I was coming out of work early in the morning on the weekend when I got in real trouble. The road was dry – no one around – just a dry smooth road on a beautiful clear day in August. As I was accelerating out of a right hand sweeping turn, I heard that beautiful sound of the V coming alive. So I mashed the pedal to the floor and shifted hard into second. Although the road was straightening out just ahead, the V was still in the curve at just about the limit of traction. After shifting into second (traction control was on) the rear end broke loose and slid out to the left. I turned into the skid lifted my foot off the gas and seemed to regain control when all of the sudden the car switched directions and did a wicked fast 270 degree spin in the opposite direction. This time the skid was completely out of control. I hit the curb going sideways with the right rear wheel first then the right front. Bang! What an awful noise… I landed in the grass after jumping the curb with the whole car.
The right rear wheel was angled in at a 45 degree angle at the bottom. Both wheels on the right side were broken from the impact. The impact broke the differential mounting tabs off, bent the drive shaft, bent the rear support cross member, broke the steering gear assembly, and bent all the control and stabilizer arms on the right side. The only body damage was from the upper shock mount getting pulled out of position. Very sad…especially since I only had the car for three weeks prior to the accident. My first accident after driving over 30 years – of course this was the first car I ever had with that much power! Total damage was just over $13K – luckily I have good insurance and a clean record – no tickets.
After five weeks of waiting and another week back and forth to get everything perfect the car is great. The good news (if there is an upside to a story like that) I got the new differential – the serial numbers match anyway. I also upgraded to the Cadillac accessory wheels for the V. The original wheels had some streaking in the finish most likely from harsh chemicals used by the previous owner in cleaning. I also salvaged one on the broken wheels with a partially damaged tire to use as a spare. (The car had new Dunlop Direzza DZ101 – non run flat - tires all around when I bought it) I still have the two wheels from the left side – I’m thinking of using them for drag radials if I that works out next summer.
So now the V is safely wrapped up in the garage until next spring. Any ideas how things could have gotten so out of control with the TC on??
Thanks for the great forum!
CC
The right rear wheel was angled in at a 45 degree angle at the bottom. Both wheels on the right side were broken from the impact. The impact broke the differential mounting tabs off, bent the drive shaft, bent the rear support cross member, broke the steering gear assembly, and bent all the control and stabilizer arms on the right side. The only body damage was from the upper shock mount getting pulled out of position. Very sad…especially since I only had the car for three weeks prior to the accident. My first accident after driving over 30 years – of course this was the first car I ever had with that much power! Total damage was just over $13K – luckily I have good insurance and a clean record – no tickets.
After five weeks of waiting and another week back and forth to get everything perfect the car is great. The good news (if there is an upside to a story like that) I got the new differential – the serial numbers match anyway. I also upgraded to the Cadillac accessory wheels for the V. The original wheels had some streaking in the finish most likely from harsh chemicals used by the previous owner in cleaning. I also salvaged one on the broken wheels with a partially damaged tire to use as a spare. (The car had new Dunlop Direzza DZ101 – non run flat - tires all around when I bought it) I still have the two wheels from the left side – I’m thinking of using them for drag radials if I that works out next summer.
So now the V is safely wrapped up in the garage until next spring. Any ideas how things could have gotten so out of control with the TC on??
Thanks for the great forum!
CC
Glad to hear your OK. I learned my lesson a few years back when I lost control of my Corvette. Luckily I had no time to think. I say that because I would have done what you did "steer into the skid". But everyone I spoke with about it told me that with the stabilty control on where you steer is where your going. I steered in the direction which I should have been going and the car corrected itself.
