bkrantz

Cars very seldom "explode", except in the movies and on TV. And to do that, "burning" cars are rigged with additional explosives.

Again, from my experience working corners from club racing to F1. But what does sometimes pop are the tires. Any while using multiple 25 lb extinguishers up close, a tire going off can be exciting.

991carreradriver

I have read policy language that excludes coverage anywhere on or near the track itself, including paddocks, garages. You could be a visitor and have an incident driving through the paddock and could be denied coverage. Very sad event.

Luyi Chen

Hello Guys,

Finally the China lunar new year is almost over. I had an extremely bad flu over the past week, now finally becoming myself.

It has been a while since my 991.1s got burnt out. I have some more discovers to share and hopefully get some hint from anyone who knows the car better then I do.

So the accident happened in the afternoon of Jan.26. That was a Saturday afternoon. After fireman put out the fire, I started to Call Porsche China, it is a 400 toll free number that i called. From 2pm to 5pm I made numerous calls to Porsche China to report the accident and hoped they would send some rep to the accident scene to gather first hand evidence and check out the car. However, Porsche China only recorded my problems and complaints and nobody but operator ever contact me until Jan.30th. After the accident, I had no choice but hired local fork lifter and negotiate with the track owner to store the wreckage into a warehouse. Local fire department is now starting an investigation of how the car got on fire, Porshce only sent two technical staffs to the warehouse to take photos of the wreckage SIX days after the accident happened. I have to say I am pretty disappoint about Porsche China's response in this matter. I can understand that my car is over two years and the warranty got expired, however I did full services at the dealships, and my car was only a little over 20,000 kms.

Another finding I want to share with you guys was the cause of fire. The track is 2km long, and after running 6 laps, and fire/sparkle was first seen in the beginning of 7th lap. After checking the surveilance video in slow motion, I found that my car started sparkling fire at rear end around the exhaust very quickly, almost in milli-second. Witness said the initial smoke from the sparkle/fire burst was white or light blue. The sparkle each time last no more then milli-second ( it could only be seen motion by motion from the video, each sparkle exists one motion, but not another, extremely short) , and it flashed all though lap 7. Durning this time, my rear bumber or other parts did not catch fire, no black smoke, no nothing. only sparkles of fire flashes every 200-300 meter. In the beginning of 8lap, my rear got ignited, fume and fire was then continuous and can be visible seen. Given the fact I did oil change a month ago, brake fluid change and throttle valve cleaning two weeks ago, I wonder if there is a chance of engine oil leak inside, and maybe the oil dropped to the header, then cause the sparkle, and finally lid the bumper on fire? Does any one has any similar experience of the sparkle of fire from rear?

Since my car was a second from a friend, he changed the front and rear bumper into a GT3 style one, now Porshce rep is claiming the change of the rear bumper had caused the engine too hot and was the cause of fire. Although the fire department's investigation is still going on, and Porsche is not giving an offical saying of my accident, simply blaming my GT3 style rear bumper caused fire and without any thorough investigation really made me angry.

China is indeed a big car market, and the single biggest market for Porsche and many other brands. I hope Porsche will be responsible for the product and service it provided, be responsible for customers even it is a not a new car. I will fight this thing to the end to find the real cause of my accident. If it is indeed Porshe's fault, then I am having one of the best lawyers alongside. If it is my own fault, then I will just go ahead and buy a 992.

PJ Cayenne

What do you expect Porsche to do for you? Pay you the full value of the car? This is really an insurance issue. Not sure you have much of a case, and any evidence is most likely destroyed. Sorry for the loss of your car.

titleistaddict87

991carreradriver

Let's take a step back! You altered your 911.1 with a GT3 rear, can you tell us what exactly was altered?

Porsche_nuts

I don't think the OP is blaming Porsche out of the blocks, but rather wants a fair shake and take responsibility IF the car caught fire through no fault of the OP. OP is saying that Porsche is blaming the fire on the GT3 bumper cover without any kind of investigation. While I find that hard to believe, it may in fact be the cause of the fire, but OP wants them to investigate. OP already said that if his mods caused the fire, he would just go ahead and buy a 992

If that were your car, wouldn't you want the same? I would.

ipse dixit

People should keep in mind that this happened in China, where the laws (including issues surrounding defects, post-warranty liability, etc.) are very different than those in the U.S. and EU (where many of us are living and posting from).

Good luck to the OP.

Luyi Chen

just thr bumper itself. no other modifications. the car first shoot fire andi dont think the bumper would cause such fire sparkles. it more likely simething inside the car was wrong.

Luyi Chen

thats sadly the truth.

Bob Z.

I agree that you should be a lawyer and look into it. If not you will always wonder "what if" and that would drive me crazy. As you said, worst case is you can buy a new car but at least you can sleep better at night it you get to that point, I know I would.

Luyi Chen

yes that is what I want. posrche brand 911 as a race ready car and the fact i did two maintence at porsche dealership in less then a month probly means enough professional pre track inspections. afterall i did another round of check before hitting the track. the car was fine as it appeared, gauge meter read fine. also i was driving around 80kph not pushing the car to its extremes, which means this could have happened on road.
also the two dealers knew the change of bumper and didnt advise of a fire risk or heat block risk. what i suspect is the technicians did not do their job doing service. maybe left their wrench inside the cabin?

Luyi Chen

the fact is i cant go to sleep well unless the cause of fire was discovered. buying a new car can offer two years of warranty, but not forever right...

991carreradriver

If the bumper cover was OEM, I don't see how PAG could ever use that after market addition as a way to not accept responsibility. I suspect there is more to this story, perhaps some Mx induced failure.

mdrobc1213

Sorry for your loss OP. Yeah someone needs to take up the mantle and look deeper into why this happened. Suspect some type of maintance lapse but indeed as others have said the evidence may have gone up in spoke. Get the pros involved (hire your own if needed) and then see what is the cause. In the US, having the car on a race track and out of warranty also would probably limit you some..maybe a lot with Porsche AG unless a major fault like the GT3 engines was at fault. Remember a few Ferrari's burned to the ground a few years ago due to heat shield issues in a similar situation; however the servicing dealership may be where the money is from a responsibility standpoint depending on what you find. Good luck and keep us posted.