Wrecked friday night

[Andrew/USPWR]

F#@! That doesnt look good. Hope he pulls through OK.

I've loaned mine out but don't recommend it. Not because they might wreck it but because they might off themselves because they didn't respect the HP of these cars.

 

[RTTTTed]

I lent mine out to my kids for a test drive. Promised that they wouldn't use more than half throttle. They don't feel the need to borrow my 900bhp Viper any more.

As to losing control on the brakes ... ABS doesn't work when the tires are skidding sideways and since he left the car it was driving itself after that. No nannies or babysitters and the car drove itself saving the girlfriend? Must be a miracle in there somewhere?

 

[RavenFan_94]

Horrible pictures, wishing everyone a full recovery.

 

[escapedan]

That's maybe been the biggest disappointment with my Viper ownership so far. I have loved letting my close friends and family drive all my cars, because I would have loved the oppurtunity at different points in my life.

When I got the Viper, everyone kind of assumed it would be the same way. Of course, no one has driven the car, and it makes me feel like an ass when I tell them they can't. They assume its because its a "Viper", and its so expensive...the real reason is I'm concerned for their safety, and the safety of the car

This thread has just had a very big impact on me, probably more then any other post I've read. I've owned my Viper for a few months now and although none of my friends have driven it yet, I was starting to feel bad about not letting any of them take the wheel. That will not be happening now....probably not ever. Like AbsolutHank said, not due to the cost of the car, but really for their safety.

Thank you for posting this thread. While it might disappoint some of my friends, or cause them to think I am being uptight, it might just keep them from ending up another "borrowed Viper" statistic. Best wishes for a complete and quick recovery to your friend.

 

[ViperGTS]

Sorry for being harsh, but he must be an idiot driving a friends Viper and NOT using the seatbelt. He also was driving obviously too fast to stop in case of an emergency/obstacle situation - again and especially in a friends VIPER he does not know!!! Glad nobody else was hurt.

 

[SkyBob]

From my understanding, a car pulled out in front of him, he went to go slam on the brakes and the car lost control, he hit a car, when he hit the car the driver side door of the viper completely flew off the car, then the car fish taled, he flew out the car, the car kept spinning and finally hit a pole.

I hope your friend recovers.
I do have one question. How do you go to slam on the brakes & loose control. Sounds like he never hit the brakes.

I'd like to know why we on this forum read a report of an accident and accept everything that was written is exactly how it happened? Shank2117 says "from my understanding". That means he's relaying the story as he heard it. Then he says "he went to go slam on the brakes and the car lost control". Well, did he slam on the brakes or was he going to slam on the brakes? We don't know.

If you tried, I'm sure you could imagine plenty of ways where slamming on the brakes and losing control happens.

By the way, and I know I'm going to get *****-slapped for this, but ... you don't loose control, you lose control. Lose is the opposite of win and loose is the opposite of tight.

Bob

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

While it might disappoint some of my friends, or cause them to think I am being uptight, it might just keep them from ending up another "borrowed Viper" statistic.

Stick to it. I've let my brother and others drive my Vipers because I know I can trust them. I've also refused many. One buddy was quite persistent several times and actually told me "I'm gonna drive one of your Vipers."
I replied "No, you will never, ever drive either of my Vipers." When he asked why I said, "Because you're a ****ty driver, talk on the phone, drink (both alcohol and cokes) while driving, don't pay attention, drive all over the road..." He was visibly offended. I didn't care.

Generally, the ones that ask to drive are the ones to worry about. Particularly if they ask like a 16-year-old.

 

[Twister]

Ive said it many times..but ill tell my story again...

sold a 378 rwhp head/cam modified 2004 vette for a 410 rwhp stock 99 viper..figured..**-Humm another 32 rwhp on the viper but the vette weighs 100 pounds less..No biggie..Just a slightly faster car...


First night of ownership with my 99 viper I nearly wrecked it just leaving a stop sighn...

These V10 8.x litre vipers arent about the HP..They are about the tourque at a very low rpm...That 99 viper was 465 rwt when stock ( 500 crank tourque)....

6 months late I let a female co worker drive it...In less than a mile she almost wrecked it twice..She was a very attractive blonde and I let that cloud my better judgement...

6 months after that I raced a c6Z06 and slammed the gas hard at 70 mph in 3rd gear...Lost control and hit a wall...Car was only 445 rwhp at that point...No were near enough power to make the car jump sideways in third gear at 70 mph..But the 500 rwt it was then producing was more than enough...

Few months later got an srt10 and added some mods for 475 rwhp and 500 rwt...This time raceing an acr viper a year after getting it in third gear at 70 mph..Exact same thing all over gain..A total disrespect for the power and TOURQUE these cars produce even in stock or lightly modified form....

Hit a wall...


People talked a lot about the Z06...But wheny friend got one in 2007 to me the car felt SLOW...Sure in the upper rpm's the car screams..But you gotta go through the rpm's to get that quickness..

A Viper on the other hand in gen2 or gen3 guise dosent scream at all in the top end like the z06 does..but at low rpm's the tourque of the viper yells and growls..Makeing it a very fun car to drive...but also very dangerous ( especially the gen2's)...

In short only a few days ago a co worker asked me to let him drive my viper...I told him no way..He asked why and i said you have never driven a car with this much tourque and power...He got offended and said that he had rented one of those 436 HP yellow 2008 Vettes with the black stripe and that he could easily handle my car...

I explained that with my few mods my Viper was 550 hp and 570 tourque...A full 114 more HP and 150 more tourque then the vette that he had driven...

Well....He was very offended and though i tried to explain that i was thinking about his safety ( and my car) we havent talked since

 

[plumcrazy]

Me thinks there is a lot more to this story.......

 

[Fatboy 18]

There usually is, but you never know who's reading this stuff
With an accident like that, the Police will be involved and I'm sure the local Highways agencies will also be looking into road conditions and any damaged street furniture

So I wonder if his friend was fully insured to drive the car?

If he was not, that will be one very large bill, especially as he also wrecked another car too!

Mark
UK

 

[HensleySRT-10]

Good lord!!! This is just a bad situation all the way around

Hopefully the friend will pull through this ok!!!!!

 

[goldcup]

Terrible hope he makes it back 100%

 

[Bandit3]

Hmmmmmm, car pulled out in front and couldn't stop? And all that damage happened after hitting the brakes? Things that make ya go HMMMMMM. BTW, what does his G/F look like?

 

[CarGo]

Wow, very sobering thread, could be a life changing event for the OWNER of the car considering liability issues..

 

[ferraritoviper]

Another testimony for ESC! What the hell is the big deal...they are switchable. For the minority of Viper owners who track their ride, but moan about the extra weight for ESC...go on a diet and lose 3 lbs.

 

[WILDASP]

Another testimony for ESC! What the hell is the big deal...they are switchable. For the minority of Viper owners who track their ride, but moan about the extra weight for ESC...go on a diet and lose 3 lbs.

Might have helped, might not have helped; we don't know enough about what happened here to say. In any case, any future Viper (as in 2012 or beyond), will have ESC, for better or worse. In the meantime, I think it's a bad idea to loan a Viper to anyone who does not have considerable experience driving one.

 

[BolsOut]

Hey Twister, sounds like you've got the best nickname on the forum.


...and for all you guys that say NOT wearing the seatbelt prolly saved this Knucklehead...


I'd be willing to bet it played a BIG part in him losing control of the car in the first place.
Hmmmm...
...Just a thought, but I've "slammed" on the brakes in my '05 many times (practiced threshold braking to 'learn' the car & to demonstrate to others).
Knowing the World Class stopping power of these cars, I think the unrestrained driver quite possibly turned himself into a MISSILE when he "hit" the brakes.
...
Hmmmmm...

 

[97snk]

Hey Twister, sounds like you've got the best nickname on the forum.


...and for all you guys that say NOT wearing the seatbelt prolly saved this Knucklehead...


I'd be willing to bet it played a BIG part in him losing control of the car in the first place.
Hmmmm...
...Just a thought, but I've "slammed" on the brakes in my '05 many times (practiced threshold braking to 'learn' the car & to demonstrate to others).
Knowing the World Class stopping power of these cars, I think the unrestrained driver quite possibly turned himself into a MISSILE when he "hit" the brakes.
...
Hmmmmm...

+1

been there done that and learned my lesson...

 

[Shank2117]

I let an 18 year old girl drive mine once.

The outcome was worth it

 

[Fatboy 18]

I let an 18 year old girl drive mine once.

The outcome was worth it

If only

 

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Another testimony for ESC!

Oh really? And what about all the wrecked Ferraris with ESC? Are they a testiment against it? Wrecked Exotic Cars - Pictures of Expensive Car Crashes and Wrecks

BTW this Viper has ABS and it didn't help one bit. However the seatbelt would have...if he had used it.

 

[RTTTTed]

ESC? Thought that was just for disallowing any speed into corners? Charger would have trouble going around my roads gravel corners at 30mph. With the ESC turned off I drove that same corner at 70mph. Someone thinks that ESC is a good thing? Why?

 

[RTTTTed]

Dodge still offers the HPDE free with every new Viper sold? That's the best nannie for a Viper driver. Even the older 400hp Porsches came with a paid HPDE.

There are a lot of modified Vipers on the road and the LEAST powerful has 400bhp.

On vette owner explained his difference between nearly equal hp cars and the extra caution required to drive a Viper. I emailed "Tony" from craigslist about his M6 Beemer ad. He said 645ci and "extremely fast". Since I own a 850bhp Viper I should know what 'fast' means so I emailed and asked him what was fast and stated that BMW did not build an engine that large. I mentioned the "my" Viper had only 488ci and it was fast. Tony replied, "Don't know what you're smoking with your Domestic garbage or what you're on about." Seems that to Tony his modified 380bhp 04 Beemer was quick and it turns out that his engine is only 5 liters? That's 302 cubic inches. I bet he thinks he knows how to drive "domestic garbage"??? My Mother would say, "Other people's kids, eh?"

I enjoyed his explanation of his enlightenment.

But, all things considered sometimes "Sh_t just happens."

Maybe don't allow anyone without HPDE to drive a perf car? Should get rid of all the no-mind buddies trying to drive your Vipers? ESC, TC and ABS don't make a good driver or give the driver any hp driving experience. It should be stated that HP driving means racing or emergency situations?

Ted

 

[Twister]

Ive seen quite a few accidents ( includeing my own)

You dont get damage like that going 50-60 mph....That damage is 80 PLUS mph damage in all honestly...

Reguardless..I hope the guy pulls through

 

[C.Hermsen]

Ted, not to go off topic here, but 645ci is the model name of the beemer.

 

[Twister]

Ted, not to go off topic here, but 645ci is the model name of the beemer.

ha ha ha..got you on that one Ted....

 

[RTTTTed]

ha ha ha..got you on that one Ted....

Got me! Wonder why the idiot owner didn't just say that? Maybe he's German and doesn't know that engine sizes are measured in Cubic Inches/ci as well as Cubic Centimeters/cc and Liters? Guess that's one reason N. Amercians just don't buy as many Euro cars?

Idiots always confuse me when they have a >400bhp car and say "fast" in their ads. They are really dangerous people.

Ted

 

[Coloviper]

Ugly crash but it looks like it actually protected the passenger and driver areas very well. Picture shows the driver door sitting on the driver's seat which looks ugly but they must have picked up after the crash in tow. Looking at that I would say, he would have been much better off with his seat-belt on, at least from those pictures.

After all these years, I have never understood the lending out the car thing. My friends are my friends because they NEVER ask to drive my cars. They never even attempt to ask as they know the pride I have with all my vehicles and they do not want to lose a friendship over wrecking one. My dad and my uncle who are very experienced drivers have driven my Viper as I asked them to, but I know they will not even attempt to push the car beyond a straight away on-ramp run from 0 to 80 mph in a straight line. Safe bet the car is coming back in one peace each time.

The "lend your car out" thing is a high school type of ploy. I just neverunderstood it, in adult life. It is like test driving exotics at the dealership. Do you really want to walk on the car 100% and chance wrecking it before your signature is on the bottom line. I never have.

Glad your friend has a hope at survival. In a crash situation, few are at their best with judgement.

 

[KenricGTS]

Ive said it many times..but ill tell my story again...

sold a 378 rwhp head/cam modified 2004 vette for a 410 rwhp stock 99 viper..figured..**-Humm another 32 rwhp on the viper but the vette weighs 100 pounds less..No biggie..Just a slightly faster car...


First night of ownership with my 99 viper I nearly wrecked it just leaving a stop sighn...

These V10 8.x litre vipers arent about the HP..They are about the tourque at a very low rpm...That 99 viper was 465 rwt when stock ( 500 crank tourque)....

6 months late I let a female co worker drive it...In less than a mile she almost wrecked it twice..She was a very attractive blonde and I let that cloud my better judgement...

6 months after that I raced a c6Z06 and slammed the gas hard at 70 mph in 3rd gear...Lost control and hit a wall...Car was only 445 rwhp at that point...No were near enough power to make the car jump sideways in third gear at 70 mph..But the 500 rwt it was then producing was more than enough...

Few months later got an srt10 and added some mods for 475 rwhp and 500 rwt...This time raceing an acr viper a year after getting it in third gear at 70 mph..Exact same thing all over gain..A total disrespect for the power and TOURQUE these cars produce even in stock or lightly modified form....

Hit a wall...


People talked a lot about the Z06...But wheny friend got one in 2007 to me the car felt SLOW...Sure in the upper rpm's the car screams..But you gotta go through the rpm's to get that quickness..

A Viper on the other hand in gen2 or gen3 guise dosent scream at all in the top end like the z06 does..but at low rpm's the tourque of the viper yells and growls..Makeing it a very fun car to drive...but also very dangerous ( especially the gen2's)...

In short only a few days ago a co worker asked me to let him drive my viper...I told him no way..He asked why and i said you have never driven a car with this much tourque and power...He got offended and said that he had rented one of those 436 HP yellow 2008 Vettes with the black stripe and that he could easily handle my car...

I explained that with my few mods my Viper was 550 hp and 570 tourque...A full 114 more HP and 150 more tourque then the vette that he had driven...

Well....He was very offended and though i tried to explain that i was thinking about his safety ( and my car) we havent talked since

If anyone that doesnt know how to handle a car with big power drives a car like that they WILL be in a wall or ditch!! I have been to many driving schools and have been driving high powered cars for years. Thats why I have never even curbed a wheel. Had a 900rwhp Viper and had no problems. Just bacause of car control. Anyone that just gets in a stock Viper and doesnt know how to handle it will wreck it! That s why only my wife drives my cars. She respects the power. My point is never let a buddy or anyone drive your car. Could kill them.........

 

[shooter_t1]

Another testimony for ESC! What the hell is the big deal...they are switchable. For the minority of Viper owners who track their ride, but moan about the extra weight for ESC...go on a diet and lose 3 lbs.

For the minority of Viper owners who feel they need nannies, but moan about the lack of them...learn your car.

My last Viper was, according to commonly held beliefs, trouble waiting to happen. S/C, gen 3, on runflats. Never had a problem as I ALWAYS was aware of the potential and drove accordingly. Never on the cell, or drinking anything(no cupholders) while in motion. And I loved to drive that car the way it's built to be driven...with respect.

Sorry for the rant