 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
64.223.37.253
Rick Becker forwarded me this:Sonny, A 36 year old female had an accident several weeks ago and totaled her car. It was raining, though not excessive, when her car suddenly began to hydroplane and literally flew through the air. She was not seriously injured but very stunned at the sudden occurrence! When she explained to the highway patrolman what had happened he told her something that every driver should know -NEVER DRIVE IN THE RAIN WITH YOUR CRUISE CONTROL ON.
She had thought she was being cautious by setting the cruise control and maintaining a safe consistent speed in the rain. But the highway patrolman told her that if the cruise control is on and your car begins to hydroplane - when your tires lose contact with the pavement your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed and you take off like an airplane..
She told the patrolman that was exactly what had occurred.We all know you have little or no control over a car when it begins to hydroplane .You are at the mercy of the Good Lord. The highway patrol estimated her car was actually traveling through the air at 10 to 15 miles per hour faster than the speed set on the cruise control.
The patrolman said this warning should be listed, on the drivers seat sun-visor - NEVER USE THE CRUISE CONTROL WHEN THE PAVEMENT IS WET OR ICY along with the airbag warning. We tell our teenagers to set the cruise control and drive a safe speed but we don't tell them to use the cruise control only when the pavement is dry.
The only person the accident victim found, who knew this (besides the patrolman), was a man who had a similar incident, totaled his car and sustained severe injuries.
If you send this to 15 people and only one of them doesn't know about this, then it was all worth it. You might have saved a life.
Follow Ups:
nt
Julien
"There's someone in my head, but it's not me"
Here is the link to this Urban Legend.http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/wetroad.asp
Cheers,
Lawrence
John C. - Aussie linked that yesterday.
Regards,
Geoff
This is a true story that happened to my brother-in-laws sister's son-in-law Jeb. It reveals the truth about the relationship between cruise control and high end cables.Jeb was on his way home from the ultra high end AudioManiac store where he had just returned some very expensive cables, when a huge storm slammed into the central coast. He quickly turned on the cruise control and became airbourne. During takeoff, he noticed a low altitude jet with it's marker lights off. HE FLASHED HIS LIGHTS TO WARN THE OTHER PILOT. That is the last thing he remembers of that horrible night.
When they pulled him from the wreckage the next day, they also found the cable salesman IN THE BACKSEAT WITH THE END OF THE RETURNED CABLE WRAPPED AROUND EACH HAND. He was still alive, but kept mumbling over and over "can you hear the difference now?"
If this story can keep just ONE PERSON from spending thousands on Audiomaniac cables, it will have been worth it. Myself...err.. Jeb has gone back to the J.R. DIY Beldon twisted coax cables. They work for me, and to be fair, the dealer let me...err.. Jeb, return the AudioManiac cables as per our agreement with only a nominal restocking fee. Jeb and me at least gave it a fair shot. Pat
.
"HE FLASHED HIS LIGHTS TO WARN THE OTHER PILOT"I love the reference to the other urban legend. LOL
Now this REALLY made me Laugh Out Loud! Brilliant!Bob
This reminds me of the scam that went round telling people to check their computers for a virus. It said to go into windows and look at the bottom of the main page and if there is a teddy bear icon titled "Setdebug" you should delete it.Well EVERYONE has this of course as it's a windows thing, but it didn't stop tons of people from screwing up their computers by deleting it.
I commend your public spirit, but the very argument is faulty. If the tires hydroplane, they are free from resistance and will spin faster . The computer will of course interpret this as an increase in speed and will slow the vehicle, not speed it up. (Unless it's an Audi or some other german car. Them I don't trust) The entire notion of getting airborne is impossible.
I do however agree with the sentiment, in bad weather you ought to be doing all the driving. But a good highway and light rain, cruise is fine.
It's all about the music...
Right pedal for gas, left pedal is for the brake.Some people just couldn't get that right.
Just last week another person with no business being behind
the wheel drove their vehicle into an accident.
"Oops I stepped on the wrong pedal"GTF
"My personal thoughts are that Monster Cables suck".
Happened to too many people.I especially remember the story of the mother who crushed her kid in the garage when the car took off, IN PARK no less. Foot on the gas on not, it shouldn't be moving in park.
What you're confused about is Audi went into denial over it. Saying it ain't so don't make it so. I lost all respect for them after that. I mean really, you're product causes a mother to crush her kid and you steadfastly say it's her fault? I remember Herb Dennenberg, a philly news guy doing an investigation on it and they showed footage not meant to be footage of him getting in and starting one and the damn thing took right off on him, almost hitting the camerman. I suppose he's stupid too?
The technology was new, there would have been nothing wrong in admitting they screwed up. Their behavior was unconscionable, IMHO.
If the women in question had her car in PARK, the car could not, would not move foward. This is a hydraulic transmission not an electronic controlled transmission like Chrysler had so many problems with.
Have you noticed that after all the reports of runaway Audi 5000's
that it doesn't happen any more. There aren't as many of them on the road, yes, the real reason is because people learned that the right pedal is for go, the left for stop. The reports of people claiming they had their foot on the brake and the car just took off was also impossiable. The 500 has 4 good sized disc brakes and no wimpy 120 hp
engine is going to overpower them.
Here is an url about that poor women who ran her own child over.
http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cjm_18.htm
Sad yes. Not Audi's fault. Just another human being who made a mistake.GTF
"My personal thoughts are that Monster Cables suck".
we need people like Arthur Salvatore, etc... patrolling the ranks of audio reviewers and the media.Anybody with any type of automotive knowledge knows that was all bullshit. If a motor could overpower the brakes, let alone the stall speed of the torque convertor, people would be getting killed on a daily basis. It is for this reason that cars are designed the way that they are.
If you doubt this, go out to your car, fire it up, drop the car in gear with your foot firmly planted on the brake and stand on the throttle. I don't mean "give it some gas", i mean "STOMP ON IT"!!! All you'll do is rev the motor up against the stall speed of the torque convertor and waste a lot of gas. No "launching" or "unintended acceleration" is possible, even if the motor is "supercharged" and running nitrous. Only the gullible, un-educated public would believe such a thing. Evidently it worked, because Audi sales plummetted after that.
As a side note, all of the cases of "unintended acceleration" occured within a very small area of the country, primarily the New York region. Since New York is very much "Mercedes Benz territory", the increased popularity of Audi products was really beginning to hurt their sales. As such, steps were taken to "correct" the slump in Mercedes sales by defaming Audi in a very public manner. If the problem really was as reported, why weren't more cases reported in various areas across the country? Do you think that every single "defective" car was shipped to New York and none of them made it to other regions of the country, let alone other parts of the world?
Wake up and smell the coffee. Just remember that coffee is hot though and you may burn yourself. Just to make sure nobody hurts themselves, we'll put a disclaimer on it for you. Sean
>
... and didn't have any problem, it drove perfectly (for an Audi). I even tried to power brake it and the engine was easily defeated. I'm with you, GTF. I concluded it was operator error and nothing more.On a side note, after the major media took charge and ran with their story, dealers had to make big discounts to sell the car. A friend owned one for 6 years, having bought it new off the car lot. Guess what? No problems.
If I was to slip and fall, should I have blamed the tires?
That's basically what those people did to Audi.
It's to bad people can't take responsibility for their own actions.And your friend got a good car at a great price, I'm sure.
GTF
"My personal thoughts are that Monster Cables suck".
z
...this was his hobby and passion. I can tell you there were traction issues with at least four of them when I was in them, everything from poor rear traction, to fishtailing in off camber corners, to spinning 180 degrees in the snow. I found they had to be pushed hard or be in snow or rain for most of this bad behavior. I think the main contributing factors on the vehicle side were the types of tires they had and the amount of power, especially the on/off power of the turbo models (he had a 924 and later a 944). The early 911 turbos were notoriously dangerous with tons of understeer if the turbo kicked in during a corner...
Doctor killer is what some insurance companies call 911 type Porsches. Go too fast into turn, lift gas, go off road backward at speed.
So did my BMW.I had the best radials money could buy and that bastard wouldn't stay on the road to save it's life, (or mine) especially if the road was the slightest bit wet.
I'll never forget an incident at a hard left right jog in a road near me. I turned the corner and suddenly the passenger side was now the front of the car. (sliding, err gliding sideways) I corrected and it swung the OTHER way and now the drivers side was sliding forward. Meanwhile, cars coming towards me were diving off the road left and right as I was taking up both lanes the whole time. This on a 60 degree day with light drizzle.
I cut it again, it came round, fishtailed a bit, and finally went straight.
You keep your Porsche, and may God in his mercy bless and watch over you.
In my 911 I have Alpine cdp, some kind of 400 watt 4 channel amp and B&W 610i speakers stuffed in the back. Bought the B&W's on ebay cheap and they sound 100 times better than any car speakers.
As a rule, and I don't know if it's because I am an audiophile, but I really don't enjoy car audio and I don't even try. It's a lost cause because real happiness for me there is impossible.I had an Alpine unit in the BMW. It was all right, but I had problems with it and then it just completely broke. The joke was, the radio got stolen 3 weeks later (when completely useless) as I had not removed it yet. The only auto theft I ever had. Serves him right.
I had a Blaupunkt in my Neon, and swaped it because it didn't have a jitter memory and every bump causes it to skip. I replaced it with a fairly high model Alpine but found the Alpine was not as good sounding, even though it had 20 second jitter protection. So it came out and the Blaupunkt went back in, but padded more securely.
I would get a Nakamichi but I don't trust them. I and a friend owned cass decks by them and both suffered from mechanical problems. I have heard they are among the most truly musical audio decks out there however, but I don't care enough to invest the money in it. I'd rather use it towards an inside upgrade.
What you did with the B&W's was not an uncommon practice back in the 70's. It's actually not a bad idea really, as it helps dampen and control the speaker far better than any car driver does. I may do something like that in my Ford Ranger. Cars like the 911 or even my Spitfire are great for that as they have fairly large gaps behind the seats. Not big enough for a person, but big enough for a speaker.
There are lots of models in the BMW range – what were you driving? What ever model it was must be a real dog because an Audiophile driving in the rain doing 180 degree skids from left to right could have no way been at fault.
I mean to say, driver error for an audiophile just isn’t possible is it?Smile
Sox
320iI even had a lot of weight in the trunk but it never helped with that thing. It was like Brit Spears: It's ass would never stay put.
My first car was a VW Beetle. That thing wouldn't hold the road in bad weather either, it was always sliding.
Ironically I had a Triumph Spitfire which never gave me a problem. I drove it thru some of the worst winters of the early 80's and it was great in snow. If I got in somebody elses rut, it stayed put like a slot car. (wasn't bad without a rut either) It was only scary on the highway when a truck passed me. It was not uncommon to feel it getting sucked under the trailor as it passed. I always had to be careful when one passed me quickly.
I thought audiophiles were better at arguing than anything, but as far as it being my fault, in that case no. In fact if it wasn't for the fact that I was a good driver and didn't pannic I'd never have held the road. And that was not the first or last time that car did that to me in a turn. The worst incident came when the damn brake cylider let lose one day and I made a left turn off the road to my house at about 40mph and 2 wheels practically with no brakes. (the emergency didn't do squat) I either had to try to make the turn or face a collision ahead. I used every inch of that corner and missed a telephone pole by a smidgen.
I was happy the day that car went bye bye. I'm convinced the germans over-engineer everything, and I won't be buying from them any more.
It is true it used to happen to my spitfire too though (if it went under 15 degrees, the master cyliners would be shot) but they always had some life to them still. When the damn BMW went, it went. I can say that much for it, it never did anything half way.
…….. depending on what year it was. I have had quite a lot to do with 3 series BMW’s over the last 20 years and I and my Yuppie friends have found them to handle extremely well. Admittedly, in this part Australia ice and snow are unheard of.
Maybe the Krauts are getting their own back on the good ol US of A by deliberately sabotaging all left-hand drive models?The main thing is you lived to tell the tale and you finally saw the light and got rid of it. I know if I had any car that behaved as you describe it would be gone immediately.
Also, I can’t ever remember a truck ever passing me unless I was stopped……. I know it is great fun passing road trains on bull-dust roads in South Australia, I’m not sure I could do it now with traction-control (unless it was turned off) because accelerating over 80kph on a dirt corrugated road does wonders for your back and teeth, not to mention hitting your head on the roof as you bounce your way along.
Lastly, guess what? Even doing 100 – 120 kph over a corrugated dirt road, the car NEVER, dare I say, “literally flew through the air” – but then again this is Australia and those things just don’t happen here in the southern hemisphere. I think maybe because the steering wheel is on the right-hand side of the car they not only handle way better but the laws of gravity actually apply.I am off to the beach now.
Smile
Sox
Must be nice to live in a country where a beautiful beach is always 5 minutes away. (unless you go inland on a walkabout)I enjoyed driving the 320i on a nice dry road. I liked the way it handled. On water or snow, forget it.
Here in america at least, trucks can get going. I had the Spitfire when in college and I was driving out to state college (Penn State University). On a lonely stretch it was just me and 2 trucks for some miles. I suddenly noticed we were all doing 95 mph (not kph). Funny how that happens....
I slowed down and the one behind me flew past me and he really sucked my in hard when he went by. I literally held the wheel left until he went by. (I was still in the passing lane)
We're due for a new car next year and I'm leaning toward the new Scion TC. If it test drives nice, I think it will be a keeper. It's gotten great reviews already. I'd really like a pontiac solstice but I'm not single anymore, alas.....
THAT'S a car.
.
You must have been freakin'.Over near Oakland there is a Porsche parts store and junkyard.
The guy there said he gets totaled Porsches coming in at an average of 1 a day. Probably a lot of kids who think they're invincible.Paul
Improper situations for use of CC is covered in driving instruction school. Icy, snow and rain are no-no's.A car "flying" from the incident you state is impossible. Thanks for the laugh.
Send this post to 15 audiophiles ASAP.
"A car "flying" from the incident you state is impossible. Thanks for the laugh."
Maybe if you drove a Mercedes CLR or Porsche GT1 to work each day it could happen.
the General Lee?
:-)
enjoy,
mark
also one of the leading cause of car accidents; more specifically: fiddling with instruments (gauges) while driving. source:AAA
____________ // ________________
listen
…………… the whole scenario is a load of crap. It defies logic, physics and how CC actually works.
As for saving a life; I don’t care how well intentioned the author is, it is just plain insulting.Smile
Sox
PS I don’t usually reply to posts in a completely negative way, however, I have been in the surf for four hours this morning and maybe all the adrenalin has corrupted my good nature ….. :o)
Undoubtedly your post is somehow a sneaky attempt to undermine SACDs and bring the Western world crashing down.
nt
... and no, i do *not* dye my hair blonde :-)i do remember on one occasion being surprised by the car's Electronic Brake Control (EBC) engaging whilst in cruise.
the EBC must have noticed the car about to aquaplane and applied some corrective measures.
it's amazing what these German engineers think of! :-)
i'll remember to take my car off cruise in wet conditions from now on.
*
Interesting times
.
*
Interesting times
... and fuel consumption increases by around 10-20% in wet weather.try it yourself if your car has a fuel consumption rate meter.
to me, it's evidence that the the tyres has less grip on the road, which translates to the engine spinning harder, thus more fuel consumed.
of course, it could also be my turbo is less efficient - maybe the humidity of the air has an impact? (it's a low pressure turbo, so it's on even at low revs).
The increase in fuel consumption is due to the front tires pushing water out of the way. Take a close look at the other cars on the highway and see how far water is spraying forward of the front tire on a wet road.Also if the tires are spinning causing the engine to rev harder you will see increased RPM on the Tachometer. There will be no difference between wet and dry at steady speed on the cruise control.
Cheers,
the tacho does show a higher than average reading. My car has continuous variable transmission, and the car drops to a fractionally lower gear ratio in wet weather. presumably to increase traction.i don't know how it "knows" that the weather is wet. maybe the gearbox is tied to the measurement data coming for the EBC.
i'm surprised by how many sensors the car has. for example, it even has a tilt sensor so it can apply engine braking (again, by lowering gear ratio) when the car goes down a hill.
You are correct about increased fuel consumption and an added factor is that the rain is often accompanied by wind which further exacerbates bad economy.On a wet road the tyres have to slice through the water to the road and throw it out of the way, all of which requires more power so increasing fuel consumption because the accelerater is pressed down more to maintain speed. If anything, slightly moist air increases efficiency (some years ago gadgets which introduced a minute amount of water were touted) but not enough to be significant relative to the increased drag imposed by the wet pavement.
An important factor in all of this is the road surface. I'm guessing that the smooth concrete paving, so common in the US and Canada, is more prone to cause aquaplaning problems than the relatively course black top used here.
Just my 2c
John
Interesting times
my measurements were done on two separate Sydney to Canberra trips, so i doubt traffic and/or wind would have been significant factors. the wind conditions on both occasions seem roughly the same.maintained average freeway speeds of 115km/h on cruise control for both trips.
on dry conditions, my audi a4 was doing an average of 6.5 l/100km end-to-end (including Sydney and Canberra city traffic)
on wet, i think it was more like 7.5 l/100km.
my best so far is 6.1 Sydney to Newcastle (again, "end-to-end" or "door-to-door")
my best "normal traffic" is 7.9 from home to office (about 8kms).
Clearly, John, you have never driven in my neck of the woods, in the Washington, DC area. I wish it was as you describe.
Traffic and drivers tend to slow down and accelerate slower when there are wet or icy conditions. Hence, the increase in fuel consumption.
Frog
Going slower can improve fuel consumption but not if engine revs drop too much below 1500 to 2000 rpm (depending on the motor design & its torque range), then you are correct. If speed drops such that a lower gear is engaged then fuel consumption really climbs. However aquaplaning is an unlikely even at these speeds.Interesting OT topic as many inmates are petrol heads (is this only an Aussie term becase the US uses "gas" rather than "petrol"?) as well as audiomaniacs.
John
Interesting times
I did a search on snopes.com and this occurrence is NOT an urban legend, although details might be exaggerated.John
Interesting times
Yes, and don't run with a lollypop in your mouth, you could get killed doing that too... say, let's post all of the things that morons do that can get them killed, and change the name of this forum from "Audio Asylum" to "John Marks' Warnings for Retards".-----> If you send this to 15 people and only one of them doesn't know about this, then it was all worth it. You might have saved a life <-----
IMO, if someone is stupid enough to drive so fast in the rain with cruise control on that their car "literally flies through the air" then their life isn't worth saving.
How the f**k do hydroplaning tires that have lost contact with the pavement accelerate a car? Along with that completely impossible scenario, the fact is that a cruise control will cut the throttle if it senses a increase in wheel rpm, not increase the throttle. This is stupidity of a very exquisite form. If a highway patrolman really told that to someone he probably needs to have his own driving capabilities reevaluated just to keep the rest of us safe.
don't be confusing the issue with facts !rw
Don't think for a second the car makers haven't rung this out ten ways to Sunday before equipping millions of cars with CC. I also like the tractionless acceleration which seems to be launching cars.
No matter what precautions you take, you can't stop some people from doing stupid things. We can do with fewer lawyers chasing ambulances.
if you offer anything, and I mean anything, for sale to the public today product laibility is a fact of life and a big one. You can bet your boots that before a car maker commits to CC design, it's tested in all possible real and even unreal conditions, used and abused, reports are written and the suits pour over the data and give the okay.
> > when your tires lose contact with the pavement your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed and you take off like an airplane.. < <Wow, flying cars! What will they think of next.
I believe that what happens is that the car loses traction on the drive wheels and may brake loose the other wheels, causing a skid. The car does not increase in speed, the tires just spin without traction at a faster rate causing the speedometer to jump.
It is dangerous, however, as mentioned.
The recommendation is a good one, but...If the wheels lose contact with the road, the car can't accelerate. It's a physical impossibility.
If the wheels lose contact with the road with the cruise control on, they don't start spinning faster. The cruise control keeps the speed of rotation constant - that's the whole point of cruise control.
This is a chain letter, just another form of SPAM. Anybody who is on the internet and has any regard for other people knows not to forward chain letters.
Are you trolling us?
Dave
times, it seems that when friction is lost between tire and road(hydroplaning)a car could indeed accelerate, especially if on a downhill slope. My sore butt proves it.
At highway speeds, the wind resistance is so significant that you need to be driving down something like a 30 degree incline (i.e. a very steep hill) to accelerate without motive force from the engine.Dave
Plus...if the driver so much as tapped her brake pedal, the cruise control is suspended anyway.But John Marks' post is well-intentioned, and well-taken: cc is only for highway driving under the most optimal weather and traffic conditions. Sorta like what the car owners manual says.
..ironically much like this post, LOL! guity! :-)
This email seems to be making the rounds again - I received one yesterday too. Good advice.n fact, I never use cruise control on wet pavement, and I can't conceive of anyone using CC when the roads are icy. It defys all logic.
I like to feel the road and have as much control as I can when road conditions are slick. Given the volume of traffic on midwestern interstates, I seldom use CC anyway.
I once had the lovely experience of a cruise control that would accelerate on its own. I use CC with caution anyway.
Sorry... That message number is not valid.
Some, but not all, cruise control systems have provisions to turn themselves off if they encounter traction loss. It is better to be safe and just not use them in slippery conditions.
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2024, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
