Miata Mailing List: May 1999, Message #249

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mikelowe@pop.c-com.net wrote:

>      The title says it all.  It happened to me today at an autocross.
>  I was in third gear entering a braking zone before a turn.  My gas
> pedal got stuck in a hole worn through the carpet.  Even at full
> braking, my car skidded off course.
>

This happened at a Phily Region Solo II a few weeks ago.


>      To regain control of the car, I had to pull the shifter into
> neutral and let the rev limiter do it's job .  After a little while,
> the gas pedal freed itself.  I may have whacked it with my foot.  I
> was a bit busy at the time to remember every detail.
>      Time for duct tape.  Even Miatas need a bit of it.  :-)  I just
> wanted to give every Miata driver another "heads up" on this problem.
>

Yup...I know its impossible to prepare for such an event, but being
aware if the issue, and inspecting it during TECH is a start in the
right direction.

In our case, an alert instructor riding shotgun turned the ignition key
to off to kill the engine. Yes, rev limiters will do their job (with
both feet to the floor :) but the ignition is the quickest way to safely
power the car down most likely.

Thanks for the heads up.

- b

--
Brian P. Van Lieu
LU Ultimate Frisbee --- GOHO!    AXP-Phi Mu Chapter
95 Frost GSR Coupe - Philly Region SCCA ST1 #88
92 Sunburst Miata #1035 - This much fun should be illegal
Visit GeeSeR at http://integra.vtec.net/geeser

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#define disclaimer
  My opinions are mine....