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06-15-2010, 06:47 PM | #1 |
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Why I buy high performance cars.
Today I almost bought the farm.
I was driving home from work on the one lane road. Speed limit is 50 mph. I am cruising at the limit with no one in front of me. A mini van is waiting to make a left turn from the other direction on to a side street. For reasons unknown, the van turns just as I approach. I apply the full power of the braking system at an instant and miss the van by a hair. I was shaking for the rest of the drive home. The point is that if I were in a "regular" car, even a 335, I would have surely been in a major accident. Having the highest performing cars is a safety feature! Thank goodness I was in the M3 today. I sometimes take my Camry to work to lug a lot of junk. If I did, I wouldn't be writing right now.
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06-15-2010, 07:31 PM | #4 |
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Sweet.
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06-15-2010, 09:18 PM | #6 |
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Thank god you didnt get into an accident. Atleast now we dont have to look at pics of another crashed M3. You know its things like this that make you love your car more and more everyday.
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06-15-2010, 09:28 PM | #7 | |
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Glad you're okay but that was random.
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06-15-2010, 09:49 PM | #8 | |
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I was driving on the far right lane to get off the highway in about a km or so when this truck starts to cut over from the far right lane (4 lane highway). I see it coming but I'm thinking to myself "God I hope he sees me." When he finally gets close I realized that the idiot isn't looking and he's just going to go all the way. I slammed the brakes and realized it wasn't good enough so I had to use the shoulder of the road. Missed by a few foot. Uber lucky. Came out ok but my co-worker in the passenger seat nearly shit himself. It was his first time on the Korean roads...I let him know this kind of stuff happens all the time. |
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06-16-2010, 12:39 AM | #9 |
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OP, glad you're okay! The car does handle well, and it stops pretty darn fast too. I agree that a pretty good driver can use that to advantage to avoid accidents.
During the first two months I had my M3 I had to fully utilize the braking capabilities of the car and/or handling to avoid being a grease spot on the road. First time was a jacked up track riding my bumper--car in front of me did full panic stop getting on the freeway, I started braking, slowed down (as I was following at a safe distance) but I noticed in the rearview the truck wasn't going to stop in the same distance as me. I let off the brakes and swerved around the stopped car onto the shoulder, then came to a stop. The truck had locked up its brakes and ended up tapping the stopped car's bumper. Second one was on an express way going about 50. I'm in the far left lane, and a woman decides she doesn't want to be in the left hand turn lane and jumps from a dead stop right into my lane. Emergency lane change aka a little slalom action. No way I could have done that in a less than stellar handling car. I do think any current 1 or 3 series is capable of providing the same thing however. The 335 I had was no POS in terms of braking capability or predicable handling. Not an M, but certainly very capable. Camry, SUV? Forget it. |
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06-16-2010, 12:58 AM | #10 |
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People are nut jobs and inconsiderate........... My story is cruising on the Autobahn in my Mustang Bullitt at about a buck thirty in the fast lane and some idiot getting on the on ramp trying to beat a big transporter in the slow lane guns it and shoots directly in my lane. I had the lock up the brakes so hard that I melted a rotor and had to have ADAC (equivelent to AAA) pick my car up as it was undrivable after that. To this day I do not think the idiot that did that did that is even aware of his/her misdeeds. If my car would have been drivable.......... I am fairly sure I would have had my first real case of road rage.
Glad your ok...... nothing like a near miss to get the blood pumping.
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06-16-2010, 10:56 AM | #11 | |
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Newsflash - one of you was going the wrong way in a one-way zone. Oh, you mean TWO lane road!
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06-16-2010, 11:02 AM | #12 |
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One lane in each direction, is that better?
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06-16-2010, 11:03 AM | #13 |
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I think 1 foot would have made the difference.
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06-16-2010, 11:39 AM | #14 |
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Maybe, though depending on tire conditions it could be a wash between the two. Plus just because two cars stop at different distances from 60mph does not mean the same would apply from 50mph.
Your near miss is definitely a reason to buy a well designed car with good brakes though (glad you are ok, btw). Not sure how many cars can stop from 60mph in significantly shorter distances than an M3 but I know there are plenty out there that are worse - in the 120s, 130s, and probably even 140s. |
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06-16-2010, 12:41 PM | #16 |
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My breaks squeak when i stop slowly but when i hit the breaks hard it doesn't make any noise. It has been making this noise since i bought the car. I researched about this issue earlier. They say m3 has performance breaks which are made of metallic components. Thus it makes noise. Is this true?
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06-16-2010, 12:44 PM | #17 |
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What I love about high performance vehicles is that you have a lot more options in an emergency. These cars can drive out of situations that otherwise could not be avoided. It’s a lot more than brakes. Most cars are setup than during emergency braking, they’ll understeer so you hit straight on which is safer. Performance cars are a balanced setup where you can also dodge, initiate a skid if you want, and recover quickly. It’s the combination of speed, agility, and braking that gives the driver other options lesser cars just can’t do. The ability to avoid is really the prime safety feature. You only need airbags, seatbelts, crumple zones, etc. if you failed to avoid. Nothing is worse than knowing that your driving skills and reactions are greater than the limitations of your ride and your confidence in it.
Of coarse, it really falls down to the driver and knowing the full limits of their ride. |
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06-16-2010, 12:49 PM | #18 | |
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06-16-2010, 12:49 PM | #19 | |
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This car has limits???? Dammit.... I want a refund
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06-16-2010, 01:36 PM | #20 | |
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You get to practice practice practice threshold braking, avoidance, spin control, and a host of other things in a controlled environment where you can discover your and the car's limits. Build reaction skills/habits that just respond when the situation calls for it. My wife and I took one of these in April. Two days later she got to put two of the techniques she had practiced at the clinic into use on the freeway (in her Z4M) at 70 MPH. She said she simply reacted and drove her way out of the situation--something she has no doubt she would not have been able to do just a few days before. |
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06-16-2010, 02:08 PM | #21 | |
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-SZ |
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06-17-2010, 05:18 PM | #22 |
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This is just one of the reasons why I roll on r-compounds for most of the year (swap out in the winter). They afford tremendous grip compared to even the highest performance summer-only tires. They'll dramatically reduce stopping distances. This is just one benefit of many (sharper turn-in, better stability in high-speed maneuvers, cornering grip, and the list goes on).
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