Why I'm not so keen on carbon fiber cars anymore

[David]

I always thought it would be really cool and safer to drive a carbon fiber car like a Carrera GT but after this weekend's tragedy I've changed my mind.

I figured I would eventually post pictures from my wreck last year to show my virtual friends my screw up and now I think it's time. I hit a light pole at a pretty good speed right on the driver door. I think I'm lucky to be alive and very glad I wasn't in something like a Corvette or Camaro. I did fracture my left hip, but fortunately didn't need surgery, just a few weeks off my feet and a few more weeks on crutches.

[David]

I'm not going to go into details but the short story is I just got into a turn too hot, oversteered, and over corrected. A safe speed for the turn in pretty much any car or truck would be about 45-50 mph but I won't speculate on my speed.

[stuartj]

Gee whiz- that car worked hard for you. A trauma doc explained to me once that it takes up to 30G head on to kill you- but 8G laterally will pretty much do it.

I share your suspicions about CF - but look at the deformity tests done on F1 tubs. CF exotica like the CGT and the new little Alfa 4C presumably have to meet all the same crash standards as any other car.

I take it from your Cayman sig that the 911 didn't make it?

[MotoSook]

Damn, David! I haven't seem those pictures before. Glad you are still with us.

[onewhippedpuppy]

OUCH! Glad you came out of it ok. I suspect the issue with the C-GT was as much extreme speed as it was the car, it's way easier to get into trouble with one of those than a 997. They all have to meet the same crash standards.

[willtel]

I have plans to sell all my carbon fiber cars.

[jwgn777]

I had an under steer going into a turn very hard Yes I kept going straight. Scary I was lucky.

[masraum]

Wow, glad you made it through relatively OK, David!

At least it wasn't the 930 or the old Z-car. I suspect neither one would have protected you as well as the more modern ride did.

[David]

Originally Posted by stuartj

I take it from your Cayman sig that the 911 didn't make it?

The 911 gave its life to save mine. Fortunately my insurance company paid me a couple thousand more than I paid for the car. The wreck happened about a month after my wife left which may have contributed to me being extra stupid and added to my financial issues after the divorce. When it came time to buy another car I made sure it had head curtain airbags which is probably the main reason I survived. I remember trying to miss the pole and then the police officer asking me to get out of the car. The driver's door still worked! I have no memory of the impact.

[stuartj]

Originally Posted by David

The 911 gave its life to save mine. Fortunately my insurance company paid me a couple thousand more than I paid for the car. The wreck happened about a month after my wife left which may have contributed to me being extra stupid and added to my financial issues after the divorce. When it came time to buy another car I made sure it had head curtain airbags which is probably the main reason I survived. I remember trying to miss the pole and then the police officer asking me to get out of the car. The driver's door still worked! I have no memory of the impact.

Imagine you were knocked unconscious. I was in a sideways hit and knocked out cold. After that, I made the Mrs sell her Miata because the steel roof frame sits right at temple height. I have no idea how that frame continues to (or did) pass muster during crash testing, but Ive come to change my opinion about side, seat and curtain airbags.

Sideways into a tree in a tarmac rally car killed Australia's most loved racing driver a few years back. Nasty way to crash.

[BRPORSCHE]

Seen them before....still makes me cringe...!

[saxen]

a 1959 chevy has a ton of metal to protect you vs the new cars with fiberglass or plastic bumpers
shown here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMK1WZjP7g
err maybe I got that backwards?


the carbon cars are just as safe if not safer than metal ones. unfortunately any car doing 100vs a tree.... the tree will win.

[bivenator]

Holy smokes David, that was quite a hit. Glad you made it out.

[KNS]

Originally Posted by saxen

a 1959 chevy has a ton of metal to protect you vs the new cars with fiberglass or plastic bumpers
shown here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joMK1WZjP7g
err maybe I got that backwards?


the carbon cars are just as safe if not safer than metal ones. unfortunately any car doing 100vs a tree.... the tree will win.

Seeing that footage makes the case for a 997 much stronger...

[livi]

Scary as heck, David!

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by David

The driver's door still worked!

Incredible, I would not have guessed that.

Drive safely.

[aschen]

Yikes that is a hard hit. Glad to hear you got away with only minimal injuries.

I am not sure if carbon fiber cars are nessicarily unsafe. I imagine thier is alot of energy disipation in the fracturing process of the the composite. I do think the CGT is "widow maker" and nearly all composite cars I can think of a scarry fast beasts.

That being said I drive my elise like a motorcycle on the street. I do not want any sort of incident in that thing. Actuallly I drive my 930 like an grandma too. Once I made it to 35 and had a kid I started to realize I am not invincible.

[wdfifteen]

Is it really the carbon fiber, or is it the car it's used in? I mean, would a Corolla that was 100 lbs lighter because of carbon fiber components be more dangerous than one with steel ones?

[javadog]

The fact that it is made from carbon fiber is not really an issue. There have been plenty of steel or aluminum cars split in half, when they impacted something similar. Hit something hard enough and the result will not be pretty.

Here's an Audi RS6 that hit a tree. Driver lived, I believe.

JR

[Captain Ahab Jr]

I'd prefer to hit something hard in a carbon car than a steel car but if you use the paper, stone, scissors anology

carbon beats steel

tree beats carbon and steel

mclaren f1 crash test - YouTube