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Post by stepthrutuner on Aug 26, 2009 20:33:51 GMT -5
Remember that game that we used to play as kids where we tried to flip little plastic discs into a little container? These guys seem to know a thing or two about flipping.... only they do it with rally cars. Some of this is quiet funny.
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Post by 90GTVert on Aug 26, 2009 23:03:33 GMT -5
Cool vid. Rally spectators are nuts. lol
For comparison...or just 'cause they're cool...
NASCAR Crashes
Moto GP Crashes
F1 Crashes
Drag Racing Crashes
British Touring Car Crashes
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Post by stepthrutuner on Aug 27, 2009 12:30:52 GMT -5
By far the Top Fuel/Funny Car/Super stock, etc. are the most spectacular. That is a lot of pent up energy which when it escapes containment yields devastating results. BTW what kind of torque and hp are they getting from Top Fuelers these days? Over 2000 ft. lbs. and over 4000 hp.? I have no idea.
F1 cars are so light (probably under 1600 lbs w/fuel and driver) that energy is dissipated very quickly and the crashes aren't that spectacular.
Many of the "high sides" in the Moto GP vids are kind of sickening to me.... having been involved in two bone-breaking motorcycle accidents involving cars as a 14 - 15 y.o. and two hard scooter crashes in the last four years. It is a credit to armor protection technology considering the number of these that the riders walk away from with relatively minor injuries though.
Those British Touring car guys have figured out how to use each other as "banking" it seems to me.
Nascar still has a way to go in fan protection as there were some fairly serious injuries from debris getting through the catch-fencing earlier this year.
Thanks for sharing.
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Post by 90GTVert on Aug 27, 2009 13:30:10 GMT -5
I'm not sure what Top Fuel is up to in horsepower. They've been beyond the limits of any dyno forever, so I don't think anyone has a truly accurate number. I think it's 7,000-8,000 horsepower. If that's not crazy enough, my friends 'stang that I think is a monster makes around 900HP... their blowers take about that much horspower to drive... holy crap. I think the torque numbers are around 6,000ft-lbs to deliver acceleration around 4g's.
Here's the crash I'm sure you're referring to...
Here's Bobby Allison crashing there in 1987. Look at what happened to the fence here and imagine if he hit it high like Edwards did...
That type of crash is a rarity these days. I know they have more room for improvement, but watching the old cars it's easy to see how much they've improved with the addition of roof flaps and other safety devices to keep the cars on the ground and away from fans. I was amazed that the fence they have up held the way it did for that crash. A 3,400lb vehicle moving at that speed shoulda plowed right on through and killed everyone in it's path as flimsy as the fence looks.I don't know what the answer would be for fan protection that would still leave the fans close and able to see everything. I kinda see it as a risk you have to be willing to take. I know the consequences are way different, but you don't go to a dirt track race and expect to stay clean. You don't get in a car and think there is zero chance of being in an accident. If you wanna sit 10ft from 43 cars doing 200+MPH, you should probably realise there is a potential for soemthing to go wrong. I do think they should continue to work towards a safer experience for fans and drivers, but until they get it all figured out fans have to realise that crazy things happen at 200MPH, and a car can travel so fast when it crashes at that speed that thinking you can move to avoid it is riddiculous unless you are far away and alert.
I don't necessarily like seeing moto gp wrecks either, but it just shows what they go through.Cars and trucks have well designed cages and you just kinda sit there and wait for the crash to end in most modern wrecks. Those fellas get sent air mail and have to hope they're lucky enough to avoid their own bike, other riders, obstacles, or whatever when they reach the ground again. It's gotta take some serious dedication to get that good facing the inevitable wrecks learning your limits. Then once you get good, you'll still end up flying through the air at some point.
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Post by 90GTVert on Sept 8, 2009 8:21:52 GMT -5
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Post by stepthrutuner on Sept 9, 2009 18:17:17 GMT -5
Good stuff. Those European spectators are either brave or stupid. Back in the eighties engines were virtually unlimited on the Group B cars. 600 - 700 hp was the norm on 2000 lb. cars. After a couple of very serious accidents killing spectators and competitors they are now limited to 300 hp, or so they say.
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Post by 90GTVert on Sept 9, 2009 18:34:34 GMT -5
I woulda kept the HP and made the fans stay back or something. I could crash the 2HP 4 stroke scoot into some of those folks as close as they are.
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Post by stepthrutuner on Sept 9, 2009 20:47:13 GMT -5
Oh, Brent. Now I know you don't have the heart to go around kneecapping spectators with that 4t.  LOL. But maiming them with exploding variators from that Triton.... that may be a different story. ;D |
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Post by 90GTVert on Sept 9, 2009 20:52:58 GMT -5
lol nice. "This vehicle makes frequent stops... to pick up parts."
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Post by stepthrutuner on Sept 9, 2009 21:52:32 GMT -5
LOL. I can relate to that. On a whim I bought a cheap fold-up, multi-tool kind of as a back up to my regular tools I normally carry around in a zipper case under my seat. I bought it at Family Dollar for $5.00 back around Father's Day. Although it had "SKIL" written on it I knew it wasn't a serious tool. I think I used one of the allen wrenches in it one time and it bent. Anyway, I kept seeing small flat washers coming from somewhere on my floorboard.... probably about eight over a 1 - 2 week period. I couldn't imagine where they were coming from... nothing was falling apart or rattling as far as I could tell. The other day I needed to use my clear night "wind glasses" I keep in my glove box. When I opened it the multi-tool in about 15 pieces fell out all over the floorboard, carport and glovebox door. Only about 3 - 4 pieces remained in the glovebox. I laughed and laughed, picked up all the pieces I could quickly find and took them in the house to show my Brother. Now I knew where the washers had been coming from! ;D
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Post by 2strokd on Sept 10, 2009 6:13:23 GMT -5
Quick, i need a tool to fix my tool. And, cool, look i got the washers i needed for my exhaust! lol
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LOL. But maiming them with exploding variators from that Triton.... that may be a different story. ;D
