Paul Walker Died RIP

[jetlee]

I was wondering if this would be the case. Who owns the data? Who has legal access to it? The manufacturer? The vehicle's owner? Investigators? The public? You can be sure there'll be a legal tug-of-war in a high-profile crash like this!

In this age of lawsuits? No doubt.

Don't know where the black box pulls its mph from, but if it's from the rear wheels then it's going to be inaccurate. In reading about the car, it was built without Porsche's stability control system. The clutch is super tight and it's very difficult to take off without squealing the tires. Try to power-out of a corner with no traction aid? As soon as that rear end starts to slip, the tires spin faster and the black box will record 90mph (I dunno really, just an arbitrary number for an example) and the LEO's will jump all over that instead of the steady speed before the huge jump in rev's.

Point is, the Carrera GT (discontinued in the US because it didn't meet safety standards) is notoriously difficult to control and 45mph sideways through 4 supposed-to-be-stationary objects (3 trees and a light pole) is going to destroy that carbon fiber car.

I didn't get it in before the edit time-limit in my last post, but I did find a reference to that black CGT as having been travelling at 112km/h, which calculates to about 70mph. Also note where the car hit the trees though...the firewall vs the passenger compartment. It also apparently caught fire as you can see the fire retardant all over the ground.

[go cytocis]

the Carrera GT is notoriously difficult to control

Just like the old days! Whereas the new-millennium 911s are exceptionally easy to drive, some of those older air-cooled models, especially the turbos, were outrageous!

A former boss of mine a couple of years ago had a Porsche CTR (which was the equivalent of a GT when it was new in '87). One time, he had me drive it back from an out-of-town meeting 3 hours away The power, handling & sound of that thing was absolutely unreal, but it was very difficult to drive due to its heavy clutch, power delivery & over-steer. Rather than returning it safely to my boss's underground parking stall when I got back into town, I foolishly decided to take it home for the evening. Well, it snowed, heavily, overnight and the next morning I was forced to drive around a RWD, 2500lb, 450hp collector car, in rush hour, through a ****ing blizzard! The back-end was taking up 1/2 lane on either side of me, and it was simply impossible to launch in any gear lower than 3rd! One of the best, and worst, days of my life. :D

[jetlee]

Whereas the new-millennium 911s are exceptionally easy to drive

No kidding! A brand new-looking 911 came weaving through traffic one day. I saw him stomp on it (sounded amazing!) and swerving this way and that. At one light, traffic cleared and I rolled up next to him and was amazed; it looked like a 17 year old driving! I sat there in my RX-7 as he revved at me, I had no intentions of racing. Light turned green and he revved and took off like a rocket with no tire squeal. It just amazed me cause my RX can't clutch drop over 4k without lighting up the rear and here's this young kid just flying through the gears flawlessly and the damn car isn't breaking traction in the least.

SUV that wrecked at 55-ish:


http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/201...s-injuries-suv
That's truck-steel wrapped around that tree...

[jetlee]

heres another gt wreck where high speed a trees were involved

Read my previous posts. I even posted a Dutch newspaper article about that wreck. The speed was estimated at 112km/h

(source) translated:

Immediately after the accident, the 112 was called by going public, which has seen the accident happen.

which is 70mph. That CGT, at the 70mph estimated sent the tail end sliding 30ft away. Paul Walker's car was wrecked but still attached, suggesting it was moving at slower rate of speed.

You need to read everything.

[go cytocis]

A brand new-looking 911 came weaving through traffic one day...Light turned green and he revved and took off like a rocket with no tire squeal.

A friend of mine’s got a 2009 911 turbo with that PDK dual-clutch transmission & AWD. When it launches, getting to 60mph in just 3 seconds, there’s zero wheel-spin. I once ‘raced’ him on my 919 and it was actually a pretty even match up to ~160km/h (100mph) at which point he just walked away like I was standing still, spraying chunks of asphalt at me to add to my insult! :(

[go cytocis]

LA coroner's office is reporting that there was no mechanical issue with the car, road conditions were clear, there was no alcohol or drugs, and that the estimated speed at the time of the collision was in excess of 160 km/h (100 mph)...

[djs2k2]

Dang!