No ordinary crash

[FbodTrek]

Oh, and for the record, Drive by Wire is STUPID. I nearly got killed road testing a Volvo V70 once when the ETC module failed and throttle stuck at 60% or so, luckily the volvo DID have a mechanical disconnect to the shifter, so i just threw it in neutral, pulled over, with the engine buzzing at 4500 revs and yanked the ignitor module wire

 

[chucklenut]

So was Edward Snowden 4 months ago.

huh?

 

[FbodTrek]

huh?

He means that he was a "nobody" until he was well on the run and they needed to flush him out. Now you've heard his name and the story narrative, you can try him in your mind before he ever tells his story. That's pretty much how it works, that or this guy was just all doped up or drunk and going wayyy too fast.

 

[bxtreme24]

Even those with electronic steering?
Funny, the Fusions I work on (bout the only thing I see regularly with e-steering), you can steer the wheel with the scanner (after front end work, has to be recalibrated). And since you can obviously control DBW throttle systems VIA scanner too, logic would dictate that a car is at least moderately controllable VIA onboard ECM. I'd imagine since this was a new model Benz, that it's using all the latest toys, and it DEFINITELY uses the up-link (pretty sure MB has realtime updates for their cars). Even onstar can shut down or start an engine, and it's ages old.

how fancy is the mechanical disconnect in an auto MB shifter? There isn't one.

So you can't turn it off, take it out of gear or close the throttle- and since we all know brakes do squat for a moving vehicle under full throttle, I'd say it's possible.

I haven't seen many catch fire in a collision, usually after the fact, and 99% of the time starts underhood and moves toward fuel tank area. High end luxury cars have LOTS of Safety tech R&D on their side. I doubt you'll see another "MB hits tree" fireball any other time

Conjecture of course.

According to manufacturer supplied schematics there is no form of transceiver integrated with the electronic steering or DBW system. There is only 2 transceivers in the 2013 MB C250. One is for the drivers info center (gps/radio) and the other is for the immobilizer which only controls start/run, door locks,lights, and horn. That car uses a multiplex system very similar to your Fusion where you can control almost ever function of the car with one wire. Depending on what voltage and/or restiance and how often it's pulsed, you can control locks, lights, ignition, horn, steering, and DBW and many other things. On inboard scanner can do just as you discribed but you would need a transceiver integrated with those functions to do it remotely.

 

[chucklenut]

He means that he was a "nobody" until he was well on the run and they needed to flush him out. Now you've heard his name and the story narrative, you can try him in your mind before he ever tells his story. That's pretty much how it works, that or this guy was just all doped up or drunk and going wayyy too fast.

im guessing he was a drunk ass going to fast

 

[Echo 1]

Big kaboom and lots of flames ?

 

[blakejohn]

Hmmm. something aint right. Never have I seen an explosion like that with a car crash. Even top fuel dragsters crashing at 300+mph don't explode like that.

 

[WMSproject]

I read somewhere that Mercedes has already offered their techs to analyze the crash. They are convinced that their fuel tanks are safe and will not explode in that manner. They have been turned down.

 

[bxtreme24]

I read somewhere that Mercedes has already offered their techs to analyze the crash. They are convinced that their fuel tanks are safe and will not explode in that manner. They have been turned down.

All auto manufacturers are bound by strict safety guidelines when designing a car to prevent it from happening. Im sure the Germans, the kings of over engineering, go above and beyond those guidelines.
But in a crash as devastating as that, who knows what fluke can happen. The only way to know for sure is with an extensive investigation of the crash. But if there was a powerful government entity behind it, they would never let such an investigation occur. All we can do is add it to the list of events of "accept or speculate".