The Deadly Defect of the Audi 5000

Driver Error or Design Flaw? Join us in this eye-opening video as we delve deep into the historical controversy surrounding the Audi 5000's unintended acceleration problem. In the late 1980s, this issue thrust the Audi brand into the media spotlight, but what were the facts behind the headlines?
We'll explore the reported incidents, conduct a detailed analysis of the investigations that followed, and separate fact from fiction. Discover the engineering and human factors that contributed to this notorious chapter in automotive history.
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[@herschelmayo2727]

Audi had a standing $50,000 award for anybody who could verify an incident of unintended acceleration. It was never collected.

[@jdcp8976]

Of course! because there was nothing to verify except for the stupidity of the american driver.

[@ikrys145]

The moment I read the title to this video I knew before even watching, what is would be about and was ready to comment almost exactly what you said haha

[@user-ht5ek1im5o]

@@jdcp8976 Rather, I would say that all this was faked in order to get rid of the competition.

[@blease6657]

and cbs never even took a hit for it

[@douglasprewer7913]

I had Audi's as company cars, on the Audi 100 model after taking off the acceleration pedal and it coasted, when it reached about 5mph, it would leap forward. I think the problem was connected to the fuel shut off control when coasting and then it over fuelled when a certain rev level had been reached. It didn't worry me as it was always expected it.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

YOU may have expected it, but somebody new to those cars definitely would NOT have.

[@hansmuller1625]

This only happened in the US and A. Never happened in Europe or any other market. Why is that? I'll offer one possible explanation, in that only in the US was most of them sold with automatic transmission whereas at that time that was not so common in other markets, suggesting that there might have been a flaw, which i highly doubt, or user error which i believe to be the more likely cause. One comment suggests bad engine mounts, but that would also have resulted in different but related problems in other markets with manual transmissions, which didn't happen.

[@HardwareHank02]

NHTSA stated that there was a known defect in the IAC that caused the vehicle to lurch when put into drive or reverse and the peddle location were offset compared to other vehicles which caused people to accidentally depress the throttle instead of the brake

[@gene978]

Enjoying your Content. Thank You. Best Wishes from Boston!

[@The513Warning]

Is this where the "I'm outtie/Audi 5,000” thing came from? 😂

[@ikrys145]

😂

[@TheBaldMiddleAgedMetalHead]

It was pedal placement and operator error. There was absolutely nothing wrong with these cars other than the idiots who couldnt tell the difference between the two pedals.

[@charlesmoore2485]

You are showing a late 80s 200 dashboard when your saying it’s 1978, and then a European model having a pre production corrosion test in Germany. I think you feel every Audi 100, 200, 5000 is exactly the same ?

[@vinzclortho7766]

My 1984 4000 quattro would have a form or unintended acceleration. The car could be started while in gear without the clutch pedal being pressed. I believe the 1985 and later models had a switch on the clutch to avoid this. No big hoopla about any dangers in that model.

[@tjw8t1]

My dad worked at an Audi dealer in the mid 80's when all this was going on. So, naturally we had a 1985 5000 S (we got it in 1986 when it was a year old, and people were dumping them after the 60 minutes report) in my family for about 6 years that my parents got a REALLY good deal on. My mom drove it the most and got a personalized license plate "60 MINS"🤣It was actually a good car. Other than a couple of minor issues, it never left my mom or us stranded.

[@CaseyK1337]

The script and voice are ai generated tho

[@TheLaptopLagger]

this is my daily driver lol

[@thedutchhuman]

and those things and story´s only happen in the usa. 😂

[@ront769]

No other country pioneered and popularized the automobile quite like the USA who's classic cars as a whole are unmatched worldwide. They weren't always cutting edge but they had strength and character rather than overconfident engineering with fatal flaws as we see here.

[@gabrielv.4358]

dumb lol

[@davidsauls9542]

Correct. It was not an issue with the car, but a problem with a corrupt CBS 60 Minutes staff and a legal system that can be open to abuse. My 1979 Audi 5000 never had such an issue and it was abused by an indulged college freshman. When I finished undergrad, it had a better life.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

@@davidsauls9542Just because YOU didn't have any problems doesn't mean that nobody else did.

[@davidsauls9542]

Some of the "60 Minutes" crew ADMITTED they faked their report !! It only "occurred" in places where the legal atmosphere was ripe for abuse. In all other nations, zero occurrences of this. The only cause for it, per engineers, was a loose, Aftermarket floor mat. The mat could slip and go over both gas and break pedals, so when the brake was pushed, the gas was too. The driving merrily along and the car starts speeding, well in most all of those cases they were drunk. That is what the real data showed. I don't go by my own experiences, I go by actual proven data, understanding that much is skewed. Did you have a new one at the time?? I did, as did several friends. After that car, I (still indulged by daddy, went to the mid sized BMW, a 500 something. Mine was wonderful, but I fully understand that, at the time were terrible cars. Electrical issues were horrible. Again, what year did you have ? ? @@jamesbosworth4191

[@jamesbosworth4191]

I well remember the Audi 5000 and the unintended acceleration problems as well. Two potential problem areas that all of them, including the early carbureted models - they did NOT all have Fuel Injection - was weak soft engine mounts, to dampen the roughness of the 5 cylinder engine, and solid throttle linkage instead of a safer throttle CABLE. The driver's side engine mount would fail, allowing the engine to lift upward on the driver's side and try to rotate toward the right when shifting the automatic transmission into Drive with a cold engine. Many cars of that era had a very high cold-idle speed. The throttle linkage, while giving better throttle feel with no stretching, does not allow for engine movement. When the engine would lift up, the throttle plate would be snapped open, as the distance from the throttle bell crank on the carb to the firewall would be increased, hence, the car would try to rocket away. This was not a problem in Europe because most Europeans had manual trans models, and, their emissions limits were not as strict, so they probably didn't have as high a cold-idle speed. Using a throttle cable instead of linkage would have been safer because a throttle cable can have a loop in it that allows for engine movement without opening the throttle plate. A buddy of mine had a 55 Buick with a broken driver's side engine mount, and when trying to move off on a steep hill, it would try to lunge forward, as the throttle would be yanked open when the engine lifted up. I replaced that engine mount for him and that problem was solved.

[@htimsid]

Regular maintenance / inspection would detect a broke engine mounting. On a manual transmission car, driving off in gear would also cause the engine to move, causing the problem you describe, right?

[@jamesbosworth4191]

@@htimsid Not exactly, as moving off in 1st gear with a manual transmission, especially on level ground, is not the the same as shifting a cold engine in a car with automatic into Drive with the engine revving at 1000 RPM - common with small-displacement engines during that era here in North America. The automatic choke was fairly loose, so that it would be fully opened fairly quickly, so the fast-idle was pretty high so the engine wouldn't be stalling repeatedly. American cars of that era typically DIDN'T have that extremely high fast-idle speed, and when cold, DID stall a lot until fully warmed up. Also, most people never think of checking engine mounts on a fairly new car, unless they had previous experience with late 60s Chevys. They also had that problem - weak engine mounts.

[@2xvxb609]

Absolute hogwash, there was never an issue found with the car, just incompetent drivers

[@jamesbosworth4191]

@@2xvxb609 Oh yes there was!

[@Simon-ui6db]

had a vw passat gl5 with the 5 pot carb engine. Was great when my friend in a peugeot 205 1.9 gti had trouble keeping up on the m23 / a23 in west sussex, england.

[@will7its]

Congrats, but has nothing to do with this video......lol

[@Schmuly]

This is some top shelf content

[@pcno2832]

1:14 Why the images of 1980s cars, and a diagram of 4WD operation, while the sound-track was focused on the late 1960s and early 1970s? That kind of sloppy editing makes it harder to appreciate the content of the rest of the video. Anyway, Audi should have sued CBS for the 60 minutes piece, even if the cars were defective in one way or another. Rigging a demonstration and not telling viewers is yellow journalism at its worst.

[@ProjectFairmont]

BS. Although I will say transaxle seal breakdown will contaminate engine sump oil, which is enough for me to stay away.

[@DikkeBetha]

Clickbait title, suggesting the cars really had a flaw. The Audi 5000 "unintended acceleration" drama was totally caused by lying bastards who mistook the gas-pedal for the brake-pedal, screwed up and blamed it on Audi. Vomit inducing behaviour one still sees today (Tesla autopilot blamed for suddenly ramming the car into a wall, that sort of bullsh*t). On TV, 60-minutes rigged an Audi 5000 to "accelerate on it's own" (because no-one, not Audi, no external independent organisation or even 60 minutes, could reproduce the issue as it did not exist) and this was the final blow, all for the ratings. This is typical north-american behaviour and these sort of claims, of cars accelerating by themselves, are only reported in the USA and nowhere else on the planet.

[@jamesbosworth4191]

Hardly anybody mistakes the gas pedal for the brake pedal. New drivers who might do that generally can't afford an Audi. The driver's side engine mount would break on those cars, so that if shifted into Drive while cold - fast idle - the engine would lift up and try to rock toward the right, which snapped the throttle open. Audi used throttle linkage, which gives better throttle feel, as it doesn't stretch. If they had used a throttle cable instead, which would have a loop in it that would allow for engine movement, this wouldn't have happened. And yes, I used to work as a mechanic, and yes, I have replaced enough engine mounts to know that this can happen. The pre 70s cars didn't have such a fast cold-idle speed, so on them, broken engine mounts were more likely to allow engine movement when trying to take off on a steep hill than when shifting into Drive from Neutral.

[@DikkeBetha]

​@@jamesbosworth4191 The problem is not technical at all. Any car has brakes that are more than powerful enough to stop a car, completely overruling any propulsion unit or how it is controlled (by wire, cable etc.). The problem is moral and culture in the USA where there is a culture of being afraid to take responsibility, of being sued etc. When someone, stomps on the accelerator instead of the brake pedal, almost always out of panic because they give too much gas, the car jumps forward and a panic reaction can occur. This happens all over the world in any country. The difference is that in Europe for example, we say "whoops that was dumb, sorry, I'll get in contact with my insurance". In the USA, many people react my "who can I blame". Or "what can I blame" like with Tesla's auto-pilot and alleged "driving into the wall of that mall all by itself" even though the telemetry proves they stomped on the wrong pedal. Americans are also above-averagely stupid. Look at those "just rolled in" video's here on YT. Many people are complete morons who should not be allowed to drive any type of vehicle. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with technology. It's all human error and being so lame as to blame someone else. Shady lawyers, with their "no cure no pay" practices, are part of the reason why the American justice system is so broken. People in the USA are scared shitless to take responsibility for their actions because the consequences can totally ruin someone. Blaming McDonalds for spoiling hot coffee on your lap? Law-suits because people put their pets in a microwave? Household Appliances and cars in Europe don't need and don't have stickers all over, warning for dangers that do not exist. Just like the Audi and Tesla unattended acceleration situations do NOT exist and never have. It's all bullshit. Learn to f*cking drive. We drive with throttle linkages in Europe and we are fine.

[@gabrielv.4358]

great to know@@jamesbosworth4191

[@DaleSteel]

​@jamesbosworth4191 if that was the cause I'm sure it would of been easily discovered just be inspecting the damaged car. I cant see that been true to the extent it explains the accidents. Maserati have weird pedal setups on the autos. They are flat and the same level. It's easy to press wrong peddle my dad nearly crashed doing so. It seems the 5000 pedal was a similar setup so I can see that holding water as reasonable explanation

[@jamesbosworth4191]

@@DaleSteelThe lousy pedal arrangement might have been part of the problem, but still, I remember what I saw, and I am familiar with the problems that broken engine mounts can cause.