Drive by wire - fly by wire??

Faithless · 13 Jan 2007 at 01:25

Electronic throttle, is it drive by wire or fly by wire.

Up until a few years ago I always said fly by wire until it was pointed out to me that this technology was reserved for planes and that drive by wire was more appropriate to cars.

What do you call it?

PMKeates · 13 Jan 2007 at 01:27

Electronic throttle?

Glaucus · 13 Jan 2007 at 01:30

Drive by wire for cars,
Fly by wire for planes.

LOl it really is that simple. It'd very similar biotechnology used for different circumstances.

austinpowers · 13 Jan 2007 at 01:30

I call it "fly by wire", my astra had it has do many modern cars, took a bit to get used to , as i felt it had "lag"..

Hawk Tuah · 13 Jan 2007 at 01:33

I'd just call it electronic throttle.

If someone said to me 'drive by wire' I'd be thinking steering, brakes, gearbox and throttle all done electronically.

andi · 13 Jan 2007 at 01:33

Unless you have a rather impressive car, which can fly, I'd say Drive by Wire is more appropriate

Glaucus · 13 Jan 2007 at 01:36

Bug One said:
I'd just call it electronic throttle.

If someone said to me 'drive by wire' I'd be thinking steering, brakes, gearbox and throttle all done electronically.

Ok I'm confused what are we talking about. Drive by wire would control everything, Brakes, throttle, Steering ect.
If it just controls throttles surely just advance Cruise control.

PMKeates · 13 Jan 2007 at 01:45

AcidHell2 said:
Ok I'm confused what are we talking about. Drive by wire would control everything, Brakes, throttle, Steering ect.
If it just controls throttles surely just advance Cruise control.

An electronic throttle is just one where an electronic measurement of pedal depression is taken and given to the ECU, with which it can do what it wants - there's no direct link between the pedal and actual throttle.

s0ck · 13 Jan 2007 at 03:55

austinpowers said:
I call it "fly by wire", my astra had it has do many modern cars, took a bit to get used to , as i felt it had "lag"..

Wasn't a 1.7DTi was it? What is it about Vauxhall diesel's... even the 2.0DTi we've got has the same feeling of 'lag'. Have to leather it to get it to move anywhere; most annoying.

austinpowers · 13 Jan 2007 at 04:01

s0ck said:
Wasn't a 1.7DTi was it? What is it about Vauxhall diesel's... even the 2.0DTi we've got has the same feeling of 'lag'. Have to leather it to get it to move anywhere; most annoying.

Funny that

Yeah, but other "fly by wire" cars i've driven seemed to be the same, the revs never dropped quick enough etc..

By lag i mean when you re-apply the throttle, it takes a split second to react. (not turbo lag)

Ev0 · 13 Jan 2007 at 12:52

After the mk1 Clio 172 they changed the throttle from a cable system to an electronic system. Quite a few people buy the bits to change it back as they don't like it.

Lashout_UK · 13 Jan 2007 at 13:01

Likewise my dad's Mercedes suffers from long response times - but in that instance I'm not entirely convinced it's the lack of a cable connection, more the processing time required by everything inbetween that causes the issue.

The Edge · 13 Jan 2007 at 14:25

The Corsa i'm learning in has an electronic throttle. I've had 11 lessons and still get caught out by it

Dogbreath · 13 Jan 2007 at 15:03

Sluggish response in electronic throttle cars are not an inherrent problem with the technology, it's actualy programmed into the system to give a smoother ride (as many people don't/can't use a conventional throttle in a progressive manner). It also means softer engine mounts can be used to to reduce NVH.

I fully agree it's a very annoying trait however.

JonnyT · 13 Jan 2007 at 15:22

I've heard them referred to as a 'Fly-by-wire throttle' in F1 for many years - both by commentators, drivers and engineers. I agree with Bug One that Drive-by-wire implies a more comprehensive computerised driving experience whereby the driver has no direct mechanical inputs to the steering, engine and brakes, much the same as a pilot in a fighter aircraft.

As for their practical uses, I'm not a big fan of them as they (obviously) feel very artificial - compared to the 'proper' mechnical throttle in my Cav, I didn't like the fly-by-wire throttle in my folks' Mk1 and Mk2 Focus - it literally feels like a switch/lever with nothing attached to it (which is true apart from a potentiometer!) & there's no resistance, no 'weight' to it like on a mechanical pedal.

I must be getting old

Guigsy · 13 Jan 2007 at 19:38

Some motorbikes are now getting 'fly by wire' on their throttles. With the changes in exhaust emission regulations over the past few years, manufacturers are having to make changes to the fuelling system. The end result is a lot of modern bikes have a very jerky throttle, particularly at low revs. Fly by wire throttle is supposed to help because they take the response of your hand and guess what you want the bike to do and iron out the jerkyness. A slow response on a bike would make it hard to ride, you need throttle control to corner on a bike. I've not read anything but praise for the bikes that have got FBW so far, so I don't think the technology is inherantly bad.

I also don't see why a car with FBW throttle has to have a 'dead' feel to the throttle either. You get a pretty progressive amount of resistance on a normal throttle and there's no feedback, it must be pretty easy to copy. Maybe they just need to add bigger springs to the pedal?

Didn't the Punto Mk2 have FBW throttle about 8 years ago?

s0ck · 13 Jan 2007 at 21:16

austinpowers said:
By lag i mean when you re-apply the throttle, it takes a split second to react. (not turbo lag)

That's exactly what I mean and it's all down to this fly by wire thing then? What other cars have it? My pug diesel doesn't do it, nor my old mans Octavia or in fact, any other car I've driven :s I was convinced it was a fault until I drove the 2.0DTi.