Yes, very sad...

And yes as every post below states, it is all about the tires. Many all season tires with high wear ratings are very dangerous when cold and wet. After a few seasons they age harden and it gets worse. Yes the thinner tread does not help, but often a tire of this type with plenty of usable tread should be tossed out as the tires have become useless. My wife had all seasons on her Passat(sold) and one cold lightly rain night we came to a stop sign and she was sliding a lot trying to stop. Later that night we did the same route in my 95SET with well worn performance tires and at the same location, still raining, I was able to brake very hard and after I peeled my impressed wife off of the dashboard, we agreed that she was going to get performance tires for safely sake.

The vehicle can't do anything beyond the forces that the tires can deliver, after that you slide or can't stop or both. Anti lock brakes can't do anthing when the tires are going sideways.

I am a bit of a nut about brakes and tires. Many folks are looking for tires that cost less and last a long time. The performance tires do cost more than that, but I consider it like insurance. But not to get a payout after an accident, but the expense of such tires prevents accidents. And your brakes are never any better than your tires. You watch the braking distance tests on new vehicles on TV and they rate the vehicle... Well that is quite silly as the same vehicle with better tires will stop in a shorter distance. Very few modern veicles are unable to lock up the brakes and get the max traction that a tire can deliver. So the braking is tire limited. (However many do not know that they need to press really hard to get those maximun braking efforts and these folks can drive right into a collision that was avoidable because they just did not know. The Aero Academy really drives that point home!)

So maybe you can take that to heard and chaulk this up to one of lifes lessone learned the hardway.

So... sorry for your loss. I lost my modified 95SET in an emergency expressway stop. I was able to stop and the brakes were doing a great job. But the SUV behind me killed my Saab. So life is not always fair. But at least by my not touching the vehicle in front of me, I was held blameless and the driver of the SUV had it all on his record. I was able to stop, and he was not, so he was charged with following too close, but I saw him inbound, he was simply not paying attention. I was heavily damaged, later totalled by insurance, but was able to drive off, he was loosing fluids and needed to get towed.

• sad night for a saab owner, gabriel, Tue, 15 Feb 2005 13:15:40
  • Re: sad night for a saab owner, AlaskanViggen, Thu, 17 Feb 2005 23:30:54
  • It IS a snow car..., Crispin, Wed, 16 Feb 2005 07:41:50
  • Anyone think it might be the tires?? lol n/m, d442, Wed, 16 Feb 2005 06:29:06
  • It's the tires, not the car.... n/m, JayJ, Wed, 16 Feb 2005 05:52:07
  • It's all in the tires Gab (more), Schu, Wed, 16 Feb 2005 04:19:38
  • When was the last time you replaced tires?, bazil burns, Wed, 16 Feb 2005 03:28:33
  • Saabs are by far one of the best foul-weather car..., turrbo , Tue, 15 Feb 2005 21:56:06
  • I hate to be critical, but....., Adam , Tue, 15 Feb 2005 18:51:55
  • Driver error!, AdamB , Tue, 15 Feb 2005 17:23:50
  • With anti lock one can steer with the brake ped floored, DER, Tue, 15 Feb 2005 14:52:03
  • ESP woulda' saved you...., Mike Lynch , Tue, 15 Feb 2005 14:26:14
    • All front wheel cars are tricky going fast in snow., OD, Wed, 16 Feb 2005 22:35:56
    • ESP can't do magic..., JimBlake , Wed, 16 Feb 2005 07:49:52
    • Would AWD have helped?, AlexF, Tue, 15 Feb 2005 14:54:03
      • No...., Mike Lynch , Tue, 15 Feb 2005 16:07:24
  • Re: sad night for a saab owner, Dean, Tue, 15 Feb 2005 14:24:17 <-- Viewing This Message
  • Sorry about your misfortune (+), Vlad, Tue, 15 Feb 2005 14:18:23
  • The most important thing is the tires, NickR, Tue, 15 Feb 2005 13:45:34
  • Re: sad night for a saab owner, Rich, Tue, 15 Feb 2005 13:23:48
  • not a bad car, bad tires., sonett43, Tue, 15 Feb 2005 13:20:59
  • Re: sad night for a Saab owner, Jim Novak, Tue, 15 Feb 2005 13:20:37
  • Re: sad night for a saab owner, R.T., Tue, 15 Feb 2005 13:19:48

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