Forgive being late to the party - on the digest, and it was Christmas for
the stepdaughter this weekend.
Theoretically, shifting from a steady-state situation (driving down the
highway, using engine power to counteract the drag of rolling friction
(little) and aerodynamic drag (much more)) to a power-off coasting
situation will result in a net deceleration, which will ultimately transfer
some weight from back to front. However, and this is a big "However", the
deceleration vector will be very small in magnitude and the resultant
weight transfer will be small as well. I'd say upwards of 99% of the time,
you wouldn't notice too much unless there's a lot of headwind increasing
the drag effect.
In the context of controlling the car after a blowout, I'd say getting into
neutral and coasting down a little bit before easing into a little braking
would be the way to go. I've had some experience with this, hitting some
road debris and cutting down the LR sidewall on my Probe GT while moving
down I-44 at a fair clip. Mind you, these were P225/50-ZR16 Goodyears, and
the low profile and stiff sidewall certainly helped, but I had to stop and
look to confirm that I'd cut a tire -- the car felt a little squidgy and I
knew I'd hit something, but I couldn't confirm what the overall effect was.
That's the first and only flat I've ever had while driving.
Jim Crider
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