One From The "NO, REALLY?!?" Department

S

SifuPhil

R.I.P. With Us In Spirit Only
Location
Pennsylvania, USA
Actor Paul Walker died Saturday in California when the car he was traveling in crashed and exploded.

Here's an update from yesterday at 8:45AM -

Although it's unclear what caused the accident, authorities have said speed appears to have played a major factor.
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NO, REALLY?!?

Here's a few facts ...


  • The car was a Porsche Carrera GT, not known for their slow-speed crashes. In fact, it is one of the fastest and hardest-to-handle sports car available
  • Paul Walker was the star of several "Fast and Furious" movies, movies that glorify speed
  • The driver, a friend of Paul's, was CEO of an automotive development company and a former race driver
  • The car "lost control and struck a tree"
  • The bodies were burned almost beyond recognition
  • It was reported that an employee of the driver complained of the car having problems just before the driver and Paul jumped in and took off

Speed? No, really?!?
 

I don't know the poor guy, but followed the story all weekend. He was a very admirable person from what I'm reading, had just left a charitable event that he sponsored.

Those darned Porches...somewhat same circumstances killed James Dean. I was born w/o even a remote need for that thrill. The man I work for bought a new Porche (as a 2nd car) and took his us out for a lil ride the day he bought it. Honest to God, I needed 100 mg of Xanax! He terrified me! Entrances and exits to Interstates at what seemed like 100 mph made me swear if I ever got out of that car.....I know you're closer to the ground and feel it more, but I WILL NEVER AGAIN get in one.

HA! He took it back next day!
 
Can't blame the car for someone careless enough to be going 40 in a 15...spent enough time driving on mountain passes with hairpin turns to know that. If the vehicle is hard to maneuver, that's all the more reason to take it slow. That train wreck in the Bronx, NY was a tragedy too, extremely fast speed in a slow zone...haven't heard for sure if that was a mechanical malfunction, or operator error. :(
 
Yeah, that 40mph figure sounds questionable - rather difficult for a Porsche that weighs a tad over 3,000 lbs. to knock over both a tree and a concrete post at that speed, but I suppose it's possible. Like Sea said, it's carelessness, and I've seen more than my share of it as well. Everyone thinks they're Speed Racer.

That subway wreck is scary to me because I used to ride that line every day for many years. I remember the slowing down and the screech when we went through "The Curves" at Spuyten Duvil.
 
I've got a younger cousin and her husband who are 'weekend warriors' with their Porsches... they have their own fleet of these cars! ..maybe 4 or 5 of them.
They head to the race track every weekend to "relieve the stress of their work"... been doing this for years. During the week, they run a very successful Dental Practice up on Lake Erie (Cleveland) and live for their racing weekends.
Luckily, they don't have any kids to leave as orphans!
 
Porsche-drifting-recovery.gif
 
Boo's Mom said:
I've got a younger cousin and her husband who are 'weekend warriors' with their Porsches... they have their own fleet of these cars! ..maybe 4 or 5 of them.
They head to the race track every weekend to "relieve the stress of their work"... been doing this for years. During the week, they run a very successful Dental Practice up on Lake Erie (Cleveland) and live for their racing weekends.
Luckily, they don't have any kids to leave as orphans!
Click to expand...

While racing, whether professional or "weekend warrior", is a dangerous pursuit, at least they do it on the racetrack, which is expressly designed for racing and doesn't have many trees or posts along the route ... ;)
 
Aren't they saying there was perhaps a serious malfunction in addition to speed? I'm sure we'll hear it many times. Whatever, it's a horrible tragedy. The one ride from hell for me in a Porsche --could have been the driver--but it seemed to go from 0 to 40 mph in a few seconds. It's a sad guy thing, that thrill of speed.
 
I remember the picture of the back half of a Ford sticking out of a gum tree 6 feet off the ground. The front was scattered all over the paddock and the Police Accident 'Appreciation' division were "investigating if speed may have been a factor". Dya think?

I was always heavy footed, luckily I could never afford a Porsche.:)
 
Katybug said:
Aren't they saying there was perhaps a serious malfunction in addition to speed? I'm sure we'll hear it many times. Whatever, it's a horrible tragedy. The one ride from hell for me in a Porsche --could have been the driver--but it seemed to go from 0 to 40 mph in a few seconds. It's a sad guy thing, that thrill of speed.
Click to expand...

Speed, like anything else, has its place and time. They just miscalculated both, and paid the price. I had a lot of fast cars over the years but what it seemingly came down to was that I had an angel on my shoulder, because some of the stupid things I did I shouldn't be here now. :rolleyes:

DB, I know that video is probably the real thing but it's just hard to wrap one's head around an F-4 disappearing like that - gruesome!
 
SifuPhil said:
[ Snip ]
DB, I know that video is probably the real thing but it's just hard to wrap one's head around an F-4 disappearing like that - gruesome!
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Phil, while we were waiting for you guys to figure out the problems with our F-111s, we had Phantoms on loan (thanks, BTW).

I was at RAAF Amberley at the time and I can say that a Phantom taking off was the noisiest thing I have ever experienced, even when I was in the maintenance hangar admin area. Had I been of the Viet Cong variety, I would have surrendered every time one flew over .... ;)
 
You're welcome re: the Phantoms. Could we interest you in a few "previously enjoyed" Sukhoi SU-27's? Never been fired and only landed once ... ;)
 
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