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ABS and things.




>And if find it rather pathetic that people would rather rely on
>a "deus ex machina" while on the road than learn to control their cars.
Nothing magical or godlike - just technology that can do some things better 
than people who are fallible and whose physical reactions are not in the
millisecond range.

>Great.  I'm happy for you and him.  I can give you an example where
>the same ABS that saved the boys life could take others.  Admittedly, it
>may not apply in South Africa, but it is valid in most places where
>ice forms.
>You are driving down a crowded street in cold weather.  The
>sidewalks are filled with people walking home or shopping or whatever.
>Suddenly, you hit a patch of black ice and the car begins sliding
>towards the curb and the pedestrians.  You can't steer (because it is
>ice) and you aren't slowing down much.  When you hit that curb, even
>at an oblique angle, your car is going to climb up it and hit the 
>pedestrians because you can't lock the wheels.  If the wheels are 
>locked, there is a much better chance that you will bounce off the
>curb and back out into the road.

Ther will indeed be rare situations where this sort of thing may occur in the
same way that seatbelts sometimes worsen the injury in an accident but no sane
driver that I know uses this to justify not using seatbelts.

>Another is if the same boy had turned in front of you on a gravel
>or dirt road (if they have any in South Africa).  You probably would
>have hit him becuase ABS stopping distances are significantly longer
>in loose surfaces.  The fastest way to stop on gravel or dirt is to 
>lock the wheels.  I don't like any system that dictates how I drive.

We probably have more dirt and gravel roads, proportionately, than you have
and certainly have many drivers who would disagree with this opinion.
No reasonable driver would regard ABS as a substitute for careful and skilled
driving and it cannot overcome ALL braking problems but it can and does give
a substantial advantage in many situations for most drivers and has 
undoubtedly saved far more lives and prevented or alleviated many more 
accidents than it has ever contributed to.

>The OBC is another useless feature that does nothing but cause
>wasted time chasing electrical faults.  There is nothing wrong with a
>properly tuned carb and points system either.  At least a carb doesn't 
>have the rediculous amount of throttle lag induced by the damn micro-
>switches forcing a "idle" mode for efficiency or shutting off the
>injectors on decelleration.  Yes, motronic is nice. Yes, it burns
>cleaner too.  But it isn't perfect.  It sucks to try to upgrade.  I 
>have to rely on somebody like Dinan or Jim C (NO OFFENSE HERE!!) to
>play with my car.  Jim seems like an excellent person to deal with,
>but most chip manufacturers don't care about engine longevity as long
>as you get some power increase (Superchips, anyone ?).  Bosch CIS
>injection is really much nicer to play with.

>Maybe the ultimate system for you would be to program your
>destination and let the car take you there.  It uses technology (which
>is by definition a good thing, right?) and would probably be the safest
>way since all cars could be forced to keep the optimum spacing.  Better
>yet -- take the bus.

The OBC is indded a nice toy and one can play for hours but it is useful, it
can work out your anticipated range and time of arrival without distracting
you too much from concentrating on driving - even if you ARE a mental 
arithmetic whiz. As far as carbs and points are concerned, the only possible 
advantage they offer is simplicity, worn points must be the commonest reason
for performance fall-off or just plain dead engine and anyone who has read any
technical documentation on carburettors should understand how much compromise
is built in to those. A good engine management system automatically adjusts
both fuel and ignition timing continuously to suit the engines needs. It may be
that some of the draconian pollution legislation that you in the US suffer 
under impose some restraints on performance but having had many years of
life with carbs - multiple SUs on an AC and Bentley, twin Solex on a BMW 2500
and more time than I like to remember adjusting and replacing points on 
everything from a 1929 Austin 7 to the BMW2500, give me a computer to do it
anyday.
Technology shouldn't replace skills, it should augment them. Anyway enjoy
driving your BMW with or without ABS and Digital Engine Management and have
a good day with safe driving. Best Wishes to all from South Africa (with 3
Olympic Golds to cheer us up!) DaveE.