Help me understand these "crash" videos?

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Johnny Mac

Johnny Mac

www.blueprintengines.com
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Here's one that breaks my heart, as it contains two of my bucket list cars, but I can't help but seek an explanation here.


#1, no I don't condone street racing, but I have built and owned 500-800 hp street cars since I was 16, so I have my fair share of stupid decisions, and close calls, but NEVER ONCE IN MY LIFE, have I EVER had one uncontrollably whip sideways like I had a busted axle. Are these just young kids with too much money that run out of talent? I see these videos with stock mustangs, c5 corvettes, etc. Tons of them.

Now I have also been drag racing (semi professionally at a track) since I was 16 also...but these videos leave me scratching my head what am I missing??
 
That’s the problem with racing on the street. No track prep and unknown pavement problems.

Take it to the track where you can measure your performance and learn to drive better on a prepared surface. You won’t put the public in danger either.
 
I’ve watched a few of the cars leaving car’s and coffee videos, and I’m convinced it is just stupidity… behind the wheel.
 
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Johnny Mac said:
Here's one that breaks my heart, as it contains two of my bucket list cars, but I can't help but seek an explanation here.


#1, no I don't condone street racing, but I have built and owned 500-800 hp street cars since I was 16, so I have my fair share of stupid decisions, and close calls, but NEVER ONCE IN MY LIFE, have I EVER had one uncontrollably whip sideways like I had a busted axle. Are these just young kids with too much money that run out of talent? I see these videos with stock mustangs, c5 corvettes, etc. Tons of them.

Now I have also been drag racing (semi professionally at a track) since I was 16 also...but these videos leave me scratching my head what am I missing??
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Johnny, best I got is, it's stupid youngins. We were young and stupid once, the difference is we were messin with 350hp, not 700 and there were WAY less cars on the road.
 
I have seen many Vipers crash. Once at Monster Mopar in St. Louis the PA announcer was saying that the owner of the Viper had just bought it. He said that you have to be careful the first few times you run them as they WILL jump lanes and bite you! Just as he said that the guy hit third gear, it took a left, he corrected it went hard right, corrected again and did a 360 and came to a stop. All the announcer said was "SEE!" LOL. Somehow the guy did not hit either wall...
 
The ones I have seen seem to be merely inexperience with spinning tires. Street tires at the strip, spinning tires, don't pedal it till it starts to go sideways, overcorrect, pedal the throttle, tires hook up, and it goes wherever it's pointed, usually into a wall, a parked car, or spectators.
 
In the road course at the MATS a few years ago the Vipers were taking out more cones and the 4wd trucks.
 
A lot of car for those who are not used to them. If you own a Viper, you'd BETTER know how it is going to react under hard acceleration. Those things are BAD *** cars & you have to know how to drive it.
 
A lot of judgy people here considering all the videos posted on this site of people flogging their cars on the street...

What i've seen cause this is traction control. It needs to be turned off or permanently disabled. This is super prevelent in the new mustangs we see wreck often playing on the street. Yes, driving ability can also be a source of problems.
 
Johnny Mac said:
#1, no I don't condone street racing, but I have built and owned 500-800 hp street cars since I was 16, so I have my fair share of stupid decisions, and close calls, but NEVER ONCE IN MY LIFE, have I EVER had one uncontrollably whip sideways like I had a busted axle. Are these just young kids with too much money that run out of talent? I see these videos with stock mustangs, c5 corvettes, etc. Tons of them.
Click to expand...

I'm wondering if it has something to do with the IRS that many of these cars are sporting these days? I had a 2000 BMW M5 and it could be a real handful with the traction control turned off. The solid rear axle cars I've owned have never been that jumpy. The back end may swing on my Cuda, but it seems like it is slow enough that there is plenty of time to react without panic. The IRS cars seem to really snap. Maybe exacerbated by the tiny sidewalls on the tires?
 
Vipers are notoriously difficult to control, I remember perusing a Viper forum and they had a sticky thread essentially about how to drive a Viper without crashing it if you're a new owner. The torque is so intense and instant and they are not heavy cars, plus super wide tires and stiff suspension you just barely have any time at all to react when it gets away from you. Still my top dream car though, it's like you see in old Westerns where there's the wild horse throwing everyone off and is just a pain to break... it would definitely take a lot of practice but to "master" one would be incredibly satisfying.

I think the main issue with all this going-sideways-crashing overall is that modern cars have good traction and stiff rear suspension compared to our old stuff which leaves very little time to react and get the car going the right way. Rear leaf springs are pretty forgiving, they're generally softer than coil-sprung cars and they have a "natural" feature when there is weight transfer to one side or the other it tends to "steer" the wheel on the side the car is leaning towards to the other direction. It's like built-in rear steering that adds stability and helps keep the car from spinning out if it loses traction. It's actually outlined in my 1970 Plymouth FSM, super interesting.

And of course combine all that with stupid people who think they're much better drivers than they are and/or don't have the experience driving a high-powered car. It doesn't have much to do with age either, plenty of old farts with inflated egos do the same dumb **** in their new Corvette they just bought with their retirement money and it's the first proper fast car they've owned.

Imagine for instance an A-body with super stock springs and stiff rear shocks, 500+ HP and low-profile rear tires that don't have any sidewall flex like a traditional fat, soft drag tire on 15" steel rim, that's the closest analogy I can think of. And even that would probably still be easier to keep straight than a 500-HP BMW 3-series or similar modern performance car.
 
gzig5 said:
I'm wondering if it has something to do with the IRS that many of these cars are sporting these days? I had a 2000 BMW M5 and it could be a real handful with the traction control turned off. The solid rear axle cars I've owned have never been that jumpy. The back end may swing on my Cuda, but it seems like it is slow enough that there is plenty of time to react without panic. The IRS cars seem to really snap. Maybe exacerbated by the tiny sidewalls on the tires?
Click to expand...
You may have something there. The quote-unquote "great handling " almost stock cars that I have seen drive into walls at the dragstrip were irs cars, camaros, a corvette or two, and a couple GTO's. Substantial power, substandard (drag) tires.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Johnny, best I got is, it's stupid youngins. We were young and stupid once, the difference is we were messin with 350hp, not 700 and there were WAY less cars on the road.
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And luckily, we did not videotape all the stupid things we did as youngins. Not sure I'd like to see my blooper reel from those days.
 
RustyRatRod said:
Johnny, best I got is, it's stupid youngins. We were young and stupid once, the difference is we were messin with 350hp, not 700 and there were WAY less cars on the road.
Click to expand...


I'm old (68) and still stupid at times. lol

My brakes failed at the end of this run and we almost got killed. *sigh*

 
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Johnny Mac said:
Here's one that breaks my heart, as it contains two of my bucket list cars, but I can't help but seek an explanation here.


#1, no I don't condone street racing, but I have built and owned 500-800 hp street cars since I was 16, so I have my fair share of stupid decisions, and close calls, but NEVER ONCE IN MY LIFE, have I EVER had one uncontrollably whip sideways like I had a busted axle. Are these just young kids with too much money that run out of talent? I see these videos with stock mustangs, c5 corvettes, etc. Tons of them.

Now I have also been drag racing (semi professionally at a track) since I was 16 also...but these videos leave me scratching my head what am I missing??
Click to expand...

High performance cars and low performance brains are a recipe for disaster.
 
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