Quote:
Originally Posted by Telecolor 3007
What is the difference between accelerator and throttle? Some cars did have a throttle lever. That couldn't be used as an accelerator or cruise control?
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In modern car parlance, the
accelerator refers to the gas pedal. Specifically the pedal ONLY.
Throttle refers to the butterfly valve that meters the amount of air going into the engine.
The difference between the two words is especially important in modern 'drive-by-wire' cars that use electronically controlled throttle valves, where the gas pedal is appropriately called the 'Accelerator Pedal Position sensor,' because they become two very different and separate components. As opposed to a traditional cable operated throttle, where it was all sort of one piece of machinery together.
On some older (read: antique) cars there was a throttle control lever, sometimes also a gas pedal. I'm not sure when the syntax was refined down to 'accelerator' but it was sometime after throttle levers were out of fashion.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zeno
I have had cruise on all my cars from
apx 1970 models to date. Never use it. Old cars gave you a strange
feeling but newer ones are quite refined. I still want to drive my
car / truck NOT have it drive me.
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I like the older cable operated cruise controls, specifically 90s Chryslers, like my LeBaron. When you turn the cruise on, there is no indicator light. Instead, the system pulls the gas pedal out from under your foot - tactile feedback to let you know it's on - and then eases it back to where you had set it to. Modern drive-by-wire cars kind of suck at this, because you can turn on cruise and have no idea it's working, until the system has to accelerate to maintain speed.