The (Abrupt) End of the Road

It was a grey, damp morning in December of 2019.  I was taking three of the kids to school.  Nothing was out of the ordinary, just another normal school morning.

I was driving along State Road 23 in Granger.  The road has two lanes of travel in each direction with a central turning lane.  Since I knew I had to make a left turn to get to school, I was motoring along in the left lane.  There was a black Cadillac Escalade in the right lane, slowing down to turn right.

Suddenly, a Ford Excursion appeared in my path.  I went through a very abbreviated Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act loop.  Observing the situation, it was clear that making no change in vehicle operations was viable, so I oriented myself to three possible choices:

1. Avoidance swerve left.  This would have taken me into two lanes of oncoming traffic, and would not have ended well.
2. Avoidance swerve right.  This would have put the nose of the Passat into the driver's rear quarter panel of the Escalade.  That certainly would have spun the hapless Escalade, and possibly have caused a rollover.  That seemed like a bad idea.
3. Shed as much speed as possible and prepare for impact.

The last choice seemed like the one that would impact the fewest people, so that's what I did.  Traveling at about 45 mph, I got hard on the brakes.  By the time I impacted the Excursion in the driver's door, I would guess that I had brought the speed down to perhaps 20 mph.

Either way, the impact was strong enough that the airbags went off:

Of course, the cabin filled with airbag smoke.  Since I've met airbags before, I wasn't concerned that the car was on fire.  I wanted to make sure that everyone got out safely.  After verbal and visual confirmation that all the kids were shaken but fine, I had everyone exit the vehicle on the left, into the turning lane.  That would allow the morning traffic to continue on in the right lane.

The force was such that the rearview mirror came loose:

And the windshield was cracked:

Thank goodness for engineers and airbags!  My wife was able to come, pick up the three kids, and take them to school.  After getting my wrist x-rayed (thankfully not broken), I was able to teach in the afternoon, even with the car looking like this:

It's amazing how far car safety has come.  The front crumple zone took the impact and dissipated the energy, keeping us all safe.  Looking at the car, it was clear that the end of the road for the Passat had arrived:

The Passat had been a good and faithful companion since we bought it new in 1998.  The 150 hp, 150 torque stock 1.8 liter turbo had been chipped to deliver 195 hp and 210 torque.  The difference was immediately noticeable, especially in third-gear passing situations.

In the winter time, with the right tires, it gave sleigh rides around Chicago and South Bend:

Regardless of temperature,

it carried us confidently and safely over snow-packed roads

to Chicago.  On drives like this, the tail would be nicely frosted:

In the warmer months, it displayed a fair bit of grip and a touch of lift-throttle oversteer at the limit, rotating the tail nicely.  It even did a couple of laps at Ginger Man, feeling hooked up and balanced up hill in turn 8 and down hill in turn 9.  I think it cleaned up nicely, and its design was still compelling as it aged.

I will always remember the Passat as it was in the last picture.  A handsome sedan with a beautiful, clean design.  A comfortable cockpit with delightfully short rear doors, making it easy to get in and out in tight spaces.  It's massive trunk that swallowed everything from Christmas trees and mountain bikes with the rear seats down to suitcases and strollers with the seats up.

I also will remember the disaster that was the electrical system.  The cruise control went out the window, and the sunroof was possessed to the point that I pulled the fuse to keep it shut.

What I'll remember most is just the delightfully analog nature of the car.  The steering felt good with a composed, capable chassis.  People who rode with me probably tired of hearing me exclaim how much I liked that car.  Every drive brought a smile to my face.

So long old friend, gone, but not forgotten.