Toyota is the new Audi

Great piece.

 

agree

 

give me a cookie dammit!

this is what is said months ago about this being another "audi 5000".

i lived through it back in the 80's

 

Assuming you haven't noticed, regardless of the Audi cause, a very good feature, non-intrusive feature, came about as result, you now need to depress the brake pedal firmly in order to shift out of park.

Now it's time for a "second" edition of that fix. Reprogram the DBW such that the gas pedal doesn't work to suddenly/QUICKLY go WOT (easy/slow depression to WOT would still work) unless the brake pedal was first released, "just" released, or the car is already moving at some minimum speed based on the acceleromter, not wheel speed, "speedo".

Mistake the gas pedal for the brake pedal in a panic situation, guess what, the gas pedal DOES NOTHING.

 

I wouldn't want a system that keeps me from using full throttle when I want or need it, if that's what you were referring to. It would be better if people would learn where their feet are, that's been working fine for me.

I have ridden with people who completely take their feet away from the pedals when they use the cruise control, I think that might make it harder to find the brake in an emergency.

 

Good article cited by the OP. Note also that Audi did not die from bad publicity. I read recently that Audi outsells BMW in that market sector across Europe. Seem not to have been damaged by being in the VW fold. However, the reliability of my '01 A4 has been disappointing, which led me back to Japan, Toyota, and Prius.

 

Audi was harmed so bad it was scooped up by Ford.

 

Huh?

 

Nope, you're thinking of ?????

 

Audi has been wholly owned by VW since 1964.

 

Gee - I never let Toyota chop my Prius' 2004 accelerator pedal shorter. Does this mean I can sleep easy again? Oh wait . . . I never lost any sleep.

I'll be saving this article for when/if ever our favorite GM dealer, malorn returns .... and remind him how he prophesied this would be the end of Toyota.


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"See what happens if you throw your car in neutral under full throttle"

I can second this. While test driving a Gen III Prius I did exactly this. I shifted it into neutral while driving. It worked just fine.

HOWEVER... I do have to say that with my Corolla, I feel a CLEAR physical connection to my transmission when shifting into neutral. With the Gen III Prius, I still felt like I had to direct my "request" to through the computer.

 

That's because the computer *is* the transmission on the Prius, so to speak. With nothing mechanical to shift, all you get is a link to the electronics.

Tom

 

Yep, Audi is the new BMW. BMW have lost their way and Toyota sales are on the up.

Only down side is that Audi's are now more likely to be driven by 25 year old hot head junior managers with attitude!

Funny what 3500 miles of ocean makes.

 

I've show this article to numerous Toyota haters I have the joy of working around. Here's their take:

"See? ... That just PROVES the NHTSB is on the take ... because there's NO way that all those drivers could be stupid".



.

 

ROTFLMAO!

"Oh, so they were bright enough to buy a Prius?" <GRINS>

Bob Wilson

 

Well, I agree it's the drivers fault. BUT, in the Audi case it was proven that the "cause" was the two pedals were too close together, allowing the confusion. Don't try to tell me that is no excuse, because I'm not making one. It's a fact of life that "the unwashed public", who Toyota sells to, can be easily confused. I haven't read a study of the Toyota cars yet to see if pedal placement is causing confusion.

What we got out of this is not as wwest posted. In the Toyota Hybrids we got no change, other than some pedal cutting and ensuring the floor mats were properly secured (a "good thing" tm). In all other Toyota vehicles we got a system that drops the engine to idle if the accelerator is pressed and held, then the brake pedal is pressed. It's a firmware system, not mechanical. We didn't get it "added" into the hybrids because it was already there.

I believe this system is also a "good thing" tm.

Oh, and I also predicted this. Do I get a crystal ball medal too?

 

"...when I want or need it..."

Using the technique as described under what non-exceptional circumstances would the suggested DBW throttle NOT respond as you expect....?

 

Hill... don't you have a bridge to sell these brilliant people?