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2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (track prepared)
C3 of Year Winner (track prepared) 2019
Track contact T5 - Road Atlanta
Here is what $42k in damage (initial estimate only, it will go up I'm sure) looks like after making contact at Road Atlanta on 3/23 in my C7 Z06. I still don't know that, at the time, I would have changed anything. Looking back and moving forward, I will stay off the damn painted rumble strips in the first session of the morning. I don't normally exit the corner with the tire completely on the rumble strip, and tend to straddle the exit, but that was the line at the time, one I've taken lap after countless lap without incident.
800whp on 200tw street tires can get away from you in a hurry, particularly with all TC/AH turned off. Maybe I should have left the TC in one of the PTM modes, but this was about 5 laps in and I had been progressing through the modes on each lap, Sport 1 on the out lap, Sport 2 on lap 3, Race lap 4, and then all off on this lap.
Fortunately I had the car pretty heavily covered with Lockton, although that 10% deductible on total declared value hurts, just not as much as a complete loss would have.
On the bright side....I get to order a new helmet and have Savage Designs create a new awesome design.
1. Your passenger side airbag deployed even with the driver side race seat? I guess this means the airbags all still work even with the driver seat remvoed? Or, do you have some kind of plug in sim module?
2. Yes T5 can get away from you very fast... I don't see any saving that one. She snapped instantly.
3. Look at how much your head and seat moved even with a containment seat. I would get a seat back brace for the next car.
4. Are you still thinking of fixing this thing? I'd start fresh.
FWIW when I raced my C5 ST2 car there we would go all 4 over the curb. You straddled it and the right rear broke loose creating the snap spin. If you'd had all 4 over it you would have probably been fine.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (track prepared)
C3 of Year Winner (track prepared) 2019
I've taken T5 so many different ways, from just barely touching the gator, to all 4 off as you mentioned. It can get a little squirrelly sometimes but I've never had the car do anything like that before, particularly with very little steering input, and I drove my non-traction control LS3 71 here quite a bit doing the same. This car makes ridiculous power, the pavement was likely still cool and maybe even a little damp in the curbing grooves.
Nothing with the airbags was done, just the halo seat on the driver side. Yes, side bag did blow, but not front, which seems a little surprising just based on forces involved, I guess front sensor was not tripped.
Regarding the seat movement, the go pro does move forward a good bit on the mount, which made it look worse, but I thought the same when I initially reviewed. The seat still flexes quite a bit but a rear mount to the harness bar would certainly help for future safety.
At the moment, yes this car is going to be further inspected and likely repaired. I'm not sure what will be revealed once the body panels come off but just looking around with my cell phone, I could not see anything major around the RR suspension mounting points.
I've gone back and forth on whether I wanted this car fixed or totaled. I would lose quite a bit of invested time and money if totaled, but it would give me a clean slate. For the past 2 weeks I've been eye-balling all sorts of classifieds, and it is actually pretty tough to find a suitable replacement (not just another used Z06). I'm not sure if I want a "race car" with a full cage (the smart option) or another street car I could enjoy with my wife/family. I've looked at new ZR1s (probably choice #1 if an allocation is available), 2015/16 Viper ACRs (#2 choice), new GT3s (which you cannot get an allocation), ZL1 1LEs (a viable option but not sure I want a Camaro), used track cars, Ariel Atoms, Panoz GTS, Radicals, etc... Nothing seems to jump out as the clear answer, other than a race car would be safer.
Once upon a time I was an insurance adjuster... I would not fix that car unless you want to make it a dedicated race car. It will never be the same. The front bags didn't blow because it was not a frontal impact. I have a race seat in my car as well and get the airbag light and assumed everything would be off; maybe just the driver seat airbag that's removed is disabled.
That hard RR hit could have damaged the trans/diff and torque tube which could damage the back of the crank... you just never know how far it goes.
during the November event i spun my zr1 in the exact same spot on the yellow warm up outing.... luckily it was just a loop on the black top and much slower speed
is that up hill still in the shade at that time and colder than other parts of the track ?
does lockton just cut you a check and come get the car ?
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (track prepared)
C3 of Year Winner (track prepared) 2019
Originally Posted by henryr
during the November event i spun my zr1 in the exact same spot on the yellow warm up outing.... luckily it was just a loop on the black top and much slower speed
is that up hill still in the shade at that time and colder than other parts of the track ?
does lockton just cut you a check and come get the car ?
Not sure if that area remains in shade longer than the rest of the track, but being a painted surface it likely doesn't absorb water the same as the asphalt and any cracks might have still had dew remaining. Just one of those rookie mistakes I guess. Lockton does issue a check, less your deductible, for estimated damages. Then any supplementals that get approved are paid later.
Don't let the shop fix anything or order any parts until full tear-down and inspection is complete. Remember the shop makes a lot more money fixing your car so they will often times push to fix borderline cars. Also, there's a game... once the insurance company is deep enough in with the repair, they'll often just fix the car even if the total damage would have totaled it. If it's not at a GM service facility you'll want a Corvette technician to do a supplement on the driveline.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (track prepared)
C3 of Year Winner (track prepared) 2019
Originally Posted by Tool Hoarder
Don't let the shop fix anything or order any parts until full tear-down and inspection is complete. Remember the shop makes a lot more money fixing your car so they will often times push to fix borderline cars. Also, there's a game... once the insurance company is deep enough in with the repair, they'll often just fix the car even if the total damage would have totaled it. If it's not at a GM service facility you'll want a Corvette technician to do a supplement on the driveline.
All good tips!
It's, fortunately, not going to just a normal repair shop but rather a place that deals in custom cars with an owner very well versed in building, and racing, tracked cars. He knows exactly how particular I am, the level of work I expect, and is familiar with building both hot rods and modern performance cars that get raced heavily. I've been lucky enough to become connected to a few good resources when it comes to both my C3 with a modern drive-line, as well as my C7 and prepping it for racing.
Man that sux. Would you mind sending the PDR files to Poorsha? I would like to see what the data says, as watching it about a dozen times I still can’t figure out what went wrong.
Have you had a chance to get the car in a lift and inspect underneath? I mean, for it to snap around this quick, I’d almost suspect a mechanical issue?
Man that sux. Would you mind sending the PDR files to Poorsha? I would like to see what the data says, as watching it about a dozen times I still can’t figure out what went wrong.
Have you had a chance to get the car in a lift and inspect underneath? I mean, for it to snap around this quick, I’d almost suspect a mechanical issue?
Have you run Road Atlanta? He was putting power down in a 800 horse car in the first session on 200 TW tires and hit the curb with the right side of the car only. Car snapped when the right side completely lost traction. It's a very common place to have the car snap if you don't stay off the curb or commit and go all 4 on the curb.
Quick video frame by frame shows OP at full throttle onto the curb. As soon as the car starts to step out he backs off the throttle a smidge and starts to try to counter steer... hands are fast. Once the rear really steps out he lifts which is the only thing done wrong and easy to point out monday morning quarterbacking. Once the throttle was lifted it was all over. However OP hay have already felt it wasn't savable and was trying to go "both feet in". If you keep watching the video he goes from gas directly to brake. The only possible chance at saving this would have been to keep the throttle down, but it happened extremely fast.
Were you happy with your drivers seat and how it handled the crash?....I have the same seat sitting on my workbench waiting to be installed into my Vette.
If you watch the video in slow motion, you're MPH went from 78 mph at the apex to 115 mph in what looks like a length of the car.
I hate painted track surfaces....nothing good ever comes from them.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (track prepared)
C3 of Year Winner (track prepared) 2019
Originally Posted by TrackAire
Wow, that was a substantial hit, glad you're ok.
Were you happy with your drivers seat and how it handled the crash?....I have the same seat sitting on my workbench waiting to be installed into my Vette.
If you watch the video in slow motion, you're MPH went from 78 mph at the apex to 115 mph in what looks like a length of the car.
I hate painted track surfaces....nothing good ever comes from them.
I walked away without a scratch, so in that regard yes this seat worked as intended. Had a friend crash his C6Z back in August coming out of T12, same track, same seat, and he too walked away from a nearly head-on collision with concrete.
The car definitely picked up some wheel speed in a hurry. For that reason alone, I don't think it would have went well if I had stayed in the throttle as the car would have continued to overpower the rear tires (no TC and so much power) and still very likely spun, possible to the inside wall, which has no tire barrier. Who knows... easy to analyze frame by frame, I did it sitting at the track when I didn't feel like going over and winching my pile of parts back into my trailer before going home. As soon as the tires were spinning the car began to rotate...my brain recognized it, and immediate began looking for a way to save it but in that spit second came to the conclusion that riding the brake was my best option. I knew it was going to make contact well before it hit, which I guess is why I put the car in neutral and put my hand back on the wheel. In hindsight, I should have instead grabbed my harness as my right arm was a little sore for a couple days from being torn from the wheel.
04-09-2019, 10:59 AM
Track contact T5 - Road Atlanta
