The unthinkable has happened... :-(

[bluecoupe]

Awesome! This should be your new theme song.

Aerosmith's Back In The Saddle

I'm back in the saddle again
I'm back
I'm back in the saddle again
I'm back

Ridin' high
Ridin' high
Ridin' high already

 

[Tanzanite3]

Following up!!

You know, with all that has already been said.. there seems to be a lot of wisdom which has not been listened to.....

Anyone who's occupation is driver training under racing conditions, knows a thing or two about driving. Perhaps you should forget some of the bad vibes and emotional discussions and take heed of the great advice to go to a driving school with your new 6-speed Vette and have some fun learning the limits with an experience instructor nearby. You will have a blast! And we will all be safer on the roads as a result! Even YOU!

THINKABOUDIT

 

[Ken]

... go to a driving school with your new 6-speed Vette and have some fun learning the limits with an experience instructor nearby. You will have a blast!

Hear! Hear! Great advice Glenn.

Not only will you have the time of your life while being safe, you will learn both your's and your car's limitations, and how to deal with them. :cool

_ken

 

[atmmac]

It happens!

Dont sweat it I totaled my impala the brakes went to the floor i went around a corner and did a 360 off the road into a mans fence. If I totalled my vette i think i would jump off a building i would be that upset! Look at it this way your new vette has chrome wheels!

 

[JBsC5]

Fred,

I'm glad its all worked out for you. BTW..we all make mistakes in life and thats why its called an accident..

I would say I've done the driver school event thing and they are fun. I've done the Porsche day driving school events for 40 dollars as well as the Pocono weekend event with a corvette club for 250 dollars for the weekend.

These are very safe and make driving a corvette all the more enjoyable.

Autox's are fun too.. and good learning experiences.

Glad you came to www.corvetteactioncenter.com for support.

Thats really what these forums are about..

Sharing the Corvette experience..

The good the bad and the ugly..

Always excellent to hear everythings worked out for you.

JB

 

[Joe Diver]

Nice lookin ride Fred....Ya did good!

Pics...Pics...Pics!

 

[VETTEX2]

GLAD YOU'RE OK

 

[fhturner]

Hi again, Everyone--

Well, the healing process is underway now, I guess. This weekend, I flew up to Grand Rapids, Michigan to pick up my new new Vette. I drove a few hours on Saturday, stayed in Columbus, IN and caught the Bama/Oklahoma football game (Dang! Almost had 'em!).

Sunday morning, I got up and drove to "Mecca" -- the National Corvette Museum-- for the first time ever. I got there at 10:45am, meaning to get back on the road shortly after noon. Well, come 1:30pm I was finally headed home again! That place is fantastic! Seeing Alpha and Beta C5s was one of my favorite parts, especially after reading about them recently in All Corvettes Are Red. I think the thing I got the biggest kick out of, though, was the front row of parking spaces marked "Corvette Only." I just chuckled as I eased into the first slot... What fun!

I made it back here to B'ham Sunday evening around 5:00. It was a nice, 800-mile acquaintence period for me and the new coupe. Seems crazy to drive that far, but it was exactly what I wanted... I might have seen a few of you out there on my trip-- I must have passed by a couple dozen Vettes on the way!

Anyway, as requested, below are a couple of links to pictures for my new baby. I still miss my previous baby and still get sad when thinking about it, but it's good to have a new one to move forward with. This one is a 2000 6-speed coupe with 60,000 miles on it. It has the Light Oak interior, which I prefer over my previous Light Grey. Compared to my previous '98 coupe, this Vette has everything it had, minus the body side moldings, plus: F45 Selective Ride Control, Active Handling, Dual Roof Panels, polished aluminum wheels, Heads-Up Display, and telescoping steering wheel. Of course, there are small nuances that are different in the way the car feels to drive, but I'm getting used to those. Anyway, I'm loving it, and look forward to taking good care of it for a long time.

http://fredonet.dyndns.org/fred/images/corvette2000
http://fredonet.dyndns.org/fred/images/corvette2000_lo-res [smaller images for slower connections]

Thanks again so much to everybody for all of your support,
Fred

 

[78SilvAnniv]

Fred,

Did you at me as you passed by Georgia?

I'm glad you had a wonderful trip!
Heidi

 

[Joe Diver]

Great looking ride, Fred. I'm glad you're back in the saddle. Lesson learned, but you've got a clean slate now.

 

[582Boat]

Damage to your Baby

To bad and I feel sorry for you, but remember, almost all things can be repaired or replaced on a Vette, but you body is put together differently, you are lucky that you can talk about it. Doc

 

[FB REF]

In my opinion, many of us tend to forget the affects of speed when driving a vette, and think that the car can compensate for your deficiencies. In addition, most of us cannot remember what has just happened because of the stress and the speed with which it's happening. It's possible that your correction was more severe than you remember, or that you were braking harder than you remember, or your speed was higher than you think it was. In any case, you're fortunate that you were not seriously injured or killed while racing on a city street. That's dumb!!! Flame me if you wish, that's my opinion.:nono

 

[Rain]

Just checked back myself.

had told Susan about your mishap.

So we were both glad you are ok and that you were able to get a new vette.

Headed up to Bowling Green this weekend, probably land up there Monday or Tuesday.

Cool that ya found a good deal on Ebay - and sniped it right at the last minute too! haha
Good Move

Enjoy her and stay safe!
Rain

 

[Parrothead]

fhtuner,

In your initial post you say the targa top hit you, by that I'm guessing the top was off? The first weekend I had my 92 I went to the mountains to "play", I had the top off and really had a blast for 3 or 4 hours without so much as a slip. Then on the way home gong around a corner I had drive 20 - 30 times in different cars, 5 miles over the speed limit the back end broke free and I spun 2 1/2 times. I was on a up to down hill transition with a gentle right hand turn. As I crested the rise into a head wind, started to turn the wheels, the rear end went over the crown and hopped. Car followed the front wheels and around and around I went. Used both lanes and wound up in the gravel, scared the h*** out of me but no damage done, other than pride. I was thinking that with the top being off, the hatch was acting like a scoop and helped lift the read end. I put the top on and went back around the corner 4 times at different speeds, up to 20 over without a problem. I am very carefull now driving with the top off. Lesson learned for me.......Glad your allright.

Finsup

 

[MoeJr]

I just rechecked in to share a similar experience though I was lucky and my Vette was able to compensate for my stupidity. Coming to work this morning on the hiway I am in the passing lane cruising along and I come up on a clown in a Honda Accord who is creeping along. Well I start riding his butt so he will move into the middle lane which was clear. This guy just isn't gnna move over for me and now a semi is preventing me from getting into the middle lane even though the numb fart in front of me still has plenty of room. I finally lose my cool and kick the Vette to the floor and cut right in front of the semi and quickly jerk the wheel back so as not to go into the far right lane. Luckily the rear end of my car snapped right back to straight and stuck or I woulda been going around as I was at almost 90 mph. Made me realize I shouldn't let jerks on the road get to me. It was a testament though to the 84 Z51 suspension set up. Maximum Sticking Power!!.

 

[fhturner]

In any case, you're fortunate that you were not seriously injured or killed while racing on a city street. That's dumb!!! Flame me if you wish, that's my opinion.

Thanks for the tip. Welcome to the CAC.

Just checked back myself. had told Susan about your mishap.
So we were both glad you are ok and that you were able to get a new vette.
Headed up to Bowling Green this weekend, probably land up there Monday or Tuesday.
Cool that ya found a good deal on Ebay - and sniped it right at the last minute too! haha
Good Move

Thanks for the well wishes. I hope you have a great time at Bowling Green-- it's awesome! You'll get to take a tour of the assembly plant-- I didn't get to since I came through there on a Sunday. Enjoy!!! Actually, about my car: I talked with the sales guy first and settled on a price, then he had me close out the auction by using Buy It Now. Don't think it was last minute, but it was within a day, I think...

In your initial post you say the targa top hit you, by that I'm guessing the top was off?... I was thinking that with the top being off, the hatch was acting like a scoop and helped lift the read end. I put the top on and went back around the corner 4 times at different speeds, up to 20 over without a problem. I am very carefull now driving with the top off.

Don't know why, but I never thought of that. You could very well be right! Yes, my top was off and in the back. Thinking back, I know I overcorrected, but even then the car seemed to be very unforgiving in that situation (where in my previous experiences, Corvettes are more forgiving and just hug the road). I wonder if that could have been the "fly in the ointment". Very interesting point to consider. Thanks for posting that, Parrothead!

I finally lose my cool and kick the Vette to the floor and cut right in front of the semi and quickly jerk the wheel back so as not to go into the far right lane. Luckily the rear end of my car snapped right back to straight and stuck or I woulda been going around as I was at almost 90 mph.

Wow, MoeJr, that must have made your heart skip several beats! Not to mention your heart rate was probably already up due to the "numb fart" (LOL on that-- mind if I use it?). It must've taken you a couple of miles for the adrenaline rush to subside! As for my accident, I keep wondering if I should have been able to recover had I been more experienced in "performance driving" situations like mine and yours. I'm definitely planning on going to a driving school soon to learn about vehicle limits and how to control them at those limits (or at least know when you're about to exceed them!).

Thanks once again for everyone's well wishes and insight. I hope everyone stays safe out there!

Fred

 

[MoeJr]

Yes it was scary Fred I needed about an hour to come off the adrenaline rush. However as a point my roof was on when I did this. I know on C4's the handling changes quite a bit when the top is off due to body flex. I am glad we're all safe and still enjoying a nice Vette.

 

[Skull One]

fhtuner,

In your initial post you say the targa top hit you, by that I'm guessing the top was off? <SNIP> .......Glad your allright.

Finsup

I have been very curious after driving my '04 Coupe for 7 weeks, why a simple one way air pressure relief system isn't installed in the back end just above the two side cubby holes that exhaust out at the two sets of rear oblong holes. Call me crazy if you like, but if my Volvo S80 T6 has it, why doesn't a Vette? Seems to me it would let air flow smoother thru the cockpit with the roof off and would stop any lifting of the rear from negative pressure. Maybe this will be my first serious mod to my Vette. Once I figure out a way to pipe it.

 

[bbw]

As if enough hasn't already been said :crazy, to explain what might of happened with the car, I'll offer what little I recall from my Mech. Eng. curriculum back in the college days...

While your velocity might have been constant (that is, no "thrust" or acceleration by you through the accelerator), the car, in fact, was accelerating at a high rate. Centripetal acceleration occurs when an object is in a circular motion. The direction of the acceleration is toward the center of the circle, so the object will resist and pull away from the center.

The acceleration A is equal to V^2 / r, where V is the velocity and r is the radius of the circle. Note that the relationship between velocity and acceleration is quadratic, meaning that, when velocity is doubled, the acceleration increases by a factor of 4! Consequently, acceleration is positively sensitive to velocity, so I claim that your rate of acceleration at ~88mph was, in fact, rather high, so the tires were already working hard to resist the car's desire to pull away from the center of the circle. But, being a Vette, and having good tires (I presume!), all was going well. Until...

When you corrected, you quickly reduced the radius of the circle. Note that, while not quadratic, the radius is inversely proportional to acceleration. Therefore, a sudden reduction in radius will result in an equally sudden gain in acceleration, that is, an acceleration spike. It is this, I believe, that ultimately caused the Corvette to fail.

 

[bluecoupe]

why a simple one way air pressure relief system isn't installed in the back end

There are two body pressure relief valves in the the rear storage area.