Gutting an Evo in 5 seconds
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From: Arlington, TX
Gutting an Evo in 5 seconds
http://forums.corner-carvers.com/sho...eferrerid=3695
Not enough Racing & Driving posts around here, so here is a repost from my local club forum. Ron Vaughn (ITB Rabbit) gives his first-person account from the passenger seat of his student's crash at TWS T2 at this past weekend's Driver's Edge event at TWS:
Quote:
From Ron Vaughn:
Crash #2 occurred Sunday 2nd session.
I had a 'Green' Student with an EVO, he was one of my 'Top 10' green students, right out of the box he was smooth and drove the lines very well. As a result we were one of the fastest cars in the green group. Mid to late thru the second session on Sunday morning, we approached T1, we passed a couple cars fairly late prior to entering T1, this of course resulted in a tad bit more speed, no biggy, we braked, then scrubbed off some speed while cornering up to and thru T2, mid to late thru T2 we were carry a tad too much speed, the car started to drift sideway towards the right side of track as we approached the track out yellow concrete.
As this point it appears that we will likely drop two tires off right side of the track, right at "track out", I tell student to 'keep it straight' he does, but then only the right rear tire dropped off track, and got grabbed by the edge of the asphalt, which immediately rotated the car about 40-45 degrees counter clockwise, our car never changed direction after that. Student got on the brakes just after we shot across the track and entered the 'wet grass', which of course feels like we were accelerating.
Now it gets fun, the car does not react to braking due to the wet grass, and the car does not react to any steering inputs, again, due to the wet grass. Somewhere between 60 and 80 mph we hit guard rail and about a 40-45 degrees, nose first, this then turns car parallel to rail, but we impact so hard we bend several rail posts (metal I-beams) which then causes the railing to lean in, which of coarse creates a baby ramp, then the car climbs up and over the railing, yes folks, the 'winged' Evo, is now in the air, track officials later tell me the there is a 30-40 foot of railing that is not damaged, therefore, we where airborne for 30-40 feet before we landed, again on top of the railing.
At this point I should describe the top of the railing. This is not some shiny smooth steel railing, but rather metal I beams protruding 6- 10 inches above the smooth shiny metal railing, I believe Jimmy called it a 'saw' with some seriously bad *** teeth.
Anyhow, after our airborne flight we land on the Saw, slightly right of the centerline car, car progresses over the Saw ripping out things like, exhaust, body pan, linkage, cables, holes in the transmission, intercooler, oil filter, eventually the car falls off the railing 'out side' the track, yes, as in up and over, coming to a halt on the drivers side, with the passenger front wheel still hanging on to the railing. Such that most of the car weight is resting on driver side taillight and front passenger wheel.
The car is still running and in gear, you can hear, the clatter of the gears grinding in the tranny. We shut it down, and we both climb out passenger window. Everybody walks away, dazed but no real injuries.
I find a hot oil filter about 10 feet downstream of the car in our debris field, telling, at least me, that gee, this was a hard impact, I never seen a oil filter knocked off before, but then again my head is not working well.
Driver finds abrasion on chest result of safety belts, I get my head hit on 'something' I get headache and nausea for couple hours, and even today, slight headache, sore body.
Luckily for me I was able, get right back on the horse, I took the race car back out and was able to finish the day with my blue student. But I am currently afraid of T2, only time will tell.
Ron
----
From Jimmy:
Ron,
Outstanding M&M (Morbidity and Mortality) on the T2 crash. Excellent detail. Some questions:
1. Was the Evo stock? Specifically, were their suspension mods?
2. Do you believe entry speed to be the primary cause (vs. incorrect line, etc.). Was there just not enough braking at the end of T1 (before yellow box)? Newbies usually take T1-T2 way too slow, so I'm surprised if this is the true cause.
3. Did the driver use all of the additional "exit pavement" before going off, or did the tire drop off before that?
Interesting about the airbags not going off. I think your speed estimation is pretty close. When I clear the runoof "exit pavement", I'm usually at 90 mph and all my cars have been slower than an Evo.
To that end, I am obviously relieved that the two of you walked away unharmed in any serious way (I mean c'mon Ron, at this point, how bad can a head injury really hurt YOU? Just save those knees champ!). Smacking the armco at an angle even at high speeds, isn't usually a big deal to the passengers. But you had the double wammy of hitting the armco at close to a right angle AND you left the ground. Once a car leaves the ground, Very Bad Things (tm) usually happen.
Let's use the two accidents at T2 to remind us of two very important
rules:
1. Never, ever try to save a botched corner. Put both feet in and ride it off straight.
2. "It is better to go into a corner slow and come out fast, than it is to go in fast and come out dead". - Stirling Moss
Jimmy "In like a lamb, out like a lion" Pribble
----
From Ron:
Q1. Was the Evo stock? Specifically, were their suspension mods?
A1.Completely stock, maybe even tires, but I do not recall.
Q2. Do you believe entry speed to be the primary cause (vs. incorrect line, etc.). Was there just not enough braking at the end of T1 (before yellow box)? Newbies usually take T1-T2 way too slow, so I'm surprised if this is the true cause.
A2. Actually, primary cause is a chain of events, starting with late pass at end of main straight, the pass was actually fine, but mentally it removed the student from his typical routine for T1 and T2. Then, in an effort to 'pull away' from the car we just passed, and hear is the primary cause, we over accelerated coming out of T2. This causing a slight drift to the right. So, in part speed into corner was OK, but the speed mid to late T2 was a tad to high for the line, and wider line was not possible, so we drifted.
Q3. Did the driver use all of the additional "exit pavement" before going off, or did the tire drop off before that?
A3.He used it all, and we dropped off at the end of the exit pavement.
"But you had the double wammy of hitting
the armco at close to a right angle AND you left the ground. Once a car leaves the ground, Very Bad Things (tm) usually happen."
Yes, we were lucky, if we would traveled a little further in the air, we may have cleared the reminder guard railing, which meant we would landed on the driver front nose, and continued with a nice set of barrel rolls, I figure 2 or 3 rolls maybe.
I spectated on Saturday, but not Sunday. If anybody has photos of that Evo, post them up, if you don't mind. It sounds like the car had its underbelly gutted by a giant serrated-edge hunting knife.
Jimmy
Not enough Racing & Driving posts around here, so here is a repost from my local club forum. Ron Vaughn (ITB Rabbit) gives his first-person account from the passenger seat of his student's crash at TWS T2 at this past weekend's Driver's Edge event at TWS:
Quote:
From Ron Vaughn:
Crash #2 occurred Sunday 2nd session.
I had a 'Green' Student with an EVO, he was one of my 'Top 10' green students, right out of the box he was smooth and drove the lines very well. As a result we were one of the fastest cars in the green group. Mid to late thru the second session on Sunday morning, we approached T1, we passed a couple cars fairly late prior to entering T1, this of course resulted in a tad bit more speed, no biggy, we braked, then scrubbed off some speed while cornering up to and thru T2, mid to late thru T2 we were carry a tad too much speed, the car started to drift sideway towards the right side of track as we approached the track out yellow concrete.
As this point it appears that we will likely drop two tires off right side of the track, right at "track out", I tell student to 'keep it straight' he does, but then only the right rear tire dropped off track, and got grabbed by the edge of the asphalt, which immediately rotated the car about 40-45 degrees counter clockwise, our car never changed direction after that. Student got on the brakes just after we shot across the track and entered the 'wet grass', which of course feels like we were accelerating.
Now it gets fun, the car does not react to braking due to the wet grass, and the car does not react to any steering inputs, again, due to the wet grass. Somewhere between 60 and 80 mph we hit guard rail and about a 40-45 degrees, nose first, this then turns car parallel to rail, but we impact so hard we bend several rail posts (metal I-beams) which then causes the railing to lean in, which of coarse creates a baby ramp, then the car climbs up and over the railing, yes folks, the 'winged' Evo, is now in the air, track officials later tell me the there is a 30-40 foot of railing that is not damaged, therefore, we where airborne for 30-40 feet before we landed, again on top of the railing.
At this point I should describe the top of the railing. This is not some shiny smooth steel railing, but rather metal I beams protruding 6- 10 inches above the smooth shiny metal railing, I believe Jimmy called it a 'saw' with some seriously bad *** teeth.
Anyhow, after our airborne flight we land on the Saw, slightly right of the centerline car, car progresses over the Saw ripping out things like, exhaust, body pan, linkage, cables, holes in the transmission, intercooler, oil filter, eventually the car falls off the railing 'out side' the track, yes, as in up and over, coming to a halt on the drivers side, with the passenger front wheel still hanging on to the railing. Such that most of the car weight is resting on driver side taillight and front passenger wheel.
The car is still running and in gear, you can hear, the clatter of the gears grinding in the tranny. We shut it down, and we both climb out passenger window. Everybody walks away, dazed but no real injuries.
I find a hot oil filter about 10 feet downstream of the car in our debris field, telling, at least me, that gee, this was a hard impact, I never seen a oil filter knocked off before, but then again my head is not working well.
Driver finds abrasion on chest result of safety belts, I get my head hit on 'something' I get headache and nausea for couple hours, and even today, slight headache, sore body.
Luckily for me I was able, get right back on the horse, I took the race car back out and was able to finish the day with my blue student. But I am currently afraid of T2, only time will tell.
Ron
----
From Jimmy:
Ron,
Outstanding M&M (Morbidity and Mortality) on the T2 crash. Excellent detail. Some questions:
1. Was the Evo stock? Specifically, were their suspension mods?
2. Do you believe entry speed to be the primary cause (vs. incorrect line, etc.). Was there just not enough braking at the end of T1 (before yellow box)? Newbies usually take T1-T2 way too slow, so I'm surprised if this is the true cause.
3. Did the driver use all of the additional "exit pavement" before going off, or did the tire drop off before that?
Interesting about the airbags not going off. I think your speed estimation is pretty close. When I clear the runoof "exit pavement", I'm usually at 90 mph and all my cars have been slower than an Evo.
To that end, I am obviously relieved that the two of you walked away unharmed in any serious way (I mean c'mon Ron, at this point, how bad can a head injury really hurt YOU? Just save those knees champ!). Smacking the armco at an angle even at high speeds, isn't usually a big deal to the passengers. But you had the double wammy of hitting the armco at close to a right angle AND you left the ground. Once a car leaves the ground, Very Bad Things (tm) usually happen.
Let's use the two accidents at T2 to remind us of two very important
rules:
1. Never, ever try to save a botched corner. Put both feet in and ride it off straight.
2. "It is better to go into a corner slow and come out fast, than it is to go in fast and come out dead". - Stirling Moss
Jimmy "In like a lamb, out like a lion" Pribble
----
From Ron:
Q1. Was the Evo stock? Specifically, were their suspension mods?
A1.Completely stock, maybe even tires, but I do not recall.
Q2. Do you believe entry speed to be the primary cause (vs. incorrect line, etc.). Was there just not enough braking at the end of T1 (before yellow box)? Newbies usually take T1-T2 way too slow, so I'm surprised if this is the true cause.
A2. Actually, primary cause is a chain of events, starting with late pass at end of main straight, the pass was actually fine, but mentally it removed the student from his typical routine for T1 and T2. Then, in an effort to 'pull away' from the car we just passed, and hear is the primary cause, we over accelerated coming out of T2. This causing a slight drift to the right. So, in part speed into corner was OK, but the speed mid to late T2 was a tad to high for the line, and wider line was not possible, so we drifted.
Q3. Did the driver use all of the additional "exit pavement" before going off, or did the tire drop off before that?
A3.He used it all, and we dropped off at the end of the exit pavement.
"But you had the double wammy of hitting
the armco at close to a right angle AND you left the ground. Once a car leaves the ground, Very Bad Things (tm) usually happen."
Yes, we were lucky, if we would traveled a little further in the air, we may have cleared the reminder guard railing, which meant we would landed on the driver front nose, and continued with a nice set of barrel rolls, I figure 2 or 3 rolls maybe.
I spectated on Saturday, but not Sunday. If anybody has photos of that Evo, post them up, if you don't mind. It sounds like the car had its underbelly gutted by a giant serrated-edge hunting knife.
Jimmy
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