Is there a user or workshop mechanism which can be used to disable the automatic braking system without invalidating the vehicle's type approval?
There will probably come a point where the customer will only get somewhere if they publicly question the inherent safety of this model of vehicle. The last thing Mazda will want is bad publicity or a recall notice, and any attempt to work the issue through them may hit a brick wall unless they feel threatened. I'd be inclined to have a chat to Choice and the NRMA in the first instance; they'll know more about the type-approval process. It's probably also true that the local Mazda people have very little understanding of the details of this stuff. When shopping around for my Prius I asked a young salesman what would happen if the battery charge ran out, say when climbing a long hill. This smart-arse kept repeating some meaningless formula he'd learnt in his sales indoctrination and probably didn't understand the question, let alone the answer, so he took me to see the Prius "expert" in their workshop. The expert solemnly informed me that " heat from the brakes was used to generate electricity which charged the battery". (Eventually I worked the answer out for myself. The power required for acceptable acceleration is far more than that required for acceptable hill climbing, and the petrol engine alone can easily manage that.) DavidL. _______________________________________________ Link mailing list [email protected] http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
