From: bqueiser@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Brian J Queiser)
Subject: Re: 1990 Audi 100 SUCKS !!!!!!!!!!!!e+10
Organization: The Ohio State University
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 23 Dec 1992 15:03:01 GMT

mills@athena.lkg.dec.com (George Mills) writes:
>dwjz@bnr.ca (Doug Zolmer) writes:

>>Come on!  The brakes on _most_ cars will keep a car from moving under full
>>throttle.  The only way people unintentionally accelerated was to hit the
>>gas by mistake, instead of the brake.  Try it sometime.  Push down on the
>>brake and try to move the car by hitting the gas; you aren't going to
>>go anywhere (unless the engine can mysteriously start generating 1000 hp
>>and 1000 lb-ft of torque).

>Ever try stopping a car with power brakes and no vacuum !!!
>Ever hear of a thing called a leak?
>Ever hear of high idle at start up?


To my knowledge, none of the questions above were found to be pertinent
in the Audi "sudden acceleration" case(s) by NHTSA.  In other words.
there were no mechanical problems with the Audis that "suddenly
accelerated;" NHTSA completely cleared Audi of fault, placing blame
on driver error.  This apparently can't be said enough.


>If some American company wanted to attack a foreign competor they would
>not of picked on AUDI. They are not that popular. They would of went after
>a Japaneese company.


So?  I don't think anyone here has suggested that an American company
was out to get Audi (unless I missed something).


>>The media.  This is the same media that perpetuated the gulf war _story_ abou
t
>>the Iraqis stealing the incubators and leaving the babies to die.  It was
>>later determined that the story was a hoax, planned by lobbyists who had
>>much to gain if the war continued.

>Hey I bought an AUDI just after this whole thing happened. It didn't scare
>me away. Any car can have a problem. AUDI just did not handle the problem
>well at all. They INSULTED American drivers by telling that they have
>FAT feet. American drivers returned the favor by making AUDI even less
>popular in the U.S.


Doug's point was that the freaking media made everyone freak, as usual.
60 Minutes was the program which did the most damage (I think).  Most
people respect 60 Minutes (vs. 20/20, Primetime Live, etc.) but there
is often no way in hell that they can be entirely thorough, unbiased,
or fair in their 20 minute story segments.  The major informative item
that is often missed is the fact that not only Audi has a record of
"sudden acceleration."  In fact, I once saw a list of cars that were
being investigated about the same time as the Audi incident, but the
only one I remember is the Ford Aerostar.  Nothing has ever come of these
investigations (to my knowledge), and usually driver error is to blame.
Audi just got the worst of the media attention.


>I could understand if it was someone driving the car out of the show room.
>But these folks had been driving the cars for a while. A car becomes a
>natural extension of the body very quickly. Why, all of a suden, would this
>extension break?


Why is it hard to believe that some person who just pulled into her
garage with three kids and 10 bags of groceries couldn't get sidetracked,
forget to put the car into park, let her foot off the brake, realize
she's headed for the wall, then slame on the accelerator?  It happens.
Not all drivers (DEFINITELY not all drivers) become one with their car, and
even if they did, couldn't they make a mistake?


>I just rented a Bobcat for the first time a few months back. Never drove
>anything like it before. Oh, and to add to that the rig I had on it had to
>be driven backwards ! Oh, and by the way the rig wieghed about 4000 pounds
>making it very teeter toter (could not hit brake or gas to fast). Oh, and
>by the way your hands are throttle and steering at the same time. How,
>many people you ask did I run over? None. The machine was in working
>condition and so was this average FAT footed american. It was a fun
>challenge to drive. I had the arm dropping, bucket tipping, turning and
>backing up all at the same time in just a couple hours.
>
>When I returned it, I asked how many accidents do you have with these
>things. He said once in a great while they get tipped over if working
>on inclined areas. These are 90% new drivers on a very different driving
>machine.


Did you know that 3 out of 4 people are 75% of the population?  So what
if "90%" of the people who rent Bobcats are new drivers.  Chances are,
they are a bit more confident and skilled in the first place, otherwise,
they wouldn't THINK of even SITTING in a Bobcat.  How can Bobcats be
compared to Audis???

Regards,

Brian

bqueiser@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am the engineer, I can choose K.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Department of Engineering Mechanics
Ohio State University
Columbus, OH
Newsgroups: rec.autos