RE: another quattro goes down in its element

[Michael Williams <daserde@ucla.edu>]

First i want to say thank you to all of you who have responded to my post 
with your sympathies...it looks like even though the insurance wont cover 
it, my dad is going to help get it fixed...we just have to see what the 
suspension damage is...But he knows a guy in auto body work who owes him 
a significant sum of money for legal work...so that is good....iwas even 
considering getting the car painted Lhasa Green Metallic....but i dont 
think that is likely since it would require many, many hours more work to 
do that....


David Eaton decided to speak these words:

>centre diff locked is actually going to help here.  braking is an
>understandable and expected response and is, perhaps, imperative (given
>the following distance).  lightening up the back-end of the car will
>transfer weight to the front and cause an oversteer'ing 'moment' (in the
>physics sense).  in marginal conditions (ie wet) snap oversteer can
>result.

I only tapped the brakes to number one, shave off about 5 mph, and number 
2 to signal the person behind me...But i knew that it might cause some 
undesired effects, like what did happen, but i would rather risk that 
than definitely hit someone...so i chose to take that chance...

>
>in these conditions the *only* thing you've got going for you is the
>traction at the front and the ability to use the accelerator to pull you
>out of trouble (ie. transfer weight to the rear of the car).  this may
>not of course be an option given the aformentioned following distance...
>
>anyway in this situation, the locked centre is going to help.

This is what i thought.  Because of the lack of a limited slip system 
anywhere in the center diff...once the rear wheels would start slipping, 
any and all power that i had attempted to deliver would have instead gone 
straight to the rear wheels, and wouldhave most likely caused me to spin 
faster, in which case i would not have been abel to recover from the spin 
well enough not to take out another car and stay in my lane...I was in 
5th gear at about 3000rpm at that point, and in a 4kq, there just isnt 
enough power to help... :o(  Hey, even more motivation to do a turbo 
conversion...hehe

I have always locked the center diff in wet conditions as it has always 
felt more stable, especially when going through a big puddle...perhaps it 
was so stable until i upset the balance that i didnt even realise i was 
in just that much water.

The funny thing was, i never was scared...i was able to anticipate what 
was going to happen once i went off the road, at which point, i was only 
concerned with staying off of the main roadway, which was actually rather 
difficult.  There was about 30 feet of shoulder andi must have been 5 
feet off of the road before i was able to bring it back on line and away 
from the traffic...

No one stopped or called police for me.  I was not able to call anyone 
cause i was on the wrong side of the road, and there are no callboxes in 
the middle...BTW, this was on highway 280 north about 5 miles south of 
the 92 junction, i came to a stop right across from the exit for the 
vista point that is closed...i went off of the road about 1/4 mile before 
that, it took that long to regain control and come to a stop...

Quite a ride i must say...but unlike my last accident...i reacted the way 
i have been training myself to...i did not panic, i did not mash the 
brakes, i did not try to use the whole runway, i used the accelerator and 
everything i knew, and due to the lack of room, it was not possible to 
recover.  So, this time, i do not regret not doing something...yay 
me..right?

later all,...and thanks again

Michael Sheridan Williams

My new one: 1985 4000 S Quattro
175,000+ miles, and going like a new car
Well, went like a new car.....right into a guard rail :o(

http://members.aol.com/daserde2