Merry Chrismas All (public service announcement)

[amalventano1 at tds.net (Allyn)]

> Daymn Allyn... 
> 
> Glad everybody's ok, and there's no damage to the car, but 
> that could've been so much worse...

Thanks man.  It's been reverberating in my head for the past few hours.

> You have to watch the A2's, with that load-adjusting rear 
> brake bias, because it usually makes the rear brakes lock up 
> in an emergency, or panic stop.

You know, I hadnt even thought of that.  The rear was loaded as heavy as its ever been.  3 kids in the back seat, and the usual
loadout for a weekend visit to Tampa (family), but on the way back we had to add the gifts my dad bought the kids.  Basically, you
open the truck, and the pile of stuff back there kept the shape of the open trunk lid :).

> What kind of tires were you running?

Some all season falkens IIRC.  Stock size - on teardrops.  Due to my wifes 'spirited' driving, the fronts had worn slick on the very
outer edges, while the majority of the tread patch was still in good shape (good enough to not hydroplane at highway speeds).  This
wear occurred even with them maintained at ~45 psi.  I swapped front/rear before the trip since I wanted to even out the wear a bit.
My guess is that the slick tread shoulder, boosted rear bias, lift throttle weight shift, and slick wet pavement on the entrance
ramp shoulder all conspired against us in parallel.

> The Cherokee came with Kumho's and they let go really quickly 
> in the wet.
> The dude I sold the GTI to, said the same thing, about the 
> new Kumhos on his Iroc.

I've run both Kuhmos and Yokos on the Rieger, and I've found the Kuhmos to be surprisingly predictable and controllable, even in the
wet, though they tend to let go quicker on certain types of pavement.

> About 2 hours ago I came within 3 feet of tagging some SUV 
> driven by some oblivious airhead, that looked right at me as 
> she stopped at the stop sign, and then proceeded to drive 
> right in front of me, forcing me to lock up my brakes at 
> ~40MPH. I don't think it damaged my new Mud Terrain tires, 
> since I didn't notice any flat spots, or anything.

Yeah, there are some crazy ones out there.  Tampa drivers were as insane as ever, and there was twice as many of them on the road as
normal.

> Don't skimp on tires!

Yup.  I'll be promptly swapping those rears out, as well as thinking about 'fixing' that variable rear proportioning valve.

Al