[Vwdiesel] Fwd: mileage

[Kurt Nolte]

RE: braking power

Pop the air release on a fully loaded bus and they'll stop you fast 
enough to feel like you've been kicked in the chest (from my seat-belt 
locking up so hard).

I had to do a "panic stop" in my ninth month behind the wheel, some 
less-than-intelligent college kid pulled out across from me with only 
20-25' of clearance when I was doing a full 40mph with a heavy passenger 
load (50 @ estimated average 175# each... it adds up fast!).

Pure instinct laid my foot deep on the pedal, shouted a brace warning, 
and pulled that emergency release knob. I /know/ I locked up all four 
corners, because there were delicious black streaks on the pavement 
traveling through the intersection.

I managed not to hit the SOB, and despite throwing my standing 
passengers to the floor nobody was hurt, and the kid's license plate was 
caught on the front view camera. All in all one of the better endings to 
that scenario, but I can /still/ smell that brake-shoe reek, and that 
was years ago.

I've had a few occasions to really like the "brakes engage when you lose 
air pressure" safety feature too. That kind of inherently built in 
safety feature is part of why I love air brakes on anything heavier than 
a "light" duty truck.

-Kurt