4 ms·

This Tesla claim is quite fascinating: "At no point were the brakes of the first Roadster broken;" "whereas what had actually failed was a fuse in the equipmen

This Tesla claim is quite fascinating: "At no point were the brakes of the first Roadster broken;" "whereas what had actually failed was a fuse in the equipment providing power-assistance to the brake pedal" It's a bit six of one, half a dozen of the other but Tesla do seem to 'have a way with facts'

sp332 14y ago
Having to step on the brakes harder is not nearly the same as having broken brakes. And a fuse is exactly where a system should break, if it's going to.
- jasonlotito 14y ago
  I don't know, having the brakes suddenly stop working as they should would qualify as broken to me. > a fuse is exactly where a system should break, That system being the brakes?
  - sp332 14y ago
    No, power-assistance to the brake pedal means you have to put the pressure on the brakes yourself. Most cars have a hydraulic assist; not sure if the Tesla has hydraulics or some kind of electric assist, but the result is the same: the brakes still work! You just have to push the pedal harder.
    - youngtaff 14y ago
      Have you ever tried driving a car with the power assistance not working? It's a horrible and unsafe experience in a modern car on the road and totally unfeasible on a racetrack.
    - arethuza 14y ago
      When I first had a diesel car a few years back I would occasionally stall it while moving - the steering became borderline unusable and the brakes were almost impossible to use (and I'm a fairly big bloke with excellent leg strength).
    - jasonlotito 14y ago
      Here is what I said: "I don't know, having the brakes suddenly stop working as they should would qualify as broken to me." I was careful with what I said. When you say: "You just have to push the pedal harder." that means you have to change the way you use the breaks. In this case, you have to push harder than you normally would. They are no longer working as they should. You should not have to push harder. So: Yes. They are broken. They are not operating the way they should operate. And, I'm sorry, but the brakes not operating like they should is a bad place to have a flaw.
- makomk 14y ago
  For Top Gear's purposes it's enough to make the car worthless for testing though, since it's not going to peform as well as a properly functioning car would. Combine that with the reduction in power due to overheating in the other car, and they basically did have to give up testing for the day. (I mean, I wouldn't put it past them to keep going anyway to make a point and embarass the manufacturer - this is Top Gear after all - but still.)
pja 14y ago
I'd regard a completely lack of power assistance to the brakes as being 'broken' on a car I intended to put on the track personally. I don't know about anyone else.
- sp332 14y ago
  True you wouldn't want it on the track, but it's a fuse that broke and not the brakes. Replacing a fuse is pretty trivial, but replacing brakes would be a big deal.
  - laumars 14y ago
    It doesn't matter if the fix takes 5 minutes or 5 weeks, it's not Top Gear's, nor any other journalist's, job to play mechanic with a test drive vehicle.

sp332 14y ago

Having to step on the brakes harder is not nearly the same as having broken brakes. And a fuse is exactly where a system should break, if it's going to.

jasonlotito 14y ago
I don't know, having the brakes suddenly stop working as they should would qualify as broken to me. > a fuse is exactly where a system should break, That system being the brakes?
- sp332 14y ago
  No, power-assistance to the brake pedal means you have to put the pressure on the brakes yourself. Most cars have a hydraulic assist; not sure if the Tesla has hydraulics or some kind of electric assist, but the result is the same: the brakes still work! You just have to push the pedal harder.
  - youngtaff 14y ago
    Have you ever tried driving a car with the power assistance not working? It's a horrible and unsafe experience in a modern car on the road and totally unfeasible on a racetrack.
  - arethuza 14y ago
    When I first had a diesel car a few years back I would occasionally stall it while moving - the steering became borderline unusable and the brakes were almost impossible to use (and I'm a fairly big bloke with excellent leg strength).
  - jasonlotito 14y ago
    Here is what I said: "I don't know, having the brakes suddenly stop working as they should would qualify as broken to me." I was careful with what I said. When you say: "You just have to push the pedal harder." that means you have to change the way you use the breaks. In this case, you have to push harder than you normally would. They are no longer working as they should. You should not have to push harder. So: Yes. They are broken. They are not operating the way they should operate. And, I'm sorry, but the brakes not operating like they should is a bad place to have a flaw.
makomk 14y ago
For Top Gear's purposes it's enough to make the car worthless for testing though, since it's not going to peform as well as a properly functioning car would. Combine that with the reduction in power due to overheating in the other car, and they basically did have to give up testing for the day. (I mean, I wouldn't put it past them to keep going anyway to make a point and embarass the manufacturer - this is Top Gear after all - but still.)

pja 14y ago

I'd regard a completely lack of power assistance to the brakes as being 'broken' on a car I intended to put on the track personally. I don't know about anyone else.

sp332 14y ago
True you wouldn't want it on the track, but it's a fuse that broke and not the brakes. Replacing a fuse is pretty trivial, but replacing brakes would be a big deal.
- laumars 14y ago
  It doesn't matter if the fix takes 5 minutes or 5 weeks, it's not Top Gear's, nor any other journalist's, job to play mechanic with a test drive vehicle.