Quote:
Originally Posted by ember1205
Of all the things that the EPB "can" do, how many of them are actually programmed into the Camaro?
With regard to "technical progress" - it isn't progress if you lose a significant amount of functionality for the sake of something new. There are far too many times that something "new" is done simply because it's new. No actual progress, no actual benefit.
As far as the EPB goes, I don't like the way that certain functions now work. The lack of being able to actually feel the brake being engaged and with what force matters to me. I can't stand that I have to pull up on the button and then sit there and WAIT to see if it engaged before I can get out of the car. While there may be things that the EPB "can" do that a manual brake couldn't, there's also no reason that both couldn't exist at the same time on the vehicle. The reason the Camaro doesn't have a manual parking brake has nothing at all to do with actual technical progress and everything to do with complete lack of a location in the car to place the handle and a total unwillingness to explore a pedal-based system like I have in my GM truck.
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Most of the functions listed are already on the Camaro I believe, just the major benefits to it aren't really seen except for in failed cases that don't happen that often.
I totally understand that not all technologies are great. Unfortunately, some stuff that looks good on paper and in earlier development shows significant hinderances once it's released to the public just because there are so many ways customers use it. There's good in the situation either way though because companies can still learn from that, they just take on a financial hit because the product risks not selling if there's something that wrong with it.
EPB is definitely not one of those features in it's current state, though. The increased functionality greatly outweighs the minimal cons their are. You have to consider the more obscure use cases where something's failed. The everyday person won't necessarily see that condition, but if it does ever happen you'll be super glad it's there. Just using it as a parking brake sure it might be a little worse, but that's not the whole picture by a long shot. It's <5s for the EPB to apply so it's not like it's an excruciatingly long wait, and not having the tactile feedback of the lever or pedal is one of those "I'm not used to it so I don't like it" arguments. Basically every other system on modern cars (windows, HVAC, throttle, ignitions, engine spark, even brakes and steering on some cars) are controlled by the driver manipulating some form of electronic switch to control something else, so it's kind of interesting that people are so against doing the same with something as simple as a park brake.
And sure GM could put a secondary pedal or lever in, but it also seems silly to spend the money and time to develop and validate a redundant and less-capable system compared to what's already on the car simply for nostalgia's sake. The name of the game nowadays in the auto industry is safety, and with EPB being the safer option by a pretty large margin it's kinda the no-brainer choice from the perspective of a company.