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Fuel-injection System That Delivers 64 Miles Per Gallon: http://tinyurl.com/ybql4s8
For the youngens, Audi oweners claimed to have the same problem in the 1980s. Is it a user issue? I don’t think Audi could ever find anything wrong with their cars.
I guess people are so busy pushing the brake pedal, that they forget there’s also a manual hand brake?
How many “deniers” are just grumpy Toyota owners pissed that their resale value is going down the toilet.
Cars these days are rolling computers. Have you ever had a computer lockup so bad that even holding down the power button for 30 seconds wouldn’t shut it off, and you had to yank the power cord out of the wall to reboot it? Sound vaguely familiar? In this case, a jammed accelerator pedal makes the computer go nuts, and nothing works right.
Wait for it… a massive recall to reprogram or outright replace all ECU computers in most Toyotas.
Next Toyota recall was announced today… more Toyota Tundra nationwide because “corrosion could lead to spare tires falling from the vehicle’s underside, as well as excessive corrosion affecting brake lines and fuel tank straps.”
Skeptic of the AOBCCS said,
“You are going 95 MPH, your Prius is stuck at full throttle due to an electronic malfunction… floored…. and you put that sucker in neutral….
What do you think is going to happen?”
.
What I would expect to happen is that the engine would rev up until it reaches the preset limit RPM (and stay at that RPM) and the car would not be accelerating anymore. You should still have power brakes and power steering and now the brakes should be much more effective.
I don’t know what the Toyota engineers designed it to do under these conditions but this is what *should* happen.
Awake, I don’t think you have any credibility on this issue.
And for the record, my next car will be a Toyota or Lexus (if I still have a job in 2 years).
#65 –
Not having much credibility on this website is almost a source of pride. Do you really want most people that hang around here to agree with you? I would actually feel terrible if Pedro ever agrees with me… I would feel like such a loser.
I don’t believe any of this bullshit, mostly because the guy is a geezer.
Maybe his social security check doesn’t cover his bills and needs to file a lawsuit to pay for his senior home, either way this whole story smells.
Any competent driver could have handled the situation, therefore this man is incompetent by default.
Sounds like BS to me too! Can anyone find the other drivers that were driving down that road at the same time. What the guy was doing, if anyone saw him reach down to the pedal ( I would imagine that you would not be able to see him, and how did he get around I don’t know, the steering wheel? If the brake lights were on if he looked scarred or determined. Find the other drivers and get their story!
Install Kill Switch.
If you have a car with Drive By Wire please install kill switch. Any car with Drive by wire can have this problem, ANY, just toyota currently, there be more to come.
Before Transmissions shifter are linked directly to transmission to bleed off pressure and disengage any solenoids. Now computer does that.
A new angle on the story, the guy owed a lot of money.
http://www.10news.com/news/22804088/detail.html
#64, Steve S., It’s what should happen… but I wouldn’t trust the maximum rpm limiter when the acceleration circuit is malfunctioning (same circuit? who knows?). Too risky. An exploding engine at 95 mph would most likely result in a fatality.
#69 Attempt explaining to somebody trapped behind the wheel of an out of control car that “Instant Kill!” is a good idea.
I think the Woz said all you had to do was pat the gas peddle which isn’t something most of us would think to do with a car trying to go faster than we want to go.
# 16, can you cite your source on the three “interesting issues” at the end of your post? Frankly, I think they’re bogus and they need to called out. Much like the guy in the story.
Engineering’s most important precept – the KISS principle. Keep It Simple Stupid. I don’t see the advantages of electronic control over so many systems. Sure a modern fighter jet’s got fly by wire as do commercial airliners, but they get A LOT more maintenance than a domestic vehicle. They also have backup and error checking systems, this degree of sophistication is obviously unsafe without them. On the other hand a lot of testing and experience has already been had on the simpler mechanical systems. Between you and your carb you don’t need but a few levers, springs, pulleys and cable, you want to put a sensor on that, go ahead, but it better be unobtrusive.
#67 Or some young punk with no job looking for a way to bleed the system more. “You go down to the social security office and apply for your disability benefits, I’ll go down and pick up our free food stamps, then we will meet up at the unemployment office and pick up our extended benefits, then travel over to the social service office and check on our free health benefits, and then finally we will meet up at the capitol building and protest on this rotten stinking society”
uh. exploding engine? hehe. you’ve been reading too many comic books, dude. overrevving engines fail internally and just stop running, they don’t “explode”. Maybe you’re thinking of dragster engines, which sometimes have exploding clutches because they rev to 10,000 rpm or more during the few seconds of their intended lifespan.
From the articles I read, the guy never claimed to have tried putting it in neutral; in fact he specifically said that he did NOT try that because he was afraid it would “make the car flip.” hahahhaha. seriously. Not even my grandmother would be that ignorant.
I think the guy is changing his story now that he has come under national scrutiny.
re#78, “uh. exploding engine? hehe. you’ve been reading too many comic books, dude. overrevving engines fail internally and just stop running, they don’t “explode”.
That’s the term usually used when an engine destroys itself by flying apart (internally or otherwise) due to mechanical failure. I’ve seen firsthand what can happen to a VW Bug’s engine when it was over revved. There was a serious dent under the hood where a piston struck it, dude.
Regardless of the extremeness of the failure, are you suggesting that when that happens you would just coast to a stop? Nothing seizes up? Steering guaranteed not to be affected? You wont lose control and hit another car? I wouldn’t take that chance on the safety of others on the road.
Skeptic of the AOBCCS said,
“Regardless of the extremeness of the failure, are you suggesting that when that happens you would just coast to a stop? Nothing seizes up? Steering guaranteed not to be affected? You wont lose control and hit another car? I wouldn’t take that chance on the safety of others on the road.”
.
Given the circumstances, if nothing else worked to slow down the car, I would much rather take the minuscule chance that shifting into neutral *might* slightly reduce my control of the car than to continue swerving around obstacles at high speed. The difference in risk is easily better than 1000:1.
Re: Steve S, #80, “Officer Todd Neibert told Sikes to try and put the vehicle in neutral and try to shut it off. Sikes shook his head in response which Neibert took to indicate that that was not successful.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35769069/ns/local_news-san_diego_ca/
So it appears he did try after all and it wouldn’t disengage.
As for the your less that 1000:1 nothing happening, you would have to look into all the Prius reported incidents, separate all those who tried to get it into neutral at high speed and succeeded, and see if successfully getting the thing in neutral caused a lockup and subsequent crash or if the driver remained in control. Do you have that data? Otherwise, your 1000:1 claim of risk is simply meaningless.
It’s a fake folks! Don’t be so fucking gullible!!
http://5z8.info/asian-brides_x7d9j_mydick
Prius owners are watching this, and producing vast amounts of ruminant green house gas.
This is all a scam. Toyota did this on purpose so GM can get back on its feet. Why else do you think it happen. Toyota never had problems before this and all of a sudden they do right as there number 1 compeditor GM cloese plants and loses money. It was all Planned. Come on get smart people.
I think this guy clearly wanted to drive recklessly and have a reason to sue Toyota. As they told him his car wasn’t in the recall. And if there is no recall on it…….. and it doesn’t have the faulty parts, how can anything go wrong….. If they examine the car and nothing is broken, missing or stuck, how on earth did it go speeding out of control…. for 10 minutes and this guy clearly wasn’t smart enough to put the darn thing in neutral. unless he just wants money and an excuse to drive like crazy, maybe get in the news, too. He’s just attention crazy.