250 lb/ft. of torque saved my rear end (literally)

So, I'm coming home from work on Friday afternoon on a main road (3 lanes in each direction) and I stop at a red light in the right lane behind six or seven cars. I'm waiting for the light and happen to glance in my rear view mirror. I see a gray car drifting over onto the shoulder about 100 yds. back and then weaving back into my lane... I continue to look and the car continues to weave without slowing down. I am able to see that the driver's head (the car is closer now) is pointed down (like she's looking for something in the console) and not looking at the road.

 

As fast as my 40 year old reflexes could be mustered, I slammed the LGT into 1st gear and accelerated hard and to the right into an empty right turn lane as the idiot in the gray car locked up the brakes and got sideways... I look back and I see that the gray car has stopped about 1 foot short of the car that was in front of me waiting for the light. I swear that if I drove a Legacy 2.5i I would not have gotten out of the way fast enough.

 

It would figure that some moron would try to destroy the rear end of my car right after I finished the car audio installation in the hatch.

Must of been pretty scary seeing that car coming at you with driver not even looking forward.

I swear that if I drove a Legacy 2.5i I would not have gotten out of the way fast enough.

 

 

i felt that way all last week while my legacy was at the dealer.

 

man, did i miss the turbo, and the 100hp/100lb ft/tq more it brought to the table.

She probably dropped her cell phone..

She probably dropped her cell phone..

 

or maybe she thought the car had auto pilot?

 

mwahahahaha:D

oooooorrr...she could have been eating a big mac, reading a newspaper, and talking on her cell phone..rotf

oooooorrr...she could have been eating a big mac, reading a newspaper, and talking on her cell phone..rotf

 

while surfing the intArweb and talking to her peeps on IM. roflbbq

while surfing the intArweb and talking to her peeps on IM. roflbbq

 

and she was watching 2 fast 2 furious on her 20 inch LCD screen that is integrated into the visor. Not only this..but she had a dog, a cat, and a baby in the back seat (note: baby also had a cell phone that played n da club) :lol:

From the looks of the car (a late eighties, beat up Buick), I would have to say that her likelihood of having insurance was very low, so I would have taken it in the rear end twice.

 

By the way, my sunroof shade moved back about fifteen inches on the launch, a new personal best for me.

so I would have taken it in the rear end twice.

 

:lol:

Thank goodness nothing happened to her, you, or your car.

By the way, my sunroof shade moved back about fifteen inches on the launch, a new personal best for me.

Haha!

Similar story - Had a stopped Toyota in front of me in my lane and nowhere to go with cars to the side of me. I had plenty of room to brake, but unfortunately the soccer mom in the Lexus LX470 behind me was chatting a way on her mobile and panic braked. I saw the cow catcher grill reach for the pavement and I knew I was in trouble. The cars to the sides had just gone past since I slowed.....I got on the gas, swerved around the guy and floored it to clear the intersection. I was almost a Subaru sandwich on Lexus/Toyota bread. I am shocked that lady didn't hit the Toyota....there certainly wasn't room for me in between.

 

The best part of all? My VP was riding with me - he drives a BMW. He told me "Nice car. I would have put my Beemer into the wall"

 

Power, good brakes and AWD can get you out of a pinch.

C'mon guys, obviously she was putting on makeup!

I posted this story on Subdriven back in February. Similar circumstances, but with snow:

 

So before leaving work last night, central NJ had received about 3 inches of snow- not a lot but enough so that the ride home on I-295 was snow covered. Traffic was moving about 30-40 mph, and I was in the left lane of the three lane highway. There was a Bronco about 100 yards ahead of me.

Well the jagoff in the Bronco decides at the last minute that he has to get off at an exit on the right. So he slams on his brakes which turns him sideways, and he comes to a stop sideways across the left lane, partially blocking the shoulder. I immediately start slowing down, but there were cars in the middle lane, so there was nowhere for me to go but the shoulder/median.

 

At this point I'm about 100 feet from the Bronco when I glance in my rear view mirror to find a pickup truck approaching rapidly. He was weaving side to side, clearly trying to slow down but not having much luck. Like me, he was heading for the shoulder/median to avoid the Bronco. It was also clear that in a few seconds his truck would need to occupy the space that my Legacy was in. Not good.

 

So with two wheels on the snow-covered grass and two wheels on the snow-covered shoulder, I downshifted to 2nd and rolled on the gas. All four wheels hooked up and I accelerated past the Bronco. I eased the wheel to the right and pulled back into the left lane without drama.

 

I checked the rear view again, and saw the pickup come to a halt in the median in a cloud of snow (where my car was a split second before), while the Bronco used an opening in traffic to shoot across the highway to the exit.

 

And so I discovered the beauty of all wheel drive. I am convinced that with two wheel drive I would not have been able to get out of the way of the pickup, and instead of a little pucker moment and a funny anecdote, I would have had a much different story to tell this morning.

 

 

-Nick

either she was shaving her legs, drying her hair, or putting on lipstick

I had somewhat simular situation third day I had the legacy.

I was almost sandwiched between big SUV in front and fat lady in Dodge pickup truck.

I was braking from about 45mph balancing with in 3-4 feet total front/rear space available between the cars. Now I think it was funny to see fat lady behind sweating like crazy. She knew it would be all her fault... But it wasn't funny then , since I had nowhere else to go and no other line to switch to...

Manville - where you live, not only are the cars late 80s, but so are the drivers :lol:

 

Glad you managed to avoid a disaster.

Sounds like the legacy is attracting accident.

Like the "Magnetic" commercial.

Here in AZ we get downpours that fill up the washes (paved dry riverbeds). When you come across one, you can either wait or try and cross. I came to one and knew that other cars ahead of me had crossed. I figured if they made it, so could I. As I start across the wash, the Subie starts to float. I ease onto the throttle and as different tires hit the pavement, I skip across the little river and make it to the other side.

 

In this I learned that maybe waiting is a better option when you don't SEE someone make it through a wash.

 

It's the 'wife's' car that I borrowed for the day. I'd hate to explain how I turned her car into a U-boat.