Not worried about braking or steering. I can muscle through those. Was just trying to solve it before I needed to turn the car off. Worst that I saw happening was getting a crazy speeding ticket. But then again this time I would have a real, legitimate excuse. "Really officer, I was going 170 and couldn't pull over because my throttle was stuck wide open" and I would have been telling the truth. Now, that I had gone 5 miles this way would be another story! )

 

5-speeds have a much lighter throttle. The auto's pressure cable requires more effort.

 

Gonna check that clearance at lunch today when I drove her home. Gonna be really cold here but the roads are dry and they aren't salting. Skis fit in the back and I have a race tonight so I'm takin' her skiing!

 

It's worse when the throttle sticks WFO in first or second in a five-speed - things happen in a hurry!

 

Brakes are good to be used for slowing down.

I do full throttle runs all the time and use the brakes to keep the speed constant, in most any gear but 1st and 2nd. running up to 135 with a stuck throttle when you could have kept your speed down with the brakes, even if you didnt want to dive for the key, was a little dangerous.

 

I fondly remember tryiong to come up with an answer for the officer when he asked -why-- the the throttle stuck at wide open in second gear leaving a light. How did that darn thing get to wide open???

 

 

Mine has done that in the past too...full throttle acceleration..followed by high idle (like 4500rpm) when clutch pushed in. The cable housing had popped out of the holder at the firewall. Stopped and reset it and was good..until I did another full throttle application. Coincidentally, about 6 months later the cable frayed enough to totally jam the throttle...felt like the pedal was pushing through mush... Luckily I was at Sharktoberfest and Mark had the cable in stock. 5 minutes later..old cable out..new one in..good to go. The old cable was frayed like a rats nest...down where it went through the firewall...

 

Happened to me in 3rd on a highway. The cause this time was a frayed cable around the pulley. Brakes help, but they're no match for 320bhp at 6000. The only option was to switch off the ignition.

This is why I've been puzzled by the reports in the media today about the Lexus driver (in the US) who suffered a runaway car, and claimed there was nothing she could do to stop it. Can't you knock one of these hybrids in to neutral, or switch off the ignition - Is there really no way to kill the engine?

 

4-piston S4 calipers and S4 rotors with good pads and a working brake booster cannot stop 320hp when in 3rd gear? I think you are underestimating the power of S4 brakes.

Dan
'91 928GT S/C 475hp/460lb.ft

 

Not worried at all about driving at speed. I know I had tires that can run at speed all day long, clear day, dry and empty road and plenty of road and more top end to go before I needed to kill the engine.

I was more thinking of "okay, the cable has caught on something, I'll give it a few taps and see if I can get it to come loose or try something else if it doesn't. It came loose and all was good.

The mention of the firewall fray area is going to have me put a new throttle cable in just in case it is beginning to fray though by the feel of things it isn't.

 

How much energy can the brakes convert to heat, before they overheat? I'm guessing that's much less than the engine can generate. Certainly my brief attempt at slowing the car using the brakes alone was not going to make for a happy ending, and I think you would come unstuck far far quicker than me!

 

On an '85/86, first start after TB job, in the garage, not in gear it stuck open. Simple to turn off key, but why the heck was it doing this? The ball/socket of the throttle cable attaches very near the rad hose clamp (the angled one that comes from bottom of rad up). If you position the hose clamp just right (Murphy's law in effect) the throttle as it rotates, it can bind on the nut of the clamp pinning it in a WOT position. Lesson: rotate the clamp and always check for unobstructed movement of anything and everything you touched when you mess with the beast.

 

Was suggested in OT forum discussion that the transmissions would lock out neutral when engine was not near idle to save the engine from damage. Pretty smart those engineers. (you can come to your own conclusions as to how 'smart' they really were)

 

Same thing goes for the ignition shut off. Some of the newer cars these days have start/stop buttons and the key is locked into a slot. I hear that you have to hold the start/stop button in for at least 3 secs to get it to shut off..but 3 seconds while at full throttle...is a long long time