Crown

Ferdie:

Getting back to the original topic of the thread, if one is overly conscious of safety why would he or she drive at the very limit of a car in the first place? Not referring to one´s abilities but the influence of mechanical occurrences or other drivers´ actions can never be excluded on the street.

There is always a small risk involved but it is me who takes it, it is me who needs to handle it and it is me who is responsible. If somebody else takes this "freedom" from me, well...different story. 

I never drive at the limit on a public street and since I got old...hear hear...I don't do the same thing on the track anymore...too much money can go down the drain if something happens, even if on the track, it is usually metal and pride which suffer most of the time. 

Regarding mechanical faults: I do my best to keep my car 100% in shape...technically speaking. I'm very anal about the tires and the brakes, always have been for various reasons. Of course there is no 100% error free technical environment but I do my best and there is always me driving that car, so I still have a small amount of experience and skills which could cope, up to a limited point, for mechanical errors.

Which reminds me of three problems I had with cars in the past, problems which could have costed my life if I would have panicked:

1. a turbo charger blew and threw up my front engine hood up, leaving me blind at a speed of 150 kph on the Autobahn. Luckily I remembered visually in my head the road and the traffic, so I was able to come to a safe stop on the side before something serious could happen.

2. a drive shaft broke, "blocking" the gearbox/engine at around 80 kph in a curve. You don't want to know how I came to a stop but although luck may have been involved, it was driving skills saving me.

3. same as 2. in a sharp curve, making my car slip sideways at around 60 kph. I managed to turn around the car, coming to a full stop before I almost hit a wall

In all three incidents, nothing happened to me or the car but of course I was lucky that the speeds weren't really high.

I love to be in control of situations, this is one reason why I don't like flying or traveling by train. 

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RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M, BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

Pentium:

Because "ONE" it's a MAN!

And we like to do that!

Also we love sports, wine and sex

There is only one problem: I hate wine (and any kind of alcohol). 

I compensate with the other stuff, especially sex.  

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M, BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

There is always a small risk involved but it is me who takes it, it is me who needs to handle it and it is me who is responsible. If somebody else takes this "freedom" from me, well...different story. 

During driving with 290 Km/h with an X5M or any other car on a public autobahn you could easily bring this freedom of somebody else incl. your kids  in danger...Just my point of view.

I am doing the same (without my two kids) , but I know the risk every time.

Have a nice weekend

Blueflame

RC:

There is always a small risk involved but it is me who takes it, it is me who needs to handle it and it is me who is responsible. If somebody else takes this "freedom" from me, well...different story. 

Thanks for the detailed response. Chosing between taking a picture out of a landing plane, both on my own or by someone else, or driving 290 kph in an X5M with passengers, the later is definitely more wicked in my eyes. Hence my remark further above.

If I remember correctly, one of your 996s had a suspension failure while you were driving on the Autobahn as well. Driving inattentive at half the speed is probably even more dangerous but I would leave a bit of safety margin provided by talent, car and technology for unexpected situations, such as described above. As blueflame said, at least with family on board.

Ferdie:

If I remember correctly, one of your 996s had a suspension failure while you were driving on the Autobahn as well. Driving inattentive at half the speed is probably even more dangerous but I would leave a bit of safety margin provided by talent, car and technology for unexpected situations, such as described above. As blueflame said, at least with family on board.

Yes but again, it was me who noticed it and reported it to the dealer. Otherwise I guess I would be dead by now because the next time, it could have ended in disaster. Thanks for reminding me, I almost forgot. It was the 996 Carrera 4 Powerkit and this was the reason why I sold this car and got the 996 Turbo instead. I didn't have any trust in that car anymore (yeah, kind of crazy but this is me ). 

There is no 100% safety and it doesn't really matter if you drive 150 kph or 250 kph. The survival chances when hitting another car/wall/tree are not very good at any of these speeds.

At higher speeds, I'm more concentrated than on lower speeds. Many people I know drive slower, so they can eat, talk on the phone, enjoy the surroundings or talk to the co-driver or just relax while driving. At at speed of 150 kph, a second of not paying attention is enough to get you in trouble.

I am always at full alert when driving, it is the safest way to keep the adrenaline pumping. This is why my wife always gets angry when talking to me: I'm always so concentrated on traffic that I don't even listen to what she is saying.  

Last time I drove from Orlando to Miami, I almost fell asleep. Horrible, I hate driving such a long distance at a limited speed. My wife always falls asleep and the kids too. I can't afford that. 

--

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M, BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

The reason people in North America drive in packs at the same speed is because the cops will only give you a ticket if you are exceeding the speed of the flow of traffic. If everyone is doing 120 km/h in a 100 zone, nobody gets a ticket. The guy who goes through the pack at 135 is the guy who gets pulled over.

Hi Christian,
only now I read this thread. (Did a lot of work at the moment)
 I'm glad that you and your family are ok. Thanks of your skills and the X5M.
On that highway you mentioned I drive 2-3 times a week and there are always many "idiots" on the road.
Have always a safe drive.

JoeRockhead:

The reason people in North America drive in packs at the same speed is because the cops will only give you a ticket if you are exceeding the speed of the flow of traffic. If everyone is doing 120 km/h in a 100 zone, nobody gets a ticket. The guy who goes through the pack at 135 is the guy who gets pulled over.

You haven't seen a cop on a bad day. One time ONE highway patrolman pulled over a whole pack of cars, in both lanes,  must have been 20 or so, going 120km/r on a 100km/h rated highway.

I was part of that convoy.

I think he filled his daily quota right there.

19 of you should have driven away.

we drove up Cypress Mountain last summer in a convoy of BMW e30s in a spirited fashion.. we slowed at the viewpoint hairpin and as we accelerated out of it, 6 magnums pulled out of nowhere (presumably the parking area) and quickly pulled all of us over while also have two hummers literally block the road up ahead. They were all black undercover vehicles and it felt overdone. Could have turned messy but we all cooperated in stopping eventhough it was very unclear with so many black cars behind us all of a sudden. Only the first guy got a ticket and the rest, we all got a warning.. so VERY lucky, especially since they have a ZERO tolerance on the Cypress mountain roads in the summers...

indeed shifting is ancient technology - so is a fuel burning engine..  I happen to like both :) 

JoeRockhead:

The reason people in North America drive in packs at the same speed is because the cops will only give you a ticket if you are exceeding the speed of the flow of traffic. If everyone is doing 120 km/h in a 100 zone, nobody gets a ticket. The guy who goes through the pack at 135 is the guy who gets pulled over.

NA's traffic enforcement relies more on police's judgement rather than system,  which is very different than European or Asia. We are system over humans,  humans only enforce and manage the system. If you get caught by radar in Hong Kong or Europe for 20km/h or above. You are 100% going to get a ticket. The only way to get out of it is base your arguments on facts like radar gun calibrations, speed, distance on court. It's more logic based. 

In America, if the cops are in good mood and you are apologetics, they usually would let you go if it's not too ridiculous. But if you argue with them on facts, they might even put you to jail. It is just a different ways to deal with them. 

www.youtube.com/watch

blueflame:

There is always a small risk involved but it is me who takes it, it is me who needs to handle it and it is me who is responsible. If somebody else takes this "freedom" from me, well...different story. 

During driving with 290 Km/h with an X5M or any other car on a public autobahn you could easily bring this freedom of somebody else incl. your kids  in danger...Just my point of view.

I am doing the same (without my two kids) , but I know the risk every time.

Have a nice weekend

Blueflame

I don't think 290km/h in a 3 lane autobahn with light traffic is consider high risk. 

www.youtube.com/watch

william:

blueflame:

There is always a small risk involved but it is me who takes it, it is me who needs to handle it and it is me who is responsible. If somebody else takes this "freedom" from me, well...different story. 

During driving with 290 Km/h with an X5M or any other car on a public autobahn you could easily bring this freedom of somebody else incl. your kids  in danger...Just my point of view.

I am doing the same (without my two kids) , but I know the risk every time.

Have a nice weekend

Blueflame

 

I don't think 290km/h in a 3 lane autobahn with light traffic is consider high risk. 

As I said, just my point of view.
 

15 Years ago, I lost two members of my family - they were driving in a  Range Rover on a 3 lane Autobahn with about 190 Km/h. The rear left tyre exploded and they flipped over 4 times. No other car was involved.

My wife and the family dog survived this fatal accident.

Blueflame

william: 

NA's traffic enforcement relies more on police's judgement rather than system,  which is very different than European or Asia. We are system over humans,  humans only enforce and manage the system. If you get caught by radar in Hong Kong or Europe for 20km/h or above. You are 100% going to get a ticket. The only way to get out of it is base your arguments on facts like radar gun calibrations, speed, distance on court. It's more logic based. 

In America, if the cops are in good mood and you are apologetics, they usually would let you go if it's not too ridiculous. But if you argue with them on facts, they might even put you to jail. It is just a different ways to deal with them. 

That is the main difference, in Spain for example, every single speedtrap device must be coupled with a camera (in an homologated combo) that must take a picture of the infraction (with the data of the speedtrap imprinted) as proof. No photo, no ticket. If you get caught at 300km/h but the picture doesn't show the licence place number well, no ticket. On the other hand, the cop has no say on which tickects are issued, if the device register's the infraction thats it, the pictures are automatically saved on to the hard drive of the device, which is coded and protected, and the policeman turns in the hard drive at the end of the day, and the fines are the processed away at the Ticket Processing Center in Leon, Spain. 

In the states, the cop holds a simple laser gun, reads the speed and he issues a ticket on his word. Ridiculous in a sense, but on the other hand, the cop has all the freedom to do as he pleases, he can forget tickects at his convenience... or make up ones.

william:

I don't think 290km/h in a 3 lane autobahn with light traffic is consider high risk. 

It was actually a four lane Autobahn and the only two cars ahead of me were on the far right side.

It really was one of those incidents...like a plane falling on your car.

Yes, this was not a typical high risk situation.

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M, BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

blueflame:

they were driving in a  Range Rover on a 3 lane Autobahn with about 190 Km/h. The rear left tyre exploded and they flipped over 4 times. No other car was involved.

My wife and the family dog survived this fatal accident.

Blueflame

Sorry to hear that, good that your wife survived.

Tires however do not explode without a reason, there was a damage before. So whoever drove this car, was to blame for the accident, as cruel as this may sound.

This is why I'm very anal about tires and brakes, they keep you alive.

It took me years to teach my wife not to drive over boardwalks and to be careful not to damage the tire/rim when parking. Years. I also check the tire pressure every week. Now my wife is very careful but only because she is aware of what can happen. She witnessed a blown tire on the Autobahn, when a car in front of us flipped and the passengers were badly injured. Horrible scene but they survived because they didn't hit anything.

Oh, another thing: the X5 M is equipped with RFT tires. Exploding is impossible, even sudden tire pressure drops don't cause much harm. There is also a tire pressure warning system installed. More to love about this truck.

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M, BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW

Conny997:

Hi Christian,
only now I read this thread. (Did a lot of work at the moment)
 I'm glad that you and your family are ok. Thanks of your skills and the X5M.
On that highway you mentioned I drive 2-3 times a week and there are always many "idiots" on the road.
Have always a safe drive.

It is really unbelievable that on a four lane Autobahn, completely empty, someone moves from the far right lane to the far left lane in a second...and then back again.

This particular road is very dangerous when there are many cars but only two cars on the far right lane ? Oh boy. Keep in mind, that my xenon lights were turned on too, so he was able to see me from a huge distance.

RC (Germany) - Rennteam Editor Porsche 997 Turbo, BMW X5 M, BMW M3 Cab DKG, Mini Cooper S JCW