One of the reasons I chose a Scooby to drive was its all weather ability to keep me pointing in the right direction in all weather conditions - this was brought home to me today at lunchtime.....
A collegue who runs an IROC-Z American Muscle Car (420bhp RWD) took me down the road for a jaunt. This guy has driven very powerfull RWD cars all his life & is very competant behind the wheel.
Anyway - coming off a roundabout he applied what felt like only a little gas & we then proceeded down the road sideways - ending up backwards, facing the on-coming traffic !
He wasn't at all being stupid - traffic was very light & the road was a little damp.

Just brought it home to me how secure the Scooby is & why (call me a ******) I will probably never own a powerfull RWD car.
I KNOW they are probably more "fun" than a powerfull 4WD car, but I like pointing the right way when going down the shops thanks !

Ro



[This message has been edited by RoShamBo (edited 13-07-2000).]

 

Yup, the Scoob certainly makes one feel much better when the conditions are terrible. I'm still bemused by idiots screaming past in torrential downpours with inches of standing water...

I had a wonderful incident with RWD! I'd driven my TR7V8 to Demon Tweeks in Wrexham. Spent hundreds of pounds on adjustable front struts, and various other odds and sods. On the way back, a BMW M5 tried to play, and I left him floundering. Then the weather worsened, and I changed tack and began to trundle along the A5 heading south with all the other traffic.

Went over a roundabout at about 35mph, then began to accelerate quite gently only to snap 90 degrees, jump over the pavement and career down an embankment. ending up backwards through a fence...

Got a suspicion that a rear-trailing arm had been tearing away for a while and had finally given up under the torque, rather than just a slick surface - I'd managed to catch the rear-end before on such occasions. It was just impossible to tell in all the mess after the smash.

4 wheel drive and a good deal of common sense - Best way to keep on the straight, bendy or narrow !

 

AWD certainly provides a whole heap of security in the majority of situations, particularly low grip conditions, but..

They are not infallable. people crash their AWD cars every months because they continue to push what they don't fully understand to the point where it no longer protects you.

Squizz hit the nail on the head "common sense".

AWD is really good, but it won't save you from everything.

BTW RoShamBo
Your friend genuinely cannot be as competent as you suggest. RWD is more challenging than AWD but the situation he found himself in....

First..
Should never have happended.

Secondly..
Was controllable.

RWD cars can be driven on the absolute limit as well as AWD, they just have different limits.

Tell him about "wetter the better", he'd have a whale of a time in that thing!

Cheers

Simon

 

oops, ****-up sorry

[This message has been edited by Simon de Banke (edited 13-07-2000).]

 

Simon

My friend DID control the outcome - he realised his limited control over the car & guided it to the side of the road - away from the traffic approaching behind.
In fact at no point was I ever nervous as it was obvious he was in control of the situation.

As for saying the situation should never have happened - we live in the real world - there are things out of our control (oil/diesel on the road/loss of concentration while talking)
Even the very best of us have moments.

Ro