Okay,
It's not your fault you ran into somebody.


It is the car.


there, feel better?

 

In my work in Radiology, I dealt with over 5,000 accidents so this car isn't the only one at fault, it was never the driver. Even the newspapers say so "The car failed to negotiate the corner." "The car failed to stop in time." So how did our Crossfire achieve the stopping distances they did in all the tests? LOL

 

4 years of bridge construction on my daily commute with slam stop and go traffic.. she did quite well in keeping the nose on it. And I guess I can offer the rear bumper cover I have as a spare for sale now that I retired.. LOL.

 

The absolute worst ice storm I have ever encountered was in northern Florida. Twelve hours to go 90 miles. No rooms to be had. Slept in a parking lot waking up ever couple of hours to warm up the car then shut it off.

The Audi and I did fine but I saw examples of most everything else doing ice ballets that afternoon/night and strew over the highway abandoned the next morning.

It just takes a small patch to get it started. My vote goes for diminished reaction times or lack of experience in those conditions. I admit to the first and second despite the knowledge gained by taking my AMX off a ice covered overpass years ago.

I am disinclined to think it is the fine Germain machine's fault.

 

One thing to add, when breaking on snow, by just letting the break go without ABS, By slipping, you're piling snow up in the way of your tire, when snow piles up to a certain shape/block, it does help you to slow down quicker.

Ever hit a block of packed snow? I have, and it wasn't fun...

But when sliding, of course, you're sh*t out of luck....

But when on ice, with or without ABS really doesn't make much difference, neither does all wheel drives...

 

On slick roads give me a manual, better control, lower rpm, better odds of not crashing

 

What is the difference between slipping and sliding?

If you think snow piling up in front of the tire helps slow you down then you have the wrong idea. A couple of foot of thick snow in front of the grille and the car is pushing against some weight then yes it will slow you down.

For snow and ice you must have winter tires on each corner, I have Blizzacks on the family car and I think they are better than the Michelin Arctic Alpins and Ice that I have used up to now.

 

What tires were you wearing at the time? (so I could stay away from those)

 

AMEN to that.


Use the clutch as a brake, keep those front wheels turning.


And in front.

 

Maybe we should start a Thread called "Saved Crossfires" listing Crossfires that have had damage and repaired by Insurance/Personal efforts, as opposed to sending them to the Wreckers yard. The latest Crossfire I bought had previously Minor damage to the left front fender area, The repair really looks good and had a full repaint. My only complaint would be the sealant used under the hood, at the Panel joints, is a bit messy. I MAY try to tidy that up in time. Mine had the following replaced. Front Fender (Inner and Outer), front skirt, Headlight unit, Fog light unit. Knowing this during my inspection prior to purchase, allowed me to negotiate a REALLY good price, and I have a beautiful looking car AND back in the Crossfire fold.

 

"I am about 4 car lengths away, apply the brakes and my car slides right into hers. " that does not sound like the ABS was working properly, as soon as the slid started it should have been chattering.

We do have an advantage in that Florida shell roads have more traction than anything. It was always a surprise to go to a drag strip that was plain asphault and have little or no traction. When I lived in Texas for a while it was always a surprise how easy it was to spin the tires.

Back in the day, leaning how to modulate brakes in a skid was taught in driver's ed. Maybe now everyone relies on ABS and TC.


But bottom line, if you just slid for four lengths (60-80 feet) without the ABS taking over, something was broke.

Being mostly "underfunded" when racing I used to love it when it rained, engine stayed cool, tires didn't wear, and most sane people slowed down.

ps there is another factor: almost every American car is designed to understeer. It is considered "safer". Personally I have found that if you put a car sideways, you have a few more feet in which to get stopped before contact and the safest impact would be going backwards (particularly in a mid-engined car). But that is not the American way.