ptindall

Skip to 8:45 for the carnage.

C5ZEE06

thats suks man. how bad is it ?

ptindall

I got pretty lucky. So far the only parts I know I need to buy are the front bumper cover and the radiator support cradle. I drove the car again on the next session and it was just fine and just as fast.

AU N EGL

that track has some tricky corners.

Could see that understeer coming the lap before.

Glad your OK and the car not too bad.

RaleighSS

What kind of tires were you on? From a youtube point of view it sounds like the tires were talking to you for a while and finally let go. I tell my students if the tires are talking you are at the limit and back off a just bit just to keep it safe. Glad to see not much damage much better then a wall :-) Love the built in sand traps all we have here is that slick green stuff which at times seems 10X faster then asphalt

Greywolfe

Sorry to hear that. Could have been worse. These are the body panels I had to replace after hitting a tire wall:

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My insurance actually picked up the tab but then proceeded to drop me as soon as my policy expired.

sperkins

You still have all those parts?

ptindall

A new set of Nitto 555 RIIs which gave me far more grip than I've had before. Especially rear grip. I shaved close to six seconds off my best lap time. All day the car had been understeering at the limit, and with that happening, the crying front tires seemed perfectly safe. The spin was the first time the rear had stepped out on me. How I reacted would have saved it just fine with my previous set of tires and sway bars, but this set up reacted differently.

AU N EGL

I have a pile of Yellow body parts in my basement from hitting Road Atlanta T5 out side wall a few years ago.

trackboss

If gm didn't have the bright idea of using glue to secure so many panels these cars would not be so expensive to fix. In particular, those front wheel houses cost a small fortune to do right. At the very least they could have made them with a bolt on bottom piece so something as simple as a minor bump doesn't take out the whole part.

travisnd

I disagree.... I think GM did a great job. Overall the cars are very very easy to do body work on. The fact that all of our body panels simply unscrew other than the rocker panels are the envy of many.

I just removed my roof to do my rollcage and now it's simply bolt-on... not many cars you can do that with

trackboss

try replacing the front wheelhouses.

travisnd

It's not that hard... GM has a factory body repair manual that describes how-to step by step and how to ensure proper alignment. I helped a buddy do one on a salvaged C5 he was restoring. Like anything you do one and the rest are much easier.

40YRW8

Ptindall,
Did you notice at around 8:27 or so the wind sock shows what would turn out to a hard right to left cross wind in that corner. Could that have been a part of the surprise?
Gary

longdaddy

555 RII are way too squealy to use the sound to tell how close you are to the limit. the sound at going around the corner at 7/10th is nearly identical to the sound of sideways at 80mph. makes for nice videos and great for scaring passengers but that's it.

besides, if you use tire sound to tell how close to the limit you are, you are already playing catch-up. every time i spun and failed to save it, i was reacting to what i was seeing or hearing, every time i started sliding and saved/recovered, i was reacting to what was going to happen the next moment. i have no idea how that works, but it does every time.

in any case, good and calm action to save it (and probably prevented some backward action), just needed to start that a fraction of a second earlier.

ptindall

The wind was stupid strong on Sunday and indeed was a right to left crosswind for that turn. Sure, the C5 has a huge *** that doubles as a sail, but I'm not going to try to use that as an excuse though, as it was the same powerful crosswind every other lap I went through there and for every other car.



This was the first time the car got sideways with these tires and my new, bigger sway bars. I honestly think my reaction would have prevented a spin with my previous set up, but this set up reacted differently and was slightly less forgiving. My brain was not yet calibrated to that and was working off of how the car behaved in the past, which was differently. Now I know I need a quick reaction and greater countersteer to keep the end from going around. Hopefully I can make that happen the next time I need it.

brkntrxn

You never know, there could have been some sand blown onto the track that was not there on the previous lap.

95jersey

Parts are replaceable, people are not, glad you are OK and that is all that matters! Be safe!

the blur

Was the active handling on or off?

StKnoWhere

So true