Bob Rouleau

PSM can brake one (1) wheel. At 160 and a swerve it cannot save you. I tested this at lower speed on a wet and huge skid pad. At only 70 MPH I cut the wheel hard - spun PSM could not cope.

LlBr

Excellent idea! Is there an optional parachute package with it?

JohnnyBahamas

Every moment behind the wheel I am talking to myself inside my head pre planning my emergency actions based on the conditions around me. For example: Is there room to move? Is there any traction left for the tires? Etc. etc. etc.

The 90% of the time the "in my head pre planning" breaks into two choices: ALL BRAKES or SMOOTH RIGHT/LEFT.

160 MPH with a "decapitation sized" animal in the road ahead would fall into the remaining 10% pre planning that combines the two choices: ALL BRAKES + SMOOTH RIGHT = CHANGE PANTS.

stevepow

1st realistic post - exactly what I was thinking. If you had time to eek out an "oh $#it" - well you wouldn't.

So it's more about what you do after you hit the deer, if you are still able to do anything.

Bottom line, if you think there may be wildlife on the road - slow down. And deer may not be your only problem: (gross!!) http://amazingsnews.blogspot.com/200...-250-kmhr.html

"According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration there are about 1.5 million car accidents with deer each year that result in $1 billion in vehicle damage, about 150 human fatalities, and over 10,000 personal injuries.
...
If a collision with a deer is unavoidable, it is usually best not to swerve to avoid it, brake and hold the wheel straight.
"

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...YouAtRisk.aspx

On the bright side, if you live and have good insurance, you probably get a new car.

Mike in CA

That "all four wheels in contact with the road" you reference is the key. There is a limited amount of tire patch available and traction is at a premium, especially at high speeds. Recall the "friction circle" from driving school. Even in an all out stop from more "normal" speeds you are at the top edge of the circle. Any attempt to change direction to the left or right will put you outside the circle and you will lose traction or "contact with the road", unless you modulate the brakes or have ABS do it for you.

In a 160 mph panic stop the ABS will be cycling like mad in a valiant and no doubt futile attempt to slow you down with breaking traction. There would be no reserve of traction to work with for steering, nor time to acquire any via electronic manipulation. Momentum, inertia, mass, lack of friction between road and tire, are all working against you and your car's ability to cope with the situation. No, when Porsche talks about their PSM being subject to the laws of physics in situations like the one you described, they really mean it.

LlBr

Thanks Mike. Interesting - all those factors interacting. That's a lot of stuff to mull over. I'll work on it.

gray911

I would stay on my lane and pedal to the metal. At about 175 mph the deer will slide (make sure you always use Zaino)on your hood catapulting it in the air with minimal damage on the front end.

PS. Do not attempt to do this trick on your Cayenne!

rome5982

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/685376...t_by_race_car/

gray911

^^^

Edgy01

While doing my Euro Delivery I eventually got past my break-in miles and was firmly established on the E35 Northbound from Basel to Karlsruhe, Germany one evening. Lucky for me way ahead was a guy in a Cayenne Turbo S who was breaking the trail for me. I eventually was up to 180 mph. I had not been over 120 mph for several years prior to that 4 week trip. (Thus, I took my time relearning true high-speed driving skills). I realized that my need to do something as silly and mundane as look at the gauges (speedo) was absolutely worthless because I was flying so fast and so low that I had better be totally headsup outside the cockpit. I was covering a mile every 20 seconds so I needed to be WAY ahead of the automobile! (When I used to fly for the military I was covering 7 miles a minute--but I was a lot higher!)

Collisions with deer in America are extremely commonplace because of the loss of hunters and the proliferation of tree-huggers and animal rights activists. It's truly sad during the winters in Pennsylvania when you see carcass after carcass of dead deer at the side of the freeway. You know they were simply starving to death and looking for food when they got too close to the freeways. We should all become more avid hunters so as to save one another from a dangerous encounter.

Handoogies

I've seen the head of a moose take of the top of a pickup clean in Maine. Definitely duck also.

Edgy01

Years ago I recall the signs in Maine that stated "Caution: Moose." About that same time we used to frequent a place called TCBY--The Country's Best Yogurt. They had a favorite flavor of my wife's--white chocolate mousse.

From then on in Maine I always thought, "I Brake For Mousse" would be a good advertisement for TCBY!

RollingArt

Yeah, I forgot to mention how huge the turkey was. That thing stood nearly 5ft. tall.




Phil

Alfaguy2

I would suspect that a collision at 160 mph with even a small animal like a dog or fox would possibly damage your car to such an extent as to possibly send it out of control.

I have seen severe damage caused to cars from small animal collisions from much slower speeds. Anyone who ever drove a motorcycle fast can appreciate the energy involved in collisions with even small insects such as bees.

Macster

Agree. Even though I was driving under 60mph -- dark, wet (T-storms off and on for the previous couple of hours), unfamiliar road, at least one corner in opposing lane had a portable TV sized rock in it -- mule deer stepped right from behind guard rail into path of car.

No time to brake, swerve, flash the lights, honk the horn. Just saw the big square head about the same time heard the sharp crack and felt the impact. Then it was just one oh sh*t after another as I made sure I could still control the car -- fortunately steering/braking/drive train unaffected -- and from the fluids (coolant) spraying out try to pick a nice shoulder area to pull the car over cause it wasn't going much further on its own power.

Have to tell you even when struck a glancing blow a mule deer a substantial animal. I went back to scene next day and found deer tracks on side of road where deer came up out of wash and crossed gravel shoulder. Spotted deep hoof prints as deer tried to yank its *** back. But deer didn't appear to even hit the ground after the car hit and I tracked its path down from road down to the wash -- it was on 3 legs going down while it had 4 legs coming up -- until I got far enough from road that I was aware I was in rattle snake country without proper equipment and headed back up the hill to the rental car. No sign of the deer's carcass from where I could see high on the road above the terrain out from the direction the deer headed.

Sincerely,

Macster.