^That was a big player in me deciding to sell my 2007 SI Sedan. It was atrocious.

 

E.G. the weight of all-electric brakes is determined (claimed?) to be less than current hydraulics at the wheels. If you hunt the USPTO patents you'll find a couple of Delphi designs.

 

When well implemented, X-by-wire is, as a general rule, advantageous. In most cases, it allows for greater control and less weight. A wire (or even wireless transmitter) plus an actuator at the other end makes a full control system, so you don't have to have structural components designed to react mechanical loads all the way from point A to B, nor do you have the associated geometric challenges.

When poorly implemented (and most first gen stuff probably will be), it's a lot easier to make a mess with electronic systems, and generating fake "feel" is an admittedly great challenge.

For a cable, the benefits are arguable until (as stated) you consider ECU manipulation. That's good for basic users, but it's admittedly a mixed bag for the skilled user. But the costs themselves are pretty negligible. All the feel is a spring. So you put a spring in the pedal. Done. Speed is the speed of light through the wire plus the slow speed of the processor vs the speed of tension traveling through a steel cable. Computers are typically slower--the steel probably reacts on the order of the speed of sound--but we're probably less than milliseconds here, and computers can theoretically be faster than the steel if it's worth the money. Also, for safety, by-wire or DBW can become a fully redundant control system by simply adding a wire and using two controllers. Good programming should have redundancy in the program itself IMO, but that doesn't seem to be common in this day and age.

The most frustrating by-wire problems seem to be when a design lets the computer take control away from the user AND the algorithm is off on something. That's a common poor implementation of a technology--and why it's easier to get into trouble with by-wire--but it's not a technological handicap. Carbon fiber can be better than steel too, but it's usually easier to screw up working with carbon.


I have to say: I think it's cool that a playstation controller could control just about anything. And I worked on an aircraft program (mech engineer) where using a fly-by-wire system was the only way the thing could stay in the sky. People have limits--we can only handle so many things at once. By-wire is a great way to get past those limits, so long as the user can still opt to take full control and the design is well-implemented.

 

The thing is TBW isn't that new. I think Mercedes had it in the early 90s. GM has been using it on all the LS family motors. I don't recall anyone complaining about the throttle response of the Corvette. I suspect it's the sort of thing we complain about when done poorly but don't notice when done well.

 

It's all in the software/programming. There's nothing inherently wrong w/ DBW, it's even being used in MotoGP now.

 

Hey guys...I'm glad to see this topic. Let me tell you about my crazy experience. First of all ive always been a Honda man. Ive had a CRX, 2 Preludes and an Integra... which recently got stolen in Honolulu. The first Toyota i every bought an 06 Tacoma Double Cab which ive always wanted. Unfortunately it took off on me 4 times with no way to stop it AT ALL. It happened to me 3 times and my wife once. The first time, I hit a Town car but it was a fender bender after hopping some medians and curbs. My Tacoma was just taking off at full throttle and nothing worked to stop it, breaks (both), gears or ignition. It seemed to happen if you gave the gas a quick tap in more spirited driving. This was a year ago and the dealer basically told me driver error. I knew no one was going own up. So we traded the death trap in for a BMW X3 and I got my S2K. Its nice to see they're finally exposed (Toyota)...I was laughing when they pulled floormat and worn sticky pedal bs. It is no doubt 100%, the drive by wire system from my experience .

 

So you're saying you put the transmission in neutral then turned the truck off, and it kept accelerating?

 

Yea, Its an automatic and i ran the shifter all the way back and fourth through the gears a couple times. The ignition wont turn with the car in gear...scary stuff. I think the standard safety features prevent you doing things that you should never have to do.

 

I had an 02 GT stick, it would come on in a straight line as well. It would allow a little bit of wheelspin off the line so you could still launch the car a bit, but anything excessive or anything after the launch it would start killing engine power. Learned that the hard way when I forgot to turn it off at the drag strip one day during the 1-2 shift. I thought I broke something.