Long story short, was going to a friends, about 3 miles away from my house I took a corner going 40-45, exited the corner, rear end slid off a slight degrade in the pavment for a side road, poped 3 of my 4 tires off the bead, 180'd, side backwards, sideways into a ditch, then fliped out 180d and landed across the middle of the road going the way I was going about 200ft later...
When I entered the corner, I breaked, had my seatbelt on, felt the rear end catch air, heard and felt the tire deflate, heard both other tires deflate, hit my head right after the air bag went off on the sunroof, dont remember next 3 seconds, turned off the car, steped out, pulled the battery, and colapsed.
I have cuts and scrapes all over, most noticibly my arms, elbows, friction burn on my face, my knee nailed the dash, and well, theres the huge bump on my head. This was the first time driving this car since a brand new motor was installed just 2 days earlier. Im on heavy meds and have neck and sholder pain.

The good news? I just saved a buncha money on car insurance switching to geiko! (Joke)
The real good news? No serious damage done, this car was destined to be a 20b car anways, and well, now its going to be getting a full wide body, cage, and racing seats with harnesses, along with the proper suspension and tires.
I will post pictures tommorow, until then, here are these 2.




Thats the bad side, and its home now, with air in all the tires, except one which wont hold air. Its been washed and I have started to take inventory of the busted up parts....

 

First off, it's good that you didn't get hurt badly. The next most important thing is to learn to drive well, in order to avoid a mistake like this in the future.

1. There's a saying: the best thing you can do to any car is "fix the nut behind the wheel." The most important part (and most difficult for many people): learn good judgement / self control. This is something that can't really be taught, you've just got to do it yourself. Decide to be smarter about stuff like this next time. Most people have to learn this the hard way, I think everyone on these boards will agree.

2. Don't drive as if the streets are your personal racetrack. When you spin, you'll hit a curb / guardrail / tree / cliff / ravine.

3. Young people are statistically proven to be very likely to learn this type of lesson first-hand. It's called inexperience, and although it can be found in older drivers, it's very prevalent in young drivers. The FD3S is not a forgiving car. Teens shouldn't drive it at all. End of story.


Think of it this way: remember how bad a driver you were two or three years ago? You'll be that much better in another two or three years, but only if you choose to learn from your mistakes. I recommend "Going Faster! Race Driving Techniques" by Skip Barber , "Drive to Win" by Carroll Smith, and I'm sure Bob Bondurant has written a book although I can't recall the name. www.turnfast.com was a great website for driving technique, here's an archive : http://web.archive.org/web/200312260....turnfast.com/

My personal advice to anyone replacing a wrecked FD: buy a rear-wheel-drive non-turbo car. Less than 200hp. Get some good tires and new shocks. Don't do any power mods. Learn to drive it like a pro; prove yourself at the race track. Then save up and buy an FD in 2-3 years when you're ready. Karma's a bitch; if you don't improve yourself, the wreck will be worse next time.

-s-


PS, what tires were you running, and how old were they? How long have you been driving?

 

You can't even handle the bitch stock and now you want to turn the car into a 3-rotor monster??? You'll kill yourself for sure this time.

 

but you look so happy...

 

Hahahah, thanks.
I am usually a pretty good driver and I love my FC. I have taken that turn 100's of turns in my second gens and never had a problem. Ive also driven high performance merc's, bmw's, and audi's on the same road.
The tires were Yoko's that I have NO idea how old they were. The air pressure has become suspect in the case, and well, honestly I swear I checked them, but cant rightfully say I remember doing so with this bump on my head.
I have driven several FD's before, even on that same road, faster, and NEVER had a problem like this. The sherrif said he found something he swears I hit, and my rear driver tire is punctures, so who knows? This whole thing has about a dozen people going, WTF happened!!!

 

damn marc you got all fuxxord up! to bad the fd is messed up i loved that thing

 

Sadly, bad karma affected my good buddy. He had an R6 (bike), drove it into a ditch and ruined it. A week later, he collected insurance and bought a much faster CBR 929. Two months later, he flew into a car in head of him on a blind hill, going 130+. He died upon impact.

If you f*ck up once, take it easy and learn from your mistakes...don't go faster right away.

Goodspeed.

 

at least u didnt get permanantly hurt
money cant buy back a working body part
well some you can buy....lol

 

Answer,.. The kid behind the wheel thinks he is Shumaker! And has driven mad fast cars before a madder faster speeds than that. It "never" the persons fault that had the wreck. It's always some other contributing factor... I think the "heavy meds" are affecting your story telling and you should refrain from speaking until the truth comes out. If you have the ***** to tell it.

In all my years working on cars and at the motorcycle shops I have only hear 1,.. 1 !! person take responsibility for crashing. And i had to ask him to repeat himself 5 times so i heard him correctly. Blew me away.

 

*sigh* tire is a possibility... but first off, if it's a enw motor. why you raggin on it? it's 2 days old... second... i'd have to agree above.. learn to drive

i'll be honest.. i'm 20, drive an FD. i've turbo'ed many cars.. and drive 130 before etc.. but being in a stock fd. scares the **** outta me when i drive it with "spirit". it really is unforgiving to the beginner. autox is a great place to learn to handle. give it a shot. that's where i'ma headin next month. as of now. i be using cruis control like no tomorrow to refrain from hot footing.

glad you are ok. and at least the fd is fixable.

Los

 

I'm not looking to spark a debate, but I have daily driven my FD for three years since the age of 16 and have maintained it completely on my own with the help of this forum including a recent turbo swap with basic hand tools. But, I will agree with you and say that most teens shouldn't drive it at all.


Chris

 

General rule of thumb... if you PERSONALLY pay for EVERYTHING (car, parts, repairs, gas, insurance, etc) then you should be able to drive whatever car you want. He could have taken out a Ford Taurus & driven it fast around a turn & had the same (or worse) results. If you are 'adult' enough to handle 100% of your finances... than you are 'adult' enough to make your own choice (even if its a stupid one) to drive fast & pass on corners.

I just get sick of all the "my parents bought me this car... & this turbo kit... & this other ridiculously(sp) expensive part... then I wrapped it around a tree... but its okay... because my now my parents can just buy me a new car... money grows on trees afterall..."

 

I am 21 give or take a week or 2, I only look like a teen. I build these FD's and other cars for a forum memeber. I dont remember half of that day, but a good friends of mine dad who has been doing accident reconstruction for 30 years figured out atleast a base cinario. Even measured the skids, talked to the officers on scene, and inspected the car.
The things they dont understand is how I entered the ditch, left directional skids, dented only that OP from impact, and bent two rims in the opposite direction on different sides of the car. At first he thought I fliped it. But with my speed, and the tire marks, it just wasent possible.
Things I know? I heard a pop, felt the car floating, 2 more pops then ended back up on the road. The sherrif found something on the road which he told my neighbor, who was nice enough to get me from the hospital, caused my rear tire to loose pressure. One of the rear tires had a dozen or so little medal staples in it from house hold wiring. This was found about 1/2 way into the corner, I dint loose it till the end.

I was not beating on it, theres no way in hell I was going above 45, when I entered, I slowed from 45 down to 40. From the skids they said 45. If I had been going any faster, I would not be here right now. I build these motors, even with the jspec that I just put in it, for 500 miles, it wasent getting any abuse.

Im confused as anyone else, im trying to help as best I can get everything figured out, and if I knew I was going 60+, I would own up to it, if I wasent wraped around a tree....

 

Hahahah, I wish I had parents like that, I bought my first car at 14 and never got any help from them.

 

I know Spyder outside of the RX7club and he has owned MANY RX-7's, his FC is probably harder to tame than that FD was. What happened happened and it was an accident, I dont think everyone should be so quick to jump on the 'teens are tards' bandwagon.

While I whole-heartedly agree that FD's are bad cars for teens, or for that matter most adults -- everyone is differant and age isnt the sole detirmination of maturity and ability. I have had my FD since I was 18 (I'm 20 now)and have had no accidents, in fact I've come closer to a scare in my stock 240sx. I drive my FD hard, there is no lying about that but I still drive safely and I think that is a realm MANY other FD owners (young and old) share.

~Kris

 

What are you doing with a car @ 14? Just curious...

 

I couldn't agree more. I drove and autocrossed a Miata for several years before I got my FD. It's a GREAT car to learn on. Tons of fun, easy to drive and not crazy fast. Still have the Miata... in many ways a more fun car than the FD anyway. The new 06 model looks nice. If they come out with a Mazdaspeed version I may be in trouble.

 

Hope you get you car straightened out and glad that you are ok!

 

Heck I don't even want to tell you how many times I've crashed and how many times it has been my fault. Both on Track and Off (so far only once on track with my FD). And I'm 30. Lucky to be alive I suppose.

I have a Video of my miata going off the road on Carmel Valley Rd (south of Laguna Seca in Monterey) and jumping the car off a cattle crossing from my last banzai backroad trip to the bay area. If anyone wants to host it let me know.

 

 

Ive actualy had one since I was 9....
1924 Model T Ccab, I restore cars with my father. This one was given to me, but when I was 14 I bought one to work on, a 1962 Oldsmobile F85 sports wagon.

Next car was a 1984 Tbird- Yay for highschool beater, and then my 67 mustang with a bored 289, holley carb on a elderbrock intake, msd ignition, 4spd auto.

I love cars And my girl friend! (I have to say it! Or I will be shot) hahaha.

 

this is exactly why you don't want a cage on a street car. if you had a cage, the damage to your head probably would have been a lot worse. hitting a cushioned headliner is a lot softer than chromoly tubing.

cage only helps if you are wearing a helmet and are strapped in using some good belts and flip the car.

 

what's the story on the condition of the bins?

 

I had SO much respect for you... restoring a 1924 Model T @ age of 9... then you had to go & lose it all by mention the love... for the girlfriend...

 

Look, I am not trying to **** anyone off or offend anyone, but everyone who says something about "teens shouldn't be able to drive" make me really mad. I am not saying when I first started driving I was smart, because I wasn't. I did some stupid **** at 16 in a car, but that doesn't mean teens shouldn't drive. I am about to turn 20 and I know I am NOT as good as a driver as most of the older guys here, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to share a road with you. Are you going to tell me that you can trust me to take a rifle to Iraq, and defend your freedom, but you can't trust me to drive a car? Is the only reason you say that is because you may be in some danger if I am driving on the same road as you? God forbid you trust me with something important! I guess it's all good when Marines, who are teens, drive a Hummer, or a tank, Fallujah to raid a terrorist training facility, but put that same person in a car on the same street as you, and now they are NOT allowed to drive! To me, the real danger would be not allowing that Marine to drive, and have the terrorist come kill you instead. I will take my chances on the road with teens any.

Sorry for the rant, and rave! I guess I can make the same case for drinking, but a different time and place! Thanks for listening!