982 GT4 Spyder?
03-22-2019, 02:04 PM
#1396
To me, the fatal crash is very upsetting not only for the driver and his family but what it could mean for owners if Porsche sees it as an isolated incident and does not implement changes to help prevent other people from suffering the same catastrophe. If this prototype represents 10% of all the prototypes, does that mean 10% of future owners are at risk statistically? Being so close to release and such a limited volume car to begin with, Porsche might not be so inclined to make substantial changes before releasing the car. Some things would be easy fixes, earlier implementation of stability control even in track mode, wider track (tires), lower suspension (and the center of gravity)? Other things more difficult. Did the rear roll hoops hold up, did the front a pillar deform, has the extra weight of the 6 cylinder engine been sufficiently accounted for (additional rear weight reduction measures while potentially requiring additional weight in the front for proper balance, etc.?
And anyone who thinks those little roll hoops are going to save them in a high speed rollover accident is fooling themself.
03-22-2019, 02:12 PM
#1397
Intermediate
There's nothing a car can do if the driver fails to drive safely. No car will save you from certain types of accidents, and this one appears to involve excessive speed on a wet roadway. Reading into this situation that there is a problem with the car is a massive overreach.
And anyone who think those little roll hoops are going to save you in a high speed rollover accident are fooling themselves.
And anyone who think those little roll hoops are going to save you in a high speed rollover accident are fooling themselves.
03-22-2019, 08:00 PM
#1399
There's nothing a car can do if the driver fails to drive safely. No car will save you from certain types of accidents, and this one appears to involve excessive speed on a wet roadway. Reading into this situation that there is a problem with the car is a massive overreach.
And anyone who thinks those little roll hoops are going to save them in a high speed rollover accident is fooling themself.
And anyone who thinks those little roll hoops are going to save them in a high speed rollover accident is fooling themself.
03-23-2019, 09:05 AM
#1400
Wow, it sounds like everyone believes that the driver was reckless and the car had little or nothing to do with it. This person wasn’t a 1950’s rock star driving too fast on California coastal hwy 1, this was a highly trained professional driver whose sole responsibility is to drive cars to their limits on a regular basis. If he couldn’t keep it together under adverse conditions, good luck to the rest of you mortals unless Porsche implements changes as suggested by this outcome.
03-23-2019, 10:15 AM
#1401
Originally Posted by robcut1
Wow, it sounds like everyone believes that the driver was reckless and the car had little or nothing to do with it. This person wasn’t a 1950’s rock star driving too fast on California coastal hwy 1, this was a highly trained professional driver whose sole responsibility is to drive cars to their limits on a regular basis. If he couldn’t keep it together under adverse conditions, good luck to the rest of you mortals unless Porsche implements changes as suggested by this outcome.
03-23-2019, 10:16 AM
#1402
Wow, it sounds like everyone believes that the driver was reckless and the car had little or nothing to do with it. This person wasn’t a 1950’s rock star driving too fast on California coastal hwy 1, this was a highly trained professional driver whose sole responsibility is to drive cars to their limits on a regular basis. If he couldn’t keep it together under adverse conditions, good luck to the rest of you mortals unless Porsche implements changes as suggested by this outcome.
03-23-2019, 10:25 AM
#1403
We do a disservice to the driver who lost his life and to Porsche, too, by jumping to any conclusions about this crash prematurely.
03-23-2019, 12:45 PM
#1404
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Wow, it sounds like everyone believes that the driver was reckless and the car had little or nothing to do with it. This person wasn’t a 1950’s rock star driving too fast on California coastal hwy 1, this was a highly trained professional driver whose sole responsibility is to drive cars to their limits on a regular basis. If he couldn’t keep it together under adverse conditions, good luck to the rest of you mortals unless Porsche implements changes as suggested by this outcome.
Even professional drivers are not infallible and, has been correctly pointed out, we don't know if the driver here was simply an engineer. Watch a race on TV and you're bound to see shunts, run offs and collisions due to unforced driver errors and these are in the most optimal and ideal of track settings where there is plenty of run off areas, perfect pavement, great lighting, and other highly skilled drivers behind the wheel of specially prepared cars. Mistakes can and do happen by the very best of drivers even in these very best of conditions. Now, move from the track to the street where the conditions are far less optimal (i.e., potholes, animals that can wonder on to the road, poor lighting, poor drainage, other drivers that are not skilled driving cars that are not properly maintained, etc., etc.) and the odds of an accident occurring due to factors other than mechanical failure rise exponentially.
Bottom line: you can't rule out driver error, plus it really doesn't have to be just one or the other, driver error OR mechanical failure. It could have been a deer or a moose was on the road and the poor guy tried best he could to avoid it. It could have been another driver cut into his lane and he tried to avoid that car. It could have been 100 things that weren't the driver's fault, but weren't the fault of the car, either. You can't just surmise based on the limited info available that the car was absolutely to blame.
03-23-2019, 01:41 PM
#1405
Wow, it sounds like everyone believes that the driver was reckless and the car had little or nothing to do with it. This person wasn’t a 1950’s rock star driving too fast on California coastal hwy 1, this was a highly trained professional driver whose sole responsibility is to drive cars.
You do know that even highly trained drivers wreck cars all the time, right?
03-23-2019, 04:09 PM
#1406
Banned
03-23-2019, 04:51 PM
#1407
Although primarily an actor, Dean had a reputation as an above average race car driver, but he did have a penchant for driving too fast on public roads. He was issued a speeding ticket just a couple of hours before his fatal crash.The 550 Spyder was a tiny car which had a curb weight of 1200 lbs and over 200 HP. Unfortunately the smallest and the silver color of the car made it difficult to see. The driver of the other car was making a left turn onto highway 41 and the cars collided. Dean was travelling to Salinas for an auto rally and the original plan was to tow the car to the race, but at the last minute he decided to get some seat time in the Spyder before the rally.
03-31-2019, 05:57 PM
#1410
Addict
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
I just came back from the factory but unfortunately I did not see any signs of the Spyder while there. I did see several GT4 Club Racing Cars littered throughout the factory lots and of course the remaining 991's and the 992.