Quote:
Originally Posted by Allch Chcar
The DBW Fear is funny to say the least. Cable throttles stick too especially after many miles of driving leaves the throttle body chock full of gunk. I've checked the throttle body on both my mom's van and my grandmother's ('96 Ford Windstar and '01 Toyota Sienna respectively) both are cable operated v6 minivans and both were oozing with carbon deposits. The Windstar which was higher mileage actually had almost a half pound of ooze in the intake since it was lower than the throttle body.
The problem with the runaway Prius is even if the throttle did stick wide open no amount of braking stomping will slow them down as they rev to 4-5k and hold that RPM. At low RPM, braking might stop the engine but at peak HP > braking power. The only solution is to toss it in neutral and let the engine blow. They have a CVT but even an Automatic there is no Clutch to stomp down and let the engine blow or to at least slow down enough to get it unstuck. And traditional Automatics will jump into lower gears to increase RPM under full throttle so brakes might not work in that case. I consider clutches safety devices  . har har anyway [/joke][seriousness].
@Snaps
It would be ironic if having an auto with the MUCH larger brake pedal that people still committed acts of unintended acceleration. I believe you but please share the link. |
Brakes are made to stop even with run away vehicles...
http://www.edmunds.com/ownership/saf...6/article.html
they also have videos as well
the jist of it is, even with wide open throttle, the brakes will slow down and stop the vehicle
"In other words, even if the driver of a runaway car (well, a Camry, anyway) doesn't think to put the transmission into neutral before hitting the brakes, it is still possible to stop the car within a reasonable distance
if sufficient pedal force is applied."
other sites have tested this as well, and Im pretty sure the DMV has as well