SS/SC Vs. _____? (death for sure)

...a friggin dirt mound. :mad:

Lastnight I was taking a cruise around town with my g/f, and we ended up on a road that leads up a mountain. It was in a semi residential area, but completely undeveloped with no houses, just the road. We were zipping up this road doing about 50-60 or so when the road flattend out and came to a culdisac, which was no big deal cause I was still a pretty good distance from the back of the culdisac and had made quicker stops than this. I got on the brakes pretty good but the car wasnt slowing down as much as it should have. By this time I was getting close to being into the culdisac(which was pretty big)so I poured on the brakes a bit more, this caused the tires to completely lock up and the ABS did not engage!

We skidded for about 25-30 feet or so, up over a rounded curb, onto a dirt mound. The landing was surprisingly soft and my g/f and myself were completely unharmed, but the front end of the car wasnt in as good of shape. The radiator was cracked by a couple of football sized rocks and the front clip took some damage as well. Both will need replacing. It was definetly stupid of me to be zipping up a road at that clip without knowing what was up there, but what really irks me is the fact that my friggin ABS system took a complete shit. A couple days a go while driving with my dad the ABS light came on but I was having an argument with him at the time so I completely forgot about it as it never came back on after I turned the car off(ADD will do that to you). Had my ABS been funtional I would have been able to turn in the rather large culdisac, slowing down enough to not jump over the boundries of the circle. As appossed to just skidding through the thing like a lead slead.

One good thing did come out of this event though. I was unaware that my ABS was not functional, and I'm glad I found out like this, instead of finding out on the freeway doing 65+ making an emergancy stop with other vehicles on the road.


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Just rip off the lip, like in the opening of Mischief Invasion...that sucks, and yeah, it is a good thing that your ABS didn't let you know it was gone the hard way in a worse situation.

Heh, I woulda ripped it off and stuck it in my trunk for the trip home. Only problem was all my radiator fluid was pooling up under the car and draining downhill fast. :disappoin

Ah...that woulda presented a problem then...

Yeah, it was a big problem. Even worse is that I quit smoking a few days ago, and I was doing just fine. First thing I did lastnight when my buddy came to pick us up was to go out and buy a pack of smokes...grrr. Turkish Jade Lights is all they had...YUK.

sucks man

... you could of let off the brakes and stopped the wheels from skidding. Regained control and stopped the car.

Don't rely on ABS... gotta learn to control the car with out it.

Driving an old car with no ABS or Traction control in adverse weather with lots of power (the 240z) teaches you a thing or two. :thumbsup:

That's why we don't buy Chevys (j/k). I would be really interested to see what Chevy will say about that. I would get them to pay for the damages instead of going through insurance, because if ABS had been working, you would have probably avoided it.

Good luck trying to explain that... "uh yeah so I was speeding in a neighborhood and didn't stop in time cause ABS was out and I hit a dirt clump."

They'll just roll eyes at you and tell you to go away.

Or you could just say... "I was on the highway, cruising at 55mph. Listening to Sonny and Cher when all of a sudden this goddamn dirt clump comes running out from behind a bush and hits my car. I was like WTF...!!!"

That's more like it.... awwyeah.

That's why we don't buy Chevys (j/k). I would be really interested to see what Chevy will say about that. I would get them to pay for the damages instead of going through insurance, because if ABS had been working, you would have probably avoided it.

My g/f said the same thing, she was pissed that the brakes locked up like they did.

As for you matty...lifting off the brakes was NOT an option, trust me. Since I wasnt in a turn, there was no regaining control and there no time to lift off as the mound was coming up fairly quickly.

I am also all too familar with driving vehicles with no ABS, remember I have a 71 Camaro :tongue:, I also had a 1986 Silverado with a lock-happy braking system. However, I am not used to a brand new car having brake malfunctions in the middle of a crises. Hell, it could have been worse, I could have spazzed out and given the wheel a yank, sending my car sideways into the curb...ouch.

Good luck trying to explain that... "uh yeah so I was speeding in a neighborhood and didn't stop in time cause ABS was out and I hit a dirt clump."

They'll just roll eyes at you and tell you to go away.

Or you could just say... "I was on the highway, cruising at 55mph. Listening to Sonny and Cher when all of a sudden this goddamn dirt clump comes running out from behind a bush and hits my car. I was like WTF...!!!"

That's more like it.... awwyeah.

It could have just as easily happened on the freeway (except without the dirt clump you wise ass, heh) with me rearending someone, while doing the speedlimit (65mph). That would be much easier to explain, but I'm glad that this happend, instead of that. Even though a highway situation would be easier to explain, it would be much more deadly. I've contacted my insurance company about it already, and I havent lied to them about anything, so we will see what happens.

As for you matty...lifting off the brakes was NOT an option, trust me. Since I wasnt in a turn, there was no regaining control and there no time to lift off as the mound was coming up fairly quickly.





how is not being in a turn make sense?


Lifting off the brake slightly to get the wheels rolling again would of probably netted you slightly better results. Maybe not stopped you before the mound, but maybe hit it at a slower rate. Causing less damage.

Who knows, at least it's all minor damage. So that's cool.

The thing is, if you say its their fault becuase the ABS went out, they'll say that you shoulda brought it in when the ABS light came on.

Yeah, I was a little pissed at the time, and after calling myself a flippin' idiot a couple times I calmed down and figured it's nothing that can't be fixed. I was mostly just happy that my g/f and myself were fine. Heh, she stayed calm the whole time, it didnt even phase her, she's cool like that.

As for what you're saying Matt, I understand completely. If I had any more time than I did, that would have been my first reaction. But there was really just no time from when the tires locked to when I hit the curb, it woulda only sped me up a bit. I think I was going about 7-11 mph at the time of mound/car collision...if only those damn rocks wouldnt have been there.

The thing is, if you say its their fault becuase the ABS went out, they'll say that you shoulda brought it in when the ABS light came on.

I'm not going to assume anything about what's going to happen with this one, as I really have no idea. I may end up taking the hit for this one, so we'll see.

Umm, you forgot to update the "Deaths" section of your sig with Cul-De-Sac Dirt Mound, oh wait! that's right it wasn't a race! Nevermind! :p

Seriously, glad all involved is ok, like you said it could of been much worse if the circumstances were different.

thats why i dont like ABS... i more faith in my foot. ive had some hairy situations too... like the one time coming to a dead end stop sign on some black ice...

Anyone see Top Gear the other night where they had to crash the car into a wall at 30mph?

Haha, i saw that, the Volvo owned that wall.

Volvo>brick wall
Cobalt<dirt mound

edit:sig updated.

I like the whole...for every flesh wound, thats one point. For every broken bone, thats five points. If you die, then you automatically loose

OH LOOK! HE'S DEAD!


Awww, he's still alive.

I liked that xray of Jeremy's shipped hand, heh.

Top Gear is one of the best shows on TV.

dirt mound 1

bulldog 0

non functional abs 1

bulldog ( -1 )

dude no offense or anything but it sounds more like driver error than anything. Yeah your abs didnt work, but you really shouldnt have been going that fast into a turn anyways. Even though your car is supercharged, its still based on an economy car. If you skidded 25-30 feet it sounds like you were going alot faster than 50-60MPH. I dont know the condition of the road or anything, but it just sounds like your error, granit the ABS didnt work, you shouldny rely on the safety features built into your car to stop. I dont think ive ever had my ABS kickin while stoping on dry pavement.

But im glad your okay and the car only took minimal damange.

lol @ bulldog's sig....modified with sharp rocks...hehe...

sending my car sideways into the curb...ouch.

everyone has to hit a curb sometime, i did mine sideways thogh and let me tell you it is MUCH more expensive to get back running right, broke the front driver axle, rear strut tower cradle, 2 400$ rims (from the factory) ruined 4 tires w/ flat spots, nick on the front bumper and a sideskirt that needed to be completely repainted. around 2k$ also depending on how far u locked up, u'll want to check for flat spots on ur tires which means you can't drive fast anymore or you screw ur suspension and wheel bearings...

Like he said, everybody has that happen to them once. Just be glad it wasn't worse, and that your brakes actually worked. Not having brakes is a hell of alot worse (trust me).

Sorry to hear about it though, best of luck getting it back into shape as soon as possible.

ouch that sux man

man thats nothing.

tis a scratch

glad ur okay though