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A1 - 31/12/08 at 02:28 AM

gawd...this is bad.
i took the car out earlier after getting her all fixed. went down the road to the supermarket to get some milk, and basically ended up in a wall.
came off a roundabout and lost the backend. its even more annoying as i was thinking that it looked a bit dodgy so i was taking it really easy.
front ends wiped out, rear end seems to have some troubles too. not looked at it properly but may need a new chassis

Echidna - 31/12/08 at 05:45 AM

I am really sorry for that!
Good news is that you are OK, and this is what matters!

Ivan - 31/12/08 at 06:55 AM

Sorry to hear that - the New Year can only get better after that.

clairetoo - 31/12/08 at 07:53 AM

quote:
Originally posted by A1
came off a roundabout and lost the backend. its even more annoying as i was thinking that it looked a bit dodgy so i was taking it really easy.

But you still planted the throttle ?
Sorry to say this , but to wipe out both ends sounds like you werent hanging about - who were you trying to impress ?
Shame about the car , though
( I know I'll get some stick for this , but come on guy's - even kit's can be driven sensibly )

blakep82 - 31/12/08 at 08:09 AM

quote:
Originally posted by clairetoo
quote:
Originally posted by A1
came off a roundabout and lost the backend. its even more annoying as i was thinking that it looked a bit dodgy so i was taking it really easy.

But you still planted the throttle ?
Sorry to say this , but to wipe out both ends sounds like you werent hanging about - who were you trying to impress ?
Shame about the car , though
( I know I'll get some stick for this , but come on guy's - even kit's can be driven sensibly )


erm, thats what i was thinking too

Ben_Copeland - 31/12/08 at 08:15 AM

Should be more careful

Bad luck, at least no one was hurt.

afj - 31/12/08 at 08:20 AM

sorry to here about the car im getting less and less excited about driveing to the SVA test

Steve Hignett - 31/12/08 at 08:24 AM

quote:
Originally posted by blakep82
quote:
Originally posted by clairetoo
But you still planted the throttle ?
Sorry to say this , but to wipe out both ends sounds like you werent hanging about - who were you trying to impress ?
Shame about the car , though
( I know I'll get some stick for this , but come on guy's - even kit's can be driven sensibly )


erm, thats what i was thinking too


It's not that I want to give you stick for it, mostly because I have thought similar things over an extended period of time. However, I also "lost" my kit this sort of time last year, and under very similar circumstances (thought it looked dodgy first etc) I lost the back end coming out of a roundabout and therefore could of gone into oncoming traffic.
Now, I didn't crash my car (but did need to nudge the slanted kerb to bring me back in line) so you might say that in spite of the conditions I still didn't crash so I was being more careful than A1, but it could of so easily gone a bit different.
The only thing I could of done differently is not go out in the car at all - I believe everything I did pre-incident was as best as I could of done (short shifted, delicate throttle etc) but I do think it was still partly luck that it didn't end in tears.

So what I wanted to say is, even though you may think to crash in that way must of means planting the throttle, it's not ALWAYS the case and sometimes it may be out of your control...

ATB

mackei23b - 31/12/08 at 08:43 AM

Sorry to hear that, I just looked at your pics of the car in your archive and it looked great, but I guess you didn't want to hear that!

I hope that it all works out in the end, best of luck and glad that you are OK.

Ian

ReMan - 31/12/08 at 09:15 AM

`Oh dear' sorry to hear that.
These things can be challenging at this time of year, specially with the rapid power delivery of a BEC.

When its only 5 degrees or less there's no way that road use will put any heat in the tyres as I was reminded on Sunday
Fortunatly mine was only a warning shot, as I was pulling away from a junction and I caught it, but it was a sharp reminder to me that they can bite.
As per previous posts whatever get's put on the roads does'nt help either.

Anyway, glad you're OK and hope it's back in one piece very soon
Colin

adithorp - 31/12/08 at 09:27 AM

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully it won't be as bad as you think when you have a proper look. Good that you walked away unscathed; Wishbones can be replaced quicker the your bones.

I was out in mine a few weeks back and it stuck the back end out at 30 on 70 zone for no real reason (In 5th, on a corner, light throttle and it lit up the rears. So much for no torque!).

I think somebody else has signed on as Clair!
"...even kit's can be driven sensibly"
Doesn't sound like her.

adrian

ps. welcome back Steve.

Z20let Corsa - 31/12/08 at 10:07 AM

shame about that mate. you got any pics of the car??

alister667 - 31/12/08 at 10:12 AM

That's bad luck, but these things can be rebuilt and improved upon along the way. Stick at it.

Ali

MikeR - 31/12/08 at 10:57 AM

quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
`Oh dear' sorry to hear that.
These things can be challenging at this time of year, specially with the rapid power delivery of a BEC.


Sounds like another reason not to have a BEC, claire's just posted in another thread how she can plant her right foot in her CEC and doesn't get any traction issues.



(note smileys - this is intended to be slightly humorous & i am sorry to hear that a locoster has had an 'incident' ).

[Edited on 31/12/08 by MikeR]

Slater - 31/12/08 at 11:14 AM

Whoops, at least you are OK.

I left my aberdeenshire hoose at 4am, shortly after you posted, it was -6 deg C at the time. Hard frost, gritters had not yet been out, very slippy,Certainly not the best driving conditions.

Stuart_B - 31/12/08 at 11:48 AM

that is bad news, sorry to here that, hope you are ok, and hope the car can be fixed.

stuart

A1 - 31/12/08 at 12:40 PM

for everyone who thinks i was planting the throttle, i really wasnt, the back end isnt wiped out, but the drivers side rear wheels been moved in some way, need to have a wee look...
the pickup guy said its a notorious roundabout.
it was first gear, and a very wee bit of accelerator...
just phoned insurance, theyre coming out to look at it soon...
just put up a couple of pics.

ReMan - 31/12/08 at 12:44 PM

quote:
Originally posted by MikeR
quote:
Originally posted by ReMan
`Oh dear' sorry to hear that.
These things can be challenging at this time of year, specially with the rapid power delivery of a BEC.


Sounds like another reason not to have a BEC, claire's just posted in another thread how she can plant her right foot in her CEC and doesn't get any traction issues.



(note smileys - this is intended to be slightly humorous & i am sorry to hear that a locoster has had an 'incident' ).

[Edited on 31/12/08 by MikeR]

Or another good reason to have one?
Clair's either got bags of sand in the boot or is a far better driver than most or is tempting fate
I wish my car handled too well!!
And some more smiley's

eznfrank - 31/12/08 at 12:48 PM

quote:
Originally posted by A1
just put up a couple of pics.


Just had a look, I reckon it'll T-cut out

Shame as it's a nice motor but it don't look too bad to me. As above, main thing is you're in one piece.

JimM - 31/12/08 at 12:55 PM

Where abouts did you spin her?

Just looked thru your archive - looks bad - shame as the car is really neat.

Hope the insurance goes ok.

cheers
Jim

A1 - 31/12/08 at 01:02 PM

it happened on queensferry road...
yea, it doesnt look too bad, but the steering racks pushed into the shocks, the drivers side uprights where the wishbones used to be are broken and the diagonal going from the front of the chassis to the firewalls bent. methinks the engines moved a wee bit, and the rear wheels been screwed when i hit the kerb...need a new side panel too, cause the lower w/b shoved back into it.bonnets a goner too
on the good side, the tyres seem okay!
oh and the sumps gone...bloody kerbs

david4 - 31/12/08 at 01:05 PM

Bad look there mate.I put a post up just the other day about how slippery it was on the roads. my heart just about stoped when it happend to me.

David Jenkins - 31/12/08 at 01:09 PM

RWD drive cars can be spiteful when they let go - a driver needs a lot of practice to catch one before it gets too bad...

Bad luck, and I hope it's more mendable than you think...

A1 - 31/12/08 at 01:12 PM

cheers:/ it was my first spin...and first crash...
one thing i meant to ask is, at what point would it have to be re-svad? would it need it at all?

David Jenkins - 31/12/08 at 01:15 PM

No SVA - the only 'retest' may be needed if the insurance assessor says that it's badly damaged - I can't remember the category they put on such a car. Even then, it's not VOSA who do it...

I doubt if yours is that bad...

MikeR - 31/12/08 at 01:16 PM

there are some bad roundabouts out there.

Notorious one by where i work. We see a car wrecked once a month - usually cause they are going to fast but not always as a lot of diesel / oil gets dropped on it. Had lorries falling over on it as well. Once when i had new tyres i went round it really slowly, didn't accelerate and found the back end swapping places with the front (at about 15 mph).

(its got a duel carriageway either side and the middle bit is probably 25 to 30m wide in case you're thinking 15mph is actually quite fast for a roundabout.)

MikeR - 31/12/08 at 01:26 PM

Just looked at the pictures. I'm no expert, i've got no qualifications in anything automotive / steel related but from the blurry pictures posted so far, something looks a little strange to me. I'm surprised at the bits that have failed and the bits that haven't.

I thought that in theory in a front end / side crash the wishbones should fail before anything else. They absorb the impact and help slow everything down. Yours appear to be fine and still attached to chassis members. The chassis appears to be what has ripped apart.

ReMan - 31/12/08 at 01:34 PM

A byproduct of the inboard front suspension perhaps, with the pushrod transpitting the impact further into the chassis?

A1 - 31/12/08 at 01:35 PM

it hit the corner wall of a driveway on the drivers side of the nosecone...i think thats why the w/bs are okay...im going to go to the garage and have a look/get more pics, so ill update later on...

dave1888 - 31/12/08 at 02:57 PM

Nasty, but your all right thats the main thing. what roundabout on queensferry road where you at.

A1 - 31/12/08 at 03:14 PM

as youre heading out of town and go past the school on your left, the wee one there, i was coming down the hill from belford road (i think thats it) and heading out to the sainsburys just down the road...

02GF74 - 31/12/08 at 04:48 PM

never mind. worst things can, have and will happen.

look at it this way. Mikey Schumacher is reckonned to be one of the best drivers ever and he has crashed more cars than probably anyone on here!

clairetoo - 31/12/08 at 05:11 PM

I dont drive a BEC , so havnt experienced any quirkiness peculiar ti the breed but.........why first gear ? I generally go through roundabouts in third , unless I'm hooning in which case second will allways have the back end hanging out
Mine will go down to walking pace in third.......and go up to nearly a ton before fourth is needed .
Unexpected wheel spin in too low a gear is gonna be pretty lively - I cant help thinking that was the main cause .

JoelP - 31/12/08 at 05:29 PM

you'd struggle to make a bec set off in second, im assuming it must've been a standing start. Do-able, but asking for a stall. If he went through the roundabout without stopping and still picked first he was definately pushing too hard lol!

I once approached a roundabout in the snow, knew it would be bad and tiptoed in at about 10mph. Still went totally sideways, probably because it was a diesel fiesta and nose heavy. Managed to drive off the exit i wanted, still sideways, but it just shows that even if you anticipate a problem you might not appreciate just how careful you need to be!

Good luck with the insurance though

A1 - 31/12/08 at 05:46 PM

just cause every time i go through there i go in 1st...i had slowed down to basically a stop cause theres a blind entrance onto it...you can drive slowly in first...

scotlad - 31/12/08 at 05:48 PM

Bad luck mate. Drove round there yesterday I've crashed through a fence before so can sympathise

RK - 1/1/09 at 04:36 PM

That's hearbreaking. Herr S. has probably crashed more motorcycles than the whole lot on here has crashed cars.

Here's to a New Year's rebuild!! It's going to be better than ever I'm sure.

idl1975 - 2/1/09 at 08:57 AM

There aren't any quirks! My '893 blade engined MK is about as weedy as it gets on the power and torque fronts, and uses a 3.62. Pulls away in second fine and lugs down to walking pace in third. That's more flexible than my wife's 2.0l 182...

He was using first because he was going slowly, and it's a BEC, so he has a very wide rev range to work with.

quote:
Originally posted by clairetoo
I dont drive a BEC , so havnt experienced any quirkiness peculiar ti the breed but.........why first gear ? I generally go through roundabouts in third , unless I'm hooning in which case second will allways have the back end hanging out
Mine will go down to walking pace in third.......and go up to nearly a ton before fourth is needed .
Unexpected wheel spin in too low a gear is gonna be pretty lively - I cant help thinking that was the main cause .


[Edited on 2/1/09 by idl1975]

Hellfire - 3/1/09 at 10:21 AM

If you negotiate with the insurance company to take the vehicle as part of the settlement, you should be able to get it back on the road with very little hassle.

Phil

A1 - 3/1/09 at 02:51 PM

after a small delay... new pics are up...checked out the chassis and it seems to have twisted a bit. the engines moved slightly too and needs a new sump. (phew!)

hellfire, do you mean if i tell them im going to do the rebuild?
the inspectors coming out on tuesday to have a look...

Hellfire - 3/1/09 at 05:20 PM

Provided the chassis is an identical replacement, then you can rebuild without needing an SVA. It may possibly need a VIC (Vehicle Identity Check) before it goes back on the road. Whether it does or not, depends if the insurance company notify DVLA. Usually, when a vehicle is written off, the V5C is returned to the DVLA, however, if the owner of the vehicle negotiates with the insurance company to take the damaged vehicle as part of the payout, then there is a very good chance that the damage will not be recorded on the DVLA's database and it may not even be marked for a VIC.

Phil

jabbahutt - 5/1/09 at 08:27 AM

just seen the pics, totally gutted for you. Main thing is that you weren't hurt.
Hope it's sorted out with the insurance quickly.

Nigel