In case there was any doubt (good bad or indifferent)...here it comes ...from your friends at the gov't!


Link
http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/14/auto...ion=2006091409

 

I just hope all the hot cars have a "track mode" feature defeat button!

Matt

 

I'm fine w/ that if it only kicks in when absolutely needed...especially if (as a basic safety feature) it cannot be turned off. Most of us tend to regard DSC as a "necessity" anyway (although I don't have it).

 

I'm sure chip companies hope they don't! They'll make a killing

 

KIA makers are scratching their heads? what is stability control? is that a coffee cup holder? jk

 

On a KIA..Stability control means that there is a device in the auto that keeps it stable ON THE LIFT,....WHILE IT IS BEING REPAIRED UNDER ITS 100,000 MI WARRANTY! After the 100,000 miles is up...the device itself fails too!

 

Maybe one of these days some people will be required to know how to operate a vehicle in order to a get a license. That would be a nice safety feature.

 

yup, a half dozen hot laps in a RWD sports car with zero traction aid should be, imo, mandatory in order to drive on the streets.

If someone's never had the back of a car step out on them and successfully corrected at speed I feel that it's doing everyone on a road a disservice as many accidents that could have been avoided with training will occcur, and frankly I'd rather they not be on the road until they've successfully experienced/learned what to do.

 

State governments are too addicted to auto sales taxes, gasoline taxes, and ad valorem taxes - they'd never adopt regulations that would make it substantially harder for anyone with a pulse to get a driver's license.

 

Which has led the masses to believe driving is a right not a privilage.

Anyone know where I can go tear apart the porposal for the NTHSA as they are accepting comments from the public. Let's just say the VERY FIRST thing I do after starting the car is shut off the ASC. And when I did use it, it never detected a problem before me (however it does seem to have a disliking for straight line acceleration). IT has however created problems when there where none and incidentally the problem went away when shutting off the stability control.

I also see this having a simlar result to adding crusie control; people will believe that they don't need to know how to drive or will be willing to pay attention even less (one hand on the phone, one on the coffee, one playing with the SatNAV, one taking care of the kids, one hand hold the newspaper ing which they are reading but all things I've seen done behind the wheel) because they think that the computer will drive the car if they hit black ice, snow, rain, oil, a turn.

 

like a gyroscope. but Delphi's recalling all of em' this week. lol

 

Most new cars I'm interested in come with some form of it or another already, so no biggie to as long as there is an off switch. As it is I rarely have the need to turn off te DSC and do not have any issues with it.

A bigger concern to me is the future of all cars having black boxes and who has access to that info/how that info is used. Also, all the gadgets like radar distance control and the like are scarier to me as they remove people from the act of being involved in driving at all.

 

I think it is a good thing....

DSC is simply awesome, even if I turn it off as soon as I get in my car.

When it rains a lot, I leave it on and know it will assist me if I get a little too hard lol

 

I think exterior air bags might be a good idea, too. Works for auto collisions, hitting pedestrians, careening off a cliff, even as a flotation device.

 

The government has been talking about this for years. That is why you see more and more cars coming with stability control as standard or as options, even on lower priced cars.

BTW, the new KIA Sedona and Hyundai Entourage Minivans have DSC.

Steve

 

These two comments just about perfectly summarize the problem, IMNSHO. I saw a TV news report on this last night and all of the crash references were for SUV roll-overs. I would bet that in those examples, you would find the driver was not paying attention, driving faster than conditions allowed, and had their false sense of security based on their belief that being in an 8000lb vehicle w/full time AWD makes them invincible and exempt from the laws of physics.

It doesn't snow all that much, or very often here in Indy, but when it does I am completely stunned at the idiocy I see on the roads. Mandatory stability/traction control isn't going to do squat for the a**hole who is driving 60mph on ice. It really _would_ be good for Everyone if each driver had to demonstrate proper skills before being granted a liscence.

I recently took the MSF course so I could get the motorcycle endorsement on my liscense. To "pass", I had to complete a series of rider skills tests. I think this could be a good model to follow. Unfortunately however, the masses _do_ believe they are entitled by (insert your favorite divinity here - I choose the FSM) to drive and it makes me a fascist for thinking differently

 

Could be a good thing if the system really works. And there is a simple off switch.

I have a Nissan Titan and VDC (Same general thing) works but you have to watch it and know how it works or it can bite you.
If the Titan driver gets too frisky on wet/slippery roads there is a huge potential that VDC will kick in and possibly cause a problem for other motorist since the driver no longer has throttle control (Imagine limp home mode). Several folks have spoke up about it on the Titan forums that you gota watch it and it might be too sensative. I havent really had problems with VDC but now that it looks like it will be mandatory we all know our switches will be next thing to go as it becomes a standard feature instead of a selling point.

I must also say that DSC so far seems pretty good on the Mini and of course there is a switch.

 

Lots of cars have stability control. A few of those have a switch to turn it off (MINIs and BMWs come to mind). DSC is a good thing to have IF AND ONLY IF there's a switch to disable it. I very rarely turn mine off, but I appreciate the capability to turn it off. Once the feds get involved, I'm afraid the switches will go away and the calibration(s) of DSC will become overly intrusive.

We'll just have to wait and see if this is a good thing or a hamfisted killjoy.

Rawhyde

 

I don't get why KIA is being made fun of here..

 

know what would help people?

if they didnt make cars out of crap recycled steel from asia. Cars nowAdays look like someone ripped open an aluminum soda can.


I am not sure why KIA's are. However, my friends from korea joke about hyundai and kia all the time. They would never buy one.

good going USA!

 

You can always turn the traction control off, so wateva

 

Someone touched on the real problem here. SUV's rolling over and killing people. What the Gov needs to do is limit the size of these vehicles and mandate a center of gravity somewhere other than eight feet off the ground then these SUV's would slide instead of rolling. Ohh man I got going on SUV's must stop but cant. They are wastefull and the root of all trouble in the world. ugggg must stop can't go off deep end. God is coming she can't take any more H3's in the world and armagedon is happening. poop I see three horsemen they are chasing a guy in a Yukon XL, as if there was any size of Yukon not XL. Ahhhhh got through it and stoped.

I love MINI's and I hate SUV's god bless and good night.

 

It would be nice if market forces took care of this instead of the Feds. The "high" gasoline prices appear to be starting something if the auto sales reports are to be believed. People wanting to save $$ being spent on gas forces migration to smaller cars. Those who still need to haul more than one person around look to things like the Subaru Outback (25-28mpg hwy) instead of their Yukon (20mpg falling from the sky with a tailwind). The rest of us* realize that a MINI (or other comparitively sized car) satisfices for 95% of the things we need to do. We arrange for a home delivery for when we buy a sofa, washing machine, or big screen TV.

*Yes, I do recognize that there are people who have a legitimate need of a larger vehicle for towing purposes.

 

Yet another example of know-nothings in government trying to control every aspect of people's lives. This is just plain wrong.

Mark

 

its easier to make the the car companies comply than all the drivers. if the drivers now adays were re evaluated and denied the privilage of the license there would be mass anarchism no doubt. seriously i think this is totally stupid, the vehicle is not the problem the people driving them are. i have driven ford E350's plenty of time, talk about top heavy. i have never tipped it but only because i have never exceeded my or the van's limits