gas pedal broke clean in half just a heads up think it could be a little dangerous - Page 2

Xtremist · Sep 14, 2009, 10:19 AM

Yes it's scary and could lead to injury or death but the only thing that's a positive here is the fact it's a drive by wire throttle system and not the conventional gas pedals found in older vehicles! Once the pedal brakes; the car slows, at least where not getting a sudden surge of gas!

P.S. Until the OP posts pics, don't believe everything you read/hear I know how people are, they constantly try to blow issues up on the internet over one instance, I'm not calling him a a liar but I know how people are, nothing against the OP once again I'd just feel better seeing different pics of another issue in where the pedal broke.

JonBoy · Sep 14, 2009, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ODUB

how is that scary? there's no way a case like that would hold up in court because honestly, what's the danger of the gas pedal breaking? if it breaks, the car slows down. wow, so dangerous. the only thing that would be dangerous is if the brake pedal broke, or even if the clutch pedal broke in gear. the gas pedal breaking is annoying sure, but not dangerous.

Sure. Since it's completely unreasonable that you might be pulling out into traffic from a stop, going through an intersection (from a stop), or on a road with no place to pull over and with traffic potentially coming up behind you. All of those could happen and you'd have no way to get out of the way properly or pull over safely.

Not dangerous at all.

cheb evo · Sep 14, 2009, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xtremist

Yes it's scary and could lead to injury or death but the only thing that's a positive here is the fact it's a drive by wire throttle system and not the conventional gas pedals found in older vehicles! Once the pedal brakes; the car slows, at least where not getting a sudden surge of gas!

P.S. Until the OP posts pics, don't believe everything you read/hear I know how people are, they constantly try to blow issues up on the internet over one instance, I'm not calling him a a liar but I know how people are, nothing against the OP once again I'd just feel better seeing different pics of another issue in where the pedal broke.

You are calling him a liar if you say you don't believe him without pics. There have been other stories of people having their pedal break on them, so I believe this can happen.

Agree that it is very dangerous given that you are merging into traffic or trying to pass someone with a car coming in the opposite direction. Glad the OP is OK in this instance.

gizmotoy · Sep 14, 2009, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 06MR6

Not scary...

I'd ALMOST assume that you put a TON of pressure on your pedal under WOT, which will cause a lot of stress on a pedal... Maybe not all the time, but enough to break a pedal

It doesn't take a whole lot of pressure to cause a stress crack in incorrectly braced plastic. As was mentioned in previous threads, the bracing Mitsubishi used is inferior for the direction of force in this application. Compare our pedals to Porsche's plastic pedals to get a feel for how it should have been done. I'm surprised that design made it through quality control.

Maybe he puts a lot of pressure on it, or maybe the plastic had a defect that led to its failure... either way a pedal should not fail. Using proper bracing, adding a floor bumper to prevent excess travel, or using a floor-mounted pedal like most other DBW cars would have prevented these incidents.

migs647 · Sep 14, 2009, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gizmotoy

It doesn't take a whole lot of pressure to cause a stress crack in incorrectly braced plastic. As was mentioned in previous threads, the bracing Mitsubishi used is inferior for the direction of force in this application. Compare our pedals to Porsche's plastic pedals to get a feel for how it should have been done. I'm surprised that design made it through quality control.

Maybe he puts a lot of pressure on it, or maybe the plastic had a defect that led to its failure... either way a pedal should not fail. Using proper bracing, adding a floor bumper to prevent excess travel, or using a floor-mounted pedal like most other DBW cars would have prevented these incidents.

So with all this being said, is there anything we can do to prevent this from happening? Perhaps a brace we can put on it?

Webman · Sep 14, 2009, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odub

how is that scary? There's no way a case like that would hold up in court because honestly, what's the danger of the gas pedal breaking? If it breaks, the car slows down. Wow, so dangerous. The only thing that would be dangerous is if the brake pedal broke, or even if the clutch pedal broke in gear. The gas pedal breaking is annoying sure, but not dangerous.

+1

yooyooyoo · Sep 14, 2009, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ODUB

how is that scary? there's no way a case like that would hold up in court because honestly, what's the danger of the gas pedal breaking? if it breaks, the car slows down. wow, so dangerous. the only thing that would be dangerous is if the brake pedal broke, or even if the clutch pedal broke in gear. the gas pedal breaking is annoying sure, but not dangerous.

how about you're trying to make a unprotected left turn with oncoming traffic and you start into the intersection and the pedal breaks?

Or the part of the pedal that breaks off gets wedged under the brakes, that wouldn't be dangerous at all?

theres no excuse for any of the pedals to break ever.

gizmotoy · Sep 14, 2009, 11:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by migs647

So with all this being said, is there anything we can do to prevent this from happening? Perhaps a brace we can put on it?

Not that I'm aware of. Most aftermarket companies are going to be loathe to mess with something as litigation-prone as a gas pedal, and the number of incidents so far is small enough that there's no financial incentive.

Your only option at this point is to not press the pedal down past the end of its travel, or develop an aluminum one-off like the guy who had this happen repeatedly.

Brsox10288 · Sep 14, 2009, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by odub

how is that scary? There's no way a case like that would hold up in court because honestly, what's the danger of the gas pedal breaking? If it breaks, the car slows down. Wow, so dangerous. The only thing that would be dangerous is if the brake pedal broke, or even if the clutch pedal broke in gear. The gas pedal breaking is annoying sure, but not dangerous.

+1

xi · Sep 14, 2009, 11:23 AM

I gotta go home and check the pedals on my RA at least... I guess what you can do is like the OP said, put a stop on it, like a brick.

A properly designed pedal should at the very least support the weight of a human being + max deceleration force * 2 safety factor. I know when I'm designing something that does not involve life and limb, I usually use 2 and change. For something that does, I use 4-8x safety.

Norcal4G · Sep 14, 2009, 11:28 AM

you must have a real led foot haha

pcasso87 · Sep 14, 2009, 12:59 PM

HA HA same thing happened to me, i think i have a lead foot because this is the second car that i have broken the pedal. I was pushing it so hard i was waiting for Super Fast And furious speed from the turbo to kick in yo!!!!

Xtremist · Sep 14, 2009, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cheb evo

You are calling him a liar if you say you don't believe him without pics. There have been other stories of people having their pedal break on them, so I believe this can happen.

Agree that it is very dangerous given that you are merging into traffic or trying to pass someone with a car coming in the opposite direction. Glad the OP is OK in this instance.

I am not calling him a liar, I just want evidence that's all! If someone said they saw you murder someone and had no conclusive evidence would you want to serve prison time due to someone else's word?

Absent · Sep 14, 2009, 01:39 PM

I have no hard time believing this. Another tread, another issue.

I just love the '' It didn't happen to me yet therefore it's won't ever happen '' attitude that some people have. Fanboy's much.

Fine, don't take 2 second to see if your pedal is about to break in half, see if I care.

steinvb12 · Sep 14, 2009, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by migs647

So with all this being said, is there anything we can do to prevent this from happening? Perhaps a brace we can put on it?

NO! NO! NO!

Do NOT attempt to fix or alter your gas pedal. This gas pedal was DESIGNED to be a breakaway pedal! If any of you guys actually took the time to look at the pedal, you can see they diesigned it that way. They could of easily made it stronger, for even less money!!! But that would defeat the purpose of a breakaway pedal.

Believe it or not, this pedal is made to save your ankles and legs in an accident. Many people used to break their ankles because the pedal wouldn't move and your ankle is what gave way, not the pedal.

If I had a choice, I would take the breakaway pedal 1 million times over a stiff pedal if it saves my ankles. It is for SAFETY!!!

Close this ridiculous topic. Move on...