Drive by wire - fly by wire??

Faithless

Faithless

Faithless

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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?
 
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.
 
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.
 
Unless you have a rather impressive car, which can fly, I'd say Drive by Wire is more appropriate ;)
 
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.
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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.
 
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.
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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.
 
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"..
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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.
 
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.
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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)
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 :o
 
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?
 
austinpowers said:
By lag i mean when you re-apply the throttle, it takes a split second to react. (not turbo lag)
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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.
 
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