Feds to probe cause of runaway Prius in California

"Visually checking the brake pads and rotor it was clearly visible that there was nothing left"

A part of me wonders....

Considering how easy it is to swap around brake pads, someone theoretically could remove them and either grind off the material, or put a "spent" set of pads back in.... Or, just plain neglect and failing to install new brake pads when needed....

 

I agree. Our Prius (albeit a 1st generation) didn't need front pads until 125,000 miles. And the only reason I had to do them was because the car sat for a while (during the rainy season) and the front rotors rusted beyond being worth saving. It was easy enough just to swap out the pads and rotors, and was quite inexpensive.

 

Just heard the news conference and they reported that the brake pedal was pressed over 250+ times on his "wild ride" and that the break pattern wear was "on and off" braking.

pretty sure he's in deep now.

 

Time to buy another Prius before the scare subsides.

 

Eureka!

This should please to no end those who have been long predicting the
existence of a "smoking gun." Seems like it its last shot passed through
the shooter's foot.

 

Yes, interesting how it wore to metal.Also, we need to understand thought that the Prius' brake pads and rotors are nowhere near what they are on race car. My wife's front pads, 96 Avalon had issues of coming apart practically before its time. But then, maybe she was riding them more than I would?

 

This is all well and good but you are forgetting two important facts:

1. No matter if all electronics failed at the same time: there is a direct mechanical connection from the brake pedal to the hydraulic brake system. There would only be no power assist with dead electronics. You can still stop the car.
2. The total engine power is nowhere near that of the braking power on the car. There isn't a car made that the brakes can't stop even with full throttle applied. It just takes more distance.
   Of course if you leave the garage with completely worn out brakes in the first place, then you can't stop, engine or no engine.
   
   Walt

 

I have a question for the experts monitoring this thread ( I hope it hasn't already been asked, but I didn't see it when I scanned the various replies).

IF someone WANTED to "fake" a runaway Prius, how could it be done? It's been stated numerous times in this thread that the Prius has a failsafe interlock where pressure on the brake pedal cuts off acceleration. The police officer involved stated that he smelled the brakes "burning." If he smelled the brakes burning (that would appear to be hard to fake), it seems to imply that the driver DID have his foot on the brakes. If he did have his foot on the brake, then how did he keep the vehicle from slowing down. Which brings me back to my question, CAN it be faked? If so, how?

Thanks.

 

At the press conference on Monday, it was revealed that the log downloaded from the hybrid computer's diagnostic system in Sikes' Prius showed that the brake pedal and gas pedal were alternatingly engaged at lease 250 times. (the system logs the most recent 250 events).

It would be a simple matter to try that on a test track and see what kind of brake pad wear results from it.

Someone else in another thread also raised the possibility that Sikes might have been abusing his brake pads in this manner for days to wear them down before perpetrating that incident.

 

If we ignore the options of tampering with the control system to directly operate the brakes, there are two easy ways to burn the brakes while moving:

1) Hold down the accelerator pedal and press the brake, but keep the brake pressure below the brake override threshold (about 50%).

2) Alternate between acceleration and braking. To force friction braking, shift to N for each braking cycle. Braking with shifting to N will also work once the HV battery charges to the high limit.

Tom

 

I am more interested in a run-away congress. No brakes there.

 

If we could just point them at the sea.

Tom

 

Tell them the lobbyists are waiting at the shoreline. :madgrin:

 

Just an aside.
My wife has a 200 Jeep Cherokee, postal version. Also a 1998 Subaru Postal.
She is a mail carrier, and makes 600 stops a day on average.
She wears out a set of brakes in 6000 miles.
I do all the brake work.
Yes she overheats brakes!
Makes the rotors red hot too.
Brakes getting that hot can and will boil brake fluid, leaving a spongy pedal afterewards until they are bled.
She has also dried out the rubber piston seals in the calipers to where they have blown. Calipers only last her a year or so due to the heat.
Everything everywhere is covered in brake dust.

If this guy really burnt out the brakes, there would be evidence...........

 

My question for those in the know is how long of a readout by time was this: 1minute, 10 minutes, since it was started?

 

There is no doubt that the brakes were expended. Only question is why he purposely did it.

 

We don't know for sure. The limited information that we have suggests that the count gets reset after each boot. If this is true, it would be for the entire previous trip.

Tom