Originally Posted By: Astro14
You're hearing horror stories of gross driver error (but the news never says that...). Google Car and Driver's test with a Ford Explorer - they set up explosive loss of air and couldn't get the thing to roll over...even if they let go of the wheel.
When the Volvo's tire (240 wagon with a 3,000lb trailer) went with a bang - I had to counter the bit of pull, the tire was flapping, I slowed, gently applied the brakes and pulled off the road. My then-2-year old daughter was asleep in her car seat in the back...she didn't even stir....
Keep your hands on the wheel. Steer the car. Don't panic.
Yep. Here's the article:
http://www.caranddriver.com/columns/why-are-ford-explorers-crashing
"'I had a little trouble getting up to 70 mph in the quarter-mile, but once I was there and the tire blew, the Explorer didn't do anything tricky or unstable. It just went straight ahead. I didn't even have to brake much because the deflated tire produces a lot of drag and slows the car quite a bit.'
So far, Webster had not applied the brakes very hard during any of the runs. That's because we believe that in the case of a blowout, the first priority is to maintain stability, and one of the ways to do that is to avoid any sudden control inputs, such as hard braking. Since the Explorer was so stable, however, Webster and I decided to see what would happen if we applied the brakes progressively harder. The answer was essentially nothing. Other than applying a little steering correction to the right, because the old Explorer's brakes pulled to the left, Webster reported no control problems during moderate braking.
During the next run, Webster braked quite a bit harder. Same result. Finally, Webster applied the brakes as hard as he could -- hard enough to make the ABS pulse. Other than some minor wiggling, which would have been easily contained within an average highway lane, Webster reported no drama.
One might reasonably ask how much of the Explorer's stable performance could be attributed to Webster's driving skill and extensive racing and testing experience. It's a good question, and to address it, we mounted a video camera inside the Explorer to record Webster's control inputs. We could see that they were every bit as minimal as he reported to us.
But Webster was willing to demonstrate the Explorer's inherent stability even more conclusively. For our last 70-mph blowout run, Webster removed both his hands from the steering wheel and was holding them up with his palms clearly visible in the windshield when I triggered the toggle to blow the tire. Again, the Explorer continued straight ahead."
You're hearing horror stories of gross driver error (but the news never says that...). Google Car and Driver's test with a Ford Explorer - they set up explosive loss of air and couldn't get the thing to roll over...even if they let go of the wheel.
When the Volvo's tire (240 wagon with a 3,000lb trailer) went with a bang - I had to counter the bit of pull, the tire was flapping, I slowed, gently applied the brakes and pulled off the road. My then-2-year old daughter was asleep in her car seat in the back...she didn't even stir....
Keep your hands on the wheel. Steer the car. Don't panic.
Yep. Here's the article:
http://www.caranddriver.com/columns/why-are-ford-explorers-crashing
"'I had a little trouble getting up to 70 mph in the quarter-mile, but once I was there and the tire blew, the Explorer didn't do anything tricky or unstable. It just went straight ahead. I didn't even have to brake much because the deflated tire produces a lot of drag and slows the car quite a bit.'
So far, Webster had not applied the brakes very hard during any of the runs. That's because we believe that in the case of a blowout, the first priority is to maintain stability, and one of the ways to do that is to avoid any sudden control inputs, such as hard braking. Since the Explorer was so stable, however, Webster and I decided to see what would happen if we applied the brakes progressively harder. The answer was essentially nothing. Other than applying a little steering correction to the right, because the old Explorer's brakes pulled to the left, Webster reported no control problems during moderate braking.
During the next run, Webster braked quite a bit harder. Same result. Finally, Webster applied the brakes as hard as he could -- hard enough to make the ABS pulse. Other than some minor wiggling, which would have been easily contained within an average highway lane, Webster reported no drama.
One might reasonably ask how much of the Explorer's stable performance could be attributed to Webster's driving skill and extensive racing and testing experience. It's a good question, and to address it, we mounted a video camera inside the Explorer to record Webster's control inputs. We could see that they were every bit as minimal as he reported to us.
But Webster was willing to demonstrate the Explorer's inherent stability even more conclusively. For our last 70-mph blowout run, Webster removed both his hands from the steering wheel and was holding them up with his palms clearly visible in the windshield when I triggered the toggle to blow the tire. Again, the Explorer continued straight ahead."
