Braunstein Speaks

Sudden Acceleration Syndrome

In the middle 1980s, I bought a 1984 Audi 5000 from a fellow who was facing divorce and had to divest himself of certain holdings. The seller regularly obtained second-hand Audis from a neighbor who worked for Volkswagen/Audi in Troy, Michigan.

The 1984 Audi 5000 was the first year of production of the new design, and was unusual in that it had the European-market five-speed manual transmission instead of the Borg-Warner automatic that was standard equipment on all Audis imported into the States.

Shortly after my obtaining the car, CBS’ 60 Minutes had a segment on unintended acceleration. It seemed that some suburban housewife had driven her Audi 5000 through the rear wall of her garage and into the swimming pool. She explained that when she attempted to put the car in gear to back it out of the garage it suddenly lunged forward through the garage wall.

By the time the 60 Minutes crew completed their investigation, which included injecting high-pressure air into the transmission case (I have no idea why they would do that) every heavy pedal jockey with an Audi reported unintended acceleration; including one person who swore that his car started itself up and drove off!

It was not until my car (which, remember, had a manual transmission) did something unexpected, that I understood what was going on.

In the 1980s, fuel injection started to replace carbureted engines, and there were certain unforeseen problems with the changeover. I was waiting at a light, when unexpectedly there was an audible blip in the idle speed. Even though my car was in neutral, and my right foot was on the brake, I felt my foot press down harder in an involuntary movement.

What had been happening was that owners with automatic transmissions, upon starting their cars, heard this blip in the idle speed, and stepped down hard on the accelerator, thinking that they were stepping on the brake. (This was the conclusion that the Federal Highway Administration investigation arrived at.)

I spoke to an Audi mechanic about what I had experienced, and he insisted that I immediately bring my car in for adjustment. He wouldn’t comment on the blip, for if he did, then Audi would have to admit some culpability in what was obviously a pedal misapplication by startled drivers.

There is no automatic transmission in any car that would allow the car to move if the driver has his foot firmly on the brake, even if the driver is stepping on the accelerator at the same time.

After some time—and a few settlements—the Audi unintended acceleration problem disappeared from public consciousness. At the same time as Audi was having its problems, so was Ford, which was also converting to fuel-injected engines—but only Audi made it onto 60 Minutes.

Unfortunately for Toyota, they are going to have to go through the whole bad PR and law-suit business before a new generation discovers that stomping on the gas when you think you are stepping on the brake is the cause of Toyota and Lexus Unintended Acceleration Syndrome.

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