Start button vs mechanical ignition switch

[AcuraTech]

A good common sense read about this can be found here:

Article Link

This isn't a car guy, he mostly writes about finance. Sometimes he talks about other things, like this. As far as I'm concerned, I think he nailed it on the head. Throttle overrides and a means to kill the ignition NOW should be mandatory.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Honda S2000 uses electronic start button but turning off the engine with ignition key.

 

[Shannow]

I reckon that there needs to be a big, ugly, red kill switch in the middle of the dashboard for anything that veers away from the "normal" ignition key.

Dad's R16 was (retrofitted) with a button for the starter motor, but key was still to make the car live or dead.

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Honda S2000 uses electronic start button but turning off the engine with ignition key.


That's because the push button only activates the starter, the key still has to be in ignition and in ACC position to provide electrical current and that's why you have to use the ignition key to shut the car down, the push button is just a mechanical switch that directly controls the starter motor.

The new push button ignition systems are tied to the on board computer, which in turn controls starter motor, the whole electrical system, so there is no direct link anywhere.

 

[benjamming]

More regulation is not the answer, of course, never is really. Let the bad design decisions cost the designers (car company) & designs will be better reviewed & tested in the future. We have more regulations than carter has pills.

 

[eljefino]

In the 50's we had all different brands of automatic transmissions with different shift patterns. The gov't said enough, and made PRNDL the standard. Could you imagine fumbling with a shifter in the dark in a borrowed car and getting it wrong?

This 3-second rule for shutdown is asinine and should be exterminated one way or another. Lawsuits for violating "industry standards", legislation, whatever.

 

[ctc]

I think the auto makers should come together and create a standard. It works in the IT industry...

 

[benjamming]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
In the 50's we had all different brands of automatic transmissions with different shift patterns. The gov't said enough, and made PRNDL the standard. Could you imagine fumbling with a shifter in the dark in a borrowed car and getting it wrong?


No, I can't imagine getting it wrong. I'm not quite that stupid meaning, I'm not going to try & figure out a car in the dark nor would I allow someone to borrow my car that didn't understand how to drive it & had proven that to me.

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: AcuraTech

This isn't a car guy, he mostly writes about finance. Sometimes he talks about other things, like this. As far as I'm concerned, I think he nailed it on the head. Throttle overrides and a means to kill the ignition NOW should be mandatory.


He knows nothing but how to speculate on nothing....take an ES350 out for a test ride...go to WOT and hit the button for 3 seconds. NOT a problem and it shuts right down fine. I have dones it several times in mine. The problem is that the dealers don't TELL YOU that is how it works so if you don't read the entire owners manual...(like .0007% of the population does) then you are unprepared. Very simple AND Toyotas fault. There should be a big WARNING sticker to be removed by customer only on the dash.

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
In the 50's we had all different brands of automatic transmissions with different shift patterns. The gov't said enough, and made PRNDL the standard. Could you imagine fumbling with a shifter in the dark in a borrowed car and getting it wrong?

This 3-second rule for shutdown is asinine and should be exterminated one way or another. Lawsuits for violating "industry standards", legislation, whatever.


Go take a Lexus ES350 for a ride and you will change your mind. Super easy to hit neutral and the 3 second dalay is very easy to use.

 

[wapacz]

Truth be told there where times that I like the push button start when my dad had a car with it for a while. Yeah it was just a convenience but it was a nice one to have. The situation that sticks out in my mind the most was in the winter when I had gloves on it was hard to get in my pocket. So with the key set up that way I could just walk up to the car and get and push the start to go. I didn't have to balance what i was carrying while I fumbled to get my glove off so I could get my keys out. The other nice part is that it would look its self once I got more than 10 feet or so away from it.

 

[wapacz]

Originally Posted By: benjamming
Originally Posted By: eljefino
In the 50's we had all different brands of automatic transmissions with different shift patterns. The gov't said enough, and made PRNDL the standard. Could you imagine fumbling with a shifter in the dark in a borrowed car and getting it wrong?


No, I can't imagine getting it wrong. I'm not quite that stupid meaning, I'm not going to try & figure out a car in the dark nor would I allow someone to borrow my car that didn't understand how to drive it & had proven that to me.


I hardly let any one drive my car now. There are very few friends that I will trust to even run to the store with it. Though weirdly pretty much all of my friend trust me to drive there car.

 

[Kestas]

Originally Posted By: ctc
I think the auto makers should come together and create a standard. It works in the IT industry...

That's what SAE is for. If they feel that standardization is needed they'll push for it and come up with a concensus. There are books full of SAE standards that they can add to. I'm not sure how they would enforce it though. I think that's where the DOT or NHTSA would come in to play.

 

[Big_Ed]

I prefer the good old mechanical ignition switch.

 

[labman]

+1 They have served us well for over 50 years.

 

[Colt45ws]

Regular ignition switch is fine with me. But I also intentionally bought the last year with a cable throttle too.

 

[PT1]

Originally Posted By: ctc
I think the auto makers should come together and create a standard. It works in the IT industry...


That is a good idea. They currently have consortiums for quality standards that they all share as well as many other protocol standards. Ignition standards would be easy to develop and all agree upon. This could all be done without government regulation. The general public really needs to become acclimated to a new ignition system and sharing styles and types would just be easier and safer. I think the auto manufacturers have overlooked this and the resulting safety hazards involved.

 

[440Magnum]

Originally Posted By: ctc
I think the auto makers should come together and create a standard.


There WAS a standard for 40 years- it was a key in the right hand side of the steering column, rotate 1 click forward to unlock column, 2 clicks for run, hold past the second click for start.

 

[Shannow]

Saab copped heaps of flack in Oz over the key in the trans tunnel, and potential safety implications when the engine needed to be shut down in an emergency.

 

[GMBoy]

I think my new CTS has the best of both worlds. It has the optional keyless entry in which you just keep your fob in your pocket. Approach car and pull the handle to open the door (unlocks automatically for you), get in and turn the "key" to start (must have foot on the brake). The "key" is a dummy key permantly in the column. Just turn the button on and off like you do in a regular car. So, anything goes wrong you just turn the "key" off like old days and your motor's off. No waiting 3 secs pushing a button.