----- Original Message -----
From: "Paul Stenquist"
Subject: Re: Self Portrait?
True enough of the classic Bimmers. Contemporary BMWs with stability
control and traction control do fine. That's pretty much true of any rear
driver.
I had a '76 530i, which was quite the little hottie for a four door sedan.
My truck has traction control (Nissan calls it Vehicle Dynamic Control), and
it keeps things moving in a straight line.
We have a train overpass about 25 miles west of here that can surprise the
unwary.
It has a decreasing radius curve coming off of it, often with some strong
crosswinds to make life interesting.
Anyway, I was hauling my trailer over it in September, and got a little
surprise. The trailer caught a cross draft and started to jacknife us
towards the ditch.
Before I could tweak the trailer brake, the traction control gave a little
grunt and straighted us back out.
I was impressed.
A small glitch I discovered one day though. The street in front of my house
was sheet ice and I overshot the driveway by a few feet because the ABS
wouldn't apply the brakes. Then the truck wouldn't let me back up.
I suspect this is common to systems that are depending on measuring and
preventing wheel slippage.
William Robb
