Just crashed my TA. Feel free to punch me.

[Bryan Savage]

On the road from Williamsport to go watch the SportsCar races at Watkins Glen.

Of course I had to take the Viper. Gots to represent, you know?

Only it's going to rain the whole weekend. And it's raining now. And it's raining pretty hard.

Corsas have 9,800 miles, one track day at Pocono, and Viper Days 2.0 at VIR on them.

ESC set to rain mode.

Driving close to the speed limit in a 65mph zone.

US 15 is fairly recently been repaved. No time to wear in wet and dry lines.

Racetrack-smooth asphalt turned to wet glass. No issues with wandering for the first 50 miles of the trip.

Cruise control on, right lane, and for seemingly no reason, the rear end decides to try and pass the front, swinging out to the right.

Apply correction, and the whole car begins to drift, so when the rear comes back around, I'm in the left lane, and the LR finds some grip in the rumbles, sending the front the other way.

Apply some correction the opposite way, but it's gone. Headed towards the edge of the mountain, but luckily there's a guard rail there.

I try to stop in time letting the ABS do what it can. Car continues to rotate clockwise.

Another five or ten feet of shoulder and I would have made it, but nope.

Left front smacks the rail at 15ish mph and spins the car around, coming to a rest facing the wrong way.



Car still ran fine. No cooling system compromise. No steering or brake issues either, so hobbled the car to the next exit to call insurance and a tow. Car felt really nervous on the way there, but that could have been me.



"Looks" like cosmetic and body panel damage. I didn't want to try to mess with anything. Filed a claim and had plenty of witnesses. I'll be contacted by an adjuster to assess the car, so until then, it's home in the garage. Cost $484.00 for the tow home.

The list of "should've"s for this incident is a long one, and I'll have a long time to mull over them all, so I won't bother listing them. None of them help me now. I just feel bad and stupid for this. I like to think I did all I could have in this situation, but here we are. Ultimately, it's just a car. I'm not injured. Nobody else was injured. The airbags didn't go off, so hopefully the damage is repairable without totalling the car.

If you see anyone riding a bicycle to Watkins Glen tomorrow, it's probably me.

Meanwhile, here's a few other photos.

























I'll update this thread as repairs or whatever transpire.

[ViperSmith]

Man that sucks! Doesn't look terrible though.

How much tread on the Corsas. On the highway in rain I always stick to under the speed limit even in rain mode.

Look at the bright side - could have been worse.

See if you can keep the hood for garage decorations :-)

[LmeaViper]

Oh man that sucks.

I drive my car home in the rain and snow on the hwy and it was fairly butt puckering at times.

[ViperGTS]

You (and ESC) cant overcome physics. Friction coefficient. Mass. Speed. Inertia...

69 in the rain is too fast. I recommend with "normal" tires: 50 mph!

Semi slicks (corsa) and xx,xxx miles?
Way too fast.

How do I know?
I crashed one too...

Cruise control "on" - very bad idea in the rain.

You are alive: +++

[08viperviolet]

Hi Brian
Sorry to hear that hope it gets fixed soon. One of the other 2 from vir.

[Zybane]

Sorry to hear. Cruise control in rain = trouble. Especially in a car like this.

[lochnessmonster]

Heartbreaking for sure!!!!!!!!!!! But, as they say, all wounds heal with time, and the damage looks like a "flesh wound": not that bad, still drivable, engine/cooling operational, no worries.

As with any of us, your pride is going to take the biggest hit. You can "Monday morning quarterback" this type of incident until you have to be institutionalized. It's not worth it. Life is full of lessons, and some of them are hard to swallow. The car will be fixed, you will be back on the road, and you will be armed with some valuable knowledge the next time, which, without this having happened, could result in a much more serious outcome. Hang in there......

[swexlin]

Bryan, very sorry to hear this. I met you at Carlisle last summer, when I still had my 03. I drove the 03 out the turnpike to Carlisle a couple times in very wet conditions (on PS2s) but never more than about 40-45, and it was fine. In fact, it was a day just like this (pouring here in Chester County). Haven't had this 13 in any really wet conditions yet, but, my Corsas with now 8800 miles on them look pretty good.

I know you're feeling terrible, and the good thing is, you are OK, it could have been much worse. The combination of cruise control + speed, could have been a factor, but who knows? Don't beat yourself up over it. Keep on your insurance company, pick a body shop that specialize in high end cars, and go from there. Are you still coming to Carlisle in 2 weeks? Hope to see you there.

Scott

[ViperTony]

Sorry to see this Bryan, I hope you're OK. Maybe it's time to upgrade to the ACR? Can I buy your wheels off your TA 2.0? Too soon? Hang in there.

[Murpowa]

So sorry to see a thread like this but definitely can appreciate your positive outlook. Hope the damage is repairable and you return to enjoying it soon

[99RT10]

Dude, so sorry to see that. Airbag didn't deploy? Fixable then.

[Steve-Indy]

Sorry, Bryan...glad you are OK.

Good insights from sever posters.

As I thought about above, it occurred to me that there is obviously no automatic override on the cruise control when rain mode has been selected. Interesting. Admittedly, I don't use the cruise control on our 2014...so I really have no insights into the system interactions or lack thereof.

[TIME]

Hi Bryan,
So sorry to see that. Hope you get it fixed well.

[ACRucrazy]

Bummer for #37. Glad you are OK!
Cruise in the rain/snow is not a good thing. Can't imagine it at speed in a Viper with Corsas.

[SRT BILL]

Don't be to hard on yourself in time all will be good again.

[Chorps]

Glad you are safe and that no one else got hurt. An crash like this isn't the end of the world although it does bruise the ego.

[XSTAR]

Glad all are ok! Cars can always be fixed and or replaced.

[XSnake]

Really sorry to hear. Glad you are ok though

[TrackAire]

The key is you're not hurt.

Look at it this way, the rainy day and wreck is Gods ways of saying you deserve either a TA 2.0 or a new Gen 5 ACR!!

Never use cruise control in the rain with a high performance car on fat tires....if you ever watch how it works, it is constantly increasing and decreasing the throttle trying to keep you exactly at 69 mph. It may have "surged" the throttle just at the wrong time and broke the rear a little loose.

[lochnessmonster]

For any of you interested, this is an equation I used in my previous career as an airline pilot:

Horne's equation says that Vp (velocity at which hydroplaning will occur) = 9 x (square root of tire pressure). So, if your tire has 35psi, the square root of that is 5.92 Multiply that value by 9 = 53.24 mph. Now, keep in mind that this equation is typically applied to aircraft tires, but it is useful in providing a rough guide for operation in wet conditions for car tires as well. On a smooth surface like the one Bryan was driving on, you are safe at about 55 mph and below, assuming your tire pressure is 35 psi. Anything above 55 mph and you are getting into the realm where hydroplaning is a very real possibility. You will also note that the speed at which hydroplaning may occur is directly proportional to your tire pressure. So, increasing your tire pressure provides an increase in Vp.

The tires on commercial aircraft are typically running in excess of 100 psi

[kdaviper]

I'm gonna guess your car felt nervous because the rim is caked with mud on one side and horribly out of balance.

[ViperPete]

Dang man... I'm so sorry.

I drove the Viper home from St Augustine last month in the rain. That was a scary experience. The roads weren't crowned properly and the Viper was scary to drive. I could barely keep up with a Maxima that was in front of me doing the speed limit.

With these super wide tires the weight of the car is spread out over such a wide space that it's easy to hydroplane in them.

Glad you're ok.

[FrgMstr]

Lucky you are only a jackass, and not a dead jackass. Stick you a set of Michelin Super Sports in the garage for days like those.

[TexasSnake]

You described my wreck to a Tee when I wrecked my 05 SRT in 2010 and slid / spun to the edge of a retention pond and the car gently took sail thinking it was a boat....amazing how long it floated with the top down. Insurance totaled and 5 years later I just bought my Gen V a few months ago (need to update profile...just found out VCA split).

Don't beat yourself up and believe it or not you'll look back and find humor in this in the future. The time without your Viper will make you appreciate it that much more and be extra careful in the future!

Happy you and everyone that was in proximity is okay!

Justin

[FrgMstr]

Removed.