OK, you can keep up, but can you stop!

[Schtum]

I was in a hurry to get home the other night and had the old girl's skirt well and truely hiked up :mrgreen: along a fav' stretch of road I ken better than the back of my hand.

One of these Mazda 6's was trying his best to keep up with me as I chucked her round the bends and kept my foot well in (she handles well for a big heavy car) when I rounded a sharpish bend and found there to be an HGV Breakdown truck blocking my lane (no warning triangle!) ****!

I heaved out the anchors big styley!!! Pedal to the floor and held it....

And she just glided to a perfect skid free stop (from 70mph) in less than 100 yards... Cool...But what about the Mazda!

As he squirmed to an abrupt halt about 6 inches from the back of my car!

Phew! That was close we both thought! :idea:

BAS does work then it seems. I doubt I could have stopped my bike as smoothly in the distance and it has fastidiously maintained brakes, because my life depends on them...

I'm impressed and I can't think when I've driven a car that stopped quite as quickly as the 280, even though it's a heavy beast.

BTW. The Mazda driver was leaving a far more reasonable gap between his and my car the rest of the way back. A lesson learned me thinks.

 

[jberks]

Its a thought that goes through my mind when your average idiot sits too close.
One of a Mercs less advertised party pieces is the ability to stop quickly - something your average motor, even with ABS these days can't compete with. They don't have the braking power, the grip or the ESP.
So sure I can pull up, but can they.

I had to stop suddenly on the M42 a few months ago. Watching the muppet behind, it was clear, that allowing for the Mercs abilities, I had plenty of room, but if I used those abilities, he wouldn't have. He was close, but a few feet short, so I backed off a bit and pulled up onto the grass verge between the car in front and the barrier.
I'm sure the guy in front thought it was me that couldn't stop but at least I was able to pull away with my rear bumper unmolested. He too kept a bigger distance after that!

 

[shadowninja]

Had a similar thing with an old Astra doing that. I think the driver filled his pants when my BAS kicked in. Heard a loud screech and braced for impact...

 

[mattsurf]

In the 1980's on at least 3 occasions cars went into the back of my parent W123 200T - clearly Mercedes ability to stop more rapidly than lesser cars is nothing new

btw - the towbar seems to have protected the rear of the car pretty well - although at least 2 of the cars which went into the back would have been written off

 

[joem]

There is no doubt about it, a Mercedes can stop very quickly.

My Saab 2004 9-5 Aero has a lot more BHP than my 2001 W202 estate but it's brakes are rather feeble in comparison.

Also the Mercedes does have brake assist which I have only provoked once when a fox ran in front of my car at about 50mph. The Astravan (strangely, blue rather than white) following stopped about 10 feet in front of me having swerved/skidded around me - lucky for him there was no one coming the other way. He actually made rather a good job of things considering the predicament he had put himself in.

 

[oldcro]

I was in a hurry to get home the other night and had the old girl's skirt well and truely hiked up :mrgreen: along a fav' stretch of road I ken better than the back of my hand.

One of these Mazda 6's was trying his best to keep up with me as I chucked her round the bends and kept my foot well in (she handles well for a big heavy car) when I rounded a sharpish bend and found there to be an HGV Breakdown truck blocking my lane (no warning triangle!) ****!

I heaved out the anchors big styley!!! Pedal to the floor and held it....

And she just glided to a perfect skid free stop (from 70mph) in less than 100 yards... Cool...But what about the Mazda!

As he squirmed to an abrupt halt about 6 inches from the back of my car!

Phew! That was close we both thought! :idea:

BAS does work then it seems. I doubt I could have stopped my bike as smoothly in the distance and it has fastidiously maintained brakes, because my life depends on them...

I'm impressed and I can't think when I've driven a car that stopped quite as quickly as the 280, even though it's a heavy beast.

BTW. The Mazda driver was leaving a far more reasonable gap between his and my car the rest of the way back. A lesson learned me thinks.

Sounds like am example of irrisponsible and dangerous driving from both drivers to me.:-(

 

[verytalldave]

I'm glad someone else said that................:Oops:

 

[Schtum]

Sounds like am example of irrisponsible and dangerous driving from both drivers to me.:-(

While your entitled to your opinion. You can't know that 'cause you weren't there.

 

[type49]

Mercs don't claim to be the best car to have a crash in, that one goes to Volvo. However, with ABS, BAS + the best ESP system on any car (even BMW admit that), they are the best car at avoiding the crash in the first place. As with many other cars though, they do still suffer from problems with a nut behind the wheel, a fault that will be very difficult to cure

 

[jberks]

Sounds like am example of irrisponsible and dangerous driving from both drivers to me.:-(

oh come on - we all have our mad moments!

 

[oldcro]

While your entitled to your opinion. You can't know that 'cause you weren't there.

I know you were exceeding the speed limit as you state you were doing 70mph. This speed is only allowed on motorways and dual carrigeways, and neither of these has sharp bends.

Just thank your lucky stars there was not a family car broken down closer to the bend.

 

[oldcro]

oh come on - we all have our mad moments!

Yes we do, but at the right time in the right place, hopefully.

 

[100%Bitch]

oh come on - we all have our mad moments!

Even me. :Oops:

 

[jamesmc]

Here we go... politically correct views emerging... naughty boy ....exceeding speed limit etc. tut! tut! :roll:

I am another that admits to 'mad' moments in my car. Sometimes speed limits are broken and fun is had. Exceeding a speed limit doesn't automatically make driving fast unsafe or a stupid thing to do now does it? If conditions allow it can be safe..... except of course for the person with inferior stopping power in the vehicle behind,.....but then they shouldn't be so close anyway. I have been known to speed up to increase the safety zone behind me and help protect these innocent people.

 

[oldcro]

Here we go... politically correct views emerging... naughty boy ....exceeding speed limit etc. tut! tut! :roll:

I am another that admits to 'mad' moments in my car. Sometimes speed limits are broken and fun is had. Exceeding a speed limit doesn't automatically make driving fast unsafe or a stupid thing to do now does it? If conditions allow it can be safe..... except of course for the person with inferior stopping power in the vehicle behind,.....but then they shouldn't be so close anyway. I have been known to speed up to increase the safety zone behind me and help protect these innocent people.

No I was not being politically correct as you say. And yes most of us, myself included have exceeded the speed limit on occasions. My beef was about someone driving too fast round a blind bend and finding a breakdown truck parked in his way, causing him brake very hard. It could have been a child in the road much closer to the bend, and that is what annoyed me.

It is not excessive speed that kills, it is travelling too fast for the prevailing conditions. Ask anyone who has had a loved one killed by an idiot driving too fast and being unable to stop in time. I like most drivers make mistakes when driving, but I do not find them something to brag about on the internet. Writing to explain what a fool I have been so others can learn from my example would on the other hand make sense though.

 

[Godot]

http://tinyurl.com/2c3tsc Did it have Bridgestones ?

 

[Eric Tilley]

I have been known to speed up to increase the safety zone behind me and help protect these innocent people.

.

It does not work like that ! They will match your speed and the situation will get worse with even less stopping margin. Try it around here and you could well find yourself well over the limit with a 40 ton articulated landfill rubbish lorry inches from your back bumper. They consider it a game. The only thing that works is to ease off and drop your speed till they get the message and back off.

 

[Schtum]

Well excuse me? Now I'm a homicidal maniac!

No I was not being politically correct as you say. And yes most of us, myself included have exceeded the speed limit on occasions. My beef was about someone driving too fast round a blind bend and finding a breakdown truck parked in his way, causing him brake very hard. It could have been a child in the road much closer to the bend, and that is what annoyed me.

It is not excessive speed that kills, it is travelling too fast for the prevailing conditions. Ask anyone who has had a loved one killed by an idiot driving too fast and being unable to stop in time. I like most drivers make mistakes when driving, but I do not find them something to brag about on the internet. Writing to explain what a fool I have been so others can learn from my example would on the other hand make sense though.

Allow me to retort.

1. You don't know the corner, I do.
2. I always (Well I try) and only go as fast as the distance I can see to stop.
3. I did stop with plenty room to spare.
4. There should have been a warning that the lane ahead was blocked! (The Police were stopping traffic the other side of the HGV, but had not thought to warn traffic from my direction! Why?)
5. This is not Shetland. Children down here play in parks, not on main A roads.
6. My only point in posting was that as a safety system, I rate BAS highly.

Please, go away and read your Dailymail or something will you?

And stop

 

[Schtum]

http://tinyurl.com/2c3tsc Did it have Bridgestones ?

Michelin Pilots.

 

[oldcro]

Allow me to retort.

1. You don't know the corner, I do.
2. I always (Well I try) and only go as fast as the distance I can see to stop.
3. I did stop with plenty room to spare.
4. There should have been a warning that the lane ahead was blocked! (The Police were stopping traffic the other side of the HGV, but had not thought to warn traffic from my direction! Why?)
5. This is not Shetland. Children down here play in parks, not on main A roads.
6. My only point in posting was that as a safety system, I rate BAS highly.

Please, go away and read your Dailymail or something will you?

And stop

Yes I will go away, as far as I can from ignorant gits like yourself.