msobota

It seems sureal but it happened. Since I only drive the car on nice days when I have a relaxed schedule, that was the profile. No traffic - sunny day - good mood. I came up on one of my favorite corners: a nice 90 degree right ramp turn emptying into 2 lanes. I put it in second as I approached the corner and decided I was really going to get on it and let the car come out hard to the left. I floored it - the car came out hard to the left - I turned into it and knew it was more aggressive than others I have done in the past - I think I let off the gas, a little surprised at how far the rear came around - The rear end then came back to center and broke out hard to the right which was even more surprising because it was more extreme than the first slide and this time I was not on the gas - Now I was way out of control and almost backwards. I ran out of road and smashed into the 8" median. The front air damm and battery exploaded. The spare tire area is destroyed from underneath and the spare tire was forced from the bottom up into the hood. The wheels - tires - fenders appear largely undamaged and I actually drove the car home which is 4 miles down the road.

So - My beautiful car is wrecked and of course it's totally my fault. Fortunately nobody was hurt. The car is at the shop and will begin taking a look at it next week.

Clearly I need to go to drivers school. I have always been a rather aggressive driver but never bent metal. Hopefully it will go back together OK.

Sorry for the bad news folks.

Mike

Pete K

Bummer, sure hope you can get her fixed ok.

You do have the solution in hand... DE and then, DE.

Pete

ca993twin

Mike,

I'm so sorry to hear about your incident. My car got pranged by a pickup changing lanes, and I used that opportunity to have the wheels replaced, and the front bumper converted to Euro style... all on the other guys insurance. Try to make your car better, to help erase the pain you are surely feeling. Such a beautiful car... Sorry.

emilios

Really sorry to hear Mike,

but it happens to the best of us. Had a very similar incident on new year's eve, but luckily I only broke the rear suspension arm and some very minor rear fender cosmetic damage.
I was wearing big shoes as I had to dress 'formally', and -believe it or not- when I entered a bend, my shoes got stuck in the pedals during my gearchange, floored it in my attempt to release my feet and all hell broke lose - oversteer, overcorrection, oversteer on the other side and boom - hit the kerbside with my left hand rear wheel.

We must definitely do some proper Porsche performance driving ASAP.

Hope you can get yours repaired - and don't worry accidents and incidents are-unfortunately- unavoidable sometimes. Blame it on the bad moment - at least you are ok.

Warmest regards

Emilios

boostid

Sorry to hear about your "incident". I've been driving fairly conservatively on the street with my TT for 5 years. Decided last month it was time to try it on the track. It's amazing how easy it was to get the car out of shape. Power oversteer, throttle-lift oversteer, it was all there. Too much HP, too much right foot, not enough grip. I'm glad I did the track event. Made me really respect the car's teeth. Now, maybe some sticky tires would help!

Good luck with the repairs.

Hal
97TT Arena/Cashmere (SRDs, RUF19s, PSS9, RS sways)

ACEparts_com

My heart goes out to you, it really does.
My friends here in the UK moan about my driving because on the roads, I drive faster in my 100BHP VAN than i do in my TT!
The first thing I did when I bought it was to do a DE day with a gentleman called Bernard Aubrey. He's a real Porsche specialist and gave me real confidence in the car.
The next weekend I did a 911 track day at Rockingham and it allowed me to really explore the handling with the knowledge of the reasonable run-offs!
Pic enclosed (i'm well chuffed with it!)

http://www.aceparts.com/911turbo.jpg

Anyway, I still drive like a panzy and often wonder why I bought one of the fastest cars on the road!
Keep us informed of the progress!
Alan

Autobahn

Sorry to hear MIke. But the most important thing is that you are OK!

KRA993tt

Wow Mike what a bummer. I like Steve's idea too, maybe this is opportunity to do some things to the car you might not have. Glad to hear you are ok.

I am just starting the registration process for the Potomac Region High Performance Driving Course/Drivers Education.

See you there.

viperbob

That's a shame Mike... Well at least you came through it OK. The car can always be fixed.

Yes sometimes it is not a natural reaction in a 911 to keep on the gas, or even give it a little more when you go into a turn a little hot. The penalty for errors on the street however are pretty high for a mistake.

Good luck with getting the car repaired.

John H. in DC Area

That's awful news, Mike. I'm relieved you're okay.

It's amazing that your HRE's came out okay given the force of the impact. Were these the newly cut HRE's or the prior set?

Who's handling your repair? It will obviously require meticulous work, but your car can be restored to excellent condition mechanically and cosmetically. Ironically, I was just about to send you some pics from our day together down at Pitstop a month ago. I'll post 'em here instead and hope they keep your spirits up during the repair. Call or e-mail if you want to talk about local repair shops.

I suppose if there's a better time to be without your car it's during the crappy winter months. Good luck!

Tour18

Awwww Man! Like others said above, the only thing that matters is that you walked away from it. Keep us posted on the outcome.

msobota

Thanks for the pictures John and all for the kind words. The new rear centers for the HRE's are ready. Hopefully, I will be able to remove the rears and send them out to be switched out while the repair is taking place. The car is at Wagonworks in Alex VA.

Mike

Anir

Mike,

Hang in there. A good body shop can do amazing things with a wrecked car. Mine has been in "surgery" for the past 5 months after a pretty bad spin at over 100 mph (on the track). It should be home next week. I've seen it, and it looks like a brand new car.

I also took the opportunity to turn a bad situation into a good one by upgrading to European bumpers, Turbo S ducts, Euro front turn signals, and getting the whole car repainted.

Good luck with the repair! She'll be good as new one day. And, you'll love doing DE's.

TB993tt

Good news that you are OK - looking at the damage, how significant do you fell the spare wheel was in absorbing the impact ?
Getting the tail out under power in second is also one of my favourite tricks - I have a special LSD on the rear which is rated 65/45 (I think, could confirm if anyone is interested) and the rear end always feels relatively controllable, being able to hold it at an angle under power and bring it back using the steering. I have let off the power a couple of times without a big "kick back" in the other direction. I may just have been lucky but the diff may really be working some magic in the "overrun" department.

Steve 96C4S

Total drag, and I know the feeling. 5 years ago I was driving down Connecticut Ave at 7am on my way to a Leukemia Society Team and Training marathon event, a month after I bought my first 911 (1 week before my first Driver's Ed) and I kind of floored it a bit in a light rain... the whole rear end spun out of control, I ended up on the median strip staring down a huge semi truck coming straight for me in the opposite lane! Somehow, just after I prayed to God not to end my life just yet, I slipped back onto the correct side of the road off the center median strip and hobbled my car off onto a the sidestreet in Kensington. $6000 later it was as good as, well - better than new! This wasn't exactly ethical, but my repair shop told me to tell the insurance people that I swerved to miss a deer, and for some reason the whole thing was covered! They said they made a mistake on the paperwork and it was in my favor!

Life's lessons. I DID finally get to a DE. I'm alot smarter now, and I changed my brand of tire REAL fast. Went to Toyo Proxes and they were much better than the lame Dunlops I had on it.

My 1 year old (to me) 96 993 has brand new tires, so I should be good for a while. I hope to see you at the next "Leap Year Meet and Drive" on Feb 29th somewhere between DC and Baltimore, if your car is done by then. Mark from Baltimore is arranging this fun day for us and our cars.

Glad you're OK. It was nice meeting you at the last meet and drive. You've got one of the sweetest 993's I've ever seen.

Steve