Oops.
So let me start by saying that everyone, including me, is ok - there
were no injuries other than my left forearm getting bruised by the
airbag going off.
Date: March 17th, 2002
Time: Around 4:00PM PST
Location: Bremerton Raceway - Bremerton, WA
Event: BSCC Spring Drivers' Skill Improvement School
Drill Station: #2, Slalom -> turnaround -> "C" Box -> Slalom
The Saga Continues:
(fast-forward links for the impatient... continue reading for the long version)
Diagram of the Accident
Initial Damage Pictures at the Track
Pictures After I Got Home.
I took a Sawzall to my Hood!
Removed Front Bumper to See More Damage
Cleaned the Car Up and Took More Detailed Pictures
What happened?
I kinda hit a concrete barrier with my car. It don't drive too good now. Happy camper, I am not.
Here's a diagram of what happened:
I'll post more of a description of the event, the incident, any analysis I can come up with, and any other relevant info as I have time. For now, I think I spun in the slalom because of unexpected turbo lag causing sluggish throttle response and an inability to transfer weight rearward through acceleration and stop the rear's rotation at the expected point in the turn. I'd been running the slalom just fine in 2nd and was running out of revs (6500-7000RPM). I tried 3rd gear in an attempt to be smoother and possibly faster (and to try something new), and I had much more turbo lag there - the car began rotating clockwise normally(right turn), but then it didn't stop rotating as I applied throttle. As I approached 90 degrees, I knew I was in trouble and hit the brakes and clutch, causing my car to stop spinning. It traveled in a straight line backwards/sideways, hitting the wall with the driver's front and then rotating clockwise and having a 2nd impact on the driver's rear wheel and quarter panel. Witnesses say I was probably going 10-20mph at the first impact, and that feels about right from my perspective, although it all happened kinda fast.
The Aftermath
March 18th, 2002
I'm just quickly throwing some pictures up here to share with friends/family
and hopefully get some ideas about what to do next. My 3000GT is in my garage,
safe, and out of the weather, thanks to Dan from BSCC who towed my car 45 miles
home on a Sunday evening and wouldn't take anything but a bottle of Snapple and
a "Thank You". That was certainly a ray of light on an otherwise rather dismal
evening. Thanks again, Dan.
I really want to get the hood up so I can look at the damage in the engine bay
- any ideas are very welcome. I guess I can try to get to the rear hinges or try
to jack up the front and try from underneath.
The car still drives, but all my power steering fluid is on the ground, I have
no power steering, and the idiot light for the battery is on (alternator or belt,
possibly). The ABS light is on, the SRS light is on (duh), but I still have oil
pressure, no coolant leaks, and the rear tire holds air. The frame and the driver's
rear suspension are the main things I'm concerned about now. More when I have time...
March 19th, 2002
Called in the claim to my insurance company last night [cringe], so I'm supposed to hear from an adjuster today.
Late March, 2002
Finally got appropriate documentation to my insurance company to prove that
I wasn't racing. Absolutely no fudging necessary - this absolutely was a school -
but I had to get documentation from BSCC and jump through some hoops.
The accident will be covered and I will be able to file a claim.
Middle of April, 2002
Finally got the car towed to a body shop after the insurance adjuster
said he wanted them to do the estimate. Body shop #1 transferred it to body
shop #2 because #2 didn't have a ton of jobs at the moment and could get to
mine earlier. After a week of waiting, the body shop told me what I already
knew: the car is a total loss How did I know? Thanks to
CAPS
(Mitsubishi's Computer Automated Parts Search - to get part numbers),
Rockville and
Norco Mitsubishi's online parts catalogs
(to get prices), and the Mitchell estimating guide (to get labor costs; available
at Jeff Lucius's site); I was
able to make my own spreadsheet that contained the prices of all parts I suspected
were damaged and what painting and labor costs would be incurred. I was also
able to estimate what it would cost me to repair the car myself, with most labor
for free, no sales tax, and wholesale parts.
Middle of April, 2002
I negotiated with my insurance company about the car now that it was declared
a total loss. They ended up being pretty fair, as far as I'm concerned. They
offered me high book value on my car and included a provision for the 8.5%
sales tax here and all licensing fees. Since the salvage value on the car wasn't
that high and if I didn't repair it I could certainly sell the parts, I decided
to buy the car back from the insurance company. I got my check and had the car
towed home to my garage.
Late April, 2002
I took some more pieces off of the car to further inspect the damage and also
began looking for a replacement car (maybe a donor chassis?).
Early May, 2002
Realized that repairing this car would be a large investment of my time...
time that I really don't have. Also acknowledged that it would be really nice
to have a nice car to enjoy during the summer months. With a sense of
melancholy resignation, I
took all my aftermarket stuff off of the car and continued searching for
a replacement.
Early May, 2002
Test drove a few "other" cars and none satisifed me. Leaning more toward
another VR-4.
May 19th, 2002
Flew to Tucson, Arizona, to buy a 1995 Glacier Perl White 3000GT VR-4 with
54,000 miles on it. It lived up to my expectations, so I drove it home
to Washington. Yay!
Early June, 2002
Decided that I'd part out the wrecked car to get some cash for it. Then
realized how much time THAT would take. Offered it for sale for less than
the value of the parts as sold separately, but a little more than I paid
for it from the insurance company. Sold it in two days. May she fare well
in her new life with Steve in North Carolina.
July 4th, 2002
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Flatbed truck driven by Eric from 3SX Performance arrives at my home,
leaves a money order and some performance
parts for my new VR-4, and takes the wrecked car away.
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The End. Yay.
What I Learned From This Incident
-
I am not invincible. Stuff happens, not matter how good a driver you are
and no matter how good your equipment is. There is no such thing as a
"consequence-free environment," and the laws of physics apply to
all of us. I guess I need to be reminded of this from time to time.
-
I still have plenty to learn about driving. I try not to get too much
of an ego about my driving abilities and always to have a "learning" attitude
toward driving events. Incidents like this really serve to reinforce that
necessity. Somebody told me they call it "humility."
-
Know when to give up... on saving a spin, that is. I'll never know, but
I do wonder if I had just put "2 feet in" when I realized that I was rotating
too fast, would I have stopped on the pavement? Maybe trying to power out
of snap oversteer is best left for drivers with a little more experience.
-
It's only a car. It's not me, nor any other human being. It can be
repaired or replaced. Time and money are the costs involved - it really
stinks to wreck your baby, but it is just a car.
-
Even though you can't see it at first, there can be a happy ending to
a traumatic event like this. I've got another VR-4 now, and I like it better
than the one I wrecked.
-
Get back on the horse, even if the fall hurt. You'll feel much
better when you do.
All this stuff is ©1999-2004 Erik Gross
This website brought to you by picture_page, and the letter 4.
A good buddy of mine put it well: "Unauthorized duplication,
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And it could be bad for the pixels." As I've put a lot of time
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Last Modified Fri May 23 2003 19:46:42 PDT
