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08-08-2009, 01:10 PM | #1 |
Small cars are a big deal
Drives: 2007 Yaris Liftback Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Portland, OR
Posts: 3,144
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Invasive creature or standard feature? Small cars and VSC, ABS, and traction control
There has been some interesting discussion lately about the 2010 Yaris coming with features like ABS, traction control and vehicle stability control standard. I had posted the 2010 Yaris info on my Web site, and there was some interesting discussion about these driving aides, so I wrote about it.
http://www.subcompactculture.com/200...d-feature.html
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Subcompact Culture: The Small car blog |
08-08-2009, 01:35 PM | #2 |
XBL: Jeemee Ghost
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Read, and commented.
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08-08-2009, 03:19 PM | #3 |
Banned
Drives: 2007 4 Door Yaris Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Southern California
Posts: 1,357
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^^ I agree with automation making people worse drivers, BUT-
as you kind of eluded to, in rain, VSC and ABS are life savers, I don't care if you are mario andretti, there are still situations that having VSC or ABS can save your life. And I don't believe ABS is slower stopping in the snow/ice. Being a good driver can ONLY come from the driver, and blaming car companies for making people worse drivers is ludicrous. Insurance companies make people bad drivers by deleting the natural act of negative reinforcement. You can almost kill someone, and pay a 500 dollar deductible and forget about it. Really, my biggest problem is I want a cheap ass economy car, and its not the government's job to REQUIRE my cheap ass economy car to be more expensive with fancy gadgetry. |
08-08-2009, 04:31 PM | #4 |
XBL: Jeemee Ghost
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I didn't know ABS, VCS, and TCS make someone think they are playing Xbox. That's new to me for sure. Makes sense though, because I play Xbox daily and sometimes I get confused and think I'm driving. Weird. Or just plain stupid.
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08-08-2009, 04:47 PM | #5 |
Drives: 2009 Yaris 3-Door Liftback Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Texas
Posts: 213
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I suppose it is easier/cheaper to just install these features on every car as a lowest common denominator. A good/aware driver may never see them kick in...but there's always those idiots out there. If they can make the entire car a bit safer for one and all...a default mode for the general masses...then I guess that's ample reason to do it.
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08-08-2009, 04:54 PM | #6 |
XBL: Jeemee Ghost
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My friend's supercharged 09 Tundra has ABS, TCS, and VSC and it makes it streetable in inclement weather. It's, of course, not needed but neither are any other standard features. People are making it seem like with it added people don't pay attention because of it. That's just ignorant. I'm sure the majority of people don't even know it's there. If you want a cheap ass economy car buy an 07 Yaris. If you want a safer cheap ass economy car buy a 10 Yaris. Alright, I'm done with this BS now. It was a interesting write up though, Thirty-Nine.
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08-08-2009, 05:37 PM | #7 |
ekodrvr
Drives: 2002 white subaru impreza wrx Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Spokane, WA
Posts: 776
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that is part of a new law coming down the pipe... within a few years, you will not be able to buy any new car without abs, trac, and some form of stability. the big issue that i have with this new law, is that you will not be able to turn any of it off... i am getting tired of seeing people driving with all these features and thinking that they are gods gift to driving, but when they try to drive without them, oops, time for a new car... it is getting to the point where we are no longer going to have the appropriate connection to the road where drivers who know what they are doing use those sensations... i can only see this going downhill, and the govt will never back off of these "safety" features, even when people start killing each other because we no longer know the true limits of our cars...
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08-08-2009, 06:06 PM | #8 |
Beast
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ABS is for B**ches
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08-08-2009, 06:09 PM | #9 |
Drives: 2009 Yaris 3-Door Liftback Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Texas
Posts: 213
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Extremely valid points you make and yet, given the documented safety benefit, how could they not make it standard? Not there isn't a down side...but in the end it'd be hard for the gov to ignore possible safety improvement at moderate cost.
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08-08-2009, 06:31 PM | #10 |
ekodrvr
Drives: 2002 white subaru impreza wrx Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Spokane, WA
Posts: 776
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you ever used a car with abs in snow? when you have a car in snow/ice that has abs, you quickly learn the term anything but stop... but abs is not my peeve with this... it is the trac and stability spidered into it... i can readily understand the need for abs, as it lets you steer... but trac and stability have their places, and there are times when you need to be able to turn them off(i.e. a dyno for tuning, some emissions testing locations)...
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08-08-2009, 06:38 PM | #11 | |
ekodrvr
Drives: 2002 white subaru impreza wrx Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Spokane, WA
Posts: 776
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Quote:
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08-08-2009, 06:53 PM | #12 |
ekodrvr
Drives: 2002 white subaru impreza wrx Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Spokane, WA
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in a way i can understand that people need things like this to learn/if they are not the best driver... but if they actually know what they are doing, most of these "safety" features just become a problem...
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if you want to see my plans for this car, check out here... http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3154316 i like this smiley... |
08-08-2009, 10:48 PM | #13 |
Drives: 2009 Yaris 3-Door Liftback Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Texas
Posts: 213
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08-09-2009, 08:45 AM | #14 | |
Drives: Big Yellow Join Date: May 2009
Location: Somewhere in the vacinity of Betelgeuse
Posts: 179
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Quote:
I do agree though, that a lot of new drivers never learn to do much more than mash their pedals. |
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08-09-2009, 11:09 AM | #15 |
'07 to '12:2 wipers to 1?
Drives: '12 5-door LE & '14 5-door LE Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Orlando
Posts: 1,999
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hmm, silver echo, I haven't read anywhere that it's not going to be able to be turned off, yet. mind sharing the article?
so far I've found all our '09-'10 models, place the car either in low gear or double press the traction buttons or hold it down, and it will either shut it off OR place it in sport/comp mode.....(granted, they're all automatics, rental cars another excuse for dumb people) now Hyundai/kia is the only one I haven't experimented with @ work yet.... |
08-09-2009, 11:39 AM | #16 |
Drives: 08 LB BLACK Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: NY
Posts: 244
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Drove cars years ago with no bells an whistles....always got where I was going. No abs/traction control etc. If a person is a defensive driver and does not OVER DRIVE the weather conditions, they will get where they are going.
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08-09-2009, 11:41 AM | #17 |
Drives: 2007 MX5 Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Miami, Fl.
Posts: 338
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This is an example of a car that has driving aids thats being pushed to its limits....Granted it has more power than a lot of cars ever will have. But it's just an example of how the aids interfere...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dfff-s2OMc |
08-09-2009, 11:52 AM | #18 |
Drives: 2009 Yaris 3-Door Liftback Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Texas
Posts: 213
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I can handle the traction controls, I suppose, in that they are (supposedly) assisting with road conditions and traction. What creeps me out is the MB commercial I saw the other day: the car senses when you are falling asleep and wakes you up? What the heck.....sleeping at the wheel?!?!?! Then, if you're not watching the road the car will brake for you......geez, how stupid are drivers supposed to be these days????
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