Oh, you won't hear me arguing against that - in the light of recent events with Toyota vehicles, it seems like there are more and more people out there who don't even know why there are other positions of the shifter than Park, Reverse, and Drive, let alone how to actually use said shifter positions... And heavens forbid the traction control malfunctioning on snow, it's brace for impact and pray to your preferred deity time! lol

I agree with ya man, everyone who gets behind the wheel should have the skills to either bring their vehicle under control, or at least make a reasonable effort to do so, in case one or more of the automatic systems fail. Engineers actually do still build them things in a way that we always have some input in the vehicle's behavior, it's up to the driver tho to know how take advantage of that redundancy. In case of Ford's speed-sensitive variable-assist steering, IIRC should something go wrong electronically the system defaults to full assist, just like all the older cars are - same with many other systems in newer cars, from the HVAC to powertrain, the backup is always there, but as you say if one ain't never had to ride without the training wheels things can get real interesting if daddy CPU lets go all of sudden. That said I still really like some of them new things, Ford's variable steering being one, and also GM's absolutely wicked traction control that goes in their fullsize SUVs. That self-steering that Lincoln and Lexus are pushing now tho, that's a whole different story, it would be the first on the "disable" list if I ever get into one of them cars...

 

I can see it causing causing wrecks when it breaks. If a person is used to driving it and it quits even though the steering goes back to normal, the person is way more likely to oversteer than they ould be if the rig had always had normal steering. So for me I don't need any help steering my ride. That is like the dealer trying to charge me extra for ez lift tailgate. I told him as far as I was concerned it was worth less with it, and when I get to where I can't shut a tailgate I would turn in my liscence.

 

X2, while I will admit one of the bimmers I had had awesome electronics when it came to steering feedback, braking and body control (to the point you had to make a concious effort to TRY get it to let loose), When on the track, or in a traffic situation that calls for 10/10ths manuvering give me the old fashioned manual control any day.

On one of my modified cads the pump changed boost level based on speed, at 15mph steering effort would increase, then agin at 45....I noticed the flaw in this system while track testing a suspension setup I put together for it....trying to induce understeer I went into a 180*sweeping left at 60mph, as I was scrubbing off speed, clearly near the limits, I dropped below 42MPH....the steering got really light really quick....so much so that I thought something had broken...needless to say that was the last day that pump stayed on the car

 

Star, but ain't that the case with about anything on the vehicle? Should we also throw away the 4-channel ABS brakes too? There are way too many things that if they go wrong can potentially cause an accident if the person behind the wheel don't know how to react, but you gotta look at the big picture - there are millions of cars out on the roads, and yes some of them are bound to have the type of failure and accident you describe, but there are a whole lot more other cars that will avoid a potential accident because the safety system installed in the vehicle. Ultimately it does boil down to the driver's skills, but come on, these days you can't even refresh your snow-driving techniques in the local mall's empty parking lot without getting busted by the fuzz for street racing (major case of WTF? logic), so how are most new drivers expected to be able to handle their vehicles if they have no where to practice that? Yeah, there are performance driving schools, but those cost an arm and a leg, and the way insurance cartels work you probably get red-flagged as high-risk driver the moment you even complete one said class... It's a real messed up situation any way you look at it.

Let me ask you something else tho - say a good friend of yours has a daughter who just got her license, would you have him put her in an old pickup truck like what we drive, or would you feel safer for her if she was in a newer vehicle with all these electronics to assist her where her experience lacks? Ignore the financial side of the situation, and we're talking about your regular teenage kid from the suburbs here (situation out in the boonies is rather different) as that's where the majority of the US population seems to be gathered at...

 

Right, but that's not your everyday driving situation - for spirited driving many of the safety equipment the new vehicles come equipped with does get in your way more than it helps you, but most folks on the public roads don't have the skills to handle a situation like what you describe - it's for those daily commutes and weekend family trips that all them safety systems get installed, to help out the average driver should they encounter a non-average situation.

 

I dont have any love at all for abs brakes. I truly wish people had to learn to drive with regular old drum brakes.

 

Ok so I checked and all our CV's at work have vacum assist. The info I was given was from our fleet manager who was in charge of getting the vehicle fixed. I don't think he even knows where the oil dip stick is so I am sure something was lost in translation between the dealer who fixed the vehicle and the info I was given. Not surprised.

As far as the "brain" of the car altering the steering depending on the speed, I am not for it. As I found out the hard way, when it fails its not in the drivers favor. Luckily nobody was seriously injured but all the potential was there. As far as the high speed driving with the CV, altered steering or not it is less than desirable over 100mph. I am of the mind set they should build the vehicles to handle like race cars and train the drivers to handle it, not the vehicles computer. It's been my experiance that the computer over compensates and slows the vehicle, which is safer for the inexperianced driver but leads to getting out run by a stock Honda Civic 4 banger that produces 80 hp. That just should not happen!

With all that said, God Bless my 1992 "retard" Ford diesel where I have to be the one who thinks.

 

My PICV is stock other than a chip, and it will hit 150 now.
I have NEVER been out run by a stock honda.

 

only problem I have ever come across in our trucks is the ABS light comes on because the valve cannot dump fast enough to keep the rears from locking up. With my F450's, there is no issue whatsoever. The massive 4 wheel discs work great. My F350 with the hydro conversion will code the ABS and lock up the rear axle when unloaded but with a 10-14k trailer, there is no lockup and stops darn fast. the truck's weight is 8k with no load.

 

Maybe there is some sort of govener or something on ours. They're ok from 0-100 but are rather sluggish between 100-120. Fastest I can get them to go is 122. This is on both our brand new cars in the fleet and our tired old dogs. The sad thing is we have a Dodge charger with the 6 cyl in it that can out run our PI's with the 8 cyl. From reading this post sounds like there might be a few mechanics that are familiar with the PI's and might have some explenations. I know the Charger was a slug til the dealership reflashed the computer then it began out running our PI's.

 

Agp, don't try to run a factory Crown Vic much past 100 mph, they handle rather scary at such high speeds. A set of springs and matching shocks later tho, as well as the biggest swaybars they make for the Panther platform, and preferably some 17" wheels with god Z-rated tires, then things become different. By the way the speed limiter is in the PCM, Bill's CVPI can run that fast likely cause the chop he has bypasses the speed limiter.

Towcat, I actually never experienced the RABS issues you mention, and my truck is lighter than yours plus the piston return spring in the RABS is much stiffer than factory so it can purge the accumulator chamber faster. Of course it ain't never too late for something like that to happen, I'll see if I can get her to act stupid next time my 1/4-mile driveway gets all snowy and slippery...

 

The tuner completely redid the PCM programming, it shifts better and runs faster and smoother.

Factory they feel ok to about 120, after that the things you list are a big help.

If you run over the factory speed limiter ( 120 with 3.55s, 128 with 3.27s or 135 with 3.08s) You MUST loop the drive shaft.

 

Xcalibrator chip? Or something else? And which driveshaft you have, it's probably aluminum, but is it the fancy MMX type, or the regular one?

 

For some reason i remember our last order of PI had carbon fiber drive shafts.

 

Which is actually quite odd - carbon fiber shafts are great at high rotational speeds, but they can't handle any damage to them, even a small blemish on the surface can cause them to delaminate when big torque is applied. I'd think this makes them rather unsuitable for police vehicles that are expected to be jumping curbs and running through and over all sorts of stuff on the road...