Another one near Miami U. There's a long, straight hill that was being paved. The brakes went out on the tandem drum road roller, it rolled down the hill, gaining some awesome speed, and jumped Dukes-of-Hazzard-style over the train tracks at the bottom of the hill. The operator regained control and steered it around the following curve.
poopshovel wrote: Did anyone else get the "If your car hydroplanes with the cruise control on, it will go airborne and kill you" email? Did they ever do that one on mythbusters or was it to berkeleying stupid to waste their time trying?
OK, so it won't go airborne, but cruise control in the rain (or ice) is a bad idea. If you loose traction, the control will accelerate to try to maintain speed. I've got a friend who rolled her car when this happened and she ended up in a ditch. She was doing 70 mph on I-75 when she lost traction. The police report said the wheels were running full out when they got there.
With all this Cobra stuff, here's an urban legend.
Carrol Shelby is a nice guy, looking out for the owners who worship his cars...
My folks have the Cosby 200mph LP. I partially credit this to my love for cars. If you can find it, have a listen. Truly comedy history.
Also, regarding the 4age's- I'm pretty sure a turbo was never offered factory, nor a twincharger. HKS is famous for having built both up for the aftermarket, but I'm almost 100% that the factory never built a 4agte or 4agzte.
SVreX wrote:poopshovel wrote: Did anyone else get the "If your car hydroplanes with the cruise control on, it will go airborne and kill you" email? Did they ever do that one on mythbusters or was it to berkeleying stupid to waste their time trying?OK, so it won't go airborne, but cruise control in the rain (or ice) is a bad idea. If you loose traction, the control will accelerate to try to maintain speed. I've got a friend who rolled her car when this happened and she ended up in a ditch. She was doing 70 mph on I-75 when she lost traction. The police report said the wheels were running full out when they got there.
I used to "accelerate" to my desired speed in my buick in the snow with the parking brake on and set the cruise. Once you release the parking brake it'll maintain the tire spin at exactly that speed until the car catches up. Lots of fun. One of the few cars where setting the parking brake or putting it in neutral won't disengage cruise.
SVreX wrote:poopshovel wrote: Did anyone else get the "If your car hydroplanes with the cruise control on, it will go airborne and kill you" email? Did they ever do that one on mythbusters or was it to berkeleying stupid to waste their time trying?OK, so it won't go airborne, but cruise control in the rain (or ice) is a bad idea. If you loose traction, the control will accelerate to try to maintain speed. I've got a friend who rolled her car when this happened and she ended up in a ditch. She was doing 70 mph on I-75 when she lost traction. The police report said the wheels were running full out when they got there.
I guess complicated car control like "hitting the brakes" would be out of reach? You could avoid the cruise, and probably the ditch too!
It reminds me of the time I saw a Rescue 911 reenactment where a lady's car had the throttle stick. They literally took like twenty minutes to shut it down. I guess the ignition switch never occurred to her.
-Brian
What about the one with the rocket powered Impala that ends up taking off and getting stuck in the side of a mountain.
tuna55 wrote: It reminds me of the time I saw a Rescue 911 reenactment where a lady's car had the throttle stick. They literally took like twenty minutes to shut it down. I guess the ignition switch never occurred to her. -Brian
I saw that one! I kept yelling at the TV, "TURN THE berkeleying KEY!". Didn't the cops box her in and then all slow down, forcing her car to slow down? Why the berkeley didn't the dispatcher just tell her to turn the key, drop it in neutral, turn the key back on to prevent the steering wheel from locking, and coast to safety?
SVreX wrote: OK, so it won't go airborne, but cruise control in the rain (or ice) is a bad idea. If you loose traction, the control will accelerate to try to maintain speed.
Nice story, except that I'll bet my next paycheck that it is completely untrue. Cruise control takes its vehicle speed information from where? The vehicle speed sensor on the output shaft of the transmission.
So you hit ice with the cruise control on, and wheelspin develops (unlikely in itself at cruising speeds, but whatever). What happens? The drive wheels increase their apparent speed by spinning. So the cruise control thinks the car has suddenly accelerated, and it cuts throttle.
Why would the cruise control increase throttle in this situation? Answer: it wouldn't.
Edit: SVRex, I'm not calling you a liar. I'm just saying that cruise control doesn't work the way your friend thinks it does... and for that very reason. Car makers are stupid sometimes but putting a feedback monitor on something that is not directly related to the information being monitored is probably taught in Fatal Engineering Mistakes 101. For the cruise control to think that the car was slowing down due to wheelspin, you'd have to monitor an undriven wheel for speed. That's just asking for a feedback loop of the scenario I've described. I don't know a single car that gets its speed information from anywhere except the output shaft of the transmission, and as such, wheelspin is ONLY going to cause the cruise module to cut throttle, NOT add it.
Something else caused the engine to be running at WOT, like a bent throttle linkage or something jammed onto the gas pedal during the rollover.
Duke wrote:SVreX wrote: OK, so it won't go airborne, but cruise control in the rain (or ice) is a bad idea. If you loose traction, the control will accelerate to try to maintain speed.Nice story, except that I'll bet my next paycheck that it is completely untrue. Cruise control takes its vehicle speed information from where? The vehicle speed sensor on the output shaft of the transmission. So you hit ice with the cruise control on, and wheelspin develops (unlikely in itself at cruising speeds, but whatever). What happens? The drive wheels increase their apparent speed by spinning. So the cruise control thinks the car has suddenly accelerated, and it cuts throttle. Why would the cruise control increase throttle in this situation? Answer: it wouldn't.
Unless they were in an early 944, where the speedo is run from a cable off of the front wheel.
I stand corrected on that issue, then. So now I know of ONE car that monitors an undriven wheel for speed. I don't know of any others.
Duke wrote: I stand corrected on that issue, then. So now I know of ONE car that monitors an undriven wheel for speed. I don't know of any others.
Wouldn't this be a problem on a lot of old cars? My 76 GMC has cruise control and no electronic speed sensor.
(Potted History) 
James Dean had enjoyed some success in a handful of SCCA Production events at the wheel of a 356 Speedster, and sought to advance to the "Modified" (sports) class. He wanted to stay a Porsche driver, so he upgraded to a 550. Some observers felt that he lacked the experience to move to a full-on sports racer so soon, and this leads me to one of my favorite pieces of folklore...I may me slightly fuzzy here, so if anyone has heard this story, feel free to chime in....
Dean realized that he would have to acclimate himself to this swift new car in a hurry if he were to use it in the upcoming batch of SCCA events, so he practiced heavily on public roads in and around Los Angeles. Legend has it that he put in somewhere in the area of three thousand miles of practice in one weekend driving back and forth over the same stretch of Mulholland Drive.
Another story has him showing off his new 550 to friend Alec Guinness: apparently ol' Obi-Wan had a premonition then and there of his friend's fate, and after glancing at his watch and declaring the date, he stated that he (Dean) would be dead in a week if he continued to drive this car--and he was
Cotton wrote: Wouldn't this be a problem on a lot of old cars? My 76 GMC has cruise control and no electronic speed sensor.
The speed sensor doesn't need to be electronic - the speedo for my '67 Pontiac and ex-'80 Supra were both gear-driven cable-actuated analog devices rather than electronic, but they were both driven off the output shaft of the transmission. That's why when you floor it on icy parking lots, the speedometer says you're doing 50 when the car is actually moving at walking speed.
Most electronic speed sensors on FWD cars run off of the carrier of the differential, so when one wheel looses traction, the speed of the carrier can go down significantly as one wheel speeds up and the car slows down.
As for car urban legends, how about all of the Audi 'Unintended Acceleration" BS from back in the 80's. I remember driving one of those 5000's and proving to myself that car motor couldn't overpower the brakes - but the pedals were poorly placed.
-Chris
ArtOfRuin wrote: I think the myth said that simply running current through the bullet heated the propellant enough to ignite it, but that never happened.
Originally it didn't say anything about shorted or not, but they figured that if the fuse suddenly needed replacing it most likely was blown out by a short.
poopshovel wrote: Did anyone else get the "If your car hydroplanes with the cruise control on, it will go airborne and kill you" email? Did they ever do that one on mythbusters or was it to berkeleying stupid to waste their time trying?
My 93 Infinity g20 occassionally pops out of 5th gear. One time I had set the cc at 70 then on an uphill it accelerated and popped out of 5th gear amd it almost redlined but I was able to turn the cc off.
Duke wrote:SVreX wrote: OK, so it won't go airborne, but cruise control in the rain (or ice) is a bad idea. If you loose traction, the control will accelerate to try to maintain speed.Nice story, except that I'll bet my next paycheck that it is completely untrue. Cruise control takes its vehicle speed information from where? The vehicle speed sensor on the output shaft of the transmission. So you hit ice with the cruise control on, and wheelspin develops (unlikely in itself at cruising speeds, but whatever). What happens? The drive wheels increase their apparent speed by spinning. So the cruise control thinks the car has suddenly accelerated, and it cuts throttle. Why would the cruise control increase throttle in this situation? Answer: it wouldn't. Edit: SVRex, I'm not calling you a liar. I'm just saying that cruise control doesn't work the way your friend thinks it does... and for that very reason. Car makers are stupid sometimes but putting a feedback monitor on something that is not directly related to the information being monitored is probably taught in Fatal Engineering Mistakes 101. For the cruise control to think that the car was slowing down due to wheelspin, you'd have to monitor an undriven wheel for speed. That's just asking for a feedback loop of the scenario I've described. I don't know a single car that gets its speed information from anywhere except the output shaft of the transmission, and as such, wheelspin is ONLY going to cause the cruise module to cut throttle, NOT add it. Something else caused the engine to be running at WOT, like a bent throttle linkage or something jammed onto the gas pedal during the rollover.
Duke:
I'll take that bet for your paycheck (assuming, of course, you are employed)
, because it certainly is a true story, but I hadn't really thought it through 'till now, and I'll say that I agree with your assessment.
I am also aware that air-cooled VW's pulled the speed off a wheel, but this car was neither an air cooled VW nor a Porsche.
Additionally, I know of several aftermarket cruise setups that would pull the signal off the speedo (which isn't too bright, I realize).
The car in question shouldn't have fit into any of these categories.
So, I guess I'll say that I agree with you in general, have no idea why this happened in this instance, and that I still allow for the possibility that there are some engineering quirks out there, and still consider it a bad idea to utilize cruise in the rain.
Fair 'nuff?
driver109x wrote: My 93 Infinity g20 occassionally pops out of 5th gear. One time I had set the cc at 70 then on an uphill it accelerated and popped out of 5th gear amd it almost redlined but I was able to turn the cc off.
I know this works on an AP1 S2000, I also know it didn't work on my protege5. I assume it has something to do w/ weather or not it uses the neutral switch / sensor for the CC system. In the P5 if you slipped it out of gear w/ cruise control on it would cut the throttle. In an AP1 (I have no experience w/ an AP2) S2000, slide it out of gear and it will sense deceleration and peg the throttle. Yes, I hit the clutch to disengage CC before it got too far. A buddy of mine figured that out, not sure how / why lol
SVreX wrote: So, I guess I'll say that I agree with you in general, have no idea why this happened in this instance, and that I still allow for the possibility that there are some engineering quirks out there, and still consider it a bad idea to utilize cruise in the rain. Fair 'nuff?
Two big thumbs up!
Okay, putting this thread back on track:
If anyone's in the Louisville area, I suggest you check it out. Very creepy/cool.
James Dean's Porsche Friends told James Dean that the car was trouble when they saw it - a rare Silver Porsche Spyder, one of only 90 in 1955. Nicknamed "The Little Bastard," the car carried the iconic screen rebel to his grave on September 30, 1955.
After the accident, many fans refused to believe Dean was dead. A story circulated that he was still alive although terribly disfigured, and in true urban legend fashion this tale took on a life of its own.
I won't go into all the James Dean as a cult idol stuff except to say his mystique has staying power. For example, his tombstone was stolen twice in 1983, and in 1985 had to be replaced because of damage done to it by fans. Seems he was still the popular fellow despite having been dead for three decades.
After the tragedy, master car customizer George Barris bought the wreck for $2,500. When the wreck arrived at Barris' garage, the Porsche slipped and fell on one of the mechanics unloading it. The accident broke both of the mechanic's legs.
While Barris had bad feelings about the car when he first saw it, his suspicions were confirmed during a race at the Pomona Fair Grounds on October 24, 1956. Two physicians, Troy McHenry and William Eschrid, were both racing cars that had parts from the "Little Bastard." McHenry died when his car, which had the Porsche's engine installed, went out of control and hit a tree. Eschrid's car flipped over. Eschrid, who survived despite serious injuries, later said that the car suddenly locked up when he went into a curve.
The car's malevolent influence continued after the race: one kid trying to steal the Porsche's steering wheel slipped and gashed his arm. Barris reluctantly sold two of the car's tires to a young man; within a week, the man was nearly involved in a wreck when the two tires blew out simultaneously.
Feeling that the Porsche could be put to good use, Barris loaned the wrecked car to the California Highway Patrol for a touring display to illustrate the importance of automobile safety. Within days, the garage housing the Spyder burnt to the ground. With the exception of the "Little Bastard," every vehicle parked inside the garage was destroyed. When the car was put on exhibit in Sacramento, it fell from its display and broke a teenager's hip. George Barkuis, who was hauling the Spyder on a flatbed truck, was killed instantly when the Porsche fell on him after he was thrown from his truck in an accident.
The mishaps surrounding the car continued until 1960, when the Porsche was loaned out for a safety exhibit in Miami, Florida. When the exhibit was over, the wreckage, en route to Los Angeles on a truck, mysteriously vanished. To this day, the "Little Bastard's" whereabouts are unknown.
Sources:
AMC's Hollywood Ghost Stories television special
EPcivic wrote: As for car urban legends, how about all of the Audi 'Unintended Acceleration" BS from back in the 80's. I remember driving one of those 5000's and proving to myself that car motor couldn't overpower the brakes - but the pedals were poorly placed. -Chris
Even this is an urban legend. The pedals on an Audi were not placed much differently from other European cars, but as a whole European pedals were placed significantly differently from American cars.
So why was Audi singled out? Their success. They had by far the largest "crossover" audience of any of the European marques... that is American car drivers buying their first European car.
So even though their pedals were not significantly different than other European makes, they had the highest percentage of European car virgins behind the wheel.
Bill
I've seen the realities of "urban legend" stories twice...
First was I actually have seen a .22 being used as a fuse (in a Corvair)... apparently a subsequent owner drove it like that for years uneventfully before noticing.
Second is I really did find one of those "Vietnam" cars where the son bought it and then was killed in Vietnam so the car never moved again. In my case it was a TR4 and had less than 10k on it. Sounds exciting, right?
The reality was that the car was parked outside in a pasture, had sunk about a foot deep in the mud, had no lower sheetmetal left, the engine seized decades before, and the parents, now ready to finally sell and move on, thinking the car should be worth at least $20,000....
Bill
QuasiMondo wrote: Cobra 427 story: Guy walks into a dealership and tells the salesman he wants a Cobra 427. Salesman tries to talk him into getting a Cobra 289 instead but the guy is adamant that he wants the 427. Salesman convinces customer to go with him on a ride with a Cobra and proceeds to scare the bejeezus out of him. They come back, customer agrees with the dealer that maybe he's better off buying the 289 Cobra. "Son," the dealer replies, "that was the 289 Cobra."
I can believe it. My claim to fame is I got a go for a ride in one of the Lemans spec FIA 289 Cobras once, the one that Ken Miles finished 7th in . I was just expecting a slow cruise but the owner found a short open stretch and punched it. I've messed with some fast machinery but that thing woulda pulled, say, a CBR1000RR. I was impressed...
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