Just crashed my TA. Feel free to punch me.

**Doug Nash** · 06-30-2015

Bryan,

Very sorry to see your pics. I think I was one of your lead - follow instructors at VIR. I was driving Tom Antonelli's Comp Coupe. And met most of you all at the track or the lodge. I was grateful that it only rained the first Friday morning at VIR for this reason. Surely would have had many offs and accidents then. I can tell you that in addition to the miles your tires had on them that after the amount of time on the skid pad and then the track at VIR that the tires ' harden' some. Race tires and even aggressive compound street-track tires work on heat cycles. They will only give you the same level of grip again after achieving high temps and pressures. In 50-60 degree rain water and cold ambient temps this was working against you as well.
I took delivery of my GenV GTS after the weekend (it was the pace car) and coming home to Cincinnati hit rain. I could not believe how skidish the car was. Hope your repairs go well and you are back on the road soon.

Sincerely,
Doug Nash

Originally Posted by 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.

**Disturbed** · 06-30-2015

Sorry to hear about the wreck. Good that you are fine. Looks repairable.

And incase I missed it...

"that will buff right out"! 👍

Good time for a tire upgrade. Invo's work fantastic in the rain. 70+mph and it was fine.

In the end, what's important is that you are good, nobody was hurt and the car will be good as new soon.

PAVenomRT/10 · 06-30-2015

Bryan,
Very sorry to hear of your accident. As others have said, you came out of this accident rather well considering all the possibilities. I remember driving my Viper home in a very bad rainstorm on my Michelin Pilot Sport Cups. One of the scariest rides I can remember without snow on the road. Car hydroplaned at anything above 55, consistent with the tire pressure equation above. Drove slowly and prayed for rain to let up.
Damage to your car appears to be cosmetic so hopefully you will be back on the road soon.
PAVenomRT/10

**Jack B** · 06-30-2015

Doug Nash

I am with you, it was multiple factors. I drove 700 miles in blinding rain on new Corsa's and could not believe the grip level.

**Bryan Savage** · 07-14-2015

We ran our cars around a wet skidpad at VIR during Viper Days 2.0, and we were all astounded at how difficult is was to get the cars to break loose, which was partly why I was so confident on the day I crashed.

I definitely learned my lesson though, and will definitely keep my speeds down in the rain from here to eternity.

UPDATE:

The car is now at Prefix for assessment. I took this yesterday morning and didn't bother posting it at the time. Passport Transport gives a discount to VOA members, and after picking my car up, it was at Prefix in one day. I can't ask for better service than that. They were extremely easy to deal with, and you can pay online. The last time I shipped a car, I had to pay the driver cash on delivery.

I got to drive the car onto the trailer, and park it above an extremely awesome original Jaguar E-Type.

Prefix is going to get the car into their Light Tunnel to have a look tomorrow. I have no idea with a Light Tunnel is, but it sounds awesome.

Traveler's Insurance will send a local rep out to assess the situation this week and see what everyone can see. Fingers crossed there's no major issues.

Cheers!

**Coloviper** · 07-14-2015

You look so sad in your avatar. You should be happy it is at Prefix, it is like the factory repairing it. Can't get any better then that. Better get the old hood back and hang on the wall in front of the car in the garage just to remind you before you drive it each time. I believe the light tunnel is just one of the booths they do final QA on final paint check. Good luck with everything.

**Murpowa** · 07-14-2015

It's in great hands Bryan!

**swexlin** · 07-14-2015

Thanks for the update Bryan. Let us know have Travelers takes care of you. I recently switched from them last year, when I bought my house, and got a better bundle with another company. But that company jacked the rates on my Dart 5% this year, because the Dart got "re-rated" for cost to repair. So, I may switch back to Travelers next year.

**2010.Blue.White.ACR** · 07-14-2015

Here is the light tunnel

**G37Sam** · 07-15-2015

That light tunnel defies the laws of gravity!! Fascinating!!

**ViperTony** · 07-15-2015

Originally Posted by G37Sam

That light tunnel defies the laws of gravity!! Fascinating!!

So the room rotates and they work sideways? Awesome!!!!

**Nine Ball** · 07-15-2015

While it is at Prefix, might as well get them to paint some stripes on it or something.

**KB Viper** · 07-15-2015

I had mine fixed at prefix, you will not be disappointed. even the local Progressive insurance adjsuter called me after he assessed the damage on mine and told how impressed he was with prefix and went on and on about all the cool projects they were working on & state of the art equipment.

**2010.Blue.White.ACR** · 07-15-2015

Originally Posted by ViperTony

So the room rotates and they work sideways? Awesome!!!!

Sure does

**bayviper** · 07-15-2015

Not sure what the mistakes were, this could have happen to anyone. Bummer, but it looks cosmetic. Maybe this is the time to upgrade to an ACR?

**Bryan Savage** · 09-20-2015

A quick update in case anyone cares...

Car is still at Prefix. Eric says the parts are all painted, but there's some bracket or something on backorder until September 22nd. My fingers are tied in knots being crossed so many times that I have it back before the cruise I'm supposed to help host on October 3rd. If I don't, I'll be leading it on a bicycle.

Now comes the ranting portion:

I realise that MY needs do not outweigh the rest of everyone else's at Prefix and Dodge, but I find it astounding that in this day and age, whatever part(s) that are on backorder cannot be manufactured for me. This is the flagship car that Dodge makes, and I sent it back to the OEM for repairs, and they can't get this piece. There's no inventory at the factory, no extra inventory at the supplier, and no room in the production schedule at the supplier to spit out another one of whatever it is. This amazes me.

Now, with how rapid things can change, I understand how nobody wants any inventory. It's unreasonable for me to expect any manufacturer to retain even five of every single part to every single car they make. We'd have to colonise Mars just for the warehouse space. And especially how often part numbers change and parts are updated, naturally it makes sense not to stock anything at all.

But if all the parts are painted, that means the missing piece for my car isn't a hood. I would totally understand why it takes a while to get an extra hood. But you're telling me that there are ANY vehicles in production that you could yoink my part from? They're all hand-built, so an IOU note taped to the chassis will be seen. No cars that are so early in the assembly process that it wouldn't impact delivery? No pre-production cars destined for the crusher that you can swipe my bracket (or whatever) from? No parts leftover from the Roadkill Viper that you can grab?

While I appreciate how difficult it is to build cars, and how for me to truly appreciate it, I would have to order each piece for a 500-piece puzzle individually, coordinate their delivery to a parking lot in Alaska, make sure they all arrive in the same hour, and then put this puzzle together blindfolded in the rain, but geez louise. I bet Alibaba or Amazon has my parts on the shelf.

/cracks another beer

**01sapphirebob** · 09-20-2015

Originally Posted by Bryan Savage

A quick update in case anyone cares...

Car is still at Prefix. Eric says the parts are all painted, but there's some bracket or something on backorder until September 22nd. My fingers are tied in knots being crossed so many times that I have it back before the cruise I'm supposed to help host on October 3rd. If I don't, I'll be leading it on a bicycle.

Now comes the ranting portion:

I realise that MY needs do not outweigh the rest of everyone else's at Prefix and Dodge, but I find it astounding that in this day and age, whatever part(s) that are on backorder cannot be manufactured for me. This is the flagship car that Dodge makes, and I sent it back to the OEM for repairs, and they can't get this piece. There's no inventory at the factory, no extra inventory at the supplier, and no room in the production schedule at the supplier to spit out another one of whatever it is. This amazes me.

Now, with how rapid things can change, I understand how nobody wants any inventory. It's unreasonable for me to expect any manufacturer to retain even five of every single part to every single car they make. We'd have to colonise Mars just for the warehouse space. And especially how often part numbers change and parts are updated, naturally it makes sense not to stock anything at all.

But if all the parts are painted, that means the missing piece for my car isn't a hood. I would totally understand why it takes a while to get an extra hood. But you're telling me that there are ANY vehicles in production that you could yoink my part from? They're all hand-built, so an IOU note taped to the chassis will be seen. No cars that are so early in the assembly process that it wouldn't impact delivery? No pre-production cars destined for the crusher that you can swipe my bracket (or whatever) from? No parts leftover from the Roadkill Viper that you can grab?

While I appreciate how difficult it is to build cars, and how for me to truly appreciate it, I would have to order each piece for a 500-piece puzzle individually, coordinate their delivery to a parking lot in Alaska, make sure they all arrive in the same hour, and then put this puzzle together blindfolded in the rain, but geez louise. I bet Alibaba or Amazon has my parts on the shelf.

/cracks another beer

It's not just your car so don't get to upset. I got a recall notice for my Jeep Cherokee telling me of an issue with the rear trunklid and how it could possible CATCH FIRE! However...parts are unavailable. I'll get another notice when that happens. Just seems to be how it goes.

**Aspirations57** · 09-20-2015

Bryan,Thats just total BS that you have to wait that long..Way to step up Dodge...Whats going to happen when some boy racer wads his ACR at the track???? " Sorry pal maybe we can get the parts you need next year",lol

**swexlin** · 09-20-2015

Bryan, thanks for the update. I was wondering how your car was doing. No parts for our cars ever seem to be available. Hang in there, and then the day will come! Did you insurance company give you any grief over the repairs?

**ViperSmith** · 09-20-2015

lame.

**sfviper** · 09-20-2015

Sorry to hear about your accident. Fortunately, every accident makes you a better driver. When the snake bites, its pretty hard to correct. Glad you weren't hurt.

**AZTVR** · 09-20-2015

Originally Posted by sfviper

Sorry to hear about your accident. Fortunately, every accident makes you a better driver.

Hopefully this somebody else's accident makes me a better driver. Reading this thread today made me think about a recent downpour I was driving in on the interstate. Maybe I was going a bit too fast.