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This is one of the reasons that I love manual transmissions. Sure, you'll probably still blow up your engine, but that's way better than dying. One of the inte

This is one of the reasons that I love manual transmissions. Sure, you'll probably still blow up your engine, but that's way better than dying. One of the interesting things from one of the other articles was related to depressing the brake. Apparently one of the solutions to resetting the out of control acceleration was to completely remove your foot from the brake before trying to brake again. This may sound curmudgeonly, but that is one of the reasons that fly-by-wire makes me so uncomfortable. In my car, the accelerator is attached to the throttle by a cable, and that's the way I like it :). I was driving my girlfriend's 2010 Pontiac Vibe the other day (essentially a Toyota Matrix) and stopped at a slippery intersection. When I went to get going again, the traction control system detected that it was slippery and, as far as I can tell, did throttle limiting to prevent the wheels from slipping. This is one of the most uncomfortable feelings I've ever had driving a car... I pressed the accelerator and there was no response.

Mikeb85 13y ago
> When I went to get going again, the traction control system detected that it was slippery and, as far as I can tell, did throttle limiting to prevent the wheels from slipping. This is one of the most uncomfortable feelings I've ever had driving a car... I pressed the accelerator and there was no response. Most decent cars let you disable the traction control (which is necessary sometimes)... But yes, sometimes the newer technology doesn't work as well as the older technology, depending on the conditions and driver skill. I've had ABS kick in a few times and it's really disconcerting, I almost prefer not having it. Traction control is great for tiny patches of ice or rain, but terrible when the roads are covered in fresh snow. My old Saab 900 Turbo was the best winter car I'd ever had, could basically plow through anything the front bumper could clear (and never failed to start - even when it was minus 40 degrees). My new car is adequate, but not nearly as good when it gets really ugly... And fly-by wire IS scary, they should never eliminate physical connections for certain functions (accelerator, brakes, steering).
- tonyarkles 13y ago
  The ABS in my car lost a sensor a few years ago and shut itself off. I see it as a feature :) There's a way to disable the traction control, but figuring it out wasn't what I had in mind while stuck at a 4-way stop.

Mikeb85 13y ago

> When I went to get going again, the traction control system detected that it was slippery and, as far as I can tell, did throttle limiting to prevent the wheels from slipping. This is one of the most uncomfortable feelings I've ever had driving a car... I pressed the accelerator and there was no response. Most decent cars let you disable the traction control (which is necessary sometimes)... But yes, sometimes the newer technology doesn't work as well as the older technology, depending on the conditions and driver skill. I've had ABS kick in a few times and it's really disconcerting, I almost prefer not having it. Traction control is great for tiny patches of ice or rain, but terrible when the roads are covered in fresh snow. My old Saab 900 Turbo was the best winter car I'd ever had, could basically plow through anything the front bumper could clear (and never failed to start - even when it was minus 40 degrees). My new car is adequate, but not nearly as good when it gets really ugly... And fly-by wire IS scary, they should never eliminate physical connections for certain functions (accelerator, brakes, steering).

tonyarkles 13y ago
The ABS in my car lost a sensor a few years ago and shut itself off. I see it as a feature :) There's a way to disable the traction control, but figuring it out wasn't what I had in mind while stuck at a 4-way stop.