God bless the guys at ford

Ibrox90 · 01-07-2009, 12:52 PM

hey,

So guys that live in Adelaide would have seen the rather extreme weather yesterday.

I was on my way to work when a tree the size of a bus with a trunk easily 1 meter in diameter blew across the road.

At the time i was doing 100km, ground was heavy with water. I hit the brakes and turned to avoid the tree, Traction control worked exactly as it should have. Usally i complain that my TC kicks in too soon at low speed.

steering was magical car felt comfortable side ways. At almost full opposite lock and when I needed to get the power back on to control the slide and steered to point the car back towards the road the TC allowed it.

I think that if i had been driving my old car i would surely have been killed.

I wish I had video footage because to be honest it would have looked like the sweetest drift manoeuvre.

So god bless the guys at ford.

Black F6 · 01-07-2009, 12:54 PM

What are you doing driving at 100kms an hour in that weather anyway

:

Glad to hear you are okay

territorrie · 01-07-2009, 12:57 PM

Yeah glad your safe and OK. Go FORDS.

Ibrox90 · 01-07-2009, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BFXRScott

What are you doing driving at 100kms an hour in that weather anyway

:

Glad to hear you are okay

That was the speed limit, it was 5 in the morning no other traffic. the weather wasnt so bad that i would slide off the road at the drop of a hat

Transfiguring R · 02-07-2009, 12:51 PM

Good car + good driving = win!... or survive.

vztrt · 02-07-2009, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ibrox90

hey,

So guys that live in Adelaide would have seen the rather extreme weather yesterday.

I was on my way to work when a tree the size of a bus with a trunk easily 1 meter in diameter blew across the road.

At the time i was doing 100km, ground was heavy with water. I hit the brakes and turned to avoid the tree, Traction control worked exactly as it should have. Usally i complain that my TC kicks in too soon at low speed.

steering was magical car felt comfortable side ways. At almost full opposite lock and when I needed to get the power back on to control the slide and steered to point the car back towards the road the TC allowed it.

I think that if i had been driving my old car i would surely have been killed.

I wish I had video footage because to be honest it would have looked like the sweetest drift manoeuvre.

So god bless the guys at ford.

What car do you have?

Ibrox90 · 02-07-2009, 12:56 PM

Ba Xr8

Iggypoppin' · 02-07-2009, 07:09 PM

Well done. That weather had me scared driving the clapped out work ute. Lucky I was in an industrial zone so no trees. Go the fords TC!

ltd · 03-07-2009, 08:07 AM

Good to hear it all worked as it should. Glad to hear you are OK. Next time we hear people trash the XR8 and other fords saying they don't do 12 second quarters we should all pause to appreciate the safety that's built into the car.

freaky · 03-07-2009, 10:21 AM

did the ABS kick in before hand ? did you have to brake hard to begin with ?

good escape

Ibrox90 · 03-07-2009, 02:07 PM

Breakdown of what happened in my head and my reactions (as best as I can It happened really fast)

Road had 2 lanes going each way high central median strip grass verge with ditch to the left.

The sequence

Cruising 100kmh in the right hand lane
Tree the size of a bus tumbled fron the left verge into the right lane
Braked hard (unaware of ABS dont even know if i have ABS lol)
Realised I wasn't going to stop in time and swerved to my left
Rear end loses traction (fishtailed the back end to the right essentially)
TC cuts power
Heading for a 2metre deep ditch
I steer back to the right after steering hard left (fishtailed the back end to the left)
car now level with the tree
car sideways 45 degrees to the direction of travel sliding towards that ditch
Me frantically getting the power back on to avoid the ditch (THANK GOD THE TC LET ME)
now almost full opposite lock going sideways down the highway (sweet drift bit)
Past the tree
now heading towards the centre median strip
TC kicks in car straightens out back in the highway lane
glance at speedo now doing 130kmh
pull over
catch breath
get out check car,seems ok
back in car drive to work

THE END

XR6_661 · 03-07-2009, 02:15 PM

That's some pretty epic driving! Good thing you came out on top!

Now....just wait for all the road safety experts to jump down your throat about driving to the conditions.

FordACE · 03-07-2009, 02:22 PM

glad you're okay. But how come you didn't stop to warn other people of the danger?

hy_boi · 03-07-2009, 02:37 PM

Stiil think it was abit silly doing 100 in such bad weather.
But glad you didn't get hurt or what not.

Ibrox90 · 03-07-2009, 03:22 PM

Thats the thing it wasn't. It was wet with no wind and then bang rain and wind then tree.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FordACE

glad you're okay. But how come you didn't stop to warn other people of the danger?

it was 4:40 AM there was no one else there

FordACE · 03-07-2009, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ibrox90

it was 4:40 AM there was no one else there

pretty scary when trees fall down in front of you. had it happen to me in the big storms in brisbane recently.

**TUF_302** · 03-07-2009, 04:25 PM

Glad you ok dude!, great to here the TC did its job!

ILLaViTaR · 03-07-2009, 05:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hy_boi

Stiil think it was abit silly doing 100 in such bad weather.
But glad you didn't get hurt or what not.

I really think you need to read up on speed and how the human brain reacts to it. RTA concluded that it's far safer to be going faster than slower, it's all to do with how the human brain works, it's far more alert at this speed. He could've had a slower reaction time due to the fact that his mind wasn't as alert from driving slower.

100 isn't some magical safe perfectly rounded number. Where any faster increases chance of death by 500%.
Not every road rated at 100 identical in quality.

There are many roads rated at 70 that a far safer than many roads rated at 100. An example, Princes highway Berwick 70, Koo We Rup road 100.
There are loads of variables you need to take into account instead of being so black and white.

You really need to stop saying bahhhhhhh.

Good to hear your ok btw that would've been the most random scariest thing I've heard of in a while.

hy_boi · 03-07-2009, 06:03 PM

Was more to the point that I'm sure the cops would come down on hin like a ton of bricks if he was seen doing 100 in such bad weather. Seen it done before.

Rodp · 03-07-2009, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILLaViTaR

I really think you need to read up on speed and how the human brain reacts to it. RTA concluded that it's far safer to be going faster than slower, it's all to do with how the human brain works, it's far more alert at this speed. He could've had a slower reaction time due to the fact that his mind wasn't as alert from driving slower.

You've been driving for how many years...?

Have to side with those that question doing 100kph in 'extreme' weather is a smart thing to do. A tree the size of a bus motivated by only the weather says to me, 100kph, little excessive.

Glad you're ok. Driving your old car, would have been killed...? Driving to the conditions, may have been safe, regardless of the vehicle you were driving.

duaned · 03-07-2009, 10:18 PM

Was it Traction Control you are talking about? I would have thought Dynamic Stability Control would have been the feature into play here ( providing it is fitted)

Ibrox90 · 04-07-2009, 12:54 AM

No its traction control (BA XR8).

I was driving to the conditions I live on cement hill (hallett cove in adelaide) and the wind and rain was like a lightswitch being turned on 2 seconds before the road was damp no wet and there was little to no wind.

GK · 04-07-2009, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ibrox90

So god bless the guys at ford.

Indeed.

Glad to hear you're okay.

GK