Toyota Pedal Issue Highlights Move To Electronics

cyclocommuter writes with an excerpt from a brief WSJ story on increasing electronic control of car components: "The gas pedal system used Toyota Motor Co.'s recall crisis was born from a movement in the auto industry to rely more on electronics to carry out a vehicle's most critical functions. The intricacy of such systems, which replace hoses and hydraulic fluid with computer chips and electrical sensors, has been a focus as Toyota struggled to find the cause for sudden acceleration of vehicles that led the company to halt sales of eight models this week."

Comments

Camry Hybrid & drive by wire

[linuxtelephony]

I had to think long and hard before buying the Camry Hybrid because of all the drive-by-wire. Finally I decided to give it a go and I am glad I did. I get plenty of room in the cabin (not so much in the trunk though), and consistently get 30+ mpg around town and up to 40+ on highway trips (averaging 36-38 across West Texas at 80 mpg).

Some observations of mine:
- I have a "gear lever" to shift, but I'm pretty sure it's just there for "feel" and it's all electronic; if an electrical problem prevented the car from going into neutral then it wouldn't matter if it were "push button" or the gear lever like I have, it's still electronic.
- the emergency brake is mechanical - and that's your best bet if all else fails (assuming you aren't already going so fast as to make the car uncontrollable by locking the rear wheels
- It is not unusual for me to pull into a parking place, put the car into park, be totally stopped, release the brake, and (while totally still) push the button to turn off the car and have the car jump forward slightly; i suspect it has to do with getting a mechanical "break" in the transmission to engage and by slightly moving the car something akin to a tooth is able to engage the appropriate gear. I'm not able to reproduce on demand so I've not taken the car in for this.
- I have floor mats that are supposed to be held in place by hooks but the hooks keep coming out and floor mat moves all around. This is the factor carpeted floor, not the all season one, and i've never had it cause problems with the accelerator.
- i've not been able to reproduce the launching triggered by the cruise control as reported by SteveWoz, but that may be prius specific and/or speed related (i haven't been anywhere to try at 85 mph yet, speed limits around here stop at 75).