EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!

 

This is friggin hilarious!!! *NWS* content.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZ4PtafRB9c [/media]

 

[QUOTE=ASM Stook,Mar 11 2010, 04:42 PM] I can confirm that is not true.

 

i've actually had something very frightening happen to me on the highway. I had complete brake failure and for a split second i did panic, but then i simply downshifted using the AUTOMATIC tranmission from drive to 3rd, 2nd, 1st and then the hand brake to bring me to a complete and safe stop on the side of the road, and this was prior to learning how to drive a stick shift.

Cars don't have to be deathtraps. Read the owners manual, especially the section "how to safely operate your vehicle." Join a car forum, because those people have done dumb things you can learn from...lol...I'm kidding but it's true. Not only that, but we're fortunate enough that you're proud and come on here and brag about it.

 

I think it's hard to tell what a Prius should do when you shift to neutral. As far as I can see the Prius does not have a classical neutral gear. In a manual neutral is when none of the cogs are engaged. In a traditional auto I believe neutral is when all of the brakes and bands are released. In both cases if those mechanical things happen power can not flow from the motor to the wheels.

From what I can tell the Prius's "neutral" isn't a traditional neutral at all. The drive system can never disengage the two electric motors and the gas motor from the drive line. There is no mechanical disconnect. Instead what the computer does is change the blending of power such that no torque is delivered to the wheels. The larger of the two electric motors is always connected to the drive wheels.

This sight does a neat job of showing it:
http://eahart.com/prius/psd/

Basically you can't disengage anything. All you can do is send a request to the computer to tell the electric motors to shut down. So long as the electric motors shut down you have the functional equivalent of taking the car out of gear.

The video above, though funny, does assume the ECU is functioning correctly. Since you are only sending requests to the computer a software or hardware failure could, in theory, cause the drive line to accelerate and refuse to shift into neutral (since there is really no such thing on the Prius). Personally, I think the odds of that are VERY VERY VERY VERY low. I suspect there is lot's of redundant safety in that system. However, the video does assume the ECU is operating as intended. We don't know for certain, (ie we are only 99.995% certain) that the Prius ECU doesn't have some sort of bug.

Still, I think the guy in CA was the cause of that Prius issue. I mean his history strongly suggests that he, not the car malfunctioned. However, if the ECU were to malfunction, it is software, not hardware that would let you shift into "neutral" and the way the car does that is by simply controlling the throttle of the three motors (2 electric, one gas).

 

i would buy that story, but it's not only the pruis suffering from unintended acceleration. Everything being said on this website right now is conjecture, some of you are very knowledgeable, engineers, mechanics, etc. None the less, it's pure conjecture.

 

No, it is not new.
I have experienced first hand, the demonic forces that cause a vehicle to accelerate unintentionally. I was in my 92 Lexus SC300 with the cruise on going about 70mph when the car decided it wanted to kill me by going faster. A sharp jab at the brakes slowed the possessed machine, but did not stop the acceleration....compelled by the power of common sense (while approaching 90mph) I decided to perform an exorcism by shifting into N, killing the engine, and braking to a stop on the shoulder.
Not once during the hellish ordeal did I think to call 911.
I doused my car in some holy water I stole from church and have not had a problem since.

 

My first response would be to go for the clutch and / or gearshift. Enough of this sudden acceleration crap. Gotta admit that coasting down the road with my engine banging off the rev limiter would make me sick though. Oh well, I guess sick beats dead every time.

 

Here's video of a full-throttle Prius being shifted into neutral. Works just as you'd expect it to.

http://www.ireport.com/blogs/ireport-blog/...-story?hpt=Sbin

 

I recently bought an 07 Tundra Crew Max 5.7 that is under the recall. I did a couple of tests today just to make sure. The steering wheel does not lock unless you take the key completely out of the ignition. Just turning the car off doesn't make it lock. It shifts into neutral just fine with the gas pedal engaged. Didn't have a chance to test if the brakes could override the engine, but I am anxious to try. If they can stop that beast of an engine, then you should be able to Fred Flinstone a Prius under full throttle.