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Everyone Drive Safe - Totaled my 8 :-(

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Old 11-05-2005 | 01:50 PM
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Everyone Drive Safe - Totaled my 8 :-(

After dropping off my girlfriend last night around 12:20am, I was coming back home to my dorm when I was on a very slight turn and I hit a divit in the road and lost control of my back end. I truned the wheel clock-wise in order to correct the car, I did, but then I felt my back end coming out again, so I turned counter-clock wise, over corrected, freaked out, and hit the breaks (I know, bad mistake) Once I hit the breaks, my back end totally lost control and I was heading into the center divider. I knew I was going to crash so I just held onto the steering wheel and let it happen.

I hit the divider with my right front fender, from there, I remember being on my right passenger side for a quick moment and then on my roof sliding for about 4-5 seconds, and before I knew it, I was right side up again now in the fast lane. I looked around rmy eally quick to basically see what had happened, my front windshield was shattered, my right side curtain air bag went off, and I felt fine. I was scared of someone else coming around the corner in the fast lane and not seeing that my car was stopped and would hit me, I didn't know if I should stay in the car or get out, but I stayed in and watched my rear mirror, and one time I seriously thought I was going to get hit again.

People came over to my car yelling if I was awake/alive, I unlocked my door and stepped out of the car a little scared, but I felt as nothing was wrong with me. We were desperatly trying to get flares as people were coming around the corner. We finally was able to get a flare out and the cops came and pushed my car along to the shoulder. I came out of the car with just a slight scrape on my arm from the seat belt, and a scrape on my back. The day after, my lower-back is sore, but other than that, only one other car hit a truck because the truck slowed down to help me and the car behind him wasn't paying attention. Everyone was ok.

Now I am making this post to tell everyone to DRIVE SAFE! I am so lucky to have came out of this car crash with basically nothing wrong with me, no broken bones or anything. My beloved 8 that I have put around 5-6k into it is now totalled and I don't want anyone, no matter if you're driving a sports car or any other car, to go through what I had to go through again, as I considered myself extremly lucky, and if this happens to someone else, they might not be as lucky.

I took pictures of my car with my camera phone when it was on the tow truck when it was off of the freeway. When I looked at it, my front tires/wheels were gone, the rear right wheel was missing a spoke and they cracked, my whole right side was scraped/damaged, my roof was scraped, my left and right side mirror was gone, front bumper gone, etc. Nothing was crunched in which amazes me and I felt safe in a car like this when I was going through it because of such a "tight" interior feel.

I just want to once again stress for everyone to drive safe as it can happen to anyone.
Attached Thumbnails Everyone Drive Safe - Totaled my 8 :-(-dsc00447.jpg   Everyone Drive Safe - Totaled my 8 :-(-dsc00448.jpg   Everyone Drive Safe - Totaled my 8 :-(-dsc00451.jpg   Everyone Drive Safe - Totaled my 8 :-(-dsc00452.jpg   Everyone Drive Safe - Totaled my 8 :-(-dsc00448.jpg  


Last edited by HardHitter; 11-09-2005 at 03:10 AM.
Old 11-05-2005 | 01:51 PM
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Last of them
Attached Thumbnails Everyone Drive Safe - Totaled my 8 :-(-dsc00455.jpg   Everyone Drive Safe - Totaled my 8 :-(-dsc00456.jpg   Everyone Drive Safe - Totaled my 8 :-(-dsc00457.jpg   Everyone Drive Safe - Totaled my 8 :-(-dsc00458.jpg   Everyone Drive Safe - Totaled my 8 :-(-dsc00459.jpg  

Old 11-05-2005 | 02:02 PM
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Glad you are OK. Looks like the 8 protected you. Did you have the DSC on or off? If on I guess it didn't help.
Old 11-05-2005 | 02:04 PM
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I'm happy to hear you walked away from this. Looks like a bad crash.

Hopefully you'll be driving an 8 again sometime soon. When you are, I would suggest a car control, or racing school. A lot of my freinds have taking them after accidents, and they seem to help restore their confidence both behind the wheel, and in their car.
Old 11-05-2005 | 02:12 PM
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oh man, how horrible. Glad you came out alright. Looks like major damage to the car, and not to you. Take control, like BlueEyes suggested, go to school for driving. Hope you'll be driving another one soon.
Old 11-05-2005 | 02:17 PM
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That sucks.

On a positive note, it looks like the roof provided some sweet protection.

I once saw a Ford Focus that had flipped, and there is no way that driver survived. The roof had definitely caved down below the point of the headrest.
Old 11-05-2005 | 02:27 PM
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When brakes are dangerous...glad you're ok.

What are the chances of getting another '8?
Old 11-05-2005 | 02:31 PM
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Sorry for your pride and joy, but life is more precious than any piece of metal.

Time to recoup your thoughts and enjoy life. You need a few Sunsets to watch with your girlfriend.
Old 11-05-2005 | 02:36 PM
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Yeah, I know, right now I am just lucky to believe so fortunate to get out with just a few scratches and bruises. One of my best friends got hit by a drunk driver at an intersection and he had to go to the hospital, and they had to do surgery on his brain cause a blood clot formed and it was just so sad. He is fine now, but still, that's a lot to go through when it wasn't even his fault.

The chances of me owning a 8 again... I don't know. I absolutly LOVED this car, I put so much into it, but I really don't know. Depending on how much insurance gives me and the cost of how much my insurance will go up will decide everything. I know I want a car that ist manual, but I just don't know if I can get an 8 again, or if I can get another sports car type of a car.
Old 11-05-2005 | 03:23 PM
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Well, at least you are okay and you didn't hurt anyone else in the process.. learn the lessons and move on, could have been much worse. I'm glad you took the time to show everyone on here, maybe others can learn from it too.
Old 11-05-2005 | 03:30 PM
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Yah I bet yer still shaken up and scared to drive a little.... don't worry.. the feeling goes away... yah a good car clinic would be fun and restore your confidence...
Old 11-05-2005 | 04:16 PM
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I really do not know what car I should start to look at next. I really love the 8, but I really don't think I can afford an 8, especially with my insurance now probably jacking really high up. I know I want a manual but I don't know what car to get. I was thinking around a 2000-2001 330Ci, or something of that kind. Right now, I just need to see how everything is going to price out, I'm going to miss my 8 :-(
Old 11-05-2005 | 04:41 PM
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Sorry to hear about the accident. Glad that you are ok, keep your head up!
Old 11-05-2005 | 04:56 PM
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Those pictures make me sad. Like sick to my stomach sad. At least she took good care of you. Hope you can get another 8.
Old 11-05-2005 | 05:01 PM
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Ouch. If the fender strakes weren't bent or anything, you should consider pulling them off and selling them on here or eBay

Also...with the type of lighting in those pictures, it makes the pics look like a post nuclear holocaust RX-8
Old 11-05-2005 | 05:14 PM
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Yeah, I'm thinking of parting out some of my parts if people are intersted or if the parts arn't damaged. The only thing I have for sale would be fender strakes (only two, the right side vent is gone, don't know where it went) if they are not scratched, Rotary Performance High-Flow Cat and Greddy SP2 exhaust. The Eclipse AVN5435 is definatly going to stay with me.
Old 11-05-2005 | 05:17 PM
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I would blame it on you girlfriend. She should have insisted you spent the night with her. Anyway, Glad you are okay. I'm glad you just had a mishap and weren't doing something stupid like driving drunk. Everybody gets an angel, yours must have been clocked in. Remember to thank him.
Old 11-05-2005 | 05:33 PM
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Well, your insurance is going to go up but that's on any car you own. The insurance on my 8 is the same price as my Mazda 3 so I don't think you'll really save any money on a different car. I don't see a BMW being any safer than your 8 though. Had you been driving another car you'd probably have had some nasty injuries.

When I wrecked my 84 RX7 I bought another one with out hesitation. If you drive enough you'll eventually have a wreck or two. Doesn't mean your a bad driver just means things happen.

Get back in that saddle..so to speak.
Old 11-05-2005 | 06:00 PM
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Yes, I know, for those who have met me or know me, I totally babied my 8, and just getting another 8, it's never going to be the same to me. I will probably have to put in even more money to get the car looking/being what it used to be, plus the custom work on my audio would be even more money since they'll have to start from scratch again because the 8 is a PITA to add an aftermarket screen.

The 8 gave me a lot of smiles, don't get me wrong, but for the type of car it is, and the amount of gas it sucks up can be devistating on my wallet, especially since I am not working right now due to school. There are other cars out there that have bigger engines and pushing more HP than the 8 and some are getting BETTER mpg than the 8. The other thing I want is the experience of driving a turbo'd car. My plans for summer was to save all my summer job money and get the PTP turbo on.

It all depends how everything pans out, how much I get from insurance and how much my insurance is going to sky rocket up. Depending on that, I will probably want a turbo'd car--wouldn't care if it's stock or not--that gets a good amount of MPG, because if I would have put any turbo on the 8, the MPG would just get worse and I wouldn't be able to fully enjoy the turbo IMO.

Who knows, at this moment, it is too early to tell, but I am just lucky to be alive, and really has changed my perspective on life, not only taking care of myself, but that this could happen to anyone at anytime and sometimes, they may not be as fortunate as I was. Also, remember to wear a seatbelt! For me, it's automatic, before I even close the door or start the car, I put my seat belt on, if I wasn't wearing a seat belt, I could of easily been thrown around in the car. Please, be safe.
Old 11-05-2005 | 06:12 PM
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Hardhitter, I am so glad you were able to walk away from that virtually injury free.
Your beatutiful car was there for you when you needed her most. Not many cars could have allowed you to walk away from an accident like that.

On a side note: I don't think getting a turbo is a very good idea just because your insurance company will really stick it to you on that one.

As tough as it might be to get another RX-8, it is still very cheap to insure compared to other cars of its caliber.

I'm glad you're taking all of this in stide. Good luck with the insurance and make sure to keep us posted.
Old 11-05-2005 | 07:18 PM
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was the DSC on or off when this happened?

sorry to hear about this...
Old 11-05-2005 | 07:47 PM
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I always turn DSC off, but not completely off (holding down 5-8 seconds) Who knows if DSC would have saved the car if it was on, but it's a little too late now.
Old 11-05-2005 | 09:10 PM
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Hardhitter:

why oh why do you turn it off?? It really doen't imporve performance all that much.

Whatever car you buy next, please leave the dsc on, it could possibly save your life as it did for another fellow forum member:
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...dsc+saved+life
Old 11-05-2005 | 10:45 PM
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wtf......silver again
Old 11-05-2005 | 11:26 PM
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Originally Posted by Jedi54
Hardhitter:

why oh why do you turn it off?? It really doen't imporve performance all that much.

Whatever car you buy next, please leave the dsc on, it could possibly save your life as it did for another fellow forum member:
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...dsc+saved+life

Yep, DSC really curbs the back and forth overcorrection problem. Not sure if it would have helped in this case, but it might have.


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