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When brakes fail at COTA...

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Old 09-20-2014, 06:43 PM
  #16  
sbelles
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That barrier did an amazing job. The car looks nearly intact.
Old 09-20-2014, 10:48 PM
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mark kibort
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Originally Posted by sbelles
No, I think it was a mostly futile attempt to scrub speed.
its natural to start to s turn to scrub speed. it does help.

Originally Posted by txhokie4life
Going sideways at that speed almost turned it into a sailplane

Not sure if turn was intentional or it got loose in gravel and rotated

He appeared to start to wiggle it at the end if the straight.

Digging into gravel looks to flex body popping rear hatch.

Mike
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pre crash there is a delicate balance of trying to get sideways to get all 4 tires to create , at least, lock up resistance, vs chance of rolling, vs straight in, and hitting a wall and facing 100mph to 0 death decel

Originally Posted by tlarocque
Thx Mark. For those of us who are less car tech savy, good to know how things can go wrong. Good reminder to test your brakes on those tracks with long straights.
for me, it was taking an un-needed chances with old stock brake lines. others , just don't look at the braided lines and either don't change them at 5 year cycles or they get damaged without signs.
pretty scary and helpless feeling when they go out though
Old 09-20-2014, 11:20 PM
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Nizer I thought the same thing when I watched the video. How much is it going to cost to replace the barriers!!!
Old 09-20-2014, 11:30 PM
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Hoopumpers
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Originally Posted by baddogz28
I'm definitely putting a HANS device on my Christmas list this year.
Xmas? Screw that man. Order it today (assuming u will track before Christmas). Just not worth skimping on any available safety gear
Old 09-20-2014, 11:53 PM
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Errsomeone
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Originally Posted by mark kibort
its natural to start to s turn to scrub speed. it does help.

for me, it was taking an un-needed chances with old stock brake lines. others , just don't look at the braided lines and either don't change them at 5 year cycles or they get damaged without signs.
pretty scary and helpless feeling when they go out though
Also valuable to rebuild the calipers along side this suggested cycle suggested for the lines.

While no where near as problematic as the video, I experienced brake failure when my caliper seals failed on one of my fronts as the end of the front straight at Roebling. Fortunately, I was able to slow a bit and go off cleanly without damaging anything. Following this experience, I rebuilt all the calipers and replaced at least one of the hard lines when one of the new braided lines did not want to seat well.

Is there suggested cycle interval on the cup cars calipers/lines?
Old 09-21-2014, 12:24 AM
  #21  
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Those cushy barriers did an amazing job. Wish we had them on the rest of the tracks. I'd pay extra.
Old 09-21-2014, 01:49 PM
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indaville
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Originally Posted by Hoopumpers
Xmas? Screw that man. Order it today (assuming u will track before Christmas). Just not worth skimping on any available safety gear
Exactly!!!


Originally Posted by hf1
Those cushy barriers did an amazing job. Wish we had them on the rest of the tracks. I'd pay extra.
Me too.

Matt
Old 09-21-2014, 02:27 PM
  #23  
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I keep thinking, shouldn't he have been able to take more speed off by downshifting and by using the handbrake? Or am I way off? Granted, he didn't have much asphalt left in front of him after he found out there were no brakes -- once on the gravel there's not much he could have done. I'm sure he was also concerned about not going sideways too early on the gravel which would have led to a series of rolls with a much more unpredictable ending.
Old 09-21-2014, 05:23 PM
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^ hate to break it to you, but no hand brake in said car
Old 09-21-2014, 05:33 PM
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Bull_D
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not likely to have a handbrake in a full race prep.
Old 09-21-2014, 05:48 PM
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sbelles
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No, cups don't but even if it was a car built from a street car I'm not sure applying a parking brake (on one rear wheel) would achieve the desired result.
Old 09-21-2014, 05:52 PM
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Then maybe they should have one -- for all four wheels wheels. There's a reason they call it the "emergency brake".
Old 09-21-2014, 08:02 PM
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txhokie4life
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Originally Posted by hf1
Then maybe they should have one -- for all four wheels wheels. There's a reason they call it the "emergency brake".
At a buck 70, I think the e-brake would become a pyrotechnic.

M
Old 09-21-2014, 11:08 PM
  #29  
mark kibort
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down shifting works amazingly well, but not much time. it saved my **** at laguna with a brake like exploding.
Old 09-22-2014, 12:18 PM
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Originally Posted by Hoopumpers
Xmas? Screw that man. Order it today (assuming u will track before Christmas). Just not worth skimping on any available safety gear
+1,000,000,000

If it were up to me, I would require the use of a HANS (or equivalent device) for all drivers using harnesses at DE's. Virtuall all racing organizations require them already, but many if not most DE groups will allow folks out with harnesses but no HANS>


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