I think lots of people never really know that they have the "fly-by-wire" technology that they're operating. Another problem is the failure of redundancy -- fuel delivery is no longer foot-pedal-cable-throttle, but instead foot-pedal-actuator-ECU-throttle. When reliable, it can allow quite efficient operation and emissions control.
I'm not sure if it's possible, but could the actuator have had 2-sides to compare inputs with one another (so then if one side is significantly different, a fault is thrown with a consequent engine cut)?
At the same time, we shouldn't shun technology that yields better fuel economy and fewer emissions. The revolt of carb vs. FI comes to mind. It seems that technology needs to be perfected, have a backup system, be simplified to the point of flawless reliability before it can be trusted in masses (at the same time they can just silently gain approval and slip it in without most of us knowing it). It really is too bad that the failures have likely tarnished this advancement, but at least the driving public is hopefully getting some education on emergency operation out of it -- and that it exists.
IIRC, Mercedes has been testing brake-by-wire that has a redundant hydraulic system.
On the topic of ABS, I remember when Chevy had ABS standard on all non-pickup, passenger vehicles sold (early 90's). Then they dropped it to save some cash.
RH77
Quote:
Originally Posted by 99LeCouch
After refurbishing the headlights on my car and hearing about the failures of the latest whiz-bang electronic drive-by-wire hardware, it's reassuring that my car does things the old-fashioned way. Plus I'm practiced at shifting into N in case of emergency!
And, even a low-tech ABS system is enough to prevent many collisions. Plenty of older cars have ABS. So we can still have the benefits of ABS while driving a cheaper old car.
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