Insane and lethal modern car designs.....:(

ubersonic · 27 Nov 2017 at 10:15

In the 90's many high end Jap cars came with four wheel steering systems that aided cornering, high speed stability and parking. These days if you buy one used and the system hasn't been removed/disabled the standing advice is to do it ASAP. Having a 20-30 year old computer in charge of which directions your rear wheels point has lead to many an accident.

adam cool dude · 27 Nov 2017 at 10:21

ubersonic said:
In the 90's many high end Jap cars came with four wheel steering systems that aided cornering, high speed stability and parking. These days if you buy one used and the system hasn't been removed/disabled the standing advice is to do it ASAP. Having a 20-30 year old computer in charge of which directions your rear wheels point has lead to many an accident.

All these systems do is adjust rear toe to aid cornering. Not the end of the world if it fails. Most of them are mechanical anyway.

ubersonic · 27 Nov 2017 at 10:56

adam cool dude said:
All these systems do is adjust rear toe to aid cornering. Not the end of the world if it fails. Most of them are mechanical anyway.

You're thinking of the 1980's ones which were mechanical and very reliable, the 90's ones were mostly electrically controlled and could turn the wheel a lot more than that hence the great reduction in turning circles at low speed parking/maneuvers. It's not the end of the world if you survive ofc but you do usually need a new car lol. I lost a 4WS Prelude after it decided it wanted to turn into a wall and there are similar horror stories for most of the 90's 4WS cars hence the big aftermarket for lockout/disable kits and the demand for transplant subframes from 2WS models.

PiKe · 27 Nov 2017 at 11:03

How many accidents have been caused by PAS failure?

ubersonic said:
You're thinking of the 1980's ones which were mechanical and very reliable, the 90's ones were mostly electrically controlled and could turn the wheel a lot more than that hence the great reduction in turning circles at low speed parking/maneuvers. It's not the end of the world if you survive ofc but you do usually need a new car lol. I lost a 4WS Prelude after it decided it wanted to turn into a wall and there are similar horror stories for most of the 90's 4WS cars hence the big aftermarket for lockout/disable kits and the demand for transplant subframes from 2WS models.

S2000 had passive rear wheel steering too which was entirely mechanical.

Nasher · 27 Nov 2017 at 13:28

ubersonic said:
In the 90's many high end Jap cars came with four wheel steering systems that aided cornering, high speed stability and parking. These days if you buy one used and the system hasn't been removed/disabled the standing advice is to do it ASAP. Having a 20-30 year old computer in charge of which directions your rear wheels point has lead to many an accident.

Same issue with many things that went from mechanical to electronic :/

I bet current cars are going to be a total nightmare in 20-30 years time. Electronics in control of everything...

Haggisman · 27 Nov 2017 at 13:52

Vertigo1 said:
Soon after that we'll have totally autonomous vehicles where a small software bug will cause cars to run amok mowing down pedestrians and all sorts.

I guess the question to be asked here is whether that will result in more or less incidents than giving people the freedom to decide to mow down pedestrians

Six6siX · 27 Nov 2017 at 13:58

Nasher said:
Same issue with many things that went from mechanical to electronic :/

I bet current cars are going to be a total nightmare in 20-30 years time. Electronics in control of everything...

Lol. As if current cars are going to be around in 20-30 years time. Modern cars are effectively disposable now.

Django x2 · 27 Nov 2017 at 14:18

Friends Tesla decided to reboot on the M4. No biggy, I thought, my iDrive sometimes reboots mid navigation, annoying, yes, but not life threatening, until I discovered that by reboot, he meant, the one and only computer that literally controls everything. Cue him having to abort to the hard shoulder and wait for it to power back up.....

adolf hamster · 27 Nov 2017 at 14:19

Six6siX said:
Lol. As if current cars are going to be around in 20-30 years time. Modern cars are effectively disposable now.

pretty sure almost all classic cars have had that said about them at some point.

PiKe · 27 Nov 2017 at 14:24

Yeah but things are a bit different now with the focus on eliminating all fossil fuel cars.

In 30 years I imagine most diesel and petrol cars will be priced off the roads.

Six6siX · 27 Nov 2017 at 14:25

adolf hamster said:
pretty sure almost all classic cars have had that said about them at some point.

There'll be the odd classic, sure - just like the few classics from x years ago are around today.

But 99% of cars on the road are 'disposable' now. If something goes wrong with them or they get to the end of their lease period, they're traded in for a new model for the same monthly amount.

That's the business model that car manufacturers push for so the end user will never really end up dealing with faults and repairs. I think car ownership will become a thing of the past for the majority.

Nasher · 27 Nov 2017 at 14:39

Six6siX said:
Lol. As if current cars are going to be around in 20-30 years time. Modern cars are effectively disposable now.

Maybe ****** cars like Corsas etc, but some are built to last, especially Japanese ones. Cars certainly don't rust like they used to.

But I don't plan on selling my current car now. When the time comes that we're all forced in to boring AVs. I'll keep it aside for late night blasts in the countryside when no ones around