ealand0001

jeffbrig

Ok, sure if you want to get a technical with pad selection and temperatures. For for typical street pads at normal operating ranges, friction is pretty consistent. With a properly setup hydraulic brake system, stopping power corresponds to pedal force. Hop in either of my Porsches and go for a drive. There is no dead travel in the pedal. Pedal force builds as the pads clamp the rotor. Press harder and you feel a corresponding change in the rate of deceleration. It is intuitive, and confidence inspiring. There is no question in your mind, you simply *know* that the pedal is connected to the brakes. That's how it should be.

Not just to pick on my friend's Camry, I've driven cheap rental cars that were similarly horrible. An inch or more of pedal travel before the brakes start to engage. Or pedal force builds unnecessarily before the brakes start to engage. Or an overly boosted setup where braking force suddenly and dramatically increases with no additional increase in pedal force (this is what I consider non-linear braking performance). None of these are confidence inspiring characteristics.

engifineer

The argument on reliability is always "F1 one has used it for years!" or "planes do almost everything by wire anymore!!"

When people are required by law (and this is enforced to the T) to maintain their cars like an F1 team or an airline, then I will be ok with it. Otherwise I think it is a poor idea personally. It is hard enough to get the average Joe to replace tires when they are bald in the winter, let alone keep their car maintenance up to airline or professional race team standards. I still think there should be a mechanical brake system with some sort of electronic assist maybe, but not a full BBW on personal vehicles (Big Beautiful Women are fine in personal vehicles ... just not Brake By Wire .... ) . And I am a tech geek that has worked designing cool gadgets for years ... I am not even one of those old skeptical codgers .... yet

While our cars do have electric power steering ASSIST, they still have mechanical steering that works should that system fail . I know plenty of folks who have had DBW systems totally fail on them leaving their car to do nothing but idle. That would have been slightly worse had it been the brake system.

engifineer

And wise ....... I am feeling the same to be honest. I do not see myself buying many more new cars personally. I am tired enough of the nannies trying to drive for me, I certainly do not need my ECU deciding how hard to push the brake pedal. I also have never taken a car to a shop for anything but alignments and tire work and try to keep up enough to do 100% of my work. And I have zero motivation to learn how to repair some of this stuff.

Chibo

There are no cars that are fully steer by wire with no mechanical linkage.
Porsche is very good at getting the brake feel right for people that are drivers. Go drive a VW and you will find feelings similar to what you're describing in the second paragraph (very grabby). Each brand has its own feel.

engifineer

ummm ok ... where did I say otherwise ? We are talking brake by wire. I referenced electric steering because someone else mentioned it and used it as an example. And while I said DBW, in automotive terms that means THROTTLE by wire, which many, if not the majority, of new cars have. No one ever said anything about cars having steer by wire.

Chibo

I brought up that our cars have EPS since someone said that they did not like cars with electronic power steering; your post clarified that there is a mechanical linkage in our cars, implying that it might somehow be different than the EPS cars. I was making sure that everyone was on the same page as far as there not being a true decouped steer by wire in cars. Make sense?

engifineer

I was just using the EPS systems vs DBW or BBW systems as a comparison, not arguing with what you said. I think that is the part that caused the misunderstanding. Point being, that having an electric assist to a mechanical system is not a bad idea and provides more tunability, vs putting your safety at mercy of a poorly maintained electric only system.

Chibo

100% agreed

ealand0001