Run Away Toyota

[geopat]

personaly id rather the engine rev and blow then end up pancaked into a wall. ill stick with my manuals.

[taimurc]

Originally Posted by geopat

personaly id rather the engine rev and blow then end up pancaked into a wall. ill stick with my manuals.

agreed

[n45w73]

Originally Posted by geopat

personaly id rather the engine rev and blow then end up pancaked into a wall. ill stick with my manuals.

agreed here too 100mph in a wall will hurt alot...

so there my emergency scenario,
accelerator jam to floor
if i have strait road in front of me
i will shut off engine and depressing the clutch,
be sure not to lock the steering wheel when turnig engine key and dont forget you wont have power steering neither power brake !

if on curvy road or not alot of place to move around just depressing the clutch , engine will rev up, but u will have power steering and power brake to surely stop you pretty fast, cut out engine at a safe place ...

btw people should try engine cutoff before in a safe place, just to get the feeling of the car.

[Brumbie13]

Originally Posted by geopat

personaly id rather the engine rev and blow then end up pancaked into a wall. ill stick with my manuals.

Obviously.

The thing is, as far as I know, this thing has never happened before. My guess is that, since it never happened before, they probably didn't anticipate it happening, which is why vehicles act the way my truck did.

[bd1]

Originally Posted by n45w73

i will shut off engine and depressing the clutch,
be sure not to lock the steering wheel when turnig engine key and dont forget you wont have power steering neither power brake !

For a manual transmission:

I forget if the ACC position usually unlocks the steering wheel. If it does unlock then wheel but not run the engine, then with a manual transmission, you can turn the key to ACC to turn off the engine, leaving the steering wheel unlocked, then re-engage the clutch to keep the engine spinning even though it isn't powered. This keeps hydraulic power going to the brakes and power steering, and also gives engine braking. If you turn the key to RUN while letting out the clutch pedal, then the engine will start running again.

For an automatic, you may be able to turn the key to ACC while in gear, in which case the engine should stop powering but keep spinning, keeping your power steering and brakes going.

I suspect that electric power steering will be disabled with the key in ACC.

Four wheelers with a manual transmission on a steep slope can stop by simply turning off the ignition. The low range first gear engine braking holds the truck right where it is better than the parking brake. Then to get going you can turn the key to run and push the clutch pedal for a moment to start rolling forwards, then let out the clutch and off you go. If going uphill and if you have a clutch interlock bypass switch, you can just hit the starter and off you go.

[apint2]

One point that hasn't been made; when the engine is under full throttle there is a drastic drop in the manifold vacuum. This is why it is almost fruitless to try to stop the car under full throttle. Vacuum assisted brakes become almost useless. It's like stepping on the brake with the engine off. I think that a lot of credit is due to the CHP officer for instructing this driver to also apply the E-brake. That, in itself, probably contributed more to stopping that car than anything.

[bd1]

A few more data points:

- Some new cars now have electric parking brakes. Unknown what happens if you try to turn off the engine without first engaging the electric parking brake ( 'safety issue'? ). Also unknown if you can engage the parking brake while doing 90 at full power.

- A Prius has some funky things going on:

From: http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-p...-motion-3.html

-- begin quote:

Of course you can get ACC mode by pressing the Power button once with your foot off the brake. But you cannot shift to N (or D or B or R) while in ACC mode.

If you go to IG-ON mode (press Power button twice with foot off brake) you can shift to P or N (but not to D or B or R)

There is a chart in the service manual that indicates when you can shift to the various states, P R N D or B. The chart shows that you can shift from N to P when in ACC mode, but doesn't tell you how to get into N in the first place. The way to get into N when in ACC mode is to power the car down while in motion.

-- end quote

So: According to the first sentence above you can get to ACC mode if you press the power button WITHOUT YOUR FOOT ON THE BRAKE. Try and remember that while trying to slow down the vehicle...

While you are in ACC and coasting down the road, you cannot shift to N...

To get into N while in ACC you power down the entire car while in motion... 90 mph...

The chart they posted from the manual seems to indicate that you should be able to shift from D to N while driving. I don't know if that's allowed while under full power.


--- from a comment at: http://www.vosizneias.com/50903/2010...ralled-by-cops

-begin quote
On the prius its a lot harder to shift the car while in motion because it doesn't have a regular PRNDL shifter like most cars. It is completely electronic just like the ignition is a start button. If you move the shifter you feel any clicks like you are used to feeling in a regular car. They build in safety programing for accidental touching of the shifter just like the start button requires a 3 second hold before the car will shut off.
Just a lesson on how electronics DO NOT necessarily make things better
-- end quote

Several additional quotes about how shifting to neutral didn't slow the car. Then someone else saying someone with a Prius tried it and was able to shift to Neutral after all, but it did take 3 seconds hold to turn off the engine. Then someone else says you cannot change gears when going faster than 45 or something like that, and you cannot turn off the engine when at speed. Then someone else says that's a lie.


---

Personally, I suspect faulty wire connections, or else radio interference from a nearby CB or Ham rig, or bad software. Good software could compensate and sense problems, even with itself, and take appropriate measures.


---

Meanwhile, has anyone with the SmartPass thing tried any of this???

How about some CVT owners?

[bd1]

A little more research indicates that on a Prius you have to hold the lever towards N for a second to actually get into Neutral. Or you can shift to R or P and it'll instantly go to Neutral.

Seems like they tried to fool proof it, but you gotta admit that there is a lot to remember in a panic situation. Hold N for a second or Power for three seconds, etc.

[TheShadowFL]

I have the fix for those runaway Toyotas.
I'm submitting it to them this week.



This big red STOP button should be mounted in the center of the dash panel so either the driver or passenger could reach it in a runaway emergency.

The button, when pressed would remove all power from the engine and provide backup power to the brakes and steering.
The engine could only be restarted by a Toyota technician with the proper reset code or through "On Star".

[socarboy99]

There was a tragic accident in South Carolina this week involving the death
of a couple where their '09 Camry hit a tree at a high rate of speed while on
a secondary road; both people were killed. This latest accident is being investigated for cause.

http://www.live5news.com/Global/story.asp?S=12128304