(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

[marmtx.livejournal.com]

Mmmm.... Was the mechanich heavier than you? Something bends (or doesn't bend enough) that causes bad contact somewhere?

I remember that wonderful story of car refusing to start when driver was getting one kind of ice cream versus the other :) That mechanic also didn't believe, but it was true. Just one type of ice cream was right next to the door so buying would take 2 minutes, and another deep inside the store, so it'd take 5 minutes. Engine would cool and start ok, while with 2 minute in "off" position it'd refuse to start.

I'm a car clutz :(

[growler-south.livejournal.com]

The mechanic just doesn't drive the car hard enough- the misfire shows up the worst between 2-5kRPM at three-quarter throttle and over. He drove like my grandma going to the shops.

[marmtx.livejournal.com]

Hm :) Even I drive more than 2kRPM :) Oh well. At least he knows it now

[sinnabor.livejournal.com]

Stupid car. Too many computers anyway.

I just read a neat article: cars with ABS are more likely to be involved in rollovers and fatal crashes.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=2006

Funny, now that I no longer have the ABS/ASC/DSC Mini, and I'm back to the good old non-whizbang RAV4.

[growler-south.livejournal.com]

The article I read (which I cant find now) said the research suggested that the higher rollover and off-road excursion accident rates for ABS vehicles was basically related to people not knowing how to drive. They would brake hard and swerve, which would normally result in a skid, but in a car with ABS it resulted in a lovely controlled swerve- upside-down and into a ditch. (Not-crashing rule #1: never steer and brake at the same time.) I can also appreciate that people who think their cars are invulnerable might also drive faster...

I like ABS, even though I'm a practised and confident cadence braker. ABS compensates for more factors than I can with my one pedal, but I appreciate that its merely automated cadence braking. The rules of traction and inertia still apply!

I hate hate HATE traction control though. At first it shifts the power around trying to find the wheel with the most traction, which is fine. Then, when it realises all 4 wheels are spinning, it cuts the bloody engine power and wont give it back for about 3 seconds.
Hint: when I'm accelerating hard, it may well be for a reason. If I get squished by a truck because the computer thinks it knows better, I'm not going to be happy.

Luckily, Paul's golf has a big button that turns off the traction control. I'd prefer it if it only turned off the engine-limiting portion of the traction control because, again, torque-biasing diffs and individual brake application can do more to maximise traction than I can with my right foot, up to a point. Beyond that point though, my right foot is more than capable of deciding how much power is enough.

[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. ;-)