Downright Dangerous Safety Features in Modern Cars

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by wnut

Here is one that happened to me in a Golf yesterday!
The clutch pedal just dropped away to the floor, so flat that it had literally vanished, it felt like it had dropped right through the metal.
!

Nothing new, Golf clutch pedals on some of the various models over the years have been notorious for failing with crap designs, I have had to either re weld them or fit new ones.

[SidewaysFeltham]

Originally Posted by wnut

Here is one that happened to me in a Golf yesterday!
The clutch pedal just dropped away to the floor, so flat that it had literally vanished, it felt like it had dropped right through the metal.
It was very disorientating, and I instinctively "looked" for the vanished pedal with my left foot and ended up tapping the brakes, fortunately only momentarily, or else there could have been a massive tailgating!

In the good old days, clutch actuating mechanism failure due to poor hydraulics was common.

Not much of a problem for those who grew up with the ability to drive sans a clutch..........

You started the engine in gear and went from there.

That said no way I would even try this today in modern traffic!

[wnut]

Originally Posted by SidewaysFeltham

In the good old days, clutch actuating mechanism failure due to poor hydraulics was common.

Not much of a problem for those who grew up with the ability to drive sans a clutch..........

You started the engine in gear and went from there.

That said no way I would even try this today in modern traffic!

That was how I got home.

The way it failed though was spectacular, the pedal just vanished, and the brief touching of the brake pedal was also very dangerous.
I have read accounts of Golfs getting rear ended with fatal results in traffic, and I'll bet my bottom dollar that this was the cause of the sudden loss of power!