Never been pulled over, never had an accident ever, now this :(

It had snowed some on Friday, not a lot and I've certainly driven in worse through this route many times over the past 4-5 years. But as I was taking a gentle right at about 25 or 30 the rear wheels completely lost traction (I think I had started to very lightly apply a bit more pressure on the gas pedal since the road straightens out after the tracks) on this diamond-plate that surrounds a pair of railroad tracks near here. They slid out to the left (yay torque steer), and I wasn't able to recover the spin fully. Car ended up going nose first (while kinda sliding sideways) in to the guard rail and spun back around to face across the street.

 

The hit definitely wasn't hard, my friend's bag was on the back seat and it didn't even end up on the floor, and the airbags didn't deploy either.

 

Result though was the front bumper got torn right off by the guard rail, front left fender and hood are ruined and I don't know what all went on under the hood (or any other damages throughout the rest of the car). The car proceeded to pee water all over the ground since the radiator or a hose was damaged.

 

The guard rail was high too, the bumper went right under it. I don't know what the condition of everything under the hood will be. Had it towed since it wasn't driveable, and I'll be following up with insurance and getting it moved to another shop this week (hopefully tomorrow). I would love to say it could just be totalled but I have no idea, the frame could have been bent, the engine and thus the drive train could have been pushed back but I just don't know.

 

My friend and I got out and got the report and all the other stuff has been done. I'm just really anxious to find out what the quote will be, or what the status is. Also not looking forward to the insurance hike... I had been enjoying every discount available until now .

 

Not blaming the tires but whether I get this car back or a new one, I am putting some Nokian WRs on there. And I'm also going to be very careful driving over that diamondplate in the future when conditions are bad. Not like I wasn't in the past, even in my old car I could feel the rear end try to slide out a bit while driving over it even when its wet, and don't touch the brakes there. My last car was FWD so it wouldn't torque steer on those if I started to accel a bit after the front of the car was off the plate. The Legacy on the other hand just totally lost traction.

 

No pics yet, not sure if I'll have the heart to take any either. I love this car, it was the first I cared about, the first nice one I've ever had and i treated it like I bought it (was a college grad present).

 

It hasn't been my best weekend ever. The whole event is still very surreal in my memory. A simple mistake and bad conditions can really go together to ruin your mood.

Diamondplate is NASTY stuff in the winter. I don't care what kind of tires you have on......

 

Sorry to hear of your misfortune....

Diamondplate is NASTY stuff in the winter. I don't care what kind of tires you have on......

I know. And I just caught it the right way that it threw my car for the loop.

 

Although the cop was convinced I must have been doing 60 (he was a real asshole). He didn't brighten my mood any.

hope insurance gets you a new car.

hope insurance gets you a new car.

Me too. I don't know what the situation will be.

Sorry to hear about that. At least you weren't hurt, though. I know it doesn't seem like it, but that's all that matters at this point; the car can fixed or replaced. AND, as trite as it may sound, everything happens for a reason. I hope it all turns out OK soon. Keep us apprised.

Thats power on oversteer. Torque steer is when you mash the gas and the power from the front wheels tries to rip the steering wheel out of your hand. It usually only happens on FWD vehicles.

 

Sorry about the accident. I hope everything is ok. The good thing is that everybody is alright.

Thats power on oversteer.

Yeah, you're right. The maddening thing is I just barely started to modulate the throttle and it started to slide quite quickly.

 

 

Sorry about the accident. I hope everything is ok. The good thing is that everybody is alright.

Yes, thank you and everyone else. You're all right, the important thing is that there were no [human] injuries. I've been grateful for that.

yeah, well like I said I'll think about it. Don't know when I'll get a chance.

Really sorry to hear about the accident. It could have happened to any one of us. The good thing is no one got hurt. It still sucks, however. Let's hope the damage to the car is minimal and you will be driving it soon again.

Diamondplate is NASTY stuff in the winter. I don't care what kind of tires you have on......

 

I'm very sorry to hear of your mishap, too, emorphien.

 

Like brother mccorry said, regardless of the tires you're running, that stuff is nasty, nasty for traction - I wind up crossing a set on my commute home, too, and it's where I take the most caution during freezing weather.

Damnnit you made me cry (well not quite, but you get the idea). I really hope your insurance treats you right and I'd talk to the cop about the speed he thinks you were doing, because he wasnt in the car with you and profiling is just wrong. If you and your friend both believe that you were doing around 25-35 instead of the 60 he said, then you need to fight about that. His asshole lie, could effect the outcome of your car and insurance rate and that isnt cool at all.

 

Fight the powah! Good luck with everything and I hope you get the car back, or a new one.

That sucks man- hope it gets sorted soon.

This is what insurance is for. The good news is you are alright. I know if may have been a low speed colision, but I had a buddy paralyzed when he was driving in similar conditions. He was driving very cautiously doing about 25mph. He hit a path of ice and the car just immediately slid sideways. He caught a telephone pole in the drivers door and it basically crushed his pelvis. The other 3 people in his car didn't even get a scratch, and two weren't even wearing seat belts. The really sad part is if his car would have had side impact beams he would still be walking.

 

Sorry again about your car.

Damnnit you made me cry (well not quite, but you get the idea). I really hope your insurance treats you right and I'd talk to the cop about the speed he thinks you were doing, because he wasnt in the car with you and profiling is just wrong. If you and your friend both believe that you were doing around 25-35 instead of the 60 he said, then you need to fight about that. His asshole lie, could effect the outcome of your car and insurance rate and that isnt cool at all.

 

Fight the powah! Good luck with everything and I hope you get the car back, or a new one.

If I remember, he put down what I said I was doing, but he just kept telling me that I had to have been going a lot faster.

 

I'll have to double check. At least I didn't get any violations/tickets or anything.

Sorry to hear that bro.

The damage looks much worse than it probably really was. Don't worry about what the cop says. Hoods and fenders are meant to crumple to absorb energy. Our aluminum hoods are very light and I'd suspect crumple very readily (not like the good ol days when you could sit on your hood and watch a drive-in movie).

 

The bumper is held on mostly by clips. Nearly trivial to pull it off (wouldn't suggest anyone try it, but I'd bet you could muscle it off with bare hands and enough aggression).

 

Glad everyone's okay... it'll get sorted out by insurance and you'll forget about it in 5 years when your rates are back to normal.

 

Watch for that snap oversteer. Can happen on ice too (black ice being particularly nasty because you don't see it coming). Clutch in and countersteer as soon as you feel the back wag.

A month ago when we had our first snow and icy conditions I went out and drove around local parking lots so I could adjust to how this car handles in the snow and since then I had gotten to where I could correct without much fuss. That bit of road is one to take easy whenever its not dry (you can feel your car wiggle even in the dry sometimes), but I didn't have enough preparation for this combination of factors, or for the sudden pivoting of the car. Before seeing the car I was speaking to a friend and he knows other people who have had accidents in the same spot from similar diamond-plate related mishaps.

 

I have no way to gauge the damage yet. I don't have pictures yet (didn't know I'd be going to see it) but I may try to get some later. The right wheel hit the curb pretty hard (need one new tire, so why not replace all 4?). They apparently could start it if they jumped it, but it smoked and make all kinds of awful noises.

 

I agree on the Al hood, I am not surprised it crumpled up easily. The front of the hood was pushed back about a foot and my radiator is at a pretty nice angle now too.

Man... will you guys stop wrecking your GTs? That is the kind of stuff that makes everybody's insurance rates go up. They base the rates for insurance on how many claims they have to take care of. Who is your insurance company? If they total the car and buy you a new one then they just pass the cost on to the rest of their Legacy GT drivers. Grrr....

 

Sorry to hear about the accident. Like mccorry said, I wouldn't blame the tires too much. I don't know any tires that would have saved you in that situation. Hopefully it all works out for the best.

Man... will you guys stop wrecking your GTs? That is the kind of stuff that makes everybody's insurance rates go up. They base the rates for insurance on how many claims they have to take care of. Who is your insurance company? If they total the car and buy you a new one then they just pass the cost on to the rest of their Legacy GT drivers. Grrr....

I really was happy not to see that attitude in this thread until now. I would have expected that on nasioc, not here. And it was state farm, fwiw.

 

Sorry to hear about the accident. Like mccorry said, I wouldn't blame the tires too much. I don't know any tires that would have saved you in that situation. Hopefully it all works out for the best.

Never did blame the tires (I hadn't been that impressed with them once it started snowing but I hadn't had problems with them), it was a combination of going over it in the right direction at the right speed (which wasn't fast), the conditions and me not being able to fix the situation once it started. Maybe a bit of bad luck can be thrown in as well because it's not the first time I've driven that in this car with rain/ice/snow on the ground, but that's just wishful thinking.

Word, yesterday I sent out a letter to Geico approving them to check my driving record and credit to see if I am eligable for a lower rate.

 

 

Also the other day I was pulling up to an exit ramp doing about 60mph and it was raining outside to a point that some of it was sleet/ice. I pushed on the brakes and started to hear the ABS noise and brakes struggling. Downshihfted through 3rd and to 2nd a brought my car to 20mph and gave it a little gas to go through the steep ramp.

Where did this happen? I wouldn't want to do the same thing!

Brighton-Henrietta Town Line Road, right near where it intersects Jefferson. If you've driven it you know the spot, if you've driven it in any adverse conditions you know what it's like.

I wasn't trying to give you attitude. I was just expressing my concern as a fellow LGT driver that hates to see wrecked GTs. The fact that it affects other peoples' insurance is just an added 'ouch' to the whole affair. Don't post details about your accidents if you aren't open to getting feedback other than sympathy for your troubles.