LG John

I'd like to have seen that If I'd done that I'd have hit the kerb side on at about 10-20mph and rolled the car thus writing it off!! What I did in the car park was 100% spot on in my opinion. The error was misjudging the stopping distance for which I'm guilty as guilty gets.

The incident in my street was a nightmare as I had very little time to react and very little space to play in. I'f I'd gone for more power I could have potentially sorted it but I don't know.

The car wasn't going fast when it hit the kerb. Think about it...1250kg car, hit on a non-compressing part by an solid object that won't move at 8-10mph.....do the maths and then tell me it won't do damage

MRK_IV

Kenny, what track days have you done?

ozzy

Sipie,

I don't know why he bothers either. If I kerbed my alloys, I'd just ask if anyone had some to sell. I wouldn't give anybody any details as it's bound to get abuse.

When I've done stupid stuff or been caught out in my car, I've told my m8's, got called a f@nny for being stupid and thought nothing more of it (other than learning what not to do).

I have no inclanation to tell anyone on Scoobynet; 99% wouldn't be interested anyway.

Maybe you should take the shovel off him so he can't dig himself into any more holes

Stefan

LG John

Believe it or not I posted the story without a second though to the backlash. I thought most people would be understanding that a car can be a handful when driven on sheet ice. I was also looking for some guidance on likely damage so it has relevance. I'm honestly not bothered, SN has helped me develop a thick skin in life

MorayMackenzie

Saxo Boy,

Does this "thick skin" also hamper assimilation of new ideas and concepts? Surely a lucky near miss in the carpark should have helped you realise that overestimating safe speed in these conditions is not a good idea(tm). If you were on a very narrow road driving in black ice conditions anywhere near parked vehicles, surely you might have considered reducing your speed based on your carpark "learning" expirience?

No one is saying that accidents don't happen, IIRC, even John F has had his own "automotive mishaps" in the past. I think the major point is that you don't appear to be learning from your mishaps, even though you tend to choose to "share" your "moments" with the bbs. I can understand how people will worry about this fatalistic approach to driving, it certainly scares the hell out of me to think of drivers going around with that attitude.

Moray

Turbo_Six

I think you should consider getting a slower car, you've clearly not got the Right Stuff for performance-oriented vehicles.

Flying's taught me a lot - one wrong move in a light aircraft will get you killed, or at least humiliated by a CAA inquiry as to how you came to be upside-down in a field instead of remaining safely at 2000 feet. If you had a similar think-before-you-screw-around attitude, you'd stay out of trouble, and you'll live longer. As it is you're heading for the big one quite rapidly.

Paul_M

I don't think getting a slower car is an issue here. Maybe for the incident a while back in better conditions you could argue that, but in this weather anything that can do 10MPH has very easily potential for trouble.

And you can do some major damage with low-speed impacts even with just a kerb, happened to me about 3 years ago, drove into a carpark which was going slightly downhill. It was cold but the road was clear, started turning into the side of the carpark then discovered a sheet of ice which must have come from running water cos it was just a small patch. Needless to say as soon as the front wheels hit it the car just went straight and wheel bumped the pavement at around 5MPH. Result - bent wishbone, buckled wheel and bent steering knuckle. Simple reason is that suspension components are not designed to take any significant load pushing inwards from the side so they easily damage. Having big wheels makes it worse cos the wheel itself takes the impact rather than the tyre.

LG John

fuzz you are picking at words. I spend all day writing 100% water tight reports and when I come on SN I like to cut loose and 'type' similar to how I'd 'speak' Those that know me now that often I speak in a humorous and sometimes sarcastic tone. Perhaps this is why half of scoobynet has sleepless nights thinking I'm driving around with dilusions of invicibility when frankly I'm not. I hit a kerb, it was an accident and these things happen from time to time. I'm not overly worried about it I'm just worried about my car. Fooking around in the car park was different as I was actually playing around on a dangerous surface when the car should have been tucked up in its car port and me watching TV (or at least thats what most motorists would be doing). I made a mistake and hold my hands up to that but I bought the car to have some fun and if that means nipping off to a snow covered open space sometimes then so be it.

worley

I had a hired VW Polo in Switzerland last Weekend, spent 10 whole minutes playing in a ski resort car park, all I got was smiles from the locals as I learned how to handbrake turn in the snow. I have also done similar in carparks and alike when I had my Scoob (Fort William being good).

Give SaxoBoy a break, we all have a bit of fun and mostly get away with it.....

Leslie

This must be one of the really good hijacks of a thread. Hope you get it all sorted alright Columbia.

I am surprised that no-one picked up on JonnyStell@. I thought you said are not a nit-wit. So what are you for for getting it sideways at 70 mph on a B road in slush? Just as well the sheep that you nearly totalled wasn't some other poor bloke that you could have wiped out. Bears thinking about! Or were you just trying to impress us all?

LG John

Yes, I'm sorry for this Columbia I posted my 'similar' story and as always SN jumped straight down my throat!!

Pissing around in the car park is fair cop if you get something wrong....you only need to look at what you are doing...'pissing around'

Sliding on ice when hardly moving and impacting a kerb is an accident! If it wasn't then why do I keep seeing damaged cars around at the moment...were all these people pissing around or did the decide to take an axe and hammer to their car for the fun of it

Can we just drop it!! You can say all you want but a) I've heard it all before and b) I've taken it all in before. That is fact. Like it or lump it

SJobson

Kenny, I hate to jump on any bandwagon, and I don't know you. I do know Scoobs aren't good in snow, and the fact that 4wd helps you get moving has no effect on how well it stops or turns.

However, the point I'm picking up on is that you say it was an accident. My 8yr old stepson says everything is an 'accident' - he is in fact incredibly careless, and I'm concerned he's going to harm himself one of these days. Just last Saturday, walking into town, he walked into a lamppost because he was looking the other way. In his mind, it's not his fault because it's just an accident, while any outsider can see that he could have avoided it. Don't let yourself appear to be like that, please - it's not surprising you get a backlash if you do.

LG John

Interesting analogy I suppose it could have been avoided if I'd been going even slower but I believed that the speed I was (or rather wasn't) doing was ok for the conditions. Every crash could potentially have been avoided somehow, you can't look back on life like that. Heck, I could avoid ever crashing by never going in a car!

As an aside you should see the end of my road now! It is sheet ice (looks like glass)

Leslie

Saxo

Its not only what you do that counts, but how you do it!

I'm sure Jonfelstead would explain that if necessary.

Les

zax

Hmmmm. I wonder where we went when we needed self righteous morons before the age of the internet?

dhorwich

i suspect you where doing more than 5mph to push the wheel back... i have done similar it was 4 months ago and im still getting it fixed, i was doing about 30mph though... You may of bent the front suspension subframe which the wishbones attach to so get it looked at properly..

Dan

LG John

The wheels aren't pushed. I've looked at them carefully and they all seem to be pointing the right direction and at the correct camber. One alloy is dented beyond repair IMO and the other is scuffed. I hope there is no other damage but it sounded like a thud and I know that suspension is weak when hit at that angle. Fingers crossed.

dhorwich

I mean the guy who posted the thread..!!!

Dan

Fuzz

appologies for "picking" at your words.

all I was trying to say was if you're going to **** around (yes I do too, mainly roundabouts though *shock, horror*) make sure there is MAXIMUM run off for when things go **** up, as they invariably will !

take care
Andy

adit for a bit of grammer...grammar..who knows !


[Edited by Fuzz - 2/5/2003 5:46:25 PM]

[Edited by Neil Smalley - 2/20/2003 9:29:28 PM]

RallyeXpress

Here are some pics from my accident last Friday.

www.public.fotki.com/RallyeX

The pics are in the My 1999 Subaru Impreza folder.

ImpIII

Columbia300man,

What was the final damage? Out of interst how much did it cost in the end to fix?

ids

ImpIII,

I did the same in my STi 7 - cost me nearly £1000 plus hire car for over a week....

STI wheel, Bottom Arm, Steering arm/joint, Wheel bearing + Labor and Allignment.....

Wont be doing that in a hurry again :<

Ids

dave_gt

Saxoboy: Try enroling on an Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) course. If you are a thoroughly competant driver who drives with a safety led attitude you will still learn valuable skills and confirm your ability to doubters on this forum. However, if your driving is not up to scratch the IAM course (or indeed the RoSPA courses) will make you aware of this and teach skills which may save your life and that of others.

Try reading Roadcraft (the police drivers manual) and the new book by Paul Ripley, "Expert Driving," which is excellent. Although sideways/fast driving is extremely good fun and safe in certain circumstances, there is little point in being able to hold a car in a drift if your basic skills mean that you are a liability on the road. This applies to all drivers; if we did a poll, "Are you a good driver," then I would vouch that 95% of people would say yes. How many have had any further training, or aimed to enhance their driving skill since their basic test to back this opinion up?

Advanced driving can also be of financial benefit; you will be taught how to get from A to B in complete safety, yet quickly and smoothly using less fuel than a typical driver - surely of use when you own a Scooby.

LG John

Good point well made but come on This thread is well dead! I only read that by pure accident!

Colin Berry

There was a guy once that put his Westie into the back of a discovery! Now, who was that

johnfelstead

That would be me. First car i have written off in 20 years of driving. And yes, i did learn something from that, i thought about that a great deal.

Your point is what exactly Colin?

LG John

Don't want to go and drag this all up again. You say you thought about that a lot. I've told you I've though about stuff that's happened to me a lot yet its different somehow AJ will vouch for how much the 'fuel surge' spin tormented me!

johnfelstead

The diference Kenny, is you make a habbit of screwing up and despite you thinking about it, you dont ever take onboard the advice of people when it comes to ways to improve your driving.

As to your fuel surge, i know of many people who have had fuel surge on track, including myself, driving right on the limit, i have yet to see one of these people spin out as a result of it. I have also had fuel surge on the road, it wasnt even remotely close to causing a crash, so basically, i dont believe your spin was caused by fuel surge, it was caused by overdriving your car.

Everyone makes mistakes, no matter how good they are, but when it's a constant list of cockups that tends to suggest their is a fundemantal problem that needs addressing. I know i shouldnt bother to respond in your cockup threads, because it's pointless, i may as well be talking to an ameaba. I dont think you are going to wise up until something serious happens, which is very sad indeed.

davyboy

This thread has got stuck

Neil Smalley

Yup

Have mailed Si and Shaun about it, as I have no direct access to the database.