I'm coming in on this late, so forgive me if I'm repeating someone.
The change in ride height on the MG cars was supposed to bring them into
conformance with someone's idea of a ride height standard. Last winter,
I slid down hill at a very low rate of speed on some wet glare ice while
my highly advanced Volvo ABS refused to lock up my wheels. Talk about
feeling out of control! 'Way off in the distance was a late model
Toyota compact pickup truck with 4WD and a big back bumper sitting just
above my higly engineered Volvo front bumper. When I hit the truck, I
was barely moving but that sturdy bumper plowed right into my expensive
headlights pushing my radiator back a bit, crumpling both front fenders
just a bit, and buckling my hood. All those Volvo crush zones crumpled
a little bit as they were designed to do. The total came to $7,450.
I would vote for anyone who could guarantee that they would either hold
all vehicles of average size to a single standard or else cut out all of
this nonsense about single-use "safety" bumpers with $500 urethane
covers.
Also, my experiences with the ABS have me at the point where I simply
cannot beleive that I wouldn't have been better off with full personal
control of my brakes. It may BE true that ABS yields shorter stops, but
it sure doesn't FEEL that way. I might still be able to steer my car
while braking with ABS, but I've seldom felt the need to steer and stop
at the same time. When I want the wheels to stop turning, I want it NOW
and I'll decide for myself if I need them to roll so that I can steer.
I believe that the air bag could save my life, but I've had two pretty
expensive front end collisions without any air bag deployment. How hard
do you have to hit something to find out if the air bag is working?
Finally, I'll never forget T-boning the Chevette that decided to do a
U-turn on the interstate with my '72 Buick Electra 225. The Chevette
driver was not hurt and the car was not severely crushed, but there was
nothing on that little car that wasn't bent or tweaked or twisted. When
I got home, I loosened two bolts on that Buick bumper and rotated it up
about ten degrees and you would never tell it had ever made contact with
anything.
Next time, I'll get one of those Range Rovers with the gigantic tubular
bumper structures at each end and twelve inches of ground clearance. Or
maybe a '65 Dodge Power Wagon...
Glen
|