Toyota steer by wire...

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I was reading this recently and my first thought was maybe it was a joke ....but appears to be a thing!

Why would anyone want/buy a car where the steering wheel is not physically connected to the road wheels!

I can't help but think this is a solution hunting desperately for a problem!

Toyota to begin steer-by-wire production in 2024 | Autocar

'One Motion Grip' system is set to be offered initially on the Toyota bZ4X and Lexus RZ

www.autocar.co.uk

 

[Haz87]

How else can manufacturers charge a subscription fee for the Steering "feature" with our current dated format of steering racks

 

[beeRS]

Seems like another step further away from 'real' driving.

 

[Kayos]

Oh no! Progress!!!!

Let's smash the machines, we are all dooooomed I tell ya!!!

Let's go back to leaf springs, steering boxes and cross ply tyres

We could bring back polio, diphtheria and mass childhood mortality as well?

 

[Ton-up]

That won't go wrong at all will it.

 

[gjn]

Electric throttles are fairly universal, how many people know or care that there is no cable?
No-one bats an eyelid flying at 35,000 feet with all control done by electronics.
10 years from now it will be a non-event.

 

[123hotchef]

I was reading this recently and my first thought was maybe it was a joke ....but appears to be a thing!

Why would anyone want/buy a car where the steering wheel is not physically connected to the road wheels!

I can't help but think this is a solution hunting desperately for a problem!

Toyota to begin steer-by-wire production in 2024 | Autocar

'One Motion Grip' system is set to be offered initially on the Toyota bZ4X and Lexus RZ

www.autocar.co.uk

its an mot fail aint it, steering wheel not connected to road wheels

 

[AVI_8]

They’ve had it on aircraft for a long time

Definately NEVER goes wrong

 

[Blobber]

Most drivers are pretty detached from the car driving experience so doubt many will notice! Going to be another expensive fix when it goes wrong, premmingtons going to be holding his head in his hands sobbing

 

[Kayos]

They’ve had it on aircraft for a long time

Definately NEVER goes wrong

View attachment 423519

That's not how the plane is steered

 

[AVI_8]

That's not how the plane is steered

No?
How do you steer it then

 

[Burdekin]

That's not how the plane is steered

There's folk who think if the wheel brakes are stuck on a plane can't fly.

 

[ukracer]

There's folk who think if the wheel brakes are stuck on a plane can't fly.

It certainly makes landing interesting. Lol

 

[MetalMonkey]

Oh no! Progress!!!!

There is progress and there is cost saving. The two are not necessarily the same.

I would guess this is going to be a lot cheaper and easier for production to use a fly-by-wire system allowing them more flexibility over design and mounting the controls, and also easy to make LHD and RHD models.
I can't see much benefit to the punter, just more expensive repairs.

On an aircraft fly-by-wire systems are heavily redundant, multiple flight controllers, multiple busses because they can, and they do go wrong.
Maintenance schedules are also very strict on an aircraft and pilots are alert and trained to follow procedures in case of faults.
Mrs miggens in ten year old toyota popping down to the shop, I suspect not so much.

Like the rest of these systems, it will work fine for a few years, and probably end up being a complete nightmare to diagnose once it gets old and flaky.

 

[Erie Fred]

Yup ^^^ and I might add that the electronics on the automobile ones will be sourced for $5 total and be made overseas.

 

[Wildefalcon]

Oh no! Progress!!!!

Let's smash the machines, we are all dooooomed I tell ya!!!

Let's go back to leaf springs, steering boxes and cross ply tyres

We could bring back polio, diphtheria and mass childhood mortality as well?

My car has leaf springs, steering boxes and originally had cross plys, though it now has radials in a cross ply size.

It's still going, still reliable, but doesn't cause mass childhood mortality.

I don't see the link between the two.

On the contrary, I had heard that a lot of child labour was involved in the mining of the minerals used in modern cars, or was that my imagination?

My car is repairable, uses inexpensive components and doesn't depend on a software update to ensure it continues to steer.

 

[lchris21]

How else can manufacturers charge a subscription fee for the Steering "feature" with our current dated format of steering racks

Ive recently found this out whilst researching cars for her indoors recent transport upgrade, that they are already cottoning on to the subscription lifestyle that the average punter lives life by these days. Doing some research on the various spec levels on second had cars when they left the factory, and quite a few of the "progress" driver aid upgrades are already built in but require a subscription to activate Want Satnav or heated seats on your 2-year old Audi/VW......just pop into the main dealer sign up to be fleeced every month and its yours. Gone are the days of picking up a "fully-loaded" second hand motor, some of them are time related "upgrades" also, so even if you as the second owner decided it was a must have, the third owner will have to pay again when the subscription ends!
Ended up with a 2 years old VW Golf for her. Comes with its own SIM card hidden in the car which sends a signal to VW if you try to plug an un-authorsied diagnostic tool in....nice of em I thought.

 

[finyuk2005]

having had to replace an electric assited power steering rack in a landrover evoque, one that is completly disconnected sounds like a terrible idea!
The ZF rack in the evoque, and teslas, and fords i think too ( was quite a big recall at one point, for everyone except landrover!) can go haywire, making the steering wheel spin back an forth wildly completly out of control, luckily the evoque i fixed did it in the garage at the house, but i doubt that would be fun on the motorway!

 

[hotponyshoes]

The last time I had a regular vehicle with a throttle cable was 2003.

Plenty of cars with electric power steering assist that don't seem to have many problems.

Agreed, will be far more expensive when it does go wrong but I can see a few advantages if it's tied into the abs/traction/collision avoidance systems.

I guess it's another step towards self driving vehicles and one of those for the daily drive would suit me just fine.

 

[optima21]

I hear they do self parking on modern cars where one-one is using the steering wheel, I guess thats done by electronics too, its just that the steering wheel may still be connected to the road weels