©2000 May not be reproduced in any form without written permission of the author. This includes publishing at other websites.
Stuttgart, Germany--Today DaimlerChrysler presents the revolutionary S-Classversion "World," the designation abbreviating "Wagen Operating on Right and Left-hand Drive." This denotes a vehicle with two fully-weuipped driver sections in the front so the car can be driven from either front seat. Says Mr. Juergen Hubbert, member of the board of DaimlerChrysler and responsible for the passenger car section: "What at first glance might look a bit odd is the consequent realization of our global strategy, even more important now wiht our newly acquired 33.r percent stake in Japanese Mitsubishi passenger cars division. The revolutionary idea behind the "World" version allows the very same car to be operated from either front seat, giving the opportunity to sit on the correct side no matter if operated in left- or right-hand drive countries around the world.
This announcement was made April 1, 2000
OUT OF ORIFICE
I'll be out of the orifice May 17-20. The usual request
to buy something, new, or pre-owned, from me, on dates other than those
is hereby tendered. If you buy from someone while I'm gone (other than my
assistant, Shane), the usual curse will be tendered.
S55 AMG
New Sedan Combines Class-Leading Luxury with Class-Leading Performance
NEW YORK, NY - The constantly moving luxury sedan target newly established by Mercedes-Benz with the 2000 S-class sedans - will be elevated yet again in 2001, Mercedes-Benz announces at the 2000 New York Auto Show that the S55 AMG super sedan will enter the U.S. market for model year 2001, The S55 AMG marks the first collaboration between Mercedes-Benz and its high-performance AMG division on an S-Class model.
The new S55 AMG offers all of the class leading luxury, convenience and refinement of the award-winning S-Class sedans, but it also infuses that luxury with class-leading performance, Powered by a 5.5-liter V8 engine hand-assembled by AMG, which develops 354 horsepower and a stout 391 lbs-ft. of torque, initial performance estimates have the S55 AMG accelerating to 60 mph from rest in just 5.7 seconds, All this speed comes while simultaneously being classified as a Low Emissions Vehicle (LEV). The S55 AMG engine starts out with an AMG-specific, pressure-cast aluminum V8 block, and continues with unique parts like a forged crankshaft and connecting rods and forged aluminum pistons. AMG engineered both the twin-inlet air cleaner assembly and dual-resonance intake manifold to boost low-to-midrange power, while each cylinder head is carefully prepped to allow airflow for high power across a broad power band.
Delivering that power is a driver-adaptive five-speed electronic automatic transmission with Touch Shift, allowing manual gear selection if the driver chooses. This strong, fully electronic transmission is controlled by a high-performance microprocessor designed to execute shifts as the driver expects and wishes. Continuous electronic networking with engine and chassis management systems allows the transmission to adapt to a wide variety of driving situations, and even to different driving styles,
The ABCs of ABC
Additionally, all S55 AMG sedans will be equipped with Mercedes' revolutionary ABC active suspension. Having just debuted on the all-new CL500 coupe, ABC (Active Body Control) virtually eliminates body roll in cornering, as well as dive and squat under braking and acceleration. Mercedes-Benz engineers use hydraulic, electronic and mechanical components to reduce body roll by 68%, still providing the driver with helpful feedback through the vehicle chassis. A comfort/sport switch on the dash can further reduce roll to 95% lower if the driver prefers even sportier handling. Active suspension solves the traditional trade-off between ride comfort and handling precision, making the S55 AMG sedan dynamically the best of both worlds. ABC active suspension system uses four hydraulic servos, one on top of each steel coil spring. Located between the body and the springs, these pistons apply additional forces in response to split-second signals from the ABC computers. As a result, the servos actually regulate the action of the springs in relation to incipient body movement. A total of 13 sensors monitor body movement and vehicle level so that the ABC computer is supplied with new data every 10 milliseconds. This sophisticated system senses body movement just as it begins and makes corrections via the servos within a fraction of a second.
The ABC active suspension handles relatively low frequency body movements of five Hertz (5Hz) or lower, which means that stabilizer bars are no longer necessary. Higher frequency vibration is still absorbed by conventional gas-pressurized shocks and steel coil springs. Although Mercedes engineers tested a version of the system that operated over the full frequency range of 0-30 Hertz, they found that its energy requirements adversely affected performance and fuel economy noticeably without significant ride and handling gains.
The S55 AMG will also receive uprated brake hardware, commensurate with the additional power and high-speed capabilities of the powertrain and suspension. The S55 interior isn't forgotten, either. An AMG two-tone Black/Anthracite leather interior with contrasting gray stitching and AMG logos is standard. However the entire color palette of the S-Class interior is also available at no additional cost. Indeed, powerful engines are just one element of any Mercedes-AMG automobile. There are six specific themes to every AMG product: handling ability, braking, acceleration, luxury, exclusivity and practicality. All are equally important, but perhaps the latter is most significant: Mercedes-AMG cars make no special demands of owners and require no special concessions as a result of their high-performance capabilities.
2001 VOLVO V70
The market for high quality luxury station wagons is small. Most people wanting station wagons get SUVs. Some of them don't need or want SUVs, but their parents had big station wagons with wood on the side, and they're determined never, never to be their mothers. So station wagons, in America, have died.
In Europe, not encumbered by SUVs, there are several seriously neat station wagons. The Mercedes-Benz, of course, is the reigning monarch. It's imported in the excellent E320 form. There is not and never has been a better station wagon. It carries up to 7 people in utter comfort and maximum safety. We sell a lot of them here, and they're invariably loved by their owners. Base price is $47,950. Volvo chose not to have one in their comparison test even though they had compared them at a test track with racing drivers.
BMW sells the 528i which, in the US, is more sports car than station wagon. BMW has abandoned the majority of drivers in order to impress car magazine writers, which they do regularly. But their cars are edgier than Mercedes or Volvos and put sportiness over utility or comfort. Though base is in the $40K range, average price is usually around $50,000. The one we tested had the sport suspension, including 17" BBS wheels and fat tires. It was perfect for autocrossing, but not hauling. No third seat option exists, and towing isn't mentioned in its brochure. The rear window is slanted, so there's very little storage room. The ride is FIRM. Side air bags and head protection were for front passengers only.
Audi sells a wagon, the A6 Avant, available in Quattro (4wd) form. Like all of Audi's current products, I found it dated and bland, but nice. Several safety items are optional at extra cost, a concept I don't personally like. Either put the safety gear in or leave it out. "Side Guard" head protection, covering front and rear passengers was optional. Rear air bags were optional.
Volvo is calling the V70 their "SUV Killer."
Bat Guano.
SUV buyers will buy SUVs or SUV wannabes. The V70 can be expected to eat into the wagon sales of the other wagon makers and occasionally get a sale of a wagon buyer who was looking at SUVs because there weren't any wagons.
My experience with SUV buyers, admittedly limited to only 22 years in the car business, 3 with the original SUV makers, Chevrolet (Suburban, Blazer), is they want the high "command" driving position, and they want some off-pavement capabilities for emergencies. In Houston they want high water capabilities.
"Houston gets 12 to 15 inches of rain a year. You probably don't want to be out in it the afternoon we get it."
A lot of SUV buyers say they never go off road, but they want the capability in emergencies.
The V70 is not an SUV. It won't go off road period.
It has a car-like driving position.
Now, if these last two statements haven't made you lose interest in it, read on:
The new V70 is built on an S80 chassis, shortened somewhat, and "decontented" compared to the S80, but getting all of that excellent chassis good points. The result is very nearly an S80 wagon, especially in highline T5 form.
It comes with 2 engines initially, the 2.4T producing 197 hp @ 6,000 rpm, and 210 ft./lb. of torque @1800-5000 rpm, and the fire-breathing T5 producing 247 hp @5200 rpm and 243 ft./lb. torque at 2400-5200 rpm.
The latter is one formidable station wagon.
First, if you ignored your mirrors (please don't. There are enough out there who do), you won't notice it's a wagon. If you don't like the way SUVs drive, and want something which drives like a car but still holds a lot of stuff, then you're a candidate.
With the back seat up it holds a remarkable 35.9 cu. ft. of cargo. With the back seat down it holds 71.5 cu. ft. By comparison a Mercedes E320 holds 43.8 cu. ft. seat up, 82.6 cu. ft., seat down, but most wagons are in the 50-60 cu. ft. range, seat down.
The trainers were quite proud of its ability to hold stuff with the rear seat up and stacked enough luggage for Queen Elizabeth to visit the colonies for a month, and carefully fitted it in the vehicles they had chosen for comparison.
The luggage wouldn't fit in the Audi or the BMW or the Lexus RX300. All of those vehicles should have been there for comparison. The Lexus, as we've discussed, is not an SUV, merely a FWD station wagon with a tall, ugly body. Unfortunately they also had an ML320 there, with some standard equipment removed and some options unmentioned in order to further their view of the comparison. The luggage easily fit in the Mercedes, of course.
But the ML320 is a fully capable off road vehicle. They kept attacking it for such things as high ground clearance, trucky handling, and less than luxury car ride.
My response was let's do the comparison on the other side of a stream requiring descending a 70% muddy trail, fording 20 inches of water, and climbing a 70% grass covered hill. All of the vehicles making it could then be compared for ride, handling, etc. Every vehicle is a compromise. Wagons, by their nature, have more compromises than most vehicles. Volvo aimed their car squarely at the BMW and Audi, then compared it to the ML320. If they had compared it to the E320S, factoring in its price advantage, it would have been a more valid comparison.
But yes, the V70T5 we drove was very comfortable and quick, with excellent brakes. It stopped from 60 mph, in Volvo's tests, if I remember correctly, in 117 feet. The BMW wagon, with the optional sport package and resulting wide tires and 17 inch wheels, did it in 110 ft. The ML320 did it in 134. I've read every test of MLs I could find and never found one taking that long to stop, but it is a big, relatively heavy truck. The others were cars, remember. The average SUV stopping distance would be closer to 150 ft. The last Suburban test I saw showed 165 ft.
The test was conducted by professional drivers. Professionals can stop quicker than most drivers. Cars driven by nonprofessionals in tests in Germany have taken 239 ft. to stop from 62 mph. With Mercedes' Brake Assist, the same drivers averaged 130 ft. Brake Assist is a VERY valuable, very underrated item. If it had Brake Assist, YOU could stop in 117 ft, not just professionals.
We drove the V70T5s on the road, mostly semi-back roads. Very smooth, quick, good ride, excellent sound system, comfortable seats. Then we did a parking lot gymkhana (autocross with reverse involved). What this told us had little relation to the real world unless you drive like a total idiot in parking lots. If you do, buy the BMW. It was the best first gear autocrosser. The Volvo took out the most pylons because the turbo came on just as you needed steady power at a slalom. The backing-up test with mirrors folded taught us you shouldn't back up with the mirrors folded. As a recovering autocrosser I can tell you autocrossing, especially in 1st gear situations, has absolutely no relation to the real world. Some snippets: The RX300 was fwd, not 4wd, and was the most incompetent vehicle in these situations. This isn't surprising. It's the most incompetent vehicle of the group in almost any situation. The BMW, as mentioned, was best. We rode over railroad ties. The sport suspension did what you'd expect of a stiff, sport suspension. If you regularly drive over railroad ties, don't buy it. (Don't buy it anyway, it's a BMW, for God's sake!) The Audi was surprisingly unstable, having no traction control except for 4wd.
Going past my carping that the Mercedes which should have been there was the E320, not the ML320, the V70 is an agile, practical, good looking, safe wagon.
It's a Volvo with all of Volvo's safety features:
ISO-FIX baby/child seat attachment-this is a new system with snap in anchors for child seats, to be required in the near future in the US-A REALLY GOOD IDEA! (No BabySmart allowing children in the right front seat, though)
Driver and front passenger supplemental restraint system (dual-threshold air bags, using the Mercedes system which delays deployment of the airbag from 3 gs to 4 gs and fires the seat belt emergency tensioning retractors at 3 gs if the seat belt is fastened. At 4 g impacts the bags inflate to 70%. At higher G forces they inflate to 100%.)
Side Impact Air Bags (seat mounted) for driver and passenger front seats.
Inflatable Side Curtains. (Protects front and rear passengers).
Side Impact Protection System (SIPS).
Whiplash Protection Seating System (WHIPS-no chains)
5-3 point inertia reel seat belts with automatic pretensioners.
5 padded head restraints (center rear adjustable). Rear head restraints can be retracted forward to allow visibility. Front head restraints are not adjustable, which the insurance lobby likes, but costs me possible sales because some women don't like them.
Anti-Lock Braking System
Daytime Running Lights
Rear Fog Light
Safe Approach and Home Safe Lighting System.
Security system with siren and battery backup.
The T5 version, $33K base, $40k well equipped, goes from
0-60 in a little over 6 seconds and can top 150 when you're late getting
the kiddies to school.
MIRROR SCANNING VS. OWL DRIVING
I've been getting into cars with people for 22 years now on demo drives. There is a segment of the population who can find blind spots in anything they drive. They turn their heads 270° like an owl and say, "Aha, there's a blind spot."
"Excuse me, if you're going to drive like that, please let me out."
When pressed, these people will tell you that they were taught you can't eliminate blind spots, but you have to turn your head to see. Then, while clearing their "blind" spots, they run into the guy ahead of them who makes a living getting rear ended. He's looking for that.
To avoid this, as we've said here many times before but never fail to find people who have never heard of this system, we have a cure.
Sit in the car normally. Do you see the edge of the car in your mirrors?
Yes?
Why? Isn't it going with the front of the car?
Now, lean to the left until you can touch the glass with your head. Adjust the left mirror out until you can now just see the edge of the car.
Now lean to the right until your head is over the console. Adjust the right mirror out until you can now just see the edge of the car.
This is a STARTING POINT.
Drive the car. Let someone pass you on the left. Note when he disappears from the center REAR VIEW MIRROR he will become visible in the LEFT SIDE BLIND SPOT MIRROR. When he leaves that mirror he should be in your peripheral vision, even if yours is as bad as mine. Do the same with the right. Adjust the mirrors if necessary. It's easier with big SUV mirrors, but little cars like SLKs have plenty of mirror for this.
Now, while driving, scan the mirrors every few seconds. You'll note moving your neck left and right, moving your head back and forth while level and while you're still facing dead ahead allows you to scan large areas in the mirror.
If you do this all the time, when all hell breaks loose in front of you, you'll know which way to dodge.
STAR TAC PHONES
2000 model Mercedes-Benz have a first, an optional DIGITAL portable docking phone. In all models it's hands free, and some models are voice activated.
The handset is the seriously neat and small Motorola Star TAC. It's available for GTE (CDMA 900 MHz technology), and Houston Cellular, (TDMA 900 MHz technology). It is not available for use with any other carrier. The Star TAC you have will not work with the base set.
No other manufacturer offers a digital phone yet. There are people at GTE and Houston Cellular who still don't believe we do when we call to activate the phones.
Mercedes is at the forefront of cellular technology because their clients need the best phones, appropriate for the cars. Being the first to go digital was expensive and not trouble free. Where we used to stock one handset for the analog phones, now there are 47 part numbers, depending on carrier and location. We only have to stock two, fortunately. And a TDMA phone installed here will work wherever there's TDMA service.
Some points:
The CDMA phone offers more features, such as e-mail and internet access. Additionally, while the base set will only accept the first 99 numbers in the memory, the handset will store 4 numbers at each of the 99 positions.
When using the handset out of the car, the antenna is several inches from your head, minimizing the risk associated with using cell phones.
While hands free calling is no safer, statistically, than using the handset, several jurisdictions have tried to outlaw cell phone usage while driving. Mercedes feels that hands free usage will be mandatory soon.
The voice-activated phones should be safer than the hands free ones as you don't have to look at the radio to call. Outgoing calls, using either, should be initiated while stopped in a parking lot or something. Incoming callers should be told to wait while you pull off into a parking lot, at least in heavy traffic.
A T & T has invested millions in 2.4 GHz technology and is trying to force it down the throats of consumers with its One Rate Plan, thankfully not available here. These phones are not compatible with that technology.
The fact that it takes time to do the extra engineering
to put phones into cars with base sets, hands-free, etc., means that someone
can always have a phone which is newer in features and technology in a rapidly
changing environment. But using a phone in a moving vehicle while driving
isn't a safe practice. Using a hand held unit is the least safe.
LETTERS
Several years ago, two days after I took delivery of our SUV, a rock hit the windshield. Star Motors replaced the windshield for us. After seeing the segment on the TV program, 20/20 about inferior windshield replacements after a wreck, can you tell me if Star Motors installed the windshield to Mercedes specifications? Can we be reassured we don't have to worry about the windshield?
Sandy Chapman
Be reassured. We use only Mercedes-Benz windshield replacement kits. If it goes through us, it's a Mercedes-Benz windshield, not an aftermarket replacement. More importantly, it's the Mercedes-Benz installation kit. Some of the aftermarket installation kits will actually cause the A-pillar to rust. Some of the aftermarket windshields I have no problems with.
I didn't see the 20/20 report. I only watch that particular tabloid when I know something of interest will be on it. But we've been fighting the aftermarket windshields from day one. Star Motor Cars uses only certified Mercedes-Benz parts, whether for windshields or anything else. This can't be said about every place which services Mercedes-Benz. Some places use Mercedes parts for warranty work but aftermarket parts for customer pay items (charging Mercedes prices, of course). Independent garages can be counted on to use aftermarket parts. We're constantly fighting insurance companies who want to send their clients to the cheapest places on the face of the earth. Sometimes you do get what you pay for.
Another Letter
We finally are on the web. It is fitting we bought our first MB (C280 Sport) before we got "on-line". Cathi loves the car and even lets me drive it sometimes. We mention your name regularly but no bites yet, but we are determined to tell all about how we weren't believers until we finally got one. Keep the Newsletter coming-we have enjoyed every issue and have been reading them since your first one.
Carl & Cathi Cody
S-CLASS TINTING
The new S-Class has all of its window/mirror controls in the driver's door. If you must have the vehicle dark tinted, there are some special instructions you should know about. The interior door panels and door control modules must be removed and the electrical connectors covered to prevent the lubricant used in installing the tinting from penetrating the connectors and causing corrosion and subsequent poor conductivity.
This means to tint the windows a Mercedes-Benz technician will have to remove the door panel and control module and cover the electrical connectors. This will add to the cost of tinting S-Class windows significantly.
Get a Life
In an attempt to actually have a life away from Star Motor Cars, I'm trying only working the hours actually assigned. We're open 65 hours a week. Sales reps rotate 8-4, 9-5, and 11-7 shifts during the week (every 6th day off). Saturday is 8-5 (store open 9-5). This'll mean a 49 hour week. In actuality I haven't gotten below 50 on a full week yet, but I'm trying. Please call if you're coming by so you don't miss me.
Granny revisited
The "Granny" story last month is listed as an urban legend at www.snopes.com.
The People's Democratic Republic of Massachusetts just banned sale, transfer, or leasing of most of the antique replica guns used in Cowboy Action Shooting. Good to see they're going after the real criminals, guys who go to private ranges and shoot at steel targets with antique replica firearms. Must be from complaints from the People for the Ethical treatment of Steel Targets Society.
MBNA Changes Awards Program
I've been selling Mercedes here for 19 years. During that time MBNA has had an annual awards program built around a series of rings. There's a 2 to 9 year ring with a red stone in the center and a series of diamond chips around it, 1 per year. Then there's a 10 to 19 year ring, a little diamond in the middle, diamond chips in the wreath around the center. The 20-29 year ring has a bigger diamond in the middle, not big, just bigger.
I seldom wear mine. Men can't wear jewelry, said one of the fashion designers. He's right. A wristwatch is about the limit there, and my Rolex GMT is old enough to vote. But I wanted the 20 year ring anyway.
MBNA just announced a new program, doing away with the old one. Rings will be given, but years of service won't count. The criteria for winning is so complicated I'll know if I've won when they give me something. But the criteria for sales has doubled. For every new car rep to win, we'd have to get more cars than we do. They've also added CRI scores and training requirements, neither of which is a problem with me as I have very high customer relation scores and get every bit of training I can. Best I can tell I'll win, but I probably won't dot an i or cross a t specified on page 967 of the new rules, written in Swahili. At this point it probably doesn't matter. I wanted that damn 20 year ring.
Tax Code
1/3 of tax payers essentially pay no taxes, getting earned income credits. 1/3 pay 5% (and usually only 5% of their taxable income!). The top 1/3 pay 95%. The top 10% pay 90% of the taxes. This means that there's no chance in hell of the tax code being made fair as the majority of voters don't pay significant income taxes.
With the withholding system most of the ones who do don't know it. "I don't pay taxes. I always get money back," has been said by otherwise seemingly intelligent people.
The withholding system is one of the most insidious inventions of the 20th century, right along with nuclear weapons and rap music. If taxpayers had to write a check every April 15th, there'd be an armed revolt on April 16th. After all, this is a people who revolted over ATM fees. Most of us over withhold so we do get a refund. There's always some idiot on the idiot box telling us not to do that because we're giving the gumment an interest free loan.
A few years I made sure I didn't over withhold. Result? A penalty for under withholding which was bigger than the lost interest would have been. I over withhold now.
The audit process is so odious and so terrifying that anyone who has ever been audited will forever do exactly what the IRS wants and overpay taxes to prevent another one. A long, tedious, multi-year audit process I went through some years back triggered by a mistake over some $800 in stock income probably costs me $5,000 a year in excess taxes just to avoid another one.
The Tax Code is so complicated over half of us have to pay professionals to fill them out, with no guarantee they'll do it right. Every year some group checks up on the professionals and finds even the IRS can't do it right. There are 481 forms, for God's sake. Even Turbo Tax doesn't have a key form in its database.
Nobody ever raped a .38, vol. 30,007
"Orlando, Fla., had a long-standing rape problem. Then the police offered a highly publicized gun training program for women. The result was a 76% decrease in rapes."
Washington Times, 3/31/00
April 21, 1836
It's become politically incorrect to celebrate San Jacinto Day in Texas. We're just celebrating a bunch of rednecks beating up on innocent Mexicans seems to be the view. So instead of April 21, there's Cinco de Mayo, celebrating an obscure victory by Mexican forces over French forces. Even the most biased TV commentator can't make that a significant holiday for Americans, even Hispanic Americans, even Mexicans.
But San Jacinto was the most significant single battle ever fought on the North American continent. The 7,000 man Mexican army was the strongest on the North American continent. It was disciplined and possessed a splendid cavalry, something the U.S. Army didn't even have. It probably could have defeated the U.S. Army with decent leadership, much less the rag tag, undermanned Texian army. Sam Houston shouldn't have won. He knew he couldn't defeat the huge Mexican Army. So, with his "army" of untrained country boys, armed with just their own personal weapons, he ran. Santa Anna obligingly split his army and went after him, wasting the bulk of his army.
Sam Houston, I'm convinced, didn't intend to fight Santa Anna. By then everyone who had fought Santa Anna was dead. He intended to run to Louisiana where Andrew Jackson had obligingly stationed a large U.S. force. With luck he could get the US to rescue him and Texas.
But his officers and men wanted him to turn and fight, odds or no odds. Like the little dog attacking the Rottweiler, they just didn't realize how overmatched they were.
It would have been disastrous. The Mexicans would have repeated the Alamo. The war would have been lost. Texas would have been lost.
So he kept his own council. But finally, everything worked out, and he changed his mind. Santa Anna was at a place from where he couldn't retreat, with just a small part of his force, 1300+ to Houston's 800+. Houston's officers and men were hounding him to the point of rebellion. I don't think he planned so brilliantly to attack right when Santa Anna was unconscious from opium and Emily Morgan's ministrations. He just got tired of the hounding and decided to attack. He told Deaf Smith to burn Vince's Bridge so neither side could retreat, knowing his men would fight harder when they had no choice, and ordered the attack, catching the Mexicans napping, literally, no sentries out, their backs to the river, and overwhelming them, most with their muskets still racked. The running away and near rebellions had worked Houston's undisciplined troops into a fever pitch. With cries of "Remember the Alamo!" and "Remember Goliad!" they attacked across an open field in a frenzy. The battle took 18 minutes. The killing of Mexicans, surrendering or running away, continued for hours, an atrocity exceeding the total of Texians killed at the Alamo and Goliad combined. 630 were killed, 700 captured.
Houston was the luckiest man on earth. He survived his wound. He survived having horses shot out from under him. He won a battle he shouldn't have. His men captured and didn't shoot or hang Santa Anna on the spot. And because the Texas "Navy" and a small company of aggressive Texas Rangers had cut off supplies from the Gulf of Mexico, Santa Anna's other generals followed Santa Anna's orders from captivity and ran back to Mexico starving. They didn't have to obey a Prisoner of War's orders. They could have fought on and won.
Houston's luck didn't change. In New Orleans he met the only woman in the world who could put up with him as a husband and reform him.
Because of that victory and the events to come the United States would stretch to the Pacific Ocean, and all of the interior would be hers, not Mexico's, not Europe's. The United States could never have become the world power she is today without San Jacinto.
Speaking of Luck
Houston wasn't the only one lucky in April. 18 years ago
on the day after San Jacinto Day The Redhead and I were married. She was
the only woman in the world who could put up with me and reform me. When
we met she laughed at my jokes. I figured any woman around me needed a good
sense of humor. As life decisions go, it was my best.
HOUSTON DRIVERS TEST
A special license is required for driving in Lee Brown's fiefdom. This is the test needed to get it.
1. You're on a 3 lane freeway going 70 mph in the center lane. The right and center lanes ahead have trucks running side by side at 45 mph. The proper thing for you to do is:
a. Signal, move to the left lane, pass the vehicles carefully, signal, and return to the center lane.
b. Stay in the left lane going 70 mph.
c. Move to the left lane and slow to 45 mph. Let's see how mad we can make those other drivers behind us.
2. You're exiting the freeway onto another freeway. The exit has two lanes going around a high speed elevated curve 100 ft. off the ground. An 18 wheeler hauling nitroglycerin and ammonia is in the left lane at a high rate of speed, weaving badly. You:
a. Dial 911 and report him, staying well behind him.
b. Slow, stay behind him with plenty of room to stop when he rolls over and falls off.
c. Try to pass him on the outside of the curve, ignoring the fact that he'll tip over and crush your vehicle. When you get side by side with him, stick your head out the window and call his names for going too slowly.
3. You're an 18 wheel driver. Your blood alcohol is:
a. 0.00. That's state law and good sense.
b. Below 0.1. That's state law.
c. Over 0.25, but the cocaine counteracts it, so don't worry. Have another beer.
4. When driving in fast moving heavy freeway traffic, the proper number of lane changes per mile is:
a. As few as possible. Pick a lane. Stay there.
b. 2-6.
c. The more the merrier. They call me Mr. Zig-zag!
5. You're driving on a freeway in the left lane. You know you have to exit at Gessner. You should start moving over:
a. As soon as you pass the previous exit.
b. When you see the "Gessner 1 mile" sign.
c. 10 yds. after the Gessner exit, collecting at least three cars and causing a 25 car pileup behind you.
6. The proper following distance is:
a. Two to three seconds..
b. Two car lengths per ten miles per hour.
c. Touching the rear bumper ahead. If I push the bastard, maybe he'll move over.
7. If someone cuts you off, you should:
a. Back off two seconds and ignore him.
b. Tailgate him and give him the finger.
c. Go around on the shoulder and cut him off, then stand on the brakes making him hit you. Then claim whiplash and sue the bastard's insurance company for millions.
8. The light ahead turns yellow, then red before you enter the intersection, you:
a. Check the rear view mirror as you brake carefully to a stop.
b. Slam on the brakes at the last minute.
c. Change lanes to pass the idiot actually stopping for the light and floor it, zigzagging through the cross traffic stupid enough to go on green.
9. At a four way stop, 2 vehicles arrive at the same time. The right of way goes to:
a. The one on the right.
b. The one on the left.
c. The truck with the 500 lb. cowcatcher on the front and each panel a different color.
10. Turn signals are for:
a. Signaling turns and lane changes
b. Signaling turns
c. What's a turn signal?
Scoring: A=1 point. B=2 points. C =10 points. If your total is 10-20, you need to be a passenger-in a tank. If your score is 21-75, you may drive, but only on the west side of town, not in Pasadena or near I-45 south of downtown. Stay off the Freeways. If your score is 76-80, you can drive in Houston, Pasadena, and I-45 to Galveston a car or SUV. If your score is 81-100, congratulations, your commercial license awaits.
CURT RICH APRIL 2000
DRIVE TO SURVIVE LETTER
The writer put a lot of effort into this letter and has some good points. Since he mentions personal experience with kidnap threats, I've let him remain anonymous.
(My reply is in italics)
I purchased your book from Massad Ayoob's Police Bookshelf at his recommendation after my LFI-2 course last year. I finally got around to reading it last month.
It's a great book. The material covered is excellent, and the focus on defensive driving is great. Makes you hugely credible in my eyes. Thanks.
Questions:
Do you recommend the new run-flat tires I see advertised during football games?
To people with serious kidnap threat. Those people should probably have Level II armoring done on the car.
It seems that many of your readers might find them very desirable. People with a real concern about kidnaps. Those too weak or frail to change their own tires. The run-flat tires seem like the perfect spare. The cost of failing to check it seems far less than with tires of conventional design.
In a few years they will be. Right now I don't think they're perfected. They're not available for every car. At the time of publishing I didn't think much of them.
Do you have kinds of tires that you recommend? Gurus for tires in different parts of the country?
No. The guys at the Tire Rack, 1-800-TIRE RACK, seem to know what they're doing. Their big catalog is a good reference, too.
A few comments:
The observations about the mindset, the comments about training with tools and equipment, and the comments about MAKING PLANS AND USING YOUR MIND are great.
That is the key. I'm always doing what ifs when out in harms way. Surprise is hard to deal with, but "Oh, that's scenario 3. I do a, then b, then c," works.
You never adequately explain trail braking in the book, although you refer to it several times. There's no glossary of terms for the reader to refer to. Since I don't know what it is, I was lost when you referred to it.
Editors are wonderful people. When you're braking in a straight line you brake as hard as you can. If you don't have ABS, you brake to the threshold of lock. If you have ABS, you just stand on it and let the computer do its thing. As you turn in, you're not, at the beginning of the turn, using the full traction capabilities of the tires in turning, so you can cotinue braking, with less force. As you turn in and the turning G's increase, the braking G's should decrease. If your car will corner at 1.0 g (for the purposes of the illustration), and you're braking at 1.0 g. As you turn in you lift the brake pedal to .9, .8, .7, .6, etc. as your cornering force increases. Eventually, before the apex, you'll be off the brake pedal and using all of the traction of the tires in cornering. The decreasing braking is trail braking. Porsche drivers don't do much. Mustang drivers do a lot. I was taught to use it mainly to get the tail out in an understeering car. In a Formula Ford you would seldom use it. In a ML430, you'd use a lot because that tail ain't coming out easily! If you know how to use it, you can brake that much later, and you're more likely to lose your pursuer.
Rembember, however, most people can't corner at 0.5 gs consistantly. Unless you're being pursued by someone in a vastly superior car or by a trained driver-rare, you can corner at 0.5 gs through several corners and lose them or at least gain a lot of ground on them. Cornering at 0.5 gs doesn't require Michael Schumacher's talent, just some basic practice.
The diagrams of apexing are quite subtley different from each other. I think I understand the point you were making , but am not certain of it. You might ask some smart person who has read your book ( but is not a car person) what they think the point is.
The second printing hopefully has the intended diagrams in it.
The explanation of the bootlegger hairpin on page 84 seems to involve a turn to the right, whereas the pictures which illustrate it, and your basic explanation, seem to indicate a turn to the left. Are the hand positions in the explanation reversed or am I confused? Both are real possibilities.
The turn is to the left in the photos, the diagram, and the explanation. If #2 said: "Take your foot off the gas. Grab the steering wheel at the 9-10 o'clock position with the left hand and spin it to the left to the 3-4 o'clock position" it would be clearer.
You list vendors, equipment lists, and suggested modifications in the text. Tables in the appropriate chapters and appendices at the end of the book would be very helpful to most readers.
Editors again.
A longer list of equipment purveyors and automobile armorers would be very interesting to many of your readers, and very important to some. I understand you may be trying to avoid sounding like those who are secondary salesmen in the security business, and are trying to emphasize leaming to use your tools better rather than buying more tools you may not need to an audience which has more money to buy than time to train, but your readers would still benefit from this. I provide you with a table I might have put together for your readers below.
The guy with more money to buy than time to train is going to find himself in trouble. O'Gara Hess and Eisenhardt started their school because their wonderfully armored cars were getting taken out because the chauffeurs were doing stupid things. Every assassination I can think of involved the principal or the security personnel doing something really stupid. The most effective weapon is the brain. The expensive toys might not be there when the balloon goes up.
Kidnap kit - I put together one of these years ago for a woman I was dating at the time. She and I actually got into her trunk and figured out how all of this stuff would work if she actually had to do it. Our initial efforts were quite hilarious in retrospect - and extremely educational. Some things we learned: The knife should be serrated (Agreed) - better to cut through cord with tied hands. Shorter is better - the longer knives tend to poke the user in the cramped space of the trunk - my guess is that somewhere around 4 inches is best.
I used a 3" folding paramedic's knife(serrated) and a 5" Air Force Survival knife (serrated) in a sheath and liked the 5". I also liked a 4" blunt point serrated edge diver's knife.
It should not have a kydex sheath, as most of these will deform in the summer heat in most cars (I know this from personal experience).
Good to know, not surprising, but I didn't test Kydex. Just don't like the stuff.
Nylon sheaths with snaps work far better. Your suggestion that handcuff keys be taped loose to the roof of the trunk is ludicrous.
It worked for me, but I started with handcuffs behind my back and slipped them over my butt and feet to my front. I was looking at the key. If you aren't limber enough to do this, you probably won't be able to get out anyway.
You expect someone with shaking, cuffed hands to keep a grip on them? No way. If they drop the key, they will never find the tiny key in the carpet of most trunks (we never could).
Worked for me in my tests, but no argument with your suggestion. Be aware that if someone puts you in the trunk properly, as I would if I suddenly turned into a kidnapper, having run these experiments, you are not getting out. If someone tapes you together properly with duct tape, you're not going to get out. You're not going to make phone calls. You're dead. Your main efforts should be in avoiding getting in that situation in the first place.
The key should be attached to something bulky with a distinct feel - and which will not roll away in the trunk of a turning, accelerating, and stopping vehicle. My current solution is a Benchmade nimravus knife in a nylon sheath. My handcuff key is on the lanyard of the knife. The knife doesn't roll when you drop it in the trunk. I have a '50 lb' magnet stuck to the roof of my trunk - the knife sticks to it right through the sheath - but can be easily separated from it with a gentle tug.
There are cars which shouldn't have those magnets put in them. I don't know what they'll do to a multiplexed computer system.
An LED flashlight - with the battery not quite engaged, is velcroed to the sheath (and strung through its lanyard). It's not bright, but it's square, won't roll around, and will work a LONG time (100 hours with a fully charged battery). Surefire flashlights work great - but have a few drawbacks. They get quite hot after you've had them on a while. Battery life isn't all that long on them.
I know. I used up 3 with fresh batteries at Defensive Handgun 3 at Thunder Ranch one night - the light w1l stay on for about an hour or so on full batteries. They're quite expensive - more than many people can afford to set aside in their cars.
People who can't afford them either a) aren't kidnap targets because kidnappers want money, or b) are practicing false economy. Young, good looking women are targets, and they might not have the money, but the number who will have the foresight to do this are rare. They can use cheaper flashlights. I don't make recommendations based on price, but on quality. If you can't afford the best quality, use your own judgement and get the best you can.
Our original solution was a snap-light.
Sounds like a good idea. But I've had a lot of experience with them diving, and they go bad with age. Half of what we took on one trip wouldn't work. Heat seems to be a problem as I recall. We kept ours frozen between dive trips. I'd have to experiment with them.
No battery to go dead, dirt cheap, and it gives off enough light for almost anything you might need to get done in a trunk.
It won't blind you.r kidnapper when you come out of the trunk, and he finds you. A Surefire 9Z will. Use both, one to enable you to function in the trunk, the other as a shooting aid.
A few practical points from experience. She wore glasses (as do 1) 1 always took them off when I 'kidnapped' her. Her kit includes a set of old eyeglasses now.
Good idea.
Finally, anyone who has been in a trunk for any length of time may find even the dim indoor lighting of a garage at night blinding. Daylight is incredibly so (we did most of our practice in daylight - which completely blinded the emerging victim from the trunk for about 10 seconds).
With my optic nerve disease this was a problem I didn't encounte. But then I had the Sure Fire on for some time before playing Jack-In-The-Box.
Anyone who plans to make a break for it should keep their eyes accomodated to light by looking at something which is brightly illuminated by their light. A cell phone in the trunk could actually be hooked up to the car's electrical system with little or no difficulty - putting the issue of betteries to rest.
I think I suggested that somewhere.
And of course, an operator activated kidnap-lojack' would be a phenomenal help. If you have lo-jack in your area. We didn't have it when the book was written. I think Lo Jack has been made semi-obsolete by On Star (GM) and Tele-Aid (Mercedes-Benz). Were I a kidnap threat, and if I had a trunk, which I currently don't-the ML doesn't have one, and the SLK-if someone can get me in that trunk, well, I'm screwed-I'd have the SOS button duplicated in the trunk, and the system set up so that if I activated THAT button, the microphone/earpiece in the trunk would work, and the speaker and microphone in the car wouldn't.
Hope you find this helpful.
table I - Suggested vehicle modifications and Equipment:
- sport or performance packages whenever available ( when auto is purchased)
- working jack/tire change kit, inflated spare tire (run flat tire for those with money to burn - since these will work well enough even when deflated)
- passenger side vanity mirror
- life hammer
- combat I ight
- first aid kit ( Cabelas is okay)
- locking gas cap
- extra-bright lights from Henderson (100 watt high beams, 55 watt low beams for most locales)
- fog lights
- fire extinguisher firmly mounted on a bracket
- 10 BC is best less than 5 BC is too small
- Halon is preferable when obtainable
- high end alarm (call XXX for their current recommendation)
- kidnap kit (see table 2)
- bullet-proof armor (see list of vendors in appendix JJ)
Best I can tell, O'Gara, Hess, and Eisenhardt is so superior, I haven't found anyone else I can recommend.
Except for the performance options when you purchase a car, the items on this list are ordered based on price and basic importance to your safety. The items at the top of the list are both most important and least expensive. Items lower on the list are far less commonly needed and more expensive.
table 2 - kidnap kit
- partially serrated sheath knife in nylon sheath with snap retention
- handcuff key attached with lanyard to knife
- strong magnet to attach to roof (affix knife in sheath to magnet)
Gotta find something other than a magnet for some of the new cars. Velcro probably, removavle Velcro, not the stuff which can't be pried apart.
- LED flashlight attached to sheath
- titanium crowbar (available from US Cav)
- spare eyeglasses if needed
- cell phone (wired to car is preferable) Tele-Aid/On Star adapted to trunk use.
-trunk mounted engine kill switch. Proper use of same is to wait until car is slowing or stopping and kill engine. Driver will think the car is malfunctioning. If the car is in a public place, he might abandon it.
± car gun
The liberal Minnesota Editors, again. I had to fight to get the mention of the gun in there at all. I can't emphasize it enough, if you're going to bother with a car kit, you need a gun. There's a line in the Godfather that's applicable about coming out with just your privates in your hand. That won't work.
The reason for the anti-kidnap kit being in the back of the book is twofold 1) most people face many of the other dangers far more than kidnapping and 2) if you find yourself in your trunk, you have screwed up seriously. Odds are you aren't going to survive. I've put in techniques and ideas for escaping, but, if you're properly trussed up, you aren't getting out. If, for example, the bad guy duct tapes your arms together to the elbow, then tapes your feet to your hands, you're not going to be able to get out. Don't let yourself get into that situation. That's what the book is for.
DRIVE TO SURVIVE
is still available. See Drive
to Survive
You can order from Motorbooks International, Amazon.com, or Barnes and Noble.com
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PULLING A FAST ONE
Why Speed limits don't work
By Joshua Green
(This appeared not in a car magazine or the National Motorists Association newsletter, but in the May 2000 Playboy. This'll mark the first time I can remember reprinting an editorial from Playboy. Playboy has been unrelentingly liberal, as you would expect. But they're not on the side of the liberals in this one. I was really glad to see it there as I think every highway patrolman should be required to read it, and they're a lot more likely to see it in Playboy than in Car and Driver or the NMA newsletter. This is not to say most highway patrolmen spend much of their duty time reading Playboy. Sometimes they read Soldier of Fortune.)
When Congress imposed the 55-mile-per-hour national speed limit in 1974, it was trying to conserve fuel because of an international oil crisis. Americans were to sacrifice time for the national good (adding, by one estimate, 200 million man-hours to our yearly commute). For more than a decade, we were late for work and late for Monday Night Football to save a meager 27 million barrels of oil, or about one half of one percent of the annual consumption. Congress, unable to persuade by fact or common sense, resorted to extortion. States that ignored the "double nickel" would lose federal highway funding. But a funny thing happened when oil prices fell in 1981: The government's rationale for speed limits suddenly shifted to safety. "Stay Alive at 55" became the mantra.
The campaign rallied around a single statistic: In the year after the 55-mph speed limit went into effect, highway deaths dropped 15 percent. But Stephen Moore, author of the report Speed Doesn't Kill, attributes the drop to rising gas prices. Drivers stayed home, reducing the time they spent on highways by 20 to 30 percent.
In 1987 Congress allowed states to raise the speed limit to 65 mph on portions of rural interstate highways. Safety groups were apoplectic and predicted widespread loss of life. Congress went a step further in 1995, returning jurisdiction over speed limits to the states, many of which raised their limits immediately. More dire warnings. The Department of Transportation estimated that repealing the national speed limit would add 6400 deaths to the annual toll of about 45,000. That would translate, they warned, to an additional $19 billion a year in public health costs. Ralph Nader sanctimoniously declared that "history will never forgive President Clinton and his allies in Congress for this assault on the sanctity of human life."
History won't have to forgive, because the "inevitable" never happened. Rather than soar, the highway death rate has declined nearly 12 percent since 1995. Traffic-death rates are at their lowest point ever; 1997 was the safest year in U.S. history. And the number of people killed has fallen for three straight years-despite a growing number of drivers on the road.
Simply put, reduced speed limits don't make anyone safer. The percentage of interstate drivers exceeding 65 mph more than quadrupled between 1980 and 1992. Nearly a quarter of all motorists now drive faster than 65 mph on freeways; nearly three quarters go faster than 55. A recent report by the Federal Highway Administration confirmed what drivers have known for years: Motorists set their own limits, and speed plays much less of a role in accidents than the government wants you to believe. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration studies show that increased seat belt use and reduced alcohol use are the primary reasons for falling fatality rates. And those rates began falling long before the adoption of the 55 mph limit. In 1922, about 18 people died in auto accidents for every 100 million miles traveled. By the end of World War It that number was cut in half. The fatality rate was just 3.6 in 1974. Today, there are only 1.6 deaths per 100 million miles traveled.
People still die on highways, but the problem isn't the 75 mph driver. Traffic engineers discovered years ago that "speed variance"-driving at a speed that differs from the normal flow of traffic causes an overwhelming number of accidents. Most highway fatalities occur at speeds of 45 mph or less. When speed limits are too low, drivers weave, tailgate and slam on the brakes to avoid rear-ending slower vehicles. Charles Lave, a professor at the University of California-Irvine who has studied traffic safety for 20 years, urges cops to "pay as much attention to slow drivers as they do to fast ones."
Government policy may actually have caused as many deaths as it had hoped to prevent. After raising the 55 mph speed limit, transportation officials in Utah saw a marked decline in highway fatalities because, they believe, fewer drivers were falling asleep on long rides. Before 1974, most interstates posted limits of 70 or 75 mph. That was considered safe for cars built 30 years ago; it certainly can't be considered inherently dangerous for cars equipped with air bags, antilock brakes and standard seat belts. Drivers today are more experienced, roads are built better, and police diligently enforce drunk driving laws. As a result, in 1998, only one in seven speeding-related fatalities occurred on interstate highways.
Perhaps it's time to admit that the founding fathers-at least the ones who established speed limits of 75 mph-knew what they were doing.
It's hard to improve on this, but I'll add some things. I believe had we not had the silly government-caused phony oil crises and the resulting silly 55 mph speed limit, that speed limits would be in the 90s or 100s in some areas, or "Reasonable and Prudent," or "Drive with Prudence," as one state had it. (I couldn't go there. I could never get Prudence to cross a state line with me because I read Playboy.
Traffic on RURAL freeways is probably 95% below 80 mph now, and as many as 40% actually observing the speed limit instead of just keeping below what they think the radar threshold is (like 79 in a 70 zone). So few people are speeding on Texas rural freeways, really speeding, that speed enforcement, if it was ever needed, is a strictly revenue producing measure now.
Emphasis should be switched, immediately, to:
1. Driving while impaired (whether it's from drugs, alcohol, fatigue, prescription medications, or cell phone/laptop usage).
2. Enforcing "KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS."
3. Speed variance. Slow cars in traffic cause accidents and should be pulled off the road.
4. Zig-zag driving. If 2 and 3 are properly enforced, this will become a rarity anyway. In heavy traffic areas this is THE major cause of accidents.
5. Dangerous trucks. Trucks can't stop. Trucks can't corner. Trucks are heavy. We've allowed them to go as fast as cars, but they should be limited to the right lane, and in traffic, speed limits against trucks should be enforced. I've talked to a lot of truckers lately, and they all say their trucks are governed to 65, 70, 75. Well, I've clocked at least one at 88. The stopping distance of an 18 wheeler at that speed would have to be calculated in football fields, not feet. This was in heavy traffic, by the way. Trucks should be inspected and grounded when found unsafe, and the federal hours requirements should be enforced. The proposal for 12 hours rest between 12 hour shifts is reasonable and should be enforced with serious penalties for violators. Eliminate fatalities involving trucks, drunks, and suicides, and driving is pretty safe.