Tuckshops Ultima
Discussion
Less than a month of driving - must be some sort of a record.
Didn't get too much of a look at the end pictures before the site cut me off (20 Meg limit exceeded), is it salvagable or completely dead. The body is obviously f
d but didn't see too many bits of bent chassis.
Mind you - one of the attractions of the car is the self build. You sure you just didn't want to do it all again tuckshop?
Hope that everybody is OK.
Didn't get too much of a look at the end pictures before the site cut me off (20 Meg limit exceeded), is it salvagable or completely dead. The body is obviously f
d but didn't see too many bits of bent chassis. Mind you - one of the attractions of the car is the self build. You sure you just didn't want to do it all again tuckshop?
Hope that everybody is OK.
Gentlemen,
I'm afraid that my cooking days are over.
Well at 23:00 on Saturday; Jo, my girlfriend had never seen the Ultima; It had only been at my house for a few weeks since the SVA test. And so I thought we'd go once around the block.
All I remember is that it had just started raining and I woke up in Hospital
Jo says that I was pulling away from a traffic light doing around 40mph, and that the car span right into the path of an oncoming car, itself doing around 30mph.
Apparently the other car occupants jumped out and started screaming at us, Jo screamed at them to shut up; I jumped out of the car called Mark (a man who I could entrust my life), the Police and the Ambulance. Within minutes there were firemen (they had been picketing 100m away), green goddesses, ambulances and a Real fire engine.
Jo was helped out of the car, and about this time I started going gaga in the Ambulance.
Jo was impaled by something in her left calf - almost to the bone (I think it was a fragment of GRP), a broken rib from the 6 point harness, whiplash, split ear, chin injuries from the side of the seat.
All I've got is Amnesia ... hardly seems fair.
Dave at MSM seemed genuinely concerned too. He's a really nice guy. (I get the feeling I may have messed up his insurance claim record too)
Regards,
Antony
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Sorry about the 20Mb daily download limit on the web-site. It is free though ... and they allow 100Mb which is just enough for 1/5th of the site.
I'm afraid that my cooking days are over.
Well at 23:00 on Saturday; Jo, my girlfriend had never seen the Ultima; It had only been at my house for a few weeks since the SVA test. And so I thought we'd go once around the block.
All I remember is that it had just started raining and I woke up in Hospital
Jo says that I was pulling away from a traffic light doing around 40mph, and that the car span right into the path of an oncoming car, itself doing around 30mph.
Apparently the other car occupants jumped out and started screaming at us, Jo screamed at them to shut up; I jumped out of the car called Mark (a man who I could entrust my life), the Police and the Ambulance. Within minutes there were firemen (they had been picketing 100m away), green goddesses, ambulances and a Real fire engine.
Jo was helped out of the car, and about this time I started going gaga in the Ambulance.
Jo was impaled by something in her left calf - almost to the bone (I think it was a fragment of GRP), a broken rib from the 6 point harness, whiplash, split ear, chin injuries from the side of the seat.
All I've got is Amnesia ... hardly seems fair.
Dave at MSM seemed genuinely concerned too. He's a really nice guy. (I get the feeling I may have messed up his insurance claim record too)
Regards,
Antony
--------------------------------------------
Sorry about the 20Mb daily download limit on the web-site. It is free though ... and they allow 100Mb which is just enough for 1/5th of the site.
I am speech-less. That is absolutely tragic. I hope that both you and Jo make a full recovery as quickly as possible. I have no doubt MSM will also honour their obligation in providing you with a large cheque so you can start over, although I don't think an Ultima may be such a good choice as a first car.
It's amazing that you can joke about your cooking days being over so quickly, as if I had just done the same after spending so much time and money, I would surely crack. It takes balls to come back and post after a major incident like that, and I take my hat off to you.
You didn't Teflon-coat your tyres did you??
It's amazing that you can joke about your cooking days being over so quickly, as if I had just done the same after spending so much time and money, I would surely crack. It takes balls to come back and post after a major incident like that, and I take my hat off to you.
You didn't Teflon-coat your tyres did you??
Glad to hear everyone was relatively OK, and at least recovering.
Im suprised so much damage was done at relatively slow speed. Wouldnt like to crash one on the track doing 100+ mph..... making me go off the idea of possibly building one in the next couple of years.
Probably worth getting the factory to look at it and see if there are any areas they had overlooked in the design.
My condolences and hope everyone makes a speedy recovery.
I spun my 911RS in the wet a few weeks back, thankfully without the disastrous results you encountered. It was a wake up call and G-man's comments on driver training are spot on. You need a lot of skill and practice to master these machines, or they end up trying to master you.
As for the Ultima I intend to build, traction control by Racelogic is something I'm looking into.
ATB
Domster
I spun my 911RS in the wet a few weeks back, thankfully without the disastrous results you encountered. It was a wake up call and G-man's comments on driver training are spot on. You need a lot of skill and practice to master these machines, or they end up trying to master you.
As for the Ultima I intend to build, traction control by Racelogic is something I'm looking into.
ATB
Domster
A really frightening incident, thank god everyone is more or less OK. I'm thinking long and hard about fitting traction control to my GTR (still in the early build stage) as 500 BHP, 1000 Kgs and wet roads don't go very well together. Is there anyone out there who has fitted TC to a non fuel injected Ultima?
Jedi said:
The speeds of both cars may have been relatively low, but the closing speed was quite high (70mph+). Add in the fact that the Ultima was most likely still accelerating, plus the complex dynamics of such a collision, and the result can be quite catastrophic.
Crashes on tracks are a completely different kettle of fish: Firstly, you have made a conscious decision to drive fast and hard and are therefore concentrating much more intensely. Secondly, tracks are designed to be somewhat forgiving in the event of an off. Thirdly, impact is usually with a stationary object, or objects moving in the same relative direction. And finally, the Ultima was designed for the track.
I hope everyone recovers completely. My father also said “Cars can be written off, people cannot” just after I’d wrapped his new car around a wooden electricity pylon (which duly fell, showering the area with sparks!)
Im suprised so much damage was done at relatively slow speed. Wouldnt like to crash one on the track doing 100+ mph..... making me go off the idea of possibly building one in the next couple of years.
The speeds of both cars may have been relatively low, but the closing speed was quite high (70mph+). Add in the fact that the Ultima was most likely still accelerating, plus the complex dynamics of such a collision, and the result can be quite catastrophic.
Crashes on tracks are a completely different kettle of fish: Firstly, you have made a conscious decision to drive fast and hard and are therefore concentrating much more intensely. Secondly, tracks are designed to be somewhat forgiving in the event of an off. Thirdly, impact is usually with a stationary object, or objects moving in the same relative direction. And finally, the Ultima was designed for the track.
I hope everyone recovers completely. My father also said “Cars can be written off, people cannot” just after I’d wrapped his new car around a wooden electricity pylon (which duly fell, showering the area with sparks!)
Hope you and your girlfriend have a quick recovery. I know it won't be easy but with time everything should come out fine. I to was once involved in an accident as an 18 wheeler driver had fallen asleep at the wheel. He struck my BMW on the driver side at 100+kph. All I can say is for you both to get physiotherapy and to keep your spirits up.
As for Ultima's safety issue I think the link below shows how durable the car is. I know it is destroyed but take a look what it went threw. I think in a lesser car the driver would have been seriously injured if not worse.
www.nsxfiles.com/VCHillClimb.htm
As for Ultima's safety issue I think the link below shows how durable the car is. I know it is destroyed but take a look what it went threw. I think in a lesser car the driver would have been seriously injured if not worse.
www.nsxfiles.com/VCHillClimb.htm
It is bad news Tuckshop... I hope you are both well and recovering from the accident.
On to the accident damage, i cant see the pictures of the car as the server has reached its limit. Am i right in assuming it was not a head on impact, rather a side or 3/4 impact. If so it is one of the most brutal and difficult to design defence for. I have checked the chassis on the Ultima and i can say it is a superb piece of engineering, but it does not lend itself to side or 3/4 impact, crumple zones are minimal and the impact is taken by the chassis full on and the energy is transfered directly to the body and then the passenger. Being of a fibreglass composite shell this will shatter or tear and come into the occupiers zone. I have seen numerous impact test done on cars and i can tell you they aint a prety sight but you can walk away from these, and it sounds like you walked away from this accident relatively unscathed and with minor injuries (non life threatening).
To those who question the safety of the Ultima, all i can say is if the combined impact speed was approx 50MPH total and a 3/4 or side impact, even the best group 5 vehicles are totalled and passengers are expected to suffer damage, but be able to walk away...AS YOU BOTH DID.
I am happy enough that the structural composition far exeeds many mainsteam manufacturers and is safe beyond most normal expectations.
On another point, it is VERY rare that in racing that you have a full or 3/4 impact with another vehicle (unless you are banger racing
) most impacts are side to side (rubs) or barrier swipes....and i have not heard of anyone being badly injured whilst in an Ultima.....not the same can be said for Macca F1 drivers or XJ220, and as for F#**"%i drivers...i wouldnt rate there chances at all.
I hope you are both well and recovering from the accident. On to the accident damage, i cant see the pictures of the car as the server has reached its limit. Am i right in assuming it was not a head on impact, rather a side or 3/4 impact. If so it is one of the most brutal and difficult to design defence for. I have checked the chassis on the Ultima and i can say it is a superb piece of engineering, but it does not lend itself to side or 3/4 impact, crumple zones are minimal and the impact is taken by the chassis full on and the energy is transfered directly to the body and then the passenger. Being of a fibreglass composite shell this will shatter or tear and come into the occupiers zone. I have seen numerous impact test done on cars and i can tell you they aint a prety sight but you can walk away from these, and it sounds like you walked away from this accident relatively unscathed and with minor injuries (non life threatening).
To those who question the safety of the Ultima, all i can say is if the combined impact speed was approx 50MPH total and a 3/4 or side impact, even the best group 5 vehicles are totalled and passengers are expected to suffer damage, but be able to walk away...AS YOU BOTH DID.
I am happy enough that the structural composition far exeeds many mainsteam manufacturers and is safe beyond most normal expectations.
On another point, it is VERY rare that in racing that you have a full or 3/4 impact with another vehicle (unless you are banger racing
) most impacts are side to side (rubs) or barrier swipes....and i have not heard of anyone being badly injured whilst in an Ultima.....not the same can be said for Macca F1 drivers or XJ220, and as for F#**"%i drivers...i wouldnt rate there chances at all.You are definitely bringing a to my face with the dobin the donkey references arguement animal.
Glad to hear that you and the Mrs are OK Tuckshop. Speedy recovery. It is worth trying to find out what happened. I had an unexplainable crash about a year ago and was pleased to get out alive etc, but without finding out what happened, it is difficult to get the confidence back.
Finally, is the wok at all salvagable, or is it gone for good. You may not feel like it now, but in the future I'm sure that you'll want to get it or a replacement back on the road. It's an Ultima FFS.
to my face with the dobin the donkey references arguement animal. Glad to hear that you and the Mrs are OK Tuckshop. Speedy recovery. It is worth trying to find out what happened. I had an unexplainable crash about a year ago and was pleased to get out alive etc, but without finding out what happened, it is difficult to get the confidence back.
Finally, is the wok at all salvagable, or is it gone for good. You may not feel like it now, but in the future I'm sure that you'll want to get it or a replacement back on the road. It's an Ultima FFS.
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