S197 Wrecked at Hallet - Sobering Reminder that this is a dangerous sport
10-26-2009, 04:06 PM
#1
4th Gear Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Harrisburg PA
Posts: 1,778
S197 Wrecked at Hallet - Sobering Reminder that this is a dangerous sport
I came across this post on another site: Blue S197 Flip
I take note of two things:
- The stock roof won't survive a flip
- Bolt in roll bars are really nothing more than harness bars
I wonder if the car had seats and harnesses, I would think yes judging by the look of the car. I'd say they were darn lucky to walk away.
I take note of two things:
- The stock roof won't survive a flip
- Bolt in roll bars are really nothing more than harness bars
I wonder if the car had seats and harnesses, I would think yes judging by the look of the car. I'd say they were darn lucky to walk away.
10-26-2009, 04:22 PM
#2
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Chicago
Posts: 757
Thanks for sharing Argo. Sobering indeed.
A buddy of mine has one of those bolt-through-the-floor bars (Autopower) and when I saw it up close I wasn't happy with how it was designed to be installed. It doesn't seem to make sense to install the hoop bars into a floor structure that isn't structural. I know that lots of drag-style bars have been done this way for years, so it may just be a testament to the extreme forces this guys odd, nose-over-tail, 180-flip produced.
FWIW, the Maximum Motorsports bar design seems to make much more sense. Their bars bolt (via custom brackets that mimic/replace the stock one) to the top of the rear-seat lower bulkhead. That's a structural component of the car, so I would imagine it could withstand far more abuse. I would very much like to hear what others think about the matter (and I'd like to especially request Norm and F1Fan's opinions).
Best,
-j
A buddy of mine has one of those bolt-through-the-floor bars (Autopower) and when I saw it up close I wasn't happy with how it was designed to be installed. It doesn't seem to make sense to install the hoop bars into a floor structure that isn't structural. I know that lots of drag-style bars have been done this way for years, so it may just be a testament to the extreme forces this guys odd, nose-over-tail, 180-flip produced.
FWIW, the Maximum Motorsports bar design seems to make much more sense. Their bars bolt (via custom brackets that mimic/replace the stock one) to the top of the rear-seat lower bulkhead. That's a structural component of the car, so I would imagine it could withstand far more abuse. I would very much like to hear what others think about the matter (and I'd like to especially request Norm and F1Fan's opinions).
Best,
-j
10-26-2009, 04:35 PM
#3
3rd Gear Member
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Ohio
Posts: 889
That car was just on the cover of 5.0 magazine.
Excerpt from the article:
The most aggressive performer of the three wears the lowest number, No. 12. Will explained the Car FX plan of attack, "Instead of building a street car that can go out there and race on the track, we built a track car that we could make street legal." Car FX stripped car No. 12 of most of its interior. It replaced the rear glass and door glass with Plexiglas to subtract more weight. The vehicle barely tips the scales at 3,000 pounds. "We shaved weight everywhere we possibly could." Will said.
Although the horsepower is not gaudy at 625 at the flywheel, the forged internals are stout. The bored out 4.6-liter aluminum block has the guts to rev to 8,000 RPM, or just what the track ordered. The Grigg's racing suspension plants the massive P305 series sticky tires on the track to do their business.
Excerpt from the article:
The most aggressive performer of the three wears the lowest number, No. 12. Will explained the Car FX plan of attack, "Instead of building a street car that can go out there and race on the track, we built a track car that we could make street legal." Car FX stripped car No. 12 of most of its interior. It replaced the rear glass and door glass with Plexiglas to subtract more weight. The vehicle barely tips the scales at 3,000 pounds. "We shaved weight everywhere we possibly could." Will said.
Although the horsepower is not gaudy at 625 at the flywheel, the forged internals are stout. The bored out 4.6-liter aluminum block has the guts to rev to 8,000 RPM, or just what the track ordered. The Grigg's racing suspension plants the massive P305 series sticky tires on the track to do their business.
10-26-2009, 08:19 PM
#6
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location:
Posts: 187
I came across this post on another site: Blue S197 Flip
I take note of two things:
- The stock roof won't survive a flip
- Bolt in roll bars are really nothing more than harness bars
I wonder if the car had seats and harnesses, I would think yes judging by the look of the car. I'd say they were darn lucky to walk away.
I take note of two things:
- The stock roof won't survive a flip
- Bolt in roll bars are really nothing more than harness bars
I wonder if the car had seats and harnesses, I would think yes judging by the look of the car. I'd say they were darn lucky to walk away.
I've gotta disagree on the stock roof structure not surviving a flip, though.
It's just that this happened to be a worst case type of pancake landing.And if you go through the trouble of installing a rollbar, either mount it to the bulkhead like MM does in their design, or use some large floor plates. The 4"x4" Autopower plates aren't large enough.
10-26-2009, 09:00 PM
#7
4th Gear Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: CA
Posts: 1,700
Here's one of Chim-Chim's wild ride - better result.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ5dy8G8gzo
I was fortunate enough to get my private pilot certificate before I got my comp license. Surprisingly, there are a lot of similarities between them. The greatest are (1) - smooth control inputs work best, and (2) - race cars and single engine aircraft react much differently with an extra 200lbs in the right seat.
I wont ASSume how the Grabber Blue car ended up in that predicament, but will only say that it's an example of what could happen when someone in a "race Car" (assuming it was set-up properly) takes somebody for a joyride and tries to get 100% out of the car. The car doesn't handle or brake the same, and lots of people don't take that into account.
I'm a B+ driver at best, and that's because i'm over critical of myself, and don't have the ***** to wad my street car up for that extra couple of tenths per lap. I know my limits, and know that the water in the tire barrier smells like ***. For those reasons alone I hope I never end up like that guy. He may have had a mechanical - i'm just saying I don't want that final result under any circumstance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJ5dy8G8gzo
I was fortunate enough to get my private pilot certificate before I got my comp license. Surprisingly, there are a lot of similarities between them. The greatest are (1) - smooth control inputs work best, and (2) - race cars and single engine aircraft react much differently with an extra 200lbs in the right seat.
I wont ASSume how the Grabber Blue car ended up in that predicament, but will only say that it's an example of what could happen when someone in a "race Car" (assuming it was set-up properly) takes somebody for a joyride and tries to get 100% out of the car. The car doesn't handle or brake the same, and lots of people don't take that into account.
I'm a B+ driver at best, and that's because i'm over critical of myself, and don't have the ***** to wad my street car up for that extra couple of tenths per lap. I know my limits, and know that the water in the tire barrier smells like ***. For those reasons alone I hope I never end up like that guy. He may have had a mechanical - i'm just saying I don't want that final result under any circumstance.
10-26-2009, 09:23 PM
#8
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Flanders, NJ
Posts: 408
Here are some better pics that capture the full sequence of events: http://www.corner-carvers.com/forums...t=20586&page=4
On a lighter note, looks like hes got some nice BMR SFC's under that thing!
10-26-2009, 09:51 PM
#9
2nd Gear Member
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location:
Posts: 187
I'm just about done with building up car #2 (also a black '06 GT), only this time with a stout rollbar, racing seats, harnesses and a DefNder H&N device. Oh, and a lot more life insurance, otherwise my wife wouldn't let me back out...
Last edited by Import_Slaya; 10-26-2009 at 09:54 PM.