Mustangs and Bimmers: The Worst Drivers EVER Part 1

I like to think I'm a decent driver. Granted, I totalled my S4 (which I blame on working 42 hours straight at the hospital no sleep and very little to eat/drink) have gotten into a few minor 5mph fender benders and have 2 speeding tickets. However, none of those times did I crash because of my inability to control my car. Rather, I just made some careless mistakes.

I find the most dangerous drivers are the pseudo-race drivers. Those whose greatest track experience was vegging out in front of the TV screen playing Gran Turismo 3 or 4 (I'm still on 3 - it takes forever to finish that game). Somehow that experience empowers these pseudo racers to drive all crazy on the real roads.

Luckily, traffic, traction control, and FWD/AWD cars have all blunted the damage caused by the pseudo racer by being engineered to just push straight ahead when the car reaches its limits - a condition called understeer. Even with the exorbitant amount of big winged, chrome rimmed, and coffee can exhausted Civics out there, they still don't really lose control horribly.

RWD cars on the other hand, are completely different animals. First, you need to not make abrupt moves with the car to disrupt the rear traction. Second, you need to know exactly at what point does the rear end breaks loose. Third, once the rear end swings wide, you have to know how to bring it back into line without causing the counter spin which is what causes most of the accidents. How does one learn this? Not on Gran Turismo.

Fortunately, most luxury manufacturers put in Traction control which allows you to enjoy 90% of the car's handling ability while reigning in the most retarded maneuvers. While some driving purists say that that last 10% is necessary to enjoy the car's full limits - there is absolutely NO reason to be doing that on a public road unless you're a test driver for Porsche or an automotive journalist. Take it to teh track and explore that last 10% safely.

The problem lies in the fact that there is a large percentage of Mustang drivers out there (I'm not generalizing to all but it sure seems like a lot of them are Mustang drivers) who don't realize this. Their cars are mostly from 1-2 generations ago and most do NOT have traction control and are RWD. More importantly, most mustang owners have not attended a driver or racing school to learn the limits of adhesion (I attended the Skip Barber Racing school and I learned a ton - and I drive an AWD car).

So what happens? The Mustangs can come with a lot of power for cheap. The owners get overzealous in "showing off" the badness of that pony car and let er rip. That rear beam axle is great for straight line driving but once the end gets wide for any reason - most can't reign it in without losing control. As a result they, or even worse, someone else gets hurt.

As a trauma doctor, I see a ton of car accidents. Surprisingly, the "what car do you drive?" question is often answered with a "souped up Mustang doc." No kidding. It happens all the time.

Now, I love the new mustang. Shout out to that Vietnamese designer (sort of ironic how the rednecks will be driving a muscle car penned by a quiet Vietnamese dude) for drawing such a beautiful example of an American muscle car. I love mustangs in general. Great performance for the price. That said, I can't say the same about the drivers. Its like surgery really: In the hands of an educated, informed person the scalpel is an expert tool. In the hands of a noneducated, arrogant prick, its downright lethal.

Part 2 will discuss Bimmer drivers. I have a ton of friends who are Bimmer owners - and they don't apply. These are the kind that you know you roll your eyes at.