Unintended Acceleration - really happens

[Huw Powell]

>>wrong place, did a U turn, got back on the boulevard, and the UA 
>>started.

Well, for starters, UA is a fairly common phenomenon and happens in many 
makes and models.  It tends to show up worse on automatics, but is not 
confined to them.  A simple stuck linkage will do it...

Of course, the "nightmare" factor back in the good ole type 44 UA panic 
was that the people tended to have their foot on the *wrong pedal* - ie, 
thought they were braking hard, but were flooring it.  Hard to fix that.

I noted my past ownership of a T43 turbo (all autos).  It was so nicely 
made and balanced, that I used to walk out to my car, hop in, turn the 
key, put it in drive, and go, without using the brakes - because at 
idle, in drive, it would just sit and purr without moving.  This in a 
driveway pointing directly at a busy road.  After thinking about what 
would happen if it revved at 3k instead of 700 (say, linkage stuck, or 
carpet holding pedal - know you know why they have carpet-holding pegs 
after '86 or so...), with my foot not on the brake... I started holding 
down the brake while doing all this.

> Kind of, the UA was a mysterious paranormal force that would accelerate
> the car without any user interface, or accelerate even more when the
> "brake" was applied.......
> 
>>However, I
>>can see how an inexperienced or panicky driver might have had a 
>>problem with the UA.  
> 
> In tests, the brakes of a type 44 held over 900 HP of engine at bay, so
> if you hit the brake pedal you should do alright, experienced or not
> that's what (I hope) most people would do...but then again....

And, as the good old boring "rebuttal" video tape Audi made points out, 
any road going vehicle made has stronger brakes than its 
engine/drivetrain.  The 5000 they used in the tape only took 10-20% or 
so further to stop with the accelerator mashed.

-- 
Huw Powell

http://www.humanspeakers.com/audi

http://www.humanthoughts.org/