Toyota Split Screen Braking Demo (Toyota Canada Demo)

So the bottom line is : people who know how to drive and who drive safely are unlikely to end up in a life threatening situation even if that one in 10 million event actually happens to them.

Thanks for sharing that Tideland.

 

For those who aren't familiar with speeds in km/hr, 80 km/hr is almost 50 mph.

I did this same experiment in my 07 Prius from a little over 40 mph, and the car stops within 3 sec with the accelerator floored.

 

Now if we could just add a sound track of screeching tires ... <grins>

Bob Wilson

 

I don't know if you heard the tires chirp when they tested the Prius, but when I hit the brakes they did lock up briefly and the tires chirped before the ABS kicked in.

 

Yes, I also noticed that when doing the demo on my 2004.

 

I gotta try this in mine. I tried it at about 20MPH and the engine kept trying to go

 

Remember, with a Prius, the engine can keep going without powering the wheels.

Tom

 

I have a Scangauge to read ICE rpm. When I had the accel pedal floored the engine speed was > 4000 rpm - when I hit the brake pedal the engine speed dropped to < 1000 rpm within approx 2 sec - I could not get an exact time because of the lag of the Scangauge updates. The ICE speed drops with the accel pedal still held to the floor but does not stop completely.

 

The Toyota test is better then nothing but I really want to see Toyota:

1. disable the brake override feature that cuts the engine, and
2. disable the power brake assist...
on a 2010 Prius going 90 mph.

Seriously, 50 mph isn't pratical enough. 90 is more worse case.

I've watched one You Tube video demonstrate this using a convention car that had no override but I think it still had power brakes. I don't remember its top speed but it stopped relatively easily with the engine still floored.

The worse case scenario I think is that the Prius's ECU has a catastophic unduplicatable failure of sorts where the driver claims that the accelerator is stuck; that they can't shift into neutral or nothing happens when they shift; that they push on the brake but nothing happens (because the power brake they are use to has failed; and they don't know how to shut down the engine by holding the Start Button in for 3 seconds.

I'll bet within the next 3 months Toyota does a campaign (I don't like using 'Recall' unless it is madatory) on all Priuses to change the emergency stopping procedure to allow several rapid pushes or a constant push on the 'Start' button over 3 seconds. That would be helpful.

I also simply want to know how tough it is to stop the car at high speed if the power brakes for their own reason fail. As far as that goes I wonder how well anyone could control steering if power steering failed on curves where you can safely go through a curve normally at 55 mph say? Does Toyota design for those speeds and torque or do they only have to prove the cars handling under system failures at say 35 mph?

We have a very serious problem if hybrids and cars full of technology today somehow spook drivers into not reacting properly by applying the brake immediately when any unscheduled acceleration occurs. Once a driver isn't sure what they did or didn't do in an incident and a news media get ahold of the story all bets are off.

I wish I could trust drivers more but car drivers at least do not train for emergency situations like truck drivers pilots are reqired to do and demonstrate.

 

Remember, brake + go-pedal = force-charging. With the throttle
held down in the conventional car the engine would have continued
trying to pull too, but only straining against the torque converter
instead of putting all that energy somewhere useful like the
battery.
.
Like the video says at the end: "always familiarize yourself with
your vehicle's capabilities ..."
.
_H*

 

Why not test the more powerful models that dead were involved at a higher speed? Is this comparing an apple with an orange?

 

shh... how would that help pr?

 

Yes, you are right. I forgot this is Priuschat! Let talk Prius only.

 

I may have blinked along the way since researching and purchasing my '10. Does the '10 Prius have brake override???? I didn't think it did....
If so, (I must say) further peace of mind here.

 

Well, after yesterdays event down somewhere near San Diego it's pretty clear to me that there is a lot more going on here now then drivers not knowing how to react to an emergency. In this case it was a 2008 Prius and once again three things are really happening--going wrong: 1. Acceleration is sticking. 2. The feature all the Priuses have that returns the engine to idle when the brakes are applied isn't happening--the car continues to accelerate. 3. In this case at least the car getting up to 90 mph was going to fast for the brakes to override the engine's torque and this lucky guy from what I've heard used up the brake pads--down to metal against metal?

I'm suggesting for myself at least not to exceed 55 mph (until this mess is resolved) and react quickly with the brake should acceleration take off--you have a much better chance bringing the car to a quicker stop without going through a set of brake pads then if you are already traveling 70 for instance and don't react quickly before the car gets up to 90 mph.

It is unfortunate that this driver apparently never tried shifting into Neutral and apparently didn't properly stop the engine by holding in the Power button for at least 3 seconds until his wild ride was almost over.

I'm going to make up a placard that reads something like: "Do not exceed 55 mph! > Brakes! + Emergency Flashers + Neutral + Power button HOLD 3+ seconds! + Parking Brake + Stand on Brakes With Both Feet" and _practice_ all of it. I find it remarkable that the driver 1) was on his cell phone (Did the CHP really help save his life?) and 2) Apparently was unable to shut the engine off properly until he was around 50 mph.

Toyota needs to demonstrate or just confirm that brakes alone will not stop a Prius going 90 mph with a stuck accelerator. Until this is resolved fully Priuses should be restricted not to exceed 55 mph. Procedures and Standards need to be set up industry wide so Emergency Stopping works the same basic way across the industry.

 

Has anyone hypothesized that the brake problem might actually have been a fuel economy feature? When the problem first occured, Toyota said they were "monitoring what was being said on the Internet". Perhaps that meant it was a feature, and were wondering whether users had realized it. Perhaps by making the brakes that way, they could maximize regen in the first part of pedal depress. And perhaps with the software update, regen is not as efficient...