(no subject)

[growler_south]

The mechanic thought I had automotive munchausen's by proxy. He drove the car around this morning and it behaved impeccably. We swapped seats and cough! sputter! lurch! the Golf had its usual misfire, complete with manically flashing check engine light for emphasis. "Shizer", he said. "It's misfiring on a different cylinder this time".

See, it really IS just me. And Paul. Clearly the Golf senses our lack of teutonicness and is punishing us. Stupid car. Too many computers anyway.

Comments

[sinnabor.livejournal.com]

accident rates for ABS vehicles was basically related to people not knowing how to drive.

Well, yea. But they've been told that the car will compensate for that, mostly. Especially the Beemer drivers.

There's a cloverleaf on my way home that I loved to hit fast in the MINI. It'd stay glued to the road at speeds that make your passengers claw the ceiling for the oh-jesus handle (that wasn't there on the 2002). I came around (more slowly) in the rain one day to find a newish BMW 300-series plowed into the dirt - and immediately thought that they trusted the BMW techno-magic a bit too much. Insert a Nelson "HA-ha." here.

but I appreciate that its merely automated cadence braking.

Ooooo, then you haven't experienced the niftyness of 4-channel ABS on a MINI. Only the wheels that lock are pulsed, so all four wheels act independently. Feels totally weird, like you've hit a patch of gravel. I was surprised at how often it kicked in - I didn't realize I was locking the wheels all that much. :-)

I hate hate HATE traction control though.

Yea, on the MINI it manifested only as a sudden engine weakness. I don't think it used brakes, and it certainly didn't have a torque-biasing differential. I grew up compensating for wheel spin on front-wheel-drive cars (mostly in snow and ice), so it didn't seem that useful to me.

[growler-south.livejournal.com]

but I appreciate that its merely automated cadence braking on each wheel individually, of course. ;-)