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A few things to know before stealing my 914 (2022)

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Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914 (2022)

#31

Post by wat10000 »

fallinditch wrote: post #23
RHSeeger wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many years ago, I was driving down the highway on my way to work and, when I pressed the breaks to slow down, the pedal just... went straight to the floor. I had to use the emergency break to slow down, get off the highway, and pull over. Luckily that still worked (I've owned many a car where that was the first thing to go). So, it turns out the breaks rotted off and fell off the car on the way to work. I had had it…

Wow you were lucky. There was a driver in the UK whose accelerator got stuck, then his brakes burnt out and he was on a notoriously busy road traveling at 135mph - he survived! See https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/this-britain/help-i-...

This is what happened to quite a few people with the Toyota unintended acceleration issue. There was speculation that it was caused by bugs in the engine control unit. Officially the cause was found to be floor mats coming loose and holding the accelerator down. (I bought a new Toyota shortly after this and the dealer was very careful to show me how the floor mats worked and how to make sure they were properly attached.)

The brakes of a car in good working order should be able to overcome the engine and stop the car even if the engine is stuck at full power. But you have to do it decisively. Push the brake pedal to the floor and keep it there until you've stopped. What often happens is people are (very naturally) confused and not sure what to do, they'll brake but not hard enough, stop braking when it doesn't seem to work, try again, etc. This can heat up the brakes to the point where they're no longer effective enough to stop the car, and then you're really in for it.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914 (2022)

#32

Post by fallinditch »

thr0w wrote: post #16
fallinditch wrote: post #6

This story reminds me that I have a recurring nightmare: I am driving a car and the brakes hardly work at all, so I am in constant fear that something will go terribly wrong. This nightmare was born from a real experience with my first vehicle, a VW micro bus that had horribly squishy brakes.

Yeah I have the squishy/very soft/not really working brake nightmare.

Perhaps symbolizes a feeling of being out of control in some aspect of one's life? By all accounts quite common:

https://www.reddit.com/r/DreamInterpretation/comments/nnndju...

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914 (2022)

#33

Post by riffraff »

wat10000 wrote: post #25
wingspar wrote: post #9

“ Since there is not a clutch safety switch on the starting circuit, make sure to press the clutch down before you try to crank the engine.” Growing up, a friends dad would use this as a ‘feature’ on his Datsun to move the car out of traffic when it wouldn’t restart. Put it in first, release the clutch, crank the starter, and move the car out of the way.

I was told this was a potential last-ditch way to escape if you stalled while crossing railroad tracks. In hindsight, stalling while crossing railroad tracks, like quicksand, is a much less common danger in adulthood than I was lead to believe as a younger person.

what's the thing with quicksand?

I was born in 1980 and it seemed people would get stuck in quicksand on tv regularly when I was a kid, but it seems a kind of danger that has almost disappeared from the collective narrative.

Why was it popular before? Why isn't it anymore? This baffles me.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914 (2022)

#34

Post by toast0 »

fallinditch wrote: post #23
RHSeeger wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many years ago, I was driving down the highway on my way to work and, when I pressed the breaks to slow down, the pedal just... went straight to the floor. I had to use the emergency break to slow down, get off the highway, and pull over. Luckily that still worked (I've owned many a car where that was the first thing to go). So, it turns out the breaks rotted off and fell off the car on the way to work. I had had it…

Wow you were lucky. There was a driver in the UK whose accelerator got stuck, then his brakes burnt out and he was on a notoriously busy road traveling at 135mph - he survived! See https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/this-britain/help-i-...

Seems like he wasn't able to get it out of gear, and then didn't want to turn off the engine because he'd lose power steering. Losing power steering isn't ideal, but seems like it'd be better than traveling at 135 mph, power steering is most important at low speeds, and I'd think better to have a bit of trouble with the steering as you get it stopped than to end up crashing it.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914 (2022)

#35

Post by wombatpm »

wingspar wrote: post #9

“ Since there is not a clutch safety switch on the starting circuit, make sure to press the clutch down before you try to crank the engine.” Growing up, a friends dad would use this as a ‘feature’ on his Datsun to move the car out of traffic when it wouldn’t restart. Put it in first, release the clutch, crank the starter, and move the car out of the way.

I had a friend who drove a 79 Datsun. Stalling and not starting was a surprisingly common occurrence. He would often go out of his way to park on a hill to avoid problems.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914 (2022)

#36

Post by hn_acc1 »

fallinditch wrote: post #6

This story reminds me that I have a recurring nightmare: I am driving a car and the brakes hardly work at all, so I am in constant fear that something will go terribly wrong. This nightmare was born from a real experience with my first vehicle, a VW micro bus that had horribly squishy brakes.

Same here.. I'm usually driving some conglomerate of my first 3 cars (all VWs) - MK1 Jetta GLI, MK2 Golf GTi 16v or VR6 Corrado (or sometimes a Scirocco which is related to the Corrado). And gear shifts are like 30-50cm long, and then the brakes start to fade..

I stopped having that dream nearly as often when I bought my '05 Subaru Legacy GT wagon.

What's even stranger is that my current Kia Stinger (a fun car!) becomes an exotic Maserati or Aston Martin or Jaguar in my dreams..

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914 (2022)

#37

Post by th0ma5 »

riffraff wrote: post #33
wat10000 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was told this was a potential last-ditch way to escape if you stalled while crossing railroad tracks. In hindsight, stalling while crossing railroad tracks, like quicksand, is a much less common danger in adulthood than I was lead to believe as a younger person.

what's the thing with quicksand? I was born in 1980 and it seemed people would get stuck in quicksand on tv regularly when I was a kid, but it seems a kind of danger that has almost disappeared from the collective narrative. Why was it popular before? Why isn't it anymore? This baffles me.

You still can very much die in quicksand but the problem is that you get like your foot stuck in a way that you just can't escape and then you just die out there like that. But the idea that you sink down and drowned is some kind of weird combination of a swamp and not really quicksand but is much more filmable.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914 (2022)

#38

Post by geoffeg »

I used to own an MG B GT, which was always in a state of disrepair I have become accustomed to with older British vehicles. One day I drove it to a nicer restaurant where I learned they only allowed valet parking. I urged the attendant to make an exception for me, but he refused. I shrugged, got out and it immediately stalled. I explained a few things to him, like not being shy about using the choke even after it was warmed up and running and a quick shot of throttle before putting it in gear to keep it from stalling, etc. Then I stood back and watched the poor guy lurch it past the rows of cars to the edge of the lot.

When I came back out, the attendant that had parked it was nowhere to be seen. I handed him the tag, he retrieved the key and a few minutes later off in the distance I heard him trying to start it. He managed to get it out of the parking spot before he gave up and motioned for me to walk down to him. After some discussion, he gave up and let me drive it out of the lot.

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914 (2022)

#39

Post by shermantanktop »

Stratoscope wrote: post #27
fallinditch wrote: post #6

This story reminds me that I have a recurring nightmare: I am driving a car and the brakes hardly work at all, so I am in constant fear that something will go terribly wrong. This nightmare was born from a real experience with my first vehicle, a VW micro bus that had horribly squishy brakes.

My first girlfriend, Kate, bought an old VW Bug for $200 from someone on Page Mill Road up the hill from Palo Alto. I drove her up there in my Toyota Corolla that I later rolled over on Summit Road. I didn't realize I was upside down until I heard a scraping sound from the roof and saw the top of the windshield crinkling. Apparently that was a thing with the 1970s era Corollas. Several years later a buddy's girlfrien…

Whatever happened to Kate?

Re: A few things to know before stealing my 914 (2022)

#40

Post by maples37 »

selimthegrim wrote: post #11
wingspar wrote: post #9

“ Since there is not a clutch safety switch on the starting circuit, make sure to press the clutch down before you try to crank the engine.” Growing up, a friends dad would use this as a ‘feature’ on his Datsun to move the car out of traffic when it wouldn’t restart. Put it in first, release the clutch, crank the starter, and move the car out of the way.

Isn’t this why you cannot push start cars anymore?

As of 2013, manual cars (at least Mazdas) can still be roll-started, as long as the engine computer has enough power to function.

My CX-5 even has a wireless-pushbutton start, not a physical-key-in-the-ignition start, but I've still been able to roll-start it when the battery is too dead to crank the starter motor but still has enough juice for the electronics (lowest I've seen is ~8v if I recall correctly, but don't quote me on that).

The process is pretty much the same: put the car's ignition into the "ON" position (in my case, press the pushbutton twice without touching the pedals -- once to ACC mode, then once to move from ACC to ON), then it's the same as normal: clutch-in, shift to your preferred gear, get rolling, and pop the clutch. Engine computer sees "oh, looks like the engine's spinning, let's add gas and spark" and you're good to go.

Anecdotally, I've seen the described behavior of the engine computer ("detects spinning and adds gas/spark, even if the initial motion wasn't from the starter motor") on automatic transmission vehicles, too. On a 2008 Chevrolet, I found that if you revved the engine up a bit (for inertia), turned the key to OFF, then quickly turned the key back to ON (without turning all the way to START), the engine computer will catch it and keep it running.

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