4 Wheel Steering saved our shop Cybertruck! (near crash video)

[Startreknerd]

After work yesterday I was on my way to get my EMT/OET recertification as I am a member of the National Ski Patrol. On a two lane highway listening to the evening news when all of a sudden I see a car, glass, and parts flying at me. I cranked the steering wheel hard and fast to almost full lock. I missed the oncoming car by MILLEMETERS!

This is a testament to how well the 4 wheel steering works and especially the drive by wire steering. Had I been in my Ram I would have either hit the car to my right at the stop sign, over steered and had to counter steer and would have either spun out, ditched it, or worse rolled it.

The Cybertruck was stable, very minimal body roll and the drive by steering combined with the 4 wheel steer reacted fast enough and JUST enough to do what I wanted and noting more that could have caused me to wreck.

Sometimes you are just at the right place at the right time. I was first on scene so I secured the road/traffic with help of others then assessed the three occupants. Both drivers were dazed and in shock but able to walk out on their own and get out off the road. The passenger of the green ford that was rear ended was hurt the most. Assessed her in the car and determined it was safe to help her get out of the car and away for further care.

This video debunks that stupid vid of the guy saying the drive by steering is slow to respond. I am very confident that had I been in my Ram I would have been in an accident as well.

Video below





Crazy still shot

The rear wheels didn't look like they moved at all. Though it probably didn't need to as the collision avoidance seemed to do fine without.

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[root]

4 Wheel Steering is not active at high speed.

 

[FlipSixThreeHole]

Glad you are okay!

Had a car almost run me off the road but the steering on the CT saved me as well!

 

[firsttruck]

4 Wheel Steering is not active at high speed.

I think that is incorrect. The rear steering is active at high speed too.
There are different steering directions & angles used for slow speed vs high speed.

At low-speed the rear steering is in the opposite direction to the front steering.

At high-speed the rear steering is in the same direction to the front steering.
( all wheels steer in same direction).
This makes vehicle kinda move sideways and this is more stable handling than when just normal front steer only is used.

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How Does Four-Wheel Steering Work?
Let's get that rear end to shimmy and slide.
Updated on Sep 12, 2023
By Jonathon Klein
https://www.thedrive.com/cars-101/41613/rear-steering

.....
Rear-wheel steering is a mechanism that, when the steering wheel is turned, actuates the rear wheels’ angles and either turns them in tandem with the front wheels or in the opposite direction to better increase a vehicle’s low- or high-speed agility.

** A high speeds the small steer angle mode is used.

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Steer-by-wire - how it works with ZF
Sandy and Armin visit with ZF to check out their steer-by-wire technology.
Apr 11, 2024
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[Dog4life1112]

Dang. Doesn't get much closer than that!

The 4 wheel steering actually caused your back end to move closer to the other car so not sure it saved you but glad you missed it

 

[TickTock]

The 4 wheel steering actually caused your back end to move closer to the other car so not sure it saved you but glad you missed it

That's not what I saw. Looks like he was going fast enough that the rear steer was in phase so the rear wheels steered *away* from the wayward car along with the front. It is subtle, but the image below shows the rear wheel during evasive steering and I inset a shot from the same video a couple seconds before and if you look closely, the wheel is turned slightly inward during the evasive steering.

 

[mongo]

Over about 40 MPH the rear wheels steer in phase, around 2 degrees max.

 

[AbblePC]

After work yesterday I was on my way to get my EMT/OET recertification as I am a member of the National Ski Patrol. On a two lane highway listening to the evening news when all of a sudden I see a car, glass, and parts flying at me. I cranked the steering wheel hard and fast to almost full lock. I missed the oncoming car by MILLEMETERS!

This is a testament to how well the 4 wheel steering works and especially the drive by wire steering. Had I been in my Ram I would have either hit the car to my right at the stop sign, over steered and had to counter steer and would have either spun out, ditched it, or worse rolled it.

The Cybertruck was stable, very minimal body roll and the drive by steering combined with the 4 wheel steer reacted fast enough and JUST enough to do what I wanted and noting more that could have caused me to wreck.

Sometimes you are just at the right place at the right time. I was first on scene so I secured the road/traffic with help of others then assessed the three occupants. Both drivers were dazed and in shock but able to walk out on their own and get out off the road. The passenger of the green ford that was rear ended was hurt the most. Assessed her in the car and determined it was safe to help her get out of the car and away for further care.

This video debunks that stupid vid of the guy saying the drive by steering is slow to respond. I am very confident that had I been in my Ram I would have been in an accident as well.

Video below





Crazy still shot

I just saw this on Wham Bam Tesla Cam! YouTube channel about a day ago.. then I come here to the forums to check up on any Cyberbeast delivery - VIN issued posts and just so happen to find the source lol.. What an ordeal and glad everyone made it out ok.

 

[HaulingAss]

Over about 40 MPH the rear wheels steer in phase, around 2 degrees max.

Right. And that does make the Cybertruck more stable at higher speeds during evasive maneuvers like this (assuming the truck wasn't at the cross-over speed at which the rear wheels don't turn at all). But, in my experience putting a Cybertruck through its paces, probably the most important attributes in play here, compared to say an F-150, involves the way the front steering rack/front suspension work together to make the Cybertruck more responsive to this kind of evasive maneuver. It feels like the suspension dampers on the outside of the turn instantly increase compression dampening when the wheel is suddenly turned. Additionally, the faster steering ratio allows the wheels to be turned more quickly to begin with. I don't notice the dampers hardening up in turns so much in Comfort Suspension Mode, which is why I prefer the Responsive Mode.

What the initial resistance to body roll does is load the outside tires with more weight sooner in the maneuver, which provides more grip to the tire with which to effect a quicker change of direction. I also think the way the suspension geometry is designed is more like a sports car and this geometry also assists fast direction changes, compared to any legacy pickup I've driven.

Another major contributing factor in the Cybertruck being able to change direction more quickly is the extremely rigid chassis. In my experience, the excessive chassis flex in a traditional truck works against fast direction changes by absorbing some of the energy transmitted by the tires into the chassis. This delays the effectiveness of the steering response. Additionally, it feels like as long as a legacy truck chassis is loaded in a hard turn, the chassis is flexed and it feels like that flexing changes the steering geometry in a manner that is not conducive to turning. In other words, more of the available traction is being used up by the different tires fighting each other, rather than putting that traction to work more efficiently to change the direction of the truck.

In Cybertruck's Comfort Mode, the compression and rebound damping is significantly reduced and the Cybertruck will experience quite a bit of body roll during hard maneuvers, but it still seems easier to maintain control than the same maneuver attempted in a legacy truck. While it's true that the ride in Comfort Mode is softer, I don't find it any more comfortable. Because even in the firmest mode, the ride is never harsh and Comfort Mode tends more toward that feeling you get in a legacy truck, more disconnected from the road, more of a floating feeling. This is the same feeling that can more easily induce motion sickness in people that are susceptible to it. Still, I would take the handling and ride comfort of the Cybertruck over a legacy truck, even if the Cybertruck was limited to only having Comfort Mode.

Even ignoring crash safety of the Cybertrucks airbag system and the stronger passenger cabin, I still feel far safer driving the Cybertruck compared to a legacy truck because it's more responsive nature makes it far easier to avoid accidents in the first place.

And the best accident is the one that was avoided, as was so well illustrated by the OP.

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