got in my first accident

[nismo2491]

Well guys it finally happened. Got in my first accident tonight. I was headed south on 301 right between wawa and the weigh stations between bowie and upper marlboro. I was driving my close friends 3000gt (sl 5spd daily driver). He had been drinking and believe it or not I hadn't had a single drink all night. Anyways I had cruise set at 55 (speed limit) and the car started to hydroplane, instinctivly I tapped the clutch just enough to turn cruise off and started to countersteer as the ass end was sliding out, the car didn't respond to any inputs as I was in a complete 4 wheel hydroplane. There was no recovery possible. The car spun once in the road, then skidded into the grass median, it spun a second time in the median then as we were finishing the third complete spin, it had started to make its way up the other side of the median (kinda v-shaped median) and the corner of the rear bumper hit the guardrail for oncoming traffic. That caused the front end to come around and also smack the guardrail in the corner of the front bumper. The car then came down to the center of the median and came to rest. I was able to get the car out of the median and after a quick stop to pull the fender off the tire I took it straight to my old work and parked it under the canopy to survey the damage. Its actually fairly minimal which was surprising because it felt like we hit fairly hard. The rear bumper is cracked and broke the factory tip off the exhaust. It also broke a couple of the mounting screws for the tailight fascia pushing that up a bit. The left front fender has a soccer size dent that starts right where the factory parking light is and proceeds onto the front bumper as well. There is also a slight chunk missing out of the wheel. I've got some camera phone pics and will take some better pics w/ a digital camera in the next couple days. I'll try to upload the camera phone stuff tomorrow and then the other ones will shortly follow. Anyways of course all that matters is that none of us were hurt and there wasn't anybody else involved so the moral of the story is sometimes even trained drivers can't recover, and also even the speed limit is sometimes too fast for the conditions.
KEvin

[sw20>>s14]

good to know that your cool...be careful in the rain...i just wiped out last night too :cry:

[nismo2491]

yeah this is probably the third or fourth time something like this has happened to me in the rain, only the first time that it actually resulted in an accident. Last time I was driving this car and it was raining, the ass end started to step out on an exit ramp but it was easy to bring right back under control (this happened on a straight section of road btw).
the other time something like this happened was in my nissan and I got about 30degrees sideways or so and was able to bring it back. the third time I can think of off the top of my head was going around a turn in my nissan and the tail stepped out about 2-3 feet but was easily brought back under control.
I've had minor hydroplanes and stuff before but those are the 3 I can think of that actually had me "worried".

[sw20>>s14]

so you swing just as much in a heavy FF as your light FR? easy bessy! jk...take it easy out there

[Bill Roberts]

Damn fat ass tires. I had it happen to me but at 70...I held it, it was hairy, to say the least. (3 spins and good recover)
I went back to 205/70/15's and no more worries.

Never use criuse in the wet.

[S14DB]

Lucky some of the locals didn't come out to see what happened...

[nismo2491]

yeah I was actually out of the median in maybe 30seconds or so, we were just trying to avoid a police report cause he doesn't want to make a claim that somebody else was driving. Besides I don't think there are any houses for a good distance from there.
as for cruise in the rain I'm sure this would have happened either way, but cruise in the rain is a bad idea because if you don't think to tap the brakes or clutch (just enough to disengage cruise and not affect the vehicle otherwise) the wheels will continue to try to spin...

[matlock]

Good to hear you are okay, and the 5-0 wasn't involved.

[91CRXsiR]

congrats on breaking your cherry.. the next time wont be as scary

[nismo2491]

congrats on breaking your cherry.. the next time wont be as scary
haha thats funny... on the board I mod on the title to the thread was "lost my cherry"

as for being scary it wasn't really scary, I've done HPDE and stuff and have had incidents before where I lost control or something happened that I was unable to recover from, I just never actually hit anything before, just slid into the infield or the one time on the street just skidded into a yard (years ago btw, I don't fuck around on the street anymore). I wasn't really scared just more like "fuck this might really suck" I mean shit, as soon as we came to a stop finally I yelled out "woooo we just did almost 3 full 360's, slammed into a guardrail, and then a 180 the other way and we're fine" It was more like a rush then anything else.. granted my heart was racing cause of the adrenaline and stuff...

[RiversideS13]

I am sorry to hear that but i am curious are you going to pay for all of the repair ? Also if you have a FF, will it be easier to avoid hydroplane than FR?

[nismo2491]

no I'm not having to pay for anything actually. I didn't offer to pay and the first thing that was said when I talked to him today was "don't worry about it, it wasn't your fault" he's got insurance to cover the damages and will only have to pay $100 deductible. I'm splitting the deductible with him voluntarily though.
as for hydroplaning it has more to do with your tires themselves than it does with what the drivewheels are.

[RiversideS13]

shit i just got rear ended on saturday afternoon. I was complete stoped and waiting for traffic light, all of sudden just felt the impact. A puprle GMC truck ran into my lovely 240sx. Pissed me off, I just wash the car 3 hours before. I am worry the insruance might declare total loss of my car. I am also worry that he might twist the story and accuse me that try to cut him off or something. BEcause his driverside corner hit my passager side rear. There is no one stop for witness (damn Riverside people) and police refuse to come to take police report because no one is injure. Actually i am starting feel uncomfortable about my neck and i am visiting a doctor soon. The car is runs good except leaking fuel from the fuel tank.

http://www.superhonda.com/photopost/data/519/medium/CIMG0224.JPG

[s13gonwild]

^ sorry...but looks like it will be total loss..that truck musta been solid...be carefull on the road.

[RiversideS13]

it was a purple GMC sonoma with bodykit. I am freaking pissed that i spend really good amount of effort to find this 240sx. I brought it last year from the original owner and this car has never been in accident. it was clean :smash:

I just checked kbb and i found it only worth $1500. Shit, if it was not smashed, i could have sell it for at least $2500

[sw20>>s14]

Actually i am starting feel uncomfortable about my neck and i am visiting a doctor soon. The car is runs good except leaking fuel from the fuel tank.

http://www.superhonda.com/photopost/data/519/medium/CIMG0224.JPG

hope your neck is okay...does look like a total loss. i was curious, whats that puddle below your bumper? yeah, accidents and rain suck...

edit: oh :duh: it says right there...i would start stripping the goodies if i were you...good luck to you

[Stock-S13]

Woah that thing is a total lost. Looks clean too, what a shame.

Pm me if you want to sell the Drivers door, if it was power and worked properly.


it was a purple GMC sonoma with bodykit. I am freaking pissed that i spend really good amount of effort to find this 240sx. I brought it last year from the original owner and this car has never been in accident. it was clean :smash:

I just checked kbb and i found it only worth $1500. Shit, if it was not smashed, i could have sell it for at least $2500

[RiversideS13]

Should i strip it before i send it into the bodyshop to get estimate or strip after? if the insurance adjuster declear total loss, can i get my aftermarket parts out?

To Stock-S13
it did not have power window. but i am looking for stock steelis now

[Stock-S13]

I have a spare you can have in exchange for a headlight. Remember it doesn't have to be anything but rolling. It does me no good as I'm 5 lug.

Hell yeah, you should strip it dude. If you want lets swap driver side fenders too. You can make cash for a nice front face, umm clean interior.

I can't tell, what color is that thing? Blue or Black? If its TH1, lets talk.

PS: If you have any typical sleezey insurance comp. they are going to total it, a quarter panal hit is stupidly expensive. That is why you gaurd those things with your life.

[nismo2491]

pictures!!!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/nismo2491/Picture050.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/nismo2491/Picture049.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/nismo2491/Picture048.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/nismo2491/Picture046.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/nismo2491/Picture044.jpg
the top few are obvious, the bottom one is the guardrail I hit
you can see the one bent ove to the left is the first one where the rear made contact, the one one the right is where the front made contact.

[RiversideS13]

I just got estimate for my damage from bodyshop, it is $3837.29. I am pretty sure they will toal loss the car now. Now i am filing claim with my lawyer :bash:

[aznpoopy]

3000gt sl is a FWD, right?

you should've given it some gas. damn rwd correction instincts! FWD can spin very suddenly. the ass is so light... when it goes its often sudden and unpredictable. :(

in light of things i'm glad you're okay! the car doesn't look too bad.

Also if you have a FF, will it be easier to avoid hydroplane than FR?

i used to have a 1993 camry with shitty tires and that thing hydroplaned even more then my 240 on shitty tires. so i would say no. everyone says FF is understeer heavy but when a FF ass goes out, it goes really really out. to 'correct' you basically get on the gas. weight xfer to rear, and take advantage of the understeer characteristics of the car. naturally, it's not always possible to recover.

sorry to hear about your car! that car is defintely a goner. get your parts out of it and put em in the next car you get. make sure you hassle the other guy's insurance to cut you a check quick or you'll be waiting for months for your money.

[nismo2491]

yeah sl is fwd but with WIIDE tires (think c4/early c5 corvette), as for giving it gas in a hyrdoplane situation that wouldn't work, in a understeer/oversteer skid around a turn maybe, but not in a hydroplane, AWD yes, point the wheel where you want to go and floor it....