what's wrong with this picture?

[P.Dooley]

I had the same thing happen to me in my 86 5KT.
The engine raced up for about 2-3 seconds.
Still no way the thing was getting away from me.  The stall on the AT's
torque converter keeps the rpm and hp down somewhat.

Still, in the wrong situation, I may not had time to react and the
outcome could have been much worse.  That is where the driver error
comes in.  

I guess I need to backtrack from my original statement and say that it
may be a compound problem.  The car does something you don't expect, and
you don't react properly.


-----Original Message-----
From: quattro-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:quattro-bounces at audifans.com]
On Behalf Of Richard Sargent
Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2004 7:22 PM
To: quattro at audifans.com
Subject: Re: what's wrong with this picture?

I have been following this thread, and others similar, for years now. I
was inclined to believe that the whole "unintended acceleration" fiasco
could be blamed on drivers merely stepping on the wrong pedal, if I
hadn't had an experience a few years ago that made me re-assess my
conclusions.

I was driving my '87 5000S (non-turbo, non-quattro, automatic
transmission), and was stopped at a red light. The car was in gear
(Drive), and my foot was on the brake, holding the car in place. After
being stopped at the light for probably 20 or 30 seconds, the engine
suddenly raced up to about 3 or 4 thousand rpm, and I had to apply FIRM
pressure to the brake pedal to hold the car in place. The engine raced
for less than 10 seconds, and then everything returned to normal. I
immediately thought of the "unintended acceleration" scandal that was
written off as drivers stepping on the wrong pedal, and thought that
perhaps there was, indeed, a mechanical or electrical cause for the
condition. I owned that car for several years, and never had the
condition manifest itself again.

Perhaps the easiest explanation (driver error) is not always the correct
explanation. When it happened to me, I felt as if my car was possessed!


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