[928uk] Re: Nightmare Scenario 928uk Digest, Vol 13, Issue 16

[Paul Anderson]

Joe,

I have had experence of this in the wet and keeping the power in didn't help
either , the car went into the car equivalent of a tank slapper and ended up
taking the nose and rear pu right off the car. Have alook at wrecked exotics
to see the aftermath mine is/was GFB 576W.

I recon that hitting the brakes would have pevented mine from hitting
anything but i was worried about the car that was along side me when it
started to slide and didnt fancy hitting it.

Regards,

Paul.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Farman" <joe_icecool at fastmail.fm>
To: <928uk at 928.org.uk>
Sent: Sunday, July 11, 2004 3:04 PM
Subject: [928uk] Re: Nightmare Scenario 928uk Digest, Vol 13, Issue 16


> Hi Scott, very sorry to hear that news, i remember how nice your GT
> looked, but the insurance will sort it.
>
> I know Scott is an experienced 928 driver but a word of caution for
> those caught in a similar situation (and i welcome being corrected if
> i'm wrong in this from a more experienced driver) when the back end
> starts to let go DON'T pull right off the loud pedal just enough to stop
> them spinning (if they are) then back on as much as you can as you apply
> opposite lock as without power to the wheels there is nothing to drive
> the car and it will carry on spinning no matter how quick you apply
> opposite lock, you still need to keep a fair amount of power down at the
> wheels.
>
> Difficult to explain it, I learned this on a track day in the wet at
> binbrook airfield, but still count myself as Novice for the track days
> after 6 of them.
>
> Hope you get her sorted soon, Scott.
>
> Joe
>
> > Date: Sun, 11 Jul 2004 01:41:51 +0100
> > From: "Walker, Scott" <>
> > Subject: [928uk] Nightmare Scenario... advice
> > To: <>
> > Message-ID:
> > <E75C60C3A091F34CAFCF195729F41757037AB7E9 at cyclone.UK.NDS.COM>
> > Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="iso-8859-1"
> >
> > Guys,
> >
> > The kind of thing that you wake up from, pinch yourself and say "thank
> > God that's only a bad dream!" has happened to me for real this evening.
> >
> > I've bent my pride & joy.
> >
> > On 2 corners.
> >
> > Entirely my fault. No other cars involved.
> >
> > I was just taking it for a 'dry-off' drive this evening before putting
it
> > to bed in the garage, having been caught during the day in the heavy
> > showers. Just a quick run from my house, up the neighbouring
> > dual-carriageway, around the motorway junction roundabout, and back
home.
> >
> > But leaving the roundabout to return homeward (with cold tyres and wet
> > road, and a downhill off-camber exit road) I applied power just a little
> > too early & the back end swung round ferociously-quickly. I came off the
> > gas & applied opposite lock but the car didn't want to come round. It
> > just pointed its nose at the nearside 'armco' barrier & (after sliding
> > for a while) bounced off the barrier. Then it decided to grip at the
> > front & snapped me back the other way so quickly that the rear whipped
> > round glancing the barrier too at the rear nearside corner. By this
stage
> > I'd reversed the lock & stood on the anchors as I "skated" off toward
the
> > central reservation (grass - no barrier). The car finally stopped, all 4
> > wheels on the central reservation, pointing back up the road that I'd
> > just come down (in fact, pointing a bit toward the barrier - between 180
> > & 270 degrees rotation). Engine still running.
> >
> > I couldn't see anything horrendous from the driver's seat, so I drove
off
> > down the road a little way to a safe lay-by.
> >
> > I guess a crash-repair shop would call it "light front corner damage".
It
> > looks awful to me. The nearside corner of the PU, including the
> > fog/driving light unit and the adjoining front edge of the wing is just
> > squashed flat at the angle that I hit the barrier. The headlight has
> > partially popped up (lights were was down) and lens has shattered.
> > There's a small crease in the wing at the top of the wheelarch. The fron
t
> > chin spoiler is just about hanging on at the corner. Bonnet is okay.
> > At the rear there is a single crease running along the back half of the
> > rear wing and into the rear PU just below the rear light cluster. Light
> > cluster is intact, but both tail lights seem to have been knocked out of
> > action.
> > The car drives okay, and there's no damage in the engine bay.
> >
> > I drove home and mourned for a while. I tried pinching myself. My car
> > still looks ugly. On one side. Bugger.
> >
> > Okay - onto the bit you guys can help with (sorry for the long rant
> > above). Insurance. I rang Heritage (its on a classic policy). Answering
> > machine tells me "phone during office hours, Mon-Fri". I left a message
> > anyway, saying 'I'd goofed'.
> > Can anyone tell me what the usual procedure is? Do I need to report the
> > incident to the police? Do I just wait 'till Monday morning, & ring
> > Heritage?
> > Do I just get them to send an assessor down to look at the car? The
> > 'scene of the crime' too? (The skid marks in the grass won't last for
> > long!)
> >
> > Can anyone guesstimate what kind of repair bill I'm looking at here? Car
> > is a 1991 GT in midnight blue metallic.
> >
> > Nominal car value I gave Heritage was 12K GBP. I never did get round to
> > doing the "agreed value" thing by sending off loads of signed & dated
> > photos etc.
> >
> > Any advice or cheery comments welcome...
> >
> > Scott '91 GT (v.sad)
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