Runaway 2009 Lexus ES fiery crash kills family of 4
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From: N8N on 18 Sep 2009 16:49 On Sep 18, 4:00 pm, dsi1 <d...(a)humuhumunukunukuapuapa.org> wrote: > Scott Dorsey wrote: > > dsi1 <d...(a)spamnet.com> wrote: > >> Scott Dorsey wrote: > >>> Jeff Strickland <crwlrj...(a)yahoo.com> wrote: > >>>> I drove (rode) my BMW dead-stick down a mountain road for about 7 miles. > >>>> Steering was no problem, brake effort was high, but not a problem. > >>> Shoulda got an E28. You get several minutes of braking with the engine > >>> off, courtesy of the nitrogen ball. > >> What is a "nitrogen ball?" > > > It's a compressed gas reservoir that keeps the braking system up to pressure > > after engine power is lost. > > > The brake system on BMWs of that era is... really German. They never use one > > part when they can use five instead. > > --scott > > That's a good idea. I used to have a VW Rabbit that had a vacuum > reservoir that looked like bunch of plastic spheres. I think it was > hooked up to the emission system - not the brakes. How does this > nitrogen ball work? The brake booster systems I'm familiar use the > engine vacuum to multiply brake pedal force. > > As far as German engineering goes, I was very impressed with the rear > drum brake system on a Scirocco I used to have. They replaced the > standard self-adjusting drum brake wear hardware - starwheel, ratchet, > linkages and springs, with a simple wedge and spring. It's a beautiful > system. Mostly, I'm afraid of old-school English engineering. :-) well, that WAS a good adjuster system except they got the geometry of the wedge wrong... if your drums had a lot of miles on them and were worn slightly oversized the adjuster wedge would run out of adjustment LONG before you ran out of brake shoe, so the brake pedal got real mushy. I know this from personal experience :) Of course rear drums for those cars were like $25 apiece back in the day... nate
From: dsi1 on 18 Sep 2009 18:00 N8N wrote: > On Sep 18, 4:00 pm, dsi1 <d...(a)humuhumunukunukuapuapa.org> wrote: >> >> As far as German engineering goes, I was very impressed with the rear >> drum brake system on a Scirocco I used to have. They replaced the >> standard self-adjusting drum brake wear hardware - starwheel, ratchet, >> linkages and springs, with a simple wedge and spring. It's a beautiful >> system. Mostly, I'm afraid of old-school English engineering. :-) > > well, that WAS a good adjuster system except they got the geometry of > the wedge wrong... if your drums had a lot of miles on them and were > worn slightly oversized the adjuster wedge would run out of adjustment > LONG before you ran out of brake shoe, so the brake pedal got real > mushy. I know this from personal experience :) Of course rear drums > for those cars were like $25 apiece back in the day... > > nate I would tend to change out the shoes before they needed to because I'd already have the parts and as long as the drum was off it seemed like the easier way to go. I sure wish I had one of those first series car again - but they don't seem to have survived this new century due to their old-school rust protection. The one I had was riddled with holes. People would laugh at me. Well, at least the brakes and drive train was fine. :-)
From: john on 18 Sep 2009 20:34 First of all it's unfortunate what happened to the family. So I wouldn't want to second guess what was or was not done at the time. But according to the CHP Academy web site. Each cadet will have 27 weeks and 1,000 hours of training. Some of which include Emergency Vehicle Operations Course (EVOC). Now my question is that if a CHP officer with EVOC training can't stop a runaway Camry (Lexus ES), who can? The Emergency Vehicle Operations Course (EVOC) is famous throughout the world as the finest law enforcement driver training program available. The course consists of a 2.3-mile, high-performance driving track, two skid recovery practice areas and a defensive driving course. Additional riding facilities are provided for the Motorcycle Enforcement Training Course. http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/academybrochure.html
From: P.V. on 19 Sep 2009 06:21 "a" <a(a)thisisnotmyrealemail.com> kirjoitti viestiss� news:kZNsm.45571$PH1.24807(a)edtnps82... >> Same problem as the (lack of an) ignition switch. These new computer >> controlled cars won't go into a lower gear if the ECU decides it will >> make >> the engine over-rev. You can select it, but nothing will happen. >> > > Wait - were the brakes inoperable too? Because shifting to neutral and > braking normally would have worked just fine. I bet the brakes were operable at first, but the driver had made them inoperable by trying to brake without shifting to neutral. P.V.
From: Hachiroku on 21 Sep 2009 12:49
On Thu, 17 Sep 2009 10:14:26 -0400, Mike wrote: > > I'm no Toyota fanatic but that story sounds fishy to me. > > I the first place what Toyota can reach 120 MPH, except while going down a > mountain? If my 1985 Corolla GTS 4 cylinder twin cam hit 130 on a flat run between Kinston and Oshawa ONT, then I think a 6 cyl Lexus should probably be able to surpass that. |