Re: a tribute to my Dak's ABS

From: Robert P. Agnew (ragnew@islandnet.com)
Date: Sat Apr 12 1997 - 16:27:56 EDT


At 12:40 PM 4/12/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Hey Rob,
>I'm sorry to hear what happened to your son. After I wrote the message I
>had a feeling someone might be wondering why I was driving down what I
>called a residential street at 40 mph. Let me explain. Here in Lexington,
>Kentucky there are a lot of downtown residential streets that have either 35
>or 40 mph posted speed limits. I'm not sure why they are this high. In my
>home town, most of the residential areas are 25. In any case, I'm sure that
>I won't be driving that fast down those streets anymore.
>
>>Andy:

Hi Andy:

Thanks for the reply. Sounds like you've done some thinking about what
might have happened. Here, ICBC (Insurance Corporation of BC) has been
running safety commercials describing exactly the situation that you were
in ... only the car couldn't stop in time. Seeing a kid hit the windshield
was rather shocking.

Guess I just getting cranky in my old age (45), shouldn't have dumped on
you like that. I drove much faster when I was younger than I do now, but
luckily never hit anyone. Besides that, the Dak is so smooth 40 mph feels
like 20 mph.

Anyway, a question about the 4 wheel ABS .... on a panic stop, does it feel
like you're not really stopping?
My previous vehicle was a 78 3/4 ton which used to rear-wheel lockup in a
panic stop (and go sideways).

I took my Dak out to a deserted stretch of highway, wound it up to 60 mph
and hammered the brakes. Even with both fronts locked (very hard to do) it
still went straight and it also stopped very quickly. But it feels almost
unnatural that the rears don't lock ... I even had my mechanic run it over
the skid pad, I thought maybe the rears weren't working properly. They
were ok.

Apart from the $500 extra cost, I was also concerned that I would have to
drive the truck diffently than the car (89 Sundance) without ABS. It stops
on a dime.

An elderly friend of mine has a 90 New Yorker (the one on the same chasis
as the Dynasty) and I did not like it's 4 wheel ABS at all. It was also a
model recalled for bum ABS.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Glad you missed the little girl.

Rob Agnew
ragnew@islandnet.com

Victoria, British Columbia
Canada

 



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