Re: Teenage driving (low Audi content)

[Brett Dikeman <quattro@arthur.malebolge.com>]

>This is king of long, but I think it is worth sharing on the List.
>
>I have to agree with Dave Eaton on this one.  An underpowered, strong,
>heavy, and crash worthy RWD car is the way to go with a novice driver.
>I personally learned to drive in a Volvo 245 swedish brick.  It didn't
>have a lot of power, had a top speed of maybe 90mph, had a soft
>suspension, wasn't very popular with the other kids in school, but it
>was da** strong.  In fact, I am probably alive in perfect health because
>of that car.
Right; Quattro gets you into all sorts of dumb situations you wouldn't be
in if you had a lesser car.  Also, as I said before, if you're going to
give a kid a Quattro, send them to driving school to learn HOW to drive it;
defensive driving school couldn't hurt either.

>from the accidient.  Had I been in any other (insert your favorite
>american or Japanese make here), I most likely would have been killed.

Not always true.  A friend was in a chevy caprice, of about mid-80's
vintage, a HUGE car.  She pulled out, and some jackass came around the
corner in I think a honda accord, slammed into her.  His car was totalled;
he got an airbag in the face, some whiplash from said airbag, and burns
from said airbag.  She walked away without a scratch.  The point of impact
was the driver's side B pillar.  The SP estimated speed around
40-45mph(speed limit 35) from the skid marks and the distance travelled
after impact.

There is something to be said for size and sheer steel; one could also
argue the Honda's superior design with crush zones and all translated to
less damage on the caprice, but still everyone involved was amazed.

Brett
PS:Anyone see the side impact testing results?  They _rated_ the cars
instead of pass/fail; guess who objected the most to the new kind of test
during the hearings for funding the new tests?  GM.  Guess which car did
the worst(the agency got funding and did the tests)?

The GM-made cavalier and sunfire(same body.)  Guess which did the best?
Japanese made Tercell.  Yet the Tercell weighs significatly less than the
cavalier; obvious proof that superior engineering does win out.

What's sad is all the cars passed, even the Cavalier, in which it was
estimated that "severe trauma and injury, with likely death" was the
outcome of the driver/passenger side collision test.

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Brett Dikeman
brett@pdikeman.ne.mediaone.net
~)-|
Hostes alienigeni me abduxerunt.  Qui annus est?
Te audire non possum.  Musa sapientum fixa est in aure.
Ita, scio hunc 'sig file' veterem fieri.
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