Re: quattro-digest V3 #1426

[Jay@aol.com]

ObMeToo: Last winter, during the Great Blizzard, after about the fourth day I
braved a visit to Safeway for some food.  I was going about 5mph in my hefty,
heavy, made-of-steel Infiniti Q45a.  Taking a turn in the parking lot, I lost
traction and hit the curb.  Wham!  There went the control rod.  600 bucks.

Moral: If you're about to hit something, quickly estimate your bumper height.
 (You can use the same part of your brain that does the calculus when you
catch a baseball.)  If the object you're about to hit is higher, throw weight
out of the car, such as the spare tire, groceries, passenger, etc.  If it's
lower, press down really hard with your feet to lower the car.  You want to
hit things with the bumper and nothing else.

Jay "after that, I said I'm NEVER gonna skid again, and got an Audi" Levitt
96 A4q, some assembly required

In a message dated 96-11-24 11:26:31 EST, AudiDudi writes:

> FYI, there is a *significant* difference between hitting another vehicle
and
>  hitting an immovable object since the former will deform to
absorb/dissipate
>  the energy of the impact and the latter won't.  Back in '76, I had a
similar
>  accident in my father's Oldsmobile while spinning donuts in a parking lot
--
>  Hey, it was covered with snow at the time! -- and it cost almost $1500 of
MY
>  money to repair since he refused to submit a claim to his insurance
company.
>  He thought that making me pay for the repairs might teach me a lesson or
two
>  about respecting other people's property ... needless to say, it did!