David K Yeung wrote:
> so is there or is there not any correlation to the inherhent handling
> flaws of exploders due to the dbl I-beam? Like Ron said, the newer ones
> don't have that prehistoric configuration but still seem to suffer
> rolloever just the same. I can see where that abortion of a front
> suspension can act very much like a swing-axle and catapult a car when
> sliding, but is that really a contributor? or is the exploder cg just too
> high and too softly sprung?
>
I think it is simply the high cg......I have noticed locally that there is an
inordinate no. of vehicles upside down in the winter (and summer for that
matter) in the ditch - never seemed to be that way before.......strangely
enough (didn't count but it is blatantly obvious) the vast majority appear to
be SUV's or vans.......sometimes loaded up with people/stuff resulting in an
even higher cg. Of course in the pre-80's there were no such vehicles and
cars would simply end up in the ditch (but seldom upside down) unless there
was some extreme circumstance(s).
My brother had an Explorer when they first came out - it was very softly
sprung, gutless, and handled very poorly - my first impression/thought was
"why did you buy this thing?".
Since that time I have driven a few of them (rentals etc.) and after driving
sports cars for many years, they were all very disappointing in the handling
department as you might imagine. The scariest one in my experience was an
Astro van ('97 or so) I rented a few years back - I felt like I could have
rolled it in an instant by turning the wheel too quickly/sharply at speed.
The best one I tried was the Jeep Cherokee Sport - thought I could almost
live with that one.....but never did buy it.
Reijo
Reijo Silvennoinen, CSCC Nat'l Event Rep.
Calgary, Alberta
Calgary Sports Car Club (CSCC) web site:
http://www.cscc.ab.ca
Canadian National Autoslalom Championship (CNAC) list:
http://www.onelist.com/links/solocanada
CNAC Web Site: http://CNAC2000.erc.bc.ca/
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