[PeterF]

27 mb (right click, save target as...)

http://cs.jackass.nu/~ooze/Elise, Exige, 340R/Elise S2 crash Nurburgring.avi

 

[Randy Chase]

Also titled...

"How not to drive"

 

[Hans Stuck]

A couple things jump out at me about that video:

1- The guy is not a great driver ... what's with all the one hand on the wheel stuff?

2- On two occasions, he has trouble selecting 2nd gear because the shifter won't engage properly.

3- He's wearing knee pads because he's so jammed in the car that his knees smack the dash!

4- His right leg constantly bumps up against the shifter -- which also has no boot on it.

5- The passenger looks very uncomfortable....and what do you think his knees felt like after the shunt?

6- I wasn't expecting the accident to be a result of understeer. If anything, the mid-engine layout had me expecting to see the rear end come around.

The more I see this video, the more I wish the car were 5-10% bigger inside the cockpit.

 

[PeterF]

The guy driving is a biker. The first time he drove a car on the ring.

 

[Tripledigits]

It looks to me like he locks up the front brakes. I think that's the only way the car wouldn't have turned in. You could hear the tires squealing before he tried to turn. He didn't appear to be too much over his head before the shunt. Definitely not a polished race car driver, but not a student driver either. Never leave home without the kneepads.

 

[Modern Wedgie]

Did anyone else have trouble opening this file? It downloads and then only opens the audio, no video. Hmmmm. I see that it is an .avi file. What program are you using to view it? But it's driving me mad only hearing the roar of the engine and the squeal of the tires down the track.

 

[Randy Chase]

You need the divx codec. Free. Download from http://www.divx.com

 

[strawtarget]

7- Nobody in the car is wearing a helmet. WTF?

 

[PeterF]

7- Nobody in the car is wearing a helmet. WTF?

Apperently you don't need it on public days

 

[L8BRAKR]

From what I've heard most of the ring is a public roadway.

Does anybody know what happened? It looks like he dropped a wheel. He wasn't on the brakes (watch his feet just before turn-in). About the only other thing that makes sense is he hit some fluid or maybe a mechanical failure. I do like that he went to full lock with the wheel, that's gonna make it turn

 

[L8BRAKR]

Scratch that. I turned up my speakers at work and I did hear a little lock up just before he came off the brake and gave a little steering input. OOPS, HIS FAULT!!

At least he abided by the "don't lift" rule, he floored it as he was going off

 

[shinoo]

You need the divx codec. Free. Download from http://www.divx.com

Don't download the free version unless you want some Spyware from Gator installed on your PC. Gator are the nice people who bring you more pop ups than you ever knew existed....

 

[Modern Wedgie]

Oh well. Couldnt stand it anymore and had to see the video. No pop ups yet!

I dont think that it was his car that he was driving, which would explain why he couldnt shift properly.

But yeah, I cant believe he was driving with one hand. WTF! That would make me nervous too if I was the passenger.

And you dont need to wear a helmet on public days at the ring. When my x-bf went to germany to pick up his BMW, he video taped his drive around the ring. In one of the shots, he was passed by an audi A4(S4?) avant, with mom in the passenger seat and 2 kids in the back. No matter how hard he tried, my x could not keep up with the Audi. Hmmm, maybe that's why I dumped him

GO AUDI!

 

[Thomasio]

Note: "DivX Pro" (free) is "ad supported". Don't use that one, use the "Standard DivX Codec", located below the chart and to the left. It seems like that one is not "ad supported."

If ever there was a company that I despised, it is "Gator".

And, bonus tip: get "AdAware" from Lavasoft, it will strip all of the lame ad junk off of your machine. It is free, highly recommended.

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

(You will be amazed at the spyware that it finds on your machine!)

Thomas

 

[adamant]

I downloaded the free DivX player a long while ago. I also have used Ad-aware for a LONG time. Keep Ad-aware up to date and run it often. It is one of the best freeware tools out there, especially for poor sods that use IE. Here is a clue, go checkout Mozilla Firebird. It is free and does a dozen things that you wonder how you lived without. BTW if you consider installing Firebird, use the windows instaler version and not the zipped version. It will dave you some hassles.

 

[babak]

Note: "DivX Pro" (free) is "ad supported". Don't use that one, use the "Standard DivX Codec", located below the chart and to the left. It seems like that one is not "ad supported."

If ever there was a company that I despised, it is "Gator".

And, bonus tip: get "AdAware" from Lavasoft, it will strip all of the lame ad junk off of your machine. It is free, highly recommended.

http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

(You will be amazed at the spyware that it finds on your machine!)

Thomas

Aah, the joys of Safari and OS X, non of this crap to deal with.

 

[MattG]

Aah, the joys of Safari and OS X, non of this crap to deal with.

Indeed!!!! Don't tell too many people though...we've got a good thing going here; if we stay at ~5% market share, it'll hopefully keep the crapware away. ;-)

 

[babak]

Heck, I don't even know what I own virex (except that it was a freebie download from .mac)

 

[Thomasio]

Back to the driving...

I'm about 1/2 way to getting my VFR pilot's license, and I began to notice myself steering (cars) with my left hand only... it is a good habit during takeoff in an airplane, but not such a good habit in a car. I wonder if this guy is a pilot?

What is the verdict, did he just come into the corner too hot? It would be nice to see what his speedometer read when he locked up the tires. It seems like he really picked up the pace when he saw the motorcycle in front of him... did he get in over his head?

And, finally, an anecdote: I once had a rental Mustang GT convertible in California (mountains between Monterey and Napa Valley), and I got to toying with a tiny pickup truck ahead of me. (Maybe a Mazda 2 wheel drive, or a small Toyota 2 wheel drive). This guy was obviously a local. I chased him with all that the Mustang V-8 had, but he still pulled away in the corners. I didn't know the GT's handling that well, so I wasn't pushing as hard as him, but it shows what you can do when you know the roads and you know your vehicle. I was less than impressed by the GT chassis (this was a 2002 I think). Every time I hit a bump, the rear-view mirror would shake side-to-side violently. That car had the spaghettie-noodle chassis.

Thomas

 

[Randy Chase]

He is a motorcycle rider.

I noticed this method of driving to be pretty common when instructing new racers. They often leave one hand on the gear knob and one on the steering wheel. Quite often one of the few things I will focus on initially is getting them to stop doing this. You can't steer with the gearshift!

He did look like the motorcycles excited him and he picked up the pace a little.

Then he was off line heading into the corner. Apexing way out. Probably in the "marbles" at least. That meant he had to turn in sharper now to make the corner. You can hear him lock up his brakes right before that point.

So we have a car with the front tires locked up. Trying to turn too much. Off line. And what does he do? He immediately cranks the steering wheel even more. Holy crap. Common mistake. Bad result.

The front tires are really nothing more than sliding blocks of rubber at that point. You can not steer with them. So he only can go straight. And straight he does indeed go... agro.