Close call tonight...Quattro probably saved me

[ahcow]

So I was driving home just earlier. Going up a long, straight on-ramp, some white 5-series was tailgating me (I was taking it easy) then I decided to ditch him. I down-shifted, went from 80km to 140km and had 2-3 car length between us. (umm he/she wasn't the issue, just the reason why I was at 140km) That stretch of highway is busy and the right side has no lights so in front of me, it's pretty dark. With traffic around, I was keeping an eye on the cars in the next lane. While I was on that dark lane, I suddenly see 2 huge pieces of debris taking up the right side of my lane (they looked like a broken bike at first). Now, I am going toward these things at 140km/hr, cars in the next lane, so all I could do was make a quick escape/S maneuver to avoid it while staying in my lane as much as possible (the shoulder wasn't an option, it would require a lot more turning and risk hitting a wall). As I got to the debris and steered left, I was at around 135km (with a car right beside me no less!) and then as I started to steer right, I hear my tires squeak, so I applied a little braking and the car gripped right away and steered back into my lane, clear of the debris. In fact, it gripped too much and I had to counter-steer back left. There was body roll but the car was very steady at that speed, and I think Quattro saved me from a potentially bad accident. I can't imagine how it would have been if I was doing this with my old 328i. I would guess spin out in the middle of a 4 lane highway. O_O

Summary:
Going 140km, see debris, made escape maneuver, quattro saved my ass

[forza1976]

Or slow down ;)

[Leor604]

Or slow down ;)

Got to agree. 140 kph on an open stretch with good visibility is one thing, but at night on a busy, poorly lit highway is a bit reckless and could have turned out badly. Glad you were able to save it with no damage to yourself or anyone around you. Need clean boxers???

[ahcow]

Yeah, I know, my gf says that all the time but that on-ramp is so nice and straight, it's quite tempting.... plus this is a huge highway, not some sketchy road. The road conditions are good, just poorly lid on that one stretch (across the 4 lanes of collector, there are big lights, then 3 express lanes; in total, 14 lanes both ways combined) and I was trying to get past the slow traffic to switch lanes. I actually didn't feel scared at the time, only when I think back to it. It just happened in a flash at that moment.

[MeteorS4Ti]

Be careful out there...I know our cars are a lot of fun ;)

[throwaway1]

you would have had the same result with a FWD.

[Wah]

Got to agree. 140 kph on an open stretch with good visibility is one thing, but at night on a busy, poorly lit highway is a bit reckless and could have turned out badly. Glad you were able to save it with no damage to yourself or anyone around you. Need clean boxers???

x2

Its all smiles and laughs until ....

[seanj130]

yikes,

[scottyuk]

As I got to the debris and steered left, I was at around 135km (with a car right beside me no less!) and then as I started to steer right, I hear my tires squeak, so I applied a little braking and the car gripped right away and steered back into my lane, clear of the debris. In fact, it gripped too much and I had to counter-steer back left.

A couple of things :

[1] unless you had your foot on the throttle then quattro wouldn't have been much for you.
[2] Your tyres were already breaking traction and yet you thought youd put more load on them by applying the brakes? Please explain the logic of this to me.

If you jump off the gas whilst turning abruptly then you're transferring weight to the front making the rears light and more likely to spin you out. I'm surprised coming from a 328i you're not familiar with this.

Your butt was probably saved by ESP rather than anything else.

[dr bryan]

A couple of things :

[1] unless you had your foot on the throttle then quattro wouldn't have been much for you.
[2] Your tyres were already breaking traction and yet you thought youd put more load on them by applying the brakes? Please explain the logic of this to me.

If you jump off the gas whilst turning abruptly then you're transferring weight to the front making the rears light and more likely to spin you out. I'm surprised coming from a 328i you're not familiar with this.

Your butt was probably saved by ESP rather than anything else.


What he said.

[throwaway1]

A couple of things :

[1] unless you had your foot on the throttle then quattro wouldn't have been much for you.
x2
[2] Your tyres were already breaking traction and yet you thought youd put more load on them by applying the brakes? Please explain the logic of this to me.
if i understood him correctly then i believe he was understeering when he started turning back right. In that case a light jab on the brakes is the correct thing to do.
If you jump off the gas whilst turning abruptly then you're transferring weight to the front making the rears light and more likely to spin you out. I'm surprised coming from a 328i you're not familiar with this.

Your butt was probably saved by ESP rather than anything else.

see bold

[windyctyaudi]

umm yeah I can tell you from my professional experience of 9 years in law enforcement that breaking in that situation was the best idea, and the reason for the counter steer wasn't because the car "gripped" to much its because u over compensated and over drove your and or the cars abilities.

[B8 S FOR]

Be careful out there...I know our cars are a lot of fun ;)

+1...these cars are wicked fast..slow down around heavy traffic that's how you end up dead

[johnnyb84]

Night driving is a completely different animal. I won't ride my bike at night unless I really have to.

[Dr GP]

Just wondering if your car had the sport dif? That works regardless of whether you are braking , accelerating or coasting.

[Chestlock]

umm yeah I can tell you from my professional experience of 9 years in law enforcement that breaking in that situation was the best idea, and the reason for the counter steer wasn't because the car "gripped" to much its because u over compensated and over drove your and or the cars abilities.

Thread jack alert: Nice avatar! An A4 next to an A6 - got any more pics?

[joneze93tsi]

Your butt was probably saved by ESP rather than anything else.


Truth.

[S4twister]

glad you avoided the accident!

btw a member on this board took me as a passenger in his B8 S4 to drive around local race track last weekend, and I was really impressed with what our cars can do. Never mind he's a really good track driver, pushing the car towards it's limit in every corner, with tires leaving nice marks.

Anyway, glad we all drive this machine!

[ahcow]

Just wondering if your car had the sport dif? That works regardless of whether you are braking , accelerating or coasting.

Yes I do have sport diff. But whatever it is, I am glad the car held up and made it through.

[windyctyaudi]

I think I might, I will see if I can dig them up