Share Your Take On Driver "Assist" Stability Control

[paradime]

It's not much of a stretch to say this but, I think what drivers perceive as responsive handling with modern cars is actually a programed synthetic experience. Unfortunately car manufacturers have gotten so good at this, it instills false confidence in their customers driving ability and no one "learns" to drive anymore.

 

Just a few years ago "Stability Control" was little more than crude Anti-Lock Braking. Now there's a staggering amount of information flying from sending units, position, pressure, temp, and angle sensors all networked to a central processor that interprets a huge amount of data every millisecond in order to adjust, adapt, and actuate a web of control components so multiple systems can all work in concert. It's purpose... to intervene and correct for slow, stupid, or otherwise inappropriate input from shitty drivers. Yes, this technology has made cars safer, but I argue it comes at the expense of pure driving bliss; the kind that comes from a direct analog connection between you, your car, and the road. I've heard arguments that the ease and comfort of these fail-safe systems are not only making driving more enjoyable for some and have expanded the capability of race cars and their drivers. It also gives greater access to people who have no business owning a sports car, let alone driving one. While technology improves driving for these people, at the risk of sounding alarmist, I fear we're all being gently pushed into a passenger seat with a nice wheel to play with while the car takes us safely down the road.

 

I can envision a day when the electronic ECU CPU managed AWD, CVT, ABS, GPS monitored, fly by wire no lag throttle body, power lane assist steering, stability controlled, dumb driver safety override system will make driving obsolete. Then it's only a matter of time before we're sitting on interestingly textured loveseats in a small perfectly unoffensive box that delivers us to where we're going. Instead of windows, your box will have computer displays showing comfortably validating video images, so you and your family won't have to interact with each other, or look at ugly featureless roads that are "cost effective" to build and maintain. That's when our grandkids will smile at us and pretend to be interested when we tell them how fun 3 peddles, a stick, and a wheel use to be. "Children, when I was your age my family had a 1957 Dodge pickup camper with an engine on it's 3rd rebuild and so much play in the steering, the wheel had to rotate half way round before it would turn the truck. During the heat of summer, my dad would drive us across five states in that rig with no AC just to visit our grandmother in Iowa. The only music device we had were the random orchestra of clanks groans and squeaks it made going down the road. We never made that trip without breaking down at least once, but to us that's what made it an adventure."

 

Last year I made that trip again with my dad in his 2018 Acura MDX, and yes it has all the fancy wiz bang doodads. Everything was perfectly comfortable stable quiet smooth and reliable, in fact there wasn't a hardship or adventure to be had the entire trip. Holy shit that thing devoured the road so effortlessly it distorted my sense of time and reality. It was like being in a dream, and suddenly we woke up in Iowa. I was impressed, but at the same time felt cheated out of the kind of experience I'd hoped to revisit.

 

One day we'll surrender to cushioned boxes but until then, drive your Datsun like you mean it. Before going though,  Share Your Take On Driver "Assist" Stability Control.

 

 

[john510]

I think it's made the roads more dangerous.People think they're now indestructible and immune from accidents because of this technology.I drive everyday and it seems like the idiots are out in full force X10 compared to years ago.Or i'm just so fed with up asshole drivers and have had enough.

[angliagt]

                Because of things like this,I have NO desire to buy a new vehicle.

We do have a '97 Miata that is still fairly basic for a newer car,& my Wife

has a 2010 Ford Fusion,with a 6 speed MANUAL transmission.

            I liked it when only knowledgeable drivers bought BMW's or used

driving lights (with courtesy).

[datzenmike]

My wife's car will pull you back toward the lane you are wandering out of. You can feel it tug thew wheel to remind you. I came up behind a car turning to the left. The car saw this as something stopped in the road. It was moving slowly and although it would have been out of the way by the time I got to it the car jammed the brakes on. If in cruise control and you overtake a car it matches the lower speed. I'm probably stating what all you guys take for granted in cars these days but I have little experience (or patience) with 'new cars'. The climate control, though probably ergonomic or intuitive,  makes absolutely now fucking sense to me. I was driving and the windshield began to fog I could not figure out how to defrost it. I had to pull over and fuck with the controls. What the fuck happened to low/high/ off fan??? cold<>hot??? DEFROST?????  Instead 8 speeds, recirculation or fresh air in, L&R comfort zones set the temp and it maintains it, and not one printed word to tell you what setting is what. I did drive it almost 1,500 miles this summer in July and AC was nice. (I would turn it up higher and roll the window down some) I'm glad there was no emergency evasion maneuver that the car might interpret as something else. Ever see those YouTubes where Mustangs are leaving a car show and the light up the tires for a hundred feet, get out of control and crash? And I'm sure everyone viewing would say WTF? I could have steered out of that or all he had to do was let off on the brakes. I wonder if the stability control and brakes kicked in and overrode the driver's input?? 

 

In '57 my dad bought a '51 Chev, his first car. It didn't even have turn signals or back up lights, you had to arm signal. I remember how cold the car got in the winter when the window came down. The wipers were vacuum operated and would stop when you floored the gas to go up any hill. The tires all had tubes just like a bicycle. Like a lawn mower it relied on splash oiling and didn't have an oil pump or filter. You ALWAYS checked the oil level. To run below the crankshaft was to destroy the engine. The hydraulic brakes were like the 521 and all on the same circuit. A leak anywhere and your brakes were quickly gone. A Sunday drive was an adventure.  My wife's car is never an adventure, more like sitting on the couch at home.

[paradime]

Have you ever tried reading the user manual of a modern car to access and adjust things like suspension controls, AWD, or lane assist functions? It's fucking comical how complex and user unfriendly it is just to turn the shit off. Hell, I had to plow through 3 damn pages of tiny printed test in what looked like a Bible writer in three languages trying to get my iPhone connected to the stereo in my dad's car, that BTW has 5.1 surround sound capability I might add. I mean WT bloody F is the point of that!?!

 

Check this out, you know how cars beep now when you're close to bumping into something trying to park? My wife's car makes the beeping sound come out of the speaker nearest to the approaching object.  Seriously folks? The car's backup camera shows a down view of the entire F'n car in all directions, so what difference does it make what speaker the beeping comes out!?! 

Edited November 1, 2020 by paradime