Wipeout
Thread Starter
10 Second Club
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,471
Likes: 3
From: Berkeley, California
Wipeout My car went into the wall yesterday and I don’t know why. My data log shows that I was spinning through second gear and I remember that the car felt a bit squirrely but nothing unusual or alarming – I drove through that. Third gear looks good and I am reasonably sure I had the car going straight. I lost control just after shifting into fourth. The data show one or both rears started spinning. The car jerked violently to the right and pointed me at the wall. I crossed into the others guy’s lane but fortunately I missed him. I managed to get the car more or less parallel to the wall before I hit it. The impact was impressive. I’m ok except for soreness where I slammed against the sides of my Kirkey. The puzzle is: what happened? Nothing broke in the engine or the rear. I have no reason to think I hit an oil patch or anything else. But something caused me to spin in fourth. This has not happened before – I don’t have that much power. This was a motor run. I expected 11.50 @ 120 mph. I would appreciate comments and theories.
On The Tree
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 131
Likes: 0
From: Lakeland, Fl
That's nasty!!! That's a hell of a way to end the day. It's weird, it looks like your RPMs dipped a little and at the same time your wheel speed increased. You would think that when your tires broke loose, theRPM's would have hit the roof............ sorry man, hate to see it happen!
Thread Starter
10 Second Club
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,471
Likes: 3
From: Berkeley, California
That little speed spike is normal - the tires chirp and grab and that drags the engine speed down. The problem appears a half-sec later where wheel speed and engine speed turn up together - that is not normal in fourth.
Thread Starter
10 Second Club
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,471
Likes: 3
From: Berkeley, California
Trending Topics
Thread Starter
10 Second Club
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,471
Likes: 3
From: Berkeley, California
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Topdon ONE vs. Artidiag 800 BT2: Which is the Diagnostic Tablet For You?
Pouria Savadkouei
Gas Monkey Built a 6-Wheel Ferrari Testarossa With a Corvette LT4 Engine
Verdad Gallardo
7 Most Reliable High-Performance Engines GM Has Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
Amazing '71 Camaro Restomod Is Modern Muscle Car Under the Skin
Verdad Gallardo
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Same thing happened to me a couple years ago when I hit 3rd gear. I'm pretty sure it was coolant on the track but I don't know for sure. Luckily I barely grazed the wall after doing some 360's down the track. Glad you're ok.
I would say coolant too, unless the track has a "wet" area like LVD on the right side about past the 1/8th. Looking at the graph nothing had really changed, you did not power shift and your were far away from your next shift so I say **** on the track. The Bias-ply / Radial thing that someone asked is an non issue. I and a few others have raced a Bias / Radial combo and have been completely fine.
Sorry for your loss.
Sorry for your loss.
I'd guess something on the track, or you sprung a coolant leak and got it on the tires...
Sucks to see the loss.. but that's one of the risks of racing.
The tire mix/match, I doubt like hell had anything to do with it. Think about it.. every drag radial car out there has the radial on the back with a bias ply front runner.. they're all fine like that... if mixing the bias and radial tires was a problem you'd see those cars in the wall all the time, and the tire companies would have come out with a radial front runner by now.
Sucks to see the loss.. but that's one of the risks of racing.
The tire mix/match, I doubt like hell had anything to do with it. Think about it.. every drag radial car out there has the radial on the back with a bias ply front runner.. they're all fine like that... if mixing the bias and radial tires was a problem you'd see those cars in the wall all the time, and the tire companies would have come out with a radial front runner by now.
Thread Starter
10 Second Club
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,471
Likes: 3
From: Berkeley, California
Thanks, everyone, for the ideas and comments. The coolant possibility hadn’t occurred to me either. The tire mix issue may not have caused my problems but it has made me think about the overall stability of my car, which I’m sure is (was) relatively poor. With no front sway bar and drag shocks with loose rebound, stability can’t be nearly as good as it would be if I still had normal street suspension. So once I lost it I was about as likely to recover as Linsey Lohan.
A substantial rear drag bar helps alot with the front suspension loose... it's not as good as it would be with the swaybar and stiffer shocks on but it's a good bit better...
Take it as a learning experience. I have my car for sale as a roller, with a little sheet metal work you could have it up and running easily.. take everything out of your car and just toss it in mine... getting the car to CA would be the only issue.
Take it as a learning experience. I have my car for sale as a roller, with a little sheet metal work you could have it up and running easily.. take everything out of your car and just toss it in mine... getting the car to CA would be the only issue.
I'd guess something on the track, or you sprung a coolant leak and got it on the tires...
Sucks to see the loss.. but that's one of the risks of racing.
The tire mix/match, I doubt like hell had anything to do with it. Think about it.. every drag radial car out there has the radial on the back with a bias ply front runner.. they're all fine like that... if mixing the bias and radial tires was a problem you'd see those cars in the wall all the time, and the tire companies would have come out with a radial front runner by now.
Sucks to see the loss.. but that's one of the risks of racing.
The tire mix/match, I doubt like hell had anything to do with it. Think about it.. every drag radial car out there has the radial on the back with a bias ply front runner.. they're all fine like that... if mixing the bias and radial tires was a problem you'd see those cars in the wall all the time, and the tire companies would have come out with a radial front runner by now.
Sucks about your bad luck, glad it wasn't worse than it was
On The Tree
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 176
Likes: 0
From: Indiana
A substantial rear drag bar helps alot with the front suspension loose... it's not as good as it would be with the swaybar and stiffer shocks on but it's a good bit better...
Take it as a learning experience. I have my car for sale as a roller, with a little sheet metal work you could have it up and running easily.. take everything out of your car and just toss it in mine... getting the car to CA would be the only issue.
Take it as a learning experience. I have my car for sale as a roller, with a little sheet metal work you could have it up and running easily.. take everything out of your car and just toss it in mine... getting the car to CA would be the only issue.
I love your car, wish I had the cash...
