Car Chat

[12,000 RPM]

https://jalopnik.com/man-dies-after-crash-in-home-built-honda-civic-based-ka-1825681533

Weld a kart out of exhaust pipe and drive it on the street, bros.
Die in a minor fender bender as a result, bros.
Do it for the 'gram, bros.

Stupid fucker had a kid

[Laconian]

Called it the Death Kart

[Soup DeVille]

I couldn't find anywhere where it said what grade of tubing he used.

The after-crash photos have it looking relatively intact; I assume he wasn't buckled in though.

Whatever, I think the glee some are showing over his death is a bit childish.

[Soup DeVille]

Called it the Death Kart

"DeathKart" is kinda a generic term for these, and they've become somewhat commonplace. C5 deathkarts are a thing too.

[AutobahnSHO]

I couldn't find anywhere where it said what grade of tubing he used.

The after-crash photos have it looking relatively intact; I assume he wasn't buckled in though.

Whatever, I think the glee some are showing over his death is a bit childish.

comments seem to think it wasn't the right kind of tubing, and the welds broke, and the angles/ joint plates weren't there (that should have been).

Sad situation, and it should never have been registered.  Some guy with a welding torch can't expect to come close to federal-mandated crash engineering and testing.

[Laconian]

He admitted in that listing that the welding job was bad.

[Soup DeVille]

comments seem to think it wasn't the right kind of tubing, and the welds broke, and the angles/ joint plates weren't there (that should have been).

Sad situation, and it should never have been registered.  Some guy with a welding torch can't expect to come close to federal-mandated crash engineering and testing.

Comments seem to be talking out of their ass. Yeah, the cage doesn't look great, nor do the welds;

Were those the cause, or was he just unbuckled?

[Soup DeVille]

He admitted in that listing that the welding job was bad.

He admitted they weren't pretty, yes. Ugly welds can hold too.

He was thrown; did it happen because the belts broke off, or was he just unbelted?

[Soup DeVille]

What I'm saying is that even though this doesn't look like a great fab job, its not clear that it failed and killed him.

Any time you modify a car you risk making it less safe. I'm sure there are a number of deaths every year caused that could have been avoided if the car just hadn't been on performance tires in the rain, or if the owners tweaks to the rear alignment hadn't lead to a spin out, or if the lowered suspension hadn't failed after hitting a pothole, or if the car was just too fast.

And as guys who have all at one time or another done one or more of those things, its a bit hypocritical to be so glib about this dude's death- that's all.

[MX793]

https://jalopnik.com/man-dies-after-crash-in-home-built-honda-civic-based-ka-1825681533

Weld a kart out of exhaust pipe and drive it on the street, bros.
Die in a minor fender bender as a result, bros.
Do it for the 'gram, bros.

Stupid fucker had a kid

That's what you get in a state with no annual safety inspection.  According to someone from the VA DMV, that vehicle shouldn't have been registerable because it had been too heavily modified from the Honda Civic it had started out as (and was registered as).

[giant_mtb]

Wow.

[12,000 RPM]

What I'm saying is that even though this doesn't look like a great fab job, its not clear that it failed and killed him.

Any time you modify a car you risk making it less safe. I'm sure there are a number of deaths every year caused that could have been avoided if the car just hadn't been on performance tires in the rain, or if the owners tweaks to the rear alignment hadn't lead to a spin out, or if the lowered suspension hadn't failed after hitting a pothole, or if the car was just too fast.

And as guys who have all at one time or another done one or more of those things, its a bit hypocritical to be so glib about this dude's death- that's all.

On the scale of 1 to 10 of modifications, new tires is like a 1.5. This kit was like a 15.

Various forums and commenters analyzed the welds from the videos and pictures. A lot of the welds failed, and it seems the cause of death was him being ejected. Thing is, he was probably buckled in, and whatever his seat/harness was fastened to had its welds fail.

You are right that it's shitty to find glee in his death. I wasn't. But it's a reminder to do things right.

Speaking of which, you guys are probably going to laugh. Here is the end result of my track day.



Had 2 really good sessions, was flying on the last... VSC light went solid, spun it on the next turn.  Watching the video, I did counterspin, but IDK that I gave it gas. Raza will be happy to know the AT was so disobedient it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway. Glad I wasn't braking for turn 1 off the oval, but yea. Not a good day. Thankfully no airbags deployed, hopefully I will just need a new front clip. But now with the baby and all I'm thinking maybe it's not worth pressing my luck. Could have been so much worse.

[giant_mtb]

Ouch.  Glad you're alright. 

[12,000 RPM]

Me too.

[CaminoRacer]

o sheet.

[Laconian]

[shp4man]

Damn Sporty, hope it gets better, seriously. Unseriously, time for a CR-V? 

[12,000 RPM]

All jokes aside, maybe.

[68_427]

Even the Nascar drivers (who are actually pretty good at turning right too) said this new Roval layout is very unforgiving.

[Soup DeVille]

Glad you're OK.

How pissed is the wife?

[12,000 RPM]

She's not too pissed. At least she wasn't yesterday. We'll see when the final bill comes. She was more relieved than anything. I've had to make the "yea, so something speed related" happened call a few too many times. She said she doesn't want the next time to be a call or visit from someone else. I don't blame her.

Karting + sim racing are much cheaper + safer and not much less exciting for me anyway (mainly for those reasons). What I think I'm really going to miss is the motorcycle.

[AutobahnSHO]

Dude!!!     

That sucks, sorry to hear about the car but glad you're alright!!

I figure the lower the speed the less likely death. So
Miata > higher HP car
bicycle > motorcycle

 

Did you ever sell Civic? or how are you commuting now?

[MX793]

That sucks.  I'll stick with Auto-x.  On-the-limit driving with practically no  risk.  Cones don't do more than leave easy-to-buff-out scuffs.

[MX793]

On the scale of 1 to 10 of modifications, new tires is like a 1.5. This kit was like a 15.

Various forums and commenters analyzed the welds from the videos and pictures. A lot of the welds failed, and it seems the cause of death was him being ejected. Thing is, he was probably buckled in, and whatever his seat/harness was fastened to had its welds fail.

You are right that it's shitty to find glee in his death. I wasn't. But it's a reminder to do things right.

Speaking of which, you guys are probably going to laugh. Here is the end result of my track day.



Had 2 really good sessions, was flying on the last... VSC light went solid, spun it on the next turn.  Watching the video, I did counterspin, but IDK that I gave it gas. Raza will be happy to know the AT was so disobedient it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway. Glad I wasn't braking for turn 1 off the oval, but yea. Not a good day. Thankfully no airbags deployed, hopefully I will just need a new front clip. But now with the baby and all I'm thinking maybe it's not worth pressing my luck. Could have been so much worse.

Was your ESC on and then faulted/failed to off, or was in off and then turned back on due to a fault?

[CaminoRacer]

That sucks.  I'll stick with Auto-x.  On-the-limit driving with practically no  risk.  Cones don't do more than leave easy-to-buff-out scuffs.

+1

Hit up an SCCA event Sporty.

[12,000 RPM]

Was your ESC on and then faulted/failed to off, or was in off and then turned back on due to a fault?

On and faulted off.

[2o6]

I think buying a cheap G35 or similar is a good way to go, tbh.

[MexicoCityM3]

On and faulted off.

I am sorry this happened to you. Silver lining is that was an extremely light accident by HPDE crash standards.

If the ESC deactivating made you crash it is likely that the spin could've been avoided with better driving technique. Also, you were driving "too fast" relying on the ESC system to save you. A school would fix that, make you safer, and let you continue to enjoy an activity you like. Don't feel like shit, you're not the first nor last person to make a mistake like that. Learn, fix, move on, enjoy what you like.

[Gotta-Qik-C7]

This is why I won't track my GS. Plus insurance won't cover wrecks that occur on a racetrack.

That sucks.  I'll stick with Auto-x.  On-the-limit driving with practically no  risk.  Cones don't do more than leave easy-to-buff-out scuffs.

That's better....

[Raza]

On the scale of 1 to 10 of modifications, new tires is like a 1.5. This kit was like a 15.

Various forums and commenters analyzed the welds from the videos and pictures. A lot of the welds failed, and it seems the cause of death was him being ejected. Thing is, he was probably buckled in, and whatever his seat/harness was fastened to had its welds fail.

You are right that it's shitty to find glee in his death. I wasn't. But it's a reminder to do things right.

Speaking of which, you guys are probably going to laugh. Here is the end result of my track day.



Had 2 really good sessions, was flying on the last... VSC light went solid, spun it on the next turn.  Watching the video, I did counterspin, but IDK that I gave it gas. Raza will be happy to know the AT was so disobedient it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway. Glad I wasn't braking for turn 1 off the oval, but yea. Not a good day. Thankfully no airbags deployed, hopefully I will just need a new front clip. But now with the baby and all I'm thinking maybe it's not worth pressing my luck. Could have been so much worse.

Yikes. Glad you're alright, man.