Re: Augered in my 5000s wagon!

[John Greenstreet <jgreenst@motown.ge.com>]

> From quattro-owner@swiss.ans.net Mon Dec  5 14:12:21 1994
> From: Bob Kunz <bkunz@hpbs114.boi.hp.com>
> Subject: Augered in my 5000s wagon!
> 
> No one hurt but this last Saturday I augered in the '86 5000s into a snow
> bank on the way down from skiing. This is not a quattro and was the first
> time I took the car up skiing to this area. It is not a quattro but I
> clearly was driving wrong. No damage to the car either (snow was soft).
> 
> This was on a downhill left hairpin turn which I entered too fast. I had
> been braking on the straight before previous turns and applying power
> about half way through to bring the front end around. I simply entered
> this one too fast and didn't have the room to increase speed to power out.
> 
> I usually take my Chevy 4x4 up and of course all four wheels brake the
> vehicle for me but with just FWD on the Audi, those wheels have *ALL* the
> work to do -- braking, turning, accelerating. In this case they could not do
> all and I paid for it.
> 
> What would be correct technique for this situation? Is light application of
> the rear brakes through the manual brake going to help? At the time I was
> in 2nd gear (5 sp manual), engine at about 2500 rpm and about 20 mph.

When going into a corner "too hot", it is not generally a good idea to
apply the brakes or lift up on the throttle any more that a small
amount.  The best approach is to "ride it out" or as a former president
would say "Stay the course".  Especially in FWD cars, lifting off or
braking will cause a weight shift forward, which will increase
oversteer, even to the point of the rear-end coming around.  I learned
this on my '78 Fox in Syracuse NY.  Accelerating at the limit in an
FWD vehicle will only make a wide turn wider.

On Bosch ABS equipped FWD cars, one can apply the brakes in a curve
with no problem as there is a rotation sensor in the ABS which will
allow the system to modulate the brakes in order to prevent spinning.
In a wet, greasy parking lot I verified this feature on my '92 100CS.
Try as I may, I could not get the car to spin using the brake pedal.
However, it was very easy with the handbrake or throttle.

I found a good technique for getting around corners quickly with FWD
was to brake just before turning, thereby shifting the weight forward;
this seemed to improve initial turn-in and reduced the tendency to
understeer in the turn as well.

> 
> For the rest of the way down, I played with 3rd gear, went much slower
> into the turns. Everyone else could go faster than me and did when I let
> them by. I didn't think of applying the rear brakes till later.

Good thing!

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John Greenstreet, Senior Engineer           (jgreenst@motown.ge.com)
Martin Marietta Government Electronic Systems    Moorestown NJ 08057
WPI Class of '75, Temple Class of '94

My new car history:
  1975    1978    1982       1986        1989      1992      1995
   VW ->  Audi -> Audi  -> Mercedes -> Mercedes -> Audi -> Mercedes
Scirocco Fox GTI  4000S    190E 2.3    190E 2.6    100CS     S320

POSSLQ's* new car history:
         1978       1981       1985      1988        1990     1993
       Triumph ->  Toyota ->  Toyota  ->  VW    ->   Audi  -> Audi
       Spitfire    Tercel     Corolla   Jetta GL      80      90S

*POSSLQ = Person of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters
Note: All Audis and Mercedes above were sold to friends or family.
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