Cars and technology

Cars have been around for over 100 years now, and have been mostly mechanical devices. In recent years, more and more is being handed off to computer controls though. The most recent trend is drive by wire. Drive by wire means that there is no mechanical linkage between the steering wheel and the steering rack, the throttle pedal and the throttle body, and the brake pedal and master cylinder.

This has been slowly happening over the last several years, and it concerns me a lot. I don't like the idea of putting lives in the hands of purely electronic controls. What happens if there is a problem? Are automotive computers so robust now that they can't fail? I know better than that, but the question remains, what does a driver do if the steering input fails or a fuse pops and you no longer have steering control over your 2 ton weapon moving at highway speeds?

How much do you trust computer controls? Do you trust computers with your life, or the life of your family?

--- Jem

I thought Drive by wire was just for the throttle, didn't realise the steering column had been cut too. That is a little silly in my eyes.

I do wonder sometimes where are the people working on big projects ...who are they ? Are the human like us ? ...
Can you imagine the profile of the men dealing with the stearing device described in the posts above ???
I do thing you must be from another planet ..at least have an extraterrestrial wife

barx said:

I thought Drive by wire was just for the throttle, didn't realise the steering column had been cut too. That is a little silly in my eyes.

Click to expand...

Thankfully, it isn't common yet, but Nissan uses it in the new Infinity Q50, Porsche has a new system in a yet to be released 911, and others have or are working on steer by wire cars (Corvette). Electronic throttle is old hat now and used on lots of cars on the road. My concern is the steering. This is not the same thing as EPS (Electric Power Steering), where an electric motor assists the steering instead of a pump driven off the crankshaft.

Any time you produce an electronically controlled device, I think you have to accept that there will be failures. With steering systems, those failures can and will mean lives at risk.

--- Jem

I dont agree with it either but the fact is the mechanical has more wear and tear while electronics are less reliable. So it is cheaper for manufacturers.
You are probably aware of my issue i.e. at lower revs when the engine is just idling my power cuts of and mostly this is when im turning so my power steering fails. This happens to me a lot sometimes and i feel i have no control as the steering becomes heavy.
Though somebody told me this would be related to the air intake of the engine or something like that.

Jem,
I agreed with you about electronics in cars. Then I bought a Mazda 3 with the SkyActiv engine. It has throttle by wire, but it feels normal. For efficiency, it opens the throttle full, and uses variable intake and exhaust valve timing to throttle the engine. It is very efficient on gas, it gets better mpg than my prior econo box. It also has better power.

I am still not used to antilock brakes, and never plan to get auto parking unless I have to. I drive simpler classic cars from the mid 60's too, but the new car is growing on me. I keep my cars very long, time will tell if the new one is reliable.

I am a strong believer that where possible, the systems should mechanically feed through, so control is matained with electronic failure.

KitCarlson said:

I am still not used to antilock brakes, and never plan to get auto parking unless I have to. I drive simpler classic cars from the mid 60's too, but the new car is growing on me. I keep my cars very long, time will tell if the new one is reliable.

Click to expand...

I really like antilock brakes once you get past the 1980's models. The first iterations were pretty bad and always felt like the car had warped brake rotors. My 300zxTT and Volvo C30 turbo coupe both have them and they are much better at stopping than I am alone. The Volvo has traction control and throttle by wire as well, and I have had no problems.

I am not at all against technology in cars, but like you, I think some things should have mechanical backup. A friend is a Corvette engineer and has driven a steering by wire engineering mule. He does not like the lack of road feel, along with the nagging question of what happens if it fails.

--- Jem

Who remembers THIS, it was in 1998 ?

klaus said:

Who remembers THIS, it was in 1998 ?

Click to expand...

I hadn't thought of that in many years. Thanks for making me smile again.

--- Jem

Read this thread again before you board on your next flight (many of the aircraft are FBW...)

I always thought ABS and Traction control only kicked in certain conditions. ABS when the wheels lock, and TCS when it detects the wheels are rotating at different speeds.

Aircraft are indeed FBW but they all have atleast one redundant path. But well...

My problem with ABS is that after many years of driving on snow and ice my habit is to modulate the brakes and throttle as necessary to control the car. With ABS it is necessary to give the brake full pedal, and let it takeover on a panic stop.

Similar with traction control, it is necessary because all the noise reduction and isolation it is hard to detect slip.

Now I live in an area of little snow, when it does I stay home. Many drivers here think if the car is slipping and not going, give it more throttle. I am starting to think a course in Physics should be a pre requisite to drive. Many accidents and deaths could be avoided.

When we get snow, the drivers here suddenly try to kill each other...

--- Jem