FKNA

Like so many others around here, I like to drive FAST. I've only owned my TL-P for a few months and have always been pleased with how it handles, how it can zip in and out of traffic.

Yesterday I was humming along at 120mph and got myself into a situation where I had to brake and change lanes at the same time. Damn car got squirrely on me and gave me a bit of a scare.

Any idea what may of caused it? Could it be that TCS system in the vehicle?

BarryH

The few times I've had my TL-S over 100MPH, I found it incredibly squirrelly. Our cars aren't designed for high speed driving - they're designed for use in the U.S. where the speed limits are relatively low. I had a C36 AMG and the TL-S is down right scary at high speed in comparison.

pianoman41

It's called weight transfer. When you brake hard, the deceleration transfers the weight of the vehicle to the nose, which lightens the rear axle considerably. FWD cars already have a weight bias to the nose because the engine and transaxle are already up there. When the back end gets lighter still, traction becomes scarce. Turning at the same time makes it even worse. One of the car test magazines made note that although the TL panic-stopped within a respectable distance, there was a slight "uneasy" feeling at the back of the car, due to the sudden weight transfer. What you experienced would probably happen to you in any FWD car at those speeds.

FYI, the TCS in the TL-P is for helping you to get started only. TCS will not engage at speeds above 18 mph. Now VSA in the TL-S, on the other hand, will engage at any speed and is designed to help minimize that squirrelly feeling.

FKNA

BarryH.....I find the TL hugs the road quite well, zipping in and out of traffic at high rates of speed. I've hit the brakes hard before while driving triple digits (straight line) and have been pleased with the results.

Pianoman....thanks for the info. Makes perfect sense to me. This is the first FWD vehicle that I have ever owned, and I gotta admit, it caught me off-guard when that happened. Thanks for the info about the TCS as well, I haven't taken the time out to see what that feature is all about.

daverman

Well, you get used to it I've experienced that squirrely feeling too when I brake hard to take an exit ramp, for example.

Our poor front wheels get to do all the work! At least the Type S has VSA to compensate for the oversteer.