Umm... while I personally didn't state teens shouldn't be allowed to drive... those who did... assuming they really meant it & were not simply kidding...

ARE ENTILLED TO THEIR OPINION

Remember... Opinions are like ********...

NOW, DOWN BOY!

 

I've got a right 1/4 panel and rocker if you need one. In Oregon.

Actually it doesn't look TOO bad, I think the rocker panel damage is quite serious. That is the "frame rail" in the middle of the car. Pics aren't close up so it isn't too easy to tell at this point.

Jeff

 

i have an airbag for sale !

and yeah that cars frame looks tweaked a noticable amount

 

To the original poster: 45 can still be too fast, it will depend on the corner and the line you take. If your car slid off the road and caused enough damage that someone thought you had flipped, I'd say you were probably going too fast for that corner. Especially if you knew you were on crappy tires. Seeing as how you advertise Kumho 712's on your FC's 'mod list' , I'd say you've got plenty to learn about performance driving.


To the teens: I never said teens shouldn't drive. I said they shouldn't drive FD's. They're not a good learner's car.



If you can't drive well in an underpowered car with decent handling, you've got no chance in an overpowered car with good handling. It's all about experience, and my personal opinion is that if you don't have racetrack experience, you shouldn't drive a 3rd Gen, because you can't control it near its limit.

-s-

 

Umm, I would think the majority of FD owners did NOT have track experience prior to purchasing their FD. I have never had track experience, & just bought my first FD... which means I will be going NO WHERE near its limit for a while. What's the fun in a new toy if it's wrapped around a pole? Instead, I'll take it easy for awhile & get use to the car. Then SLOWLY open it up little by little. Racetrack is not a pre-requisite... patience & common sense should be.

 

^
|

Very well said! Most teens may not understand that so that is why it may be a bad idea to put a teen in a FD, but that DOES NOT mean teens shouldn't drive.

 

Woohoo! 133 Posts & I've made 3 'good' comments! When I get home, I'm gonna get me a cookie!

 

Happens to the best of us Spyder, at least your ok. Repair and get it back on the road ASAP.

 

Scotty, the Kumho's were a $127 each tire I got for $200. Couldnt be happier with them either. Yoko's or a good pair of dunlops are going on this FD once its back drivable condition.

I already found out what suspension parts need to be replaced.

 

So where do you plan on learning the limits of your FD? These cars SPIN when pushed over the limit. The powerband of the twin-turbo makes it very easy to go from 7/10ths (pretty fast pace, but still safe) to 11/10ths (oops, just lost control) in a split-second. Due to the car's well-designed suspension, you'll be going way too fast to react when you exceed the limit and spin. You mention "common sense." Part of common sense is knowing the right time and place for everything.


Please don't take anything I say personally. I don't hate you or think you're stupid for wanting to drive fast. I'm just trying to clearly convey some important information: if you drive fast on the streets in an FD, you will crash. And when you crash, you'll be going very fast.


I'll admit, I spent a few years driving like an idiot on public roads, it was great fun at the time and I'm lucky I never got hurt. Then I discovered autocrossing. When I look back at all the unnecessary risks I took, I wish someone had told me sooner. There is nothing like the freedom that comes from being able to safely push your car to its absolute limit.


-s-

 

Personally, I take my car out to a big parking lot out in the middle of nowhere and go "hmm, I wonder what will happen if I do this..." or "Hmmm, Let's do this...." I think it is important to know (whether it's an FD or not) what your car will do in a certain situation. I was once taking a turn (yeah, too fast, yeah fooling around) and I slid, and thanks to my many midnight galavanting I was able to control the slide with no major incident. Had I not, I probably would of gone "Oh ****!" and slammed on the brakes, spun around, hit a car/curb/anything solid and cursed at myself for being stupid.

I understand though that many people don't live in a convenient location where a big parking lot or a track is available and that sucks. I'm glad that you didn't get hurt too bad, and I agree about the possibility of the frame being tweaked.

What pisses me off about 'teenage' drivers are those few that make things worse for the rest of us. Gee, I wonder why insurance is so expensive for those ages. Could there possibly be a link????

I also agree that an FD is not a beginner's car.

 

My one question: What was the speed limit on that road?

 

Spyder,
If you're going to be doing any repair work on the car while it's on jackstands, and
you're not going to move it to a paved area, you should get some squares of 3/4"
plywood (or equal) under the stands so you don't have to worry about them sinking
in. If the pics just showed the car up temporarily, never mind...

David

 

Exactly, I'll be buying a FD in a few months, and although I have no track experience, I have tons of expeirence driving the heck out of a first gen RX7. I plan on learning how to drive the FD properly on a track though, but before that it'll just be straight line fun.

 

45
and the accident reconstruction guy measured the skids, I wasent going above 45.
The corner was makred at 35.

 

Just for inspecting the damage.

 

If those bins cracked from the accident, you have a lot more to worry about than new rims and a new quarter-panel.

 

Those cracked from the seat folding all the way back with me in it, smashing into them.

 

I don't plan on EVER reaching the LIMITS of my FD. The LIMIT of this car is much faster than what I would consider driving. There is a safe limit to everycar... why would you exceed it except on a closed track... & even then you're risking it.

 

The corner was marked at 35 and you were going 45. If you were on dry pavement the FD should have no problem handling that. Unless you pushed it to hard and the rear end kicked out.

 

Unless I misunderstood, he didn't crash because he lost control... sounded like his tires popped while in mid-turn. Probably wouldn't have mattered (obviously would have been less damage) if he was going 35; you go into a turn & your tires pop, you're going into the ditch.

 

yay, finally someone who isn't burning the **** out of him.

When I first started driving my 1st gen it had been sitting for about 6 months. On the way to work one day I was on the highway and my car suddenly started wobbling and I almost lost control. I finally got to the side and stopped and got out and looked at my tires, both rear and the front passenger tires were completely flat and the front one was off the bead. I had checked the tire pressure when I left my house cause they looked a little low and it was within reason.

I believe him... bad tires can cause lots of wierd **** to happen.

 

Could have been low tire pressure. It really wouldn't take much cornering force to pull a bead off a rim if the tire only had 8 psi (yes you can drive on 8psi, I've done it at the drag strip).

 

Well, at this point it dosent matter.

The final word as I am taking it came from a 30 year cert accident reconstruction guy and I am stocking with it, because it makes the best cense. Seeing as I have a hard enough time remembering last week.

Everything is being taken care of and it looks like the car will be one heck of a ride when its done . My friends tossing it on a rack to get it back to normal for free, another is fixing the alingment for me.

 

Yeah, something close to this happened to me, but not as bad. I had a slow leak in the right rear and didn't know it. So here is the scenario. I was accelerating to make a left turn, because of the green arrow. I get the arrow, and decelerate down from 45 to 25/30 before I hit the turn. Brakes off and make the turn under no throttle. I was turning onto a road with 4 lanes (2 each way).

Halfway through the turn, the right end goes whoopsie! It just went out for no reason at all, the road was dry, no oil. I let off the throttle and correct. When I got to my destination, I looked around the rear end, I was initially looking for oil on the tire. I saw the low pressure and checked. It was down to 12 lbs.