Re: Bomb....Bad Bomb

[Robert Houk - SMCC Bos Desktop Hardware <rdh@UrQ.East.Sun.COM>]

   > On the other hand, when you *REALLY* need it, as in fan belt breaks, for
   > example, and the pump stops pumping, one turn of the wheel and you've
   > emtpied the bomb and have no brakes.

   Actually, you just have no power assist.  You still have plenty of brakes.

*WRONG*. You still have brakes . . . but far short of "plenty"!

   The bomb on my late '87 5k was deader-than-a-door-nail for over a year and I
   never had ANY problem stopping or steering the car ... Yes, the effort was a
   bit harder than before but I actually found the car had a much better "feel"
   this way and I've seriously considered modifying my '89 200q accordingly.

For casual driving around, maybe. For a "concerted" stop, I strongly
disagree. It takes a *LOT* of foot pressure to convince disk brakes to
slow down a 3000 (+alot) lbs car from highway speeds *RIGHT NOW*. Young
macho studs may have no trouble standing on the brakes, but I suspect
the prototypical "average" Audi driver (no one on this list, obviously)
would find it very offputting, to say the least. By the time the re-
quisite levels of adrenalin build up in the blood stream, brakes would
be moot...

I will point out that a dead bomb has absolutely *NO* effect on casual
driving styles, you still have *FULL* power assist (brakes and steering).
The effect on braking is very subtle, until you try a panic stop. That's
when you notice the hysteresis in the braking behavior (and it is MAJOR).

My point is that an operative bomb stores enough "residual" pressure to
do a lot of braking (I'd say at least a dozen full go fast/stop cycles)
should you lose the hydraulic pump (fanbelt breaks), and that that reserve
would be immediately used up if it drove the power steering as well (and
thus it should only drive the brakes 'cuz "they're more important" and
it's not that hard to steer a car without power assist, especially at
higher speeds).

As I said, the whole regime I was talking about was lossage of the fan-
belt/hydraulic pump. Now, if you pull the fanbelt off of your 5K and still
"have a fun time" driving, well . . . remind me not to piss you off in
any dark alleys . . .

My opinion, anyways.

					-RDH