Modern cars that *don't* cut the throttle when braking?
Discussion
I'm a left-foot braker. Have been for decades. On the roads I drive most often (Yorkshire Dales), I find it incredibly frustrating that modern cars I've driven up here (which, in fairness, are both family barges - an Alhambra SE Lux 185 and a Pug 5008) seem to cut the throttle when the brake is applied.
Is this common to all modern cars with drive by wire throttles? Can it be mapped out? One of the big benefits of modern paddle-shift vehicles (although I'd much rather the DSG of the Alhambra than the nasty lazy badly-mapped auto in the Pug) is the one-foot-per-pedal potential, allowing properly-controlled driving over twisting and undulating roads at NSL. But it is *so* frustrating to have to plan around this throttle-cut behaviour (especially when there seems to be a delay between brake release and throttle activation if one overlaps).
And before too many think I'm engaging in wild left-foot-braking oversteer moments, this isn't that; it is that modern cars are so heavy, and these roads so tight, that settling the car up on the brakes is a very important part of managing weight transfer; the ideal is then to feather out of the brake whilst bringing in the throttle, keeping the vehicle loaded-up to avoid nasty transients. If wanted oversteer, I've a little mid-engined all-manual almost-classic for that
Surely suitably-sporting moderns aren't set up like this, are they?
Obv not a problem in my non-ABS, non-drive-by-wire other vehicles. But given that my next purchase is likely to be something a lot more modern and electronic and better-suited to these roads, I'd rather narrow down my list ahead of time rather than testing endless dead ends.
Is this common to all modern cars with drive by wire throttles? Can it be mapped out? One of the big benefits of modern paddle-shift vehicles (although I'd much rather the DSG of the Alhambra than the nasty lazy badly-mapped auto in the Pug) is the one-foot-per-pedal potential, allowing properly-controlled driving over twisting and undulating roads at NSL. But it is *so* frustrating to have to plan around this throttle-cut behaviour (especially when there seems to be a delay between brake release and throttle activation if one overlaps).
And before too many think I'm engaging in wild left-foot-braking oversteer moments, this isn't that; it is that modern cars are so heavy, and these roads so tight, that settling the car up on the brakes is a very important part of managing weight transfer; the ideal is then to feather out of the brake whilst bringing in the throttle, keeping the vehicle loaded-up to avoid nasty transients. If wanted oversteer, I've a little mid-engined all-manual almost-classic for that
Surely suitably-sporting moderns aren't set up like this, are they?
Obv not a problem in my non-ABS, non-drive-by-wire other vehicles. But given that my next purchase is likely to be something a lot more modern and electronic and better-suited to these roads, I'd rather narrow down my list ahead of time rather than testing endless dead ends.
Yes, it's common in most (maybe all) of them, it's to cut the accelerator off in case the pedal gets stuck under a carpet or heavy item etc.
Some of the more sporting manuals may allow it, some only allow it for a second or less for heel + toe but then deactivate the accelerator so left foot braking won't work with them either.
You might be able to map it out as you said.
No matter what you are looking at you'll probably have to test drive it to find out, though I'll be interested to see if anyone owns a car made in the last 5 years which does allow both pedals to be operated at the same time!
Some of the more sporting manuals may allow it, some only allow it for a second or less for heel + toe but then deactivate the accelerator so left foot braking won't work with them either.
You might be able to map it out as you said.
No matter what you are looking at you'll probably have to test drive it to find out, though I'll be interested to see if anyone owns a car made in the last 5 years which does allow both pedals to be operated at the same time!
[quote=0ddball]Managing weight transfer? What a load of old fanny 
Have you tried learning to drive normally? It seems to work for 99.9% of drivers out there.
[/quote
Got to agree with this , borderline replying after the initial post but felt a rant coming on so walked away . OP , you're not Seb Loeb nor will ever have an nth of his talent so just drive normally on the road
Have you tried learning to drive normally? It seems to work for 99.9% of drivers out there.
[/quote
Got to agree with this , borderline replying after the initial post but felt a rant coming on so walked away . OP , you're not Seb Loeb nor will ever have an nth of his talent so just drive normally on the road
Heaveho said:
People who don't left foot brake, at least in an auto, have no idea about how much more quickly you can get a vehicle stopped if required. Seb Loeb! FFS. Don't knock it until you understand it.
Fully understand it thanks and more than capable , competed for 15 yrs plus in various motorsport activities which is why I don't see the need on public roads . Driving gods 
fttm said:
0ddball said:
Managing weight transfer? What a load of old fanny
Have you tried learning to drive normally? It seems to work for 99.9% of drivers out there.
[/quote
Got to agree with this , borderline replying after the initial post but felt a rant coming on so walked away . OP , you're not Seb Loeb nor will ever have an nth of his talent so just drive normally on the road
Fair enough. I usually have 100kg of electric wheelchair in the boot. Trust me; you want to control transient weight transfer if you want to drive smoothly, quickly and safely on these roads with that load case. To give a sense of the type of roads, coupled with that load, on our Alhambra we had to replace rear dampers and bump rubbers every 10k miles. These roads are very tight, twisty & demanding, with lots of vertical undulations, often mid-corner.Have you tried learning to drive normally? It seems to work for 99.9% of drivers out there.
[/quote
Got to agree with this , borderline replying after the initial post but felt a rant coming on so walked away . OP , you're not Seb Loeb nor will ever have an nth of his talent so just drive normally on the road
If we did closed-road rallying in England, these would make great stages. They’re my daily drives.
This isn’t about being a Loeb-like driving god. It is about making appropriate progress on tricky roads whilst staying smooth & maintaining margins. Each to their own; I know how I like to drive them, and I find the behaviour of these fly-by-wire throttles highly annoying. I do get that most people in modern cars are nowhere near any limits on modern British roads; my combination of roads, loads & vehicles Is an edge case.
GiantCardboardPlato said:
0ddball said:
Managing weight transfer? What a load of old fanny
Have you tried learning to drive normally? It seems to work for 99.9% of drivers out there.
I bet his passengers are comfier than yours.Have you tried learning to drive normally? It seems to work for 99.9% of drivers out there.
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