Deliberately Testing The Eba (Electronic Brake Assist)

[Mooly]

First a warning... DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS if other vehicles are behind you.

I tried this the other day and was surprised how much more aggresive it was compared to the old TSport. The feature is supposed to address the issue of folk not actually braking hard enough in an emergency.

To see or rather experience, test and really feel the effect of this you have to "hit" the brakes fast but not hard if that makes sense. Obviously in a real emergency stop you don't think you just hit the brakes... doing it this way lets you experience and control the effect.

So with nothing behind and say travelling at 40 mph or so really hit the brakes fast, but dont press the pedal down much. Get it right and the brakes will feel many many times more sensitive, as if greatly over servoed with way too much assistance. As soon as you release all returns to normal.

I was surprised at just how aggresive they were needing only the lightest pressure to do a full emergency stop if needed.

But as mentioned, DON'T EVEN THINK of doing this with traffic behind.

[dawesy]

i have done this from 70 on an empty road, it actually hurts and the VSC system keeps the car straight and true.

as said though try it with traffic around and its gonna get messy :censor:

[jdmare]

Why would you want to do this?

Maybe you can find a way to see or rather experience, test and really feel the effect of airbag deployment next?

[Aurissimo]

Braking performance is primarily defined by:

The tyre performance.

The road friction coefficient.

The mass and speed of the vehicle.

The ABS unit ( which regulated the brake force applied to the wheels.)

As far as I know... your brake efforts are overruled by the wheel speed sensor and the decisions your ABS and VSC (if fitted) make, to ensure you do not lock the wheels and slide all over the place...

So I think what you have evaluated, is the performance characteristics of the latest ABS software version, which has been tuned to your vehicles characteristics, and supplemented by your VSC, if you have VSC.

I would suggest that even talking about doing things like this on "empty roads" is discouraged.

As it is not only the risk to other drivers, but if you mis-judged the road conditions, tyre conditions etc ... no amount of ABS, EBA, VSC , MOT, ABC, ETC... will save you of potentially stacking it and causing no end of hassle to emergency services and subsequent drivers passing by... :(

Todays piece of driving advice, has been brought to you by Captain Sensible... ;)

[Mooly]

Hi Captain Sensible ;) and jdmare

Well personally I feel it's good to know what to expect and what these features actually translate to in real world conditions. On a similar theme, how many folk know what to expect when the ABS operates for example, many might be alarmed at the pedal sensation and actually release the brakes involuntarily.

That was my reason for trying this and sharing it on the forum. The ABS unit probably senses the rate of change of pressure as your foot hits the pedal and adjusts the brake sensitivity accordingly. It makes a huge difference though, feels almost as big an increase as going from non servoed to servoed brakes on the Auris.

[forevered]

what is vsc and does my sr have it ?

also does my car have electronic stability program (esp) ?

[Aurissimo]

VSC = Vehicle Stability Control

which is what some manufacturers call

ESP= Electronic Stability Program

etc etc etc

. There is no "standard" name, and manufacturers will come with their own "cool" word...

If you have VSC aka ESP, then you will have a button next to the door mirror adjust switch ( bottom right side of the steering wheel column) which has a picture of a car and some wiggly lines...

if you just have blank spaces... that will be a no

[dawesy]

I would suggest that even talking about doing things like this on "empty roads" is discouraged.

As it is not only the risk to other drivers, but if you mis-judged the road conditions, tyre conditions etc ... no amount of ABS, EBA, VSC , MOT, ABC, ETC... will save you of potentially stacking it and causing no end of hassle to emergency services and subsequent drivers passing by... :(

Todays piece of driving advice, has been brought to you by Captain Sensible... ;)

well I always think its best to try these things in a controlled environment so I know what to expect in an emergency!

if things start going south I can release the brake pedal as there was plenty of room to stop normally.

and for your info it was an empty road, it was done at 3AM on my way home from work and there was not another car in sight.

you'll be saying next never use full acceleration in your car in case you lose control!

[toytech80]

Your be complaining of brake judder next!Why the the hell would anyone!

[jdmare]

These things actually exist because you do not know what to expect in an emergency. Nobody does.

A real emergency means that you will have a split part of a second or less to react to what's going on.

Trust me...if you start thinking about is my vsc on, how does the EBA feel, does my car oversteer or understeer, should I punch the brake fast or hard, should I turn left or right... you will wake up in the hospital, if you are lucky. :crutchy:

There is absolutely no sensible reason to go around trying to engage safety devices. They have been tested plenty by the only guys who are fit to do so - the crash test dummies.

[david dey]

HI. I have a garden wall that needs removing, please feel free to test your airbags.

[Cyker]

While it's nice to know they work, it's best not to rely on the safety features to save you from an accident.

That said, I do think some of these things should be incorporated into driving lessons or something tho' to give people better experience with them and teach them to take better advantage of such systems - I've heard about so many people having minor collisions in normal conditions because their ABS triggered unexpectedly and they panicked, thinking their brakes were grinding out or something, and lifted when they should have just kept the pressure on. (I suspect this is partly why the brake assist 'feature' was created!)

[Mooly]

While it's nice to know they work, it's best not to rely on the safety features to save you from an accident.

That said.......................

That all sounds very sensible and pretty much sums up my thoughts too :)