Jabberwock

This points to the very real difference in folks that some are naturally very mechanically inclined to those folks that are not. Both types can be skilled drivers under various normal conditions, but the mechanically talented have a better ability to quickly react with multiple options, and survive an "out of the box" crisis like a stuck accelerator.

I would have had the trans in neutral in less than 3 seconds, then trans in park (breaking the transmission lock pawl in the process) 2 secs later if neutral did not solve problem, then the engine shut down 3-5 seconds after that if the trans in neutral or park was not effective.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

i would have jumped out and rolled safely into the nice soft grass on the side of the road if nothing else worked... [always seems to work in the movies]

jayclapp

That does sound like a scary situation with very little time to think and react. I think the emergency brake might have worked, but who would think to use it in that situation?

Bon

Just to be clear here: Your brakes still worked but you needed to press much, much harder to activate them. Your power brakes rely upon a reserve of vacuum that is developed when you run your engine. Each press of the brakes uses this reserve. After three presses, or so, you ran out of vacuum assist. Basically, at this point, you have manual brakes. Because most people these days have never felt manual brakes it feels like the brakes aren't working [Panic] [/Panic]. Just press harder and you'll be okay.

BNR34

iTrader: (1)

I was gonna say the same thing...........at 1 mph, just press harder and the car would stop right away.

Only if you are at speed, then it would be hard to stop a car without vacuum assisted brakes.

jayclapp

I respectively disagree. I drove cars before they had power assist brakes. I don't believe a normal person can depress the brake pedal hard enough to even come close to developing enough braking power to stop the vehicle safely in an emergency situation. I had this happen to me as I approached a busy street from our off street. The car would barely stop from a very slow speed and it was frightening. I don't think the mechanical linkage will provide enough amplification from manual braking. They are apparently not designed for that situation.

Just an old retired engineers opinion from experience.

JBLover

A lot of really great points. I moved up from a 03 ML to an 05 CL about a month ago and the differences are amazing. The smart key has me totally spoiled, the suede roof liner, burnt wood dash, and extra leather is amazing. It is cool to have the rear window shade. I do like the laser cruise, but it can be a little sensitive at times, but I have not used it on a long trip on the HWY yet. I can only imagine what the UL would be like. I really wanted a black on saddle UL, but could not find one so "settled" on a graphite on black. I am REALLY happy with this car and I really loved my 03 silver on ecru.

Edit- One more really nice thing is that I have little boys and the auto closing doors are great because they rarely close the door all the way and then I don't need to walk around the car reclosing all the doors.

aypues

I'm totally into my 04 UL too. I love the air suspension, and it's various settings. I use them all the time. Every time I have to drive a loaner or something, I am amazed at how much I miss the feel of my air ride.

I also can't live without the Pre Collision System. PCS has intervened twice and it was amazing how much safer I felt, and the entire car seemed to react differently almost instantaneously.

sojah

iTrader: (1)

^ ^ ^ can you briefly tell me what PCS does? i have it but not sure if i've ever had it come on. (luckily)

mndaves

I believe the main points are that it tightens the front seatbelts, gives you brake assist (it won't brake for you, but once you touch the brakes it applies full force), and it switches into Sport mode to tighten the suspension and make the car more rigid for an impending crash.