WARNING

[SILICONE KID]

TVRs a not easily replaceable now and individual members are definitelynot replaceable! We had a couple of very nasty TVR crashes in the regionlast year. Please be careful out there. RegardsTony CottrellRO TVRCC East Mids -----Original Message-----From: Kevin [mailto:[e-mail]] Sent: 04 November 2010 10:43To: [e-mail]: Take care in your TVR Hi AllI just thought I would take the time to remind you all of theconditions on the roads at this time of year.A very experienced TVR owner (not from our region) has just had a verybad accident. He was on the motorway traveling at 70mph and hit somestanding water, the photos included shows what the result of hitting thebarriers was. Both driver and passenger were both ok.TVRs as you know do not have the driver aids that your everyday carswill possibly have like ABS, ESP, TC and less power too.Please take care, we don't want to loose any TVRs no matter which regionthey may come from.Kev

[chimaera1855]

damn and double damn i think i ll be really extra careful from now.so this is how a full fiber car looks like after crashing at 70mph????and he hit the barriers.what if it was an other car.even the rims are broken.really shocking!!!tks god both passengers are ok.

[4Lmike]

Crikey! Glad to hear both people were OK. Shame about the car - it's barely recognisable

[scotty_d]

RIP i loved Les's car, Glad everyone walked away with only minor injury.

[anonymous-user]

Wow!!! Quite alarming photos.

So pleased no one badly hurt. Quite shocked at the damage to the alloys.
Wonder if the accident was made worse when first rim destroyed itself.

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 4th November 20:39

[ShadownINja]

Lovely colour and was a lovely car.

Problem is, you can't do much - the only thing you can do is watch out for standing water. As for wet tarmac, well, this shouldn't be a problem as you drive appropriately, anyway.

[.Mark]

Good God. That is one mess and wouldn't mind betting the driver and passenger have pretty vivid flashbacks!

Shocking the way those spiders let go

[Yazza54]

Cars can be replaced. They look like they were lucky to get out of that one.

Edited by Yazza54 on Thursday 4th November 23:00

[Flintstone]

Standing water did for my 500 a couple of years ago. Driving in straight line, taking it easy as I was still warming it and the next thing I knew I was heading for the central reservation.

Mine wasn't quite as spectacularly destroyed though.

[Chimjunkie]

Flintstone said:

Standing water did for my 500 a couple of years ago. Driving in straight line, taking it easy as I was still warming it and the next thing I knew I was heading for the central reservation.

Mine wasn't quite as spectacularly destroyed though.

I remeber seeing the damage on the central reservation and thinking some poor bugger's had a prang there!

The tyres on the car pictured above are T1-R or Eagle F1's. Dont come much better than those for water clearance and standing water cutting ability (as long as >4mm)

[pwd95]

Where did the fuel tank & more importantly its contents end up?
Glad all are ok.

[haircutmike]

I aquaplaned on the A3 during a heavy storm and that was in my 2 1/2 ton Disco with mud terrain tyres, so it's easy in a tiv if you're not extremely careful!

[darkcat]

A mess indeed, makes me feel slightly safer knowing they where both ok. Standing water is something that can effect all cars. The Tyres do indeed look like Toyo T1R's, mine are nearly new, they still have a nice deep tread, and i spun mine 180 only a few weeks ago, killing a rim, and knocking out all the geometry, luckily no body or chassis damage. thank god nobody was coming the other way or it would have been a complete mess.
Saying that, i feel FAR safer on the M1 in the chim than i do in the smart car, practically scary!

[TEKNOPUG]

Is it the lack of weight that makes Tivs particularly suspectible to standing water?

[V8 GRF]

TEKNOPUG said:

Is it the lack of weight that makes Tivs particularly suspectible to standing water?

I'm not sure the weight is all that a significant contributor as I've been in an aquaplaning BMW but it's a situation that's a combination of things such as width of tyres, power, road conditions, side winds, driver reactions etc etc that all combine to create the situation.

[TEKNOPUG]

V8 GRF said:

TEKNOPUG said:

Is it the lack of weight that makes Tivs particularly suspectible to standing water?

I'm not sure the weight is all that a significant contributor as I've been in an aquaplaning BMW but it's a situation that's a combination of things such as width of tyres, power, road conditions, side winds, driver reactions etc etc that all combine to create the situation.

So there isn't really anything specific about TVRs?

[scotty_d]

I got a scare a few years ago in my old Jag xj6 ,This is why I run eagle F1's and have done for years on most of my cars they are very good at reducing aquaplaning and we have a fair bit of rain in west coast of Scotland. The New eagle f1 asymmetric has a even better write up than the old GS-D3 think I will be getting these next when the time comes.

[finestjammy]

Quinny said:

TEKNOPUG said:

Is it the lack of weight that makes Tivs particularly suspectible to standing water?

Personaly, I think it has much more to do with speed than weight........

Lets be honest, you could drive through, 2" of water at 10 mph, and nothing would happen..... It's a different story at 70 mph..

Years ago I aquaplaned in a 1.6 Astra..... There is no doubt in my mind that I was driving way to fast for the conditions..

Agreed, even the best tyres will lose control at not much above 50mph in standing water.

[Derek Smith]

The 'trick' with aquaplaning is not to touch anything if you are going in a straight line. Keep the revs the same, don't move the steering wheel. The theory is - I have tried it on a skid pan and it works - you will carry on in a straight line and then come out of the puddle.

The problem doesn't end there. If one side of the car emerges leaving the other with no grip then you have problems but at least it is catchable.

I'm told that the problem with aquaplaning that catches most people out is the fact that one wheel, normally a driven one, manages to retain or gain a bit of grip. Then you start to move in unpredicatable ways.

There is nothing 'wrong' with TVRs as regards to aquaplaning. They behave in exactly the same way as any other car would, something to do with a law that Newton passed a few years ago. But the power available to the rear wheels can catch you out if you lift off or accelerate.

I can't help but think that the efficiency of tyres is part of the problem. I drove on 4.5 section crossplys in my first car and they slipped and slid if there was a dew. Nowadays tyres displace a tremendous amount of water and still retain grip. They are little short of magic. They get you to relax and then bite you when you don't expect it.

[Ribol]

Derek Smith said:

There is nothing 'wrong' with TVRs as regards to aquaplaning. They behave in exactly the same way as any other car that weighs what they do with tyres of similar width and similar power to weight ratio would, something to do with a law that Newton passed a few years ago.

EFA