkswagen had 11.5 complaints per 100k vehicles, whereas Toyota had 7.5 and BMW 5.8
This is not necessarily true. It's entirely dependent on the brakes involved and the engine involved; any given vehicle could go either way. I personally have witnessed steel brake rotors melted and dripping off the vehicle; the brakes had locked up at highway speed and the driver had continued driving, reporting afterwards that the vehicle seemed a little sluggish but not excessively so, so he hadn't stopped. For that vehicle: the brakes lost. For other vehicles, perhaps ones with dinky engines and big fat brakes: the brakes may win. It's certainly not the sort of thing where one can say "brakes always win".
Car and Driver's article ( http://www.caranddriver.com/features/09q4/how_to_deal_with_u... ) seems to assume that Toyotas don't cut the engine power when the brakes are applied, but their own tests belie that. I would guess that Toyota's software cuts the power LESS than the competition's software does. But if you're stopping from 70mph with and without the throttle at full, and you notice a minimal difference - as C&D did - I can guarantee you that the throttle is being reduced when the brakes are applied. Maybe not to zero, but reduced.
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Really? I think it was an article here (maybe, maybe not, I'm pretty hung over today) that mentioned that the problem was that the primary and backup pedal position sensors' wires could short and max out.
You usually design so that a single point of failure can't hurt you. If one position sensor (they use pots, since they're practically indestructable and not vulnerable to ESD, power transients, etc) fails, you sense the problem with the other sensor. They're not "primary and backup", they're both equally important. You postulate that both sensors short out at the exact same instant, since any other scenario would pow…
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You can, but then it's stuck in drive/neutral. Seeing that the brakes and neutral are still operable, it should not be an issue. I don't even know why people are being advised to turn off the ignition. Shifting to neutral while braking reduces the load on the engine.
Wouldn't shifting to neutral make the engine rev up really high? Does the computer limit the RPMs to prevent damage?
Yes, the computers do.
However, if you're going to have an accident, engine damage is pretty low on the list of concerns, even if you ignore the fact that accidents cause engine damage.
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I have to agree; I can sense the schadenfreude all over the place and it's getting annoying.
Hacker News is great. I had been thinking this exact same thing but then realized I was being ridiculous. However, isn't it a little scary to realize how no one is in control of us? I noticed this when I was riding on Bart. Everyone acts a particular way based on what other people expect them to act like. We all operate with so much order and yet no one is telling us to. Just thought this was cool.
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I wholeheartedly agree. The sheer number of failures that have to occur, the low level of action on the drivers' parts required to overcome the problem (put it in neutral! Use your brakes! Use your parking brakes!), the speed and intensity of the government's response, and the fact that GM is so unpopular combine to make the entire debacle suspect.
I haven't driven any newer Toyotas, but do they not let you turn off the ignition while in motion/gear?
It's almost like Microsoft designed these cars: "What? I push Start to shut down the car/computer?"
Any comments on this article? This auto professor is able to reproduce the problem. http://www.leftlanenews.com/report-toyota-electronics-design... This is what the article says about the prof: Instead, we were treated to Dr. David Gilbert of Southern Illinois University, also a guest of Mr. Kane's, who claimed to have found how Toyota's electronic system could totally malfunction, creating a runaway car—and claimed…
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Being distracted while driving is less safe than simply driving-- given that your car is in good working order . If you have a stuck accelerator, you're going to crash if you can't fix it. I'll take the distraction and possible loss of reaction time over the sudden and guaranteed death of flipping a curve at 120+, personally.
Please consider the entirely of your own scenario. Bending down awkwardly and taking your eyes off the road to get at fuses under the dash could well kill you if you are in an out of control speeding car. Most of the other actions suggested can be taken while in standard driving posture. Those will be much safer than reaching for fuses under the dash.
In any case, I was just throwing out an idea.