Paul Walker from Fast and Furious died in a wreck...

I've read that Rodas was already dead. Walker was unconcious and if there was anyone around and tried to pull him out now he would be with us. Just thoughts and theories.

 

That's speculative that he could have got pulled out in time and survived.

Kai

 

100MPH looks to be more consistent with the crash photos.

CO poisoning leads to Euphoric effects...

 

Perhaps a blessing. No pain felt unless you live long enough for the CO headache later.

 

Rodas/Walker coroners report released | News | Motorsport.com

 

The accident investigation is now complete. While excessive speed is the factor they cite, you really only need to read one sentence:

"The tires on the car were more than nine years old."

Full report published here: Cause of Collision that claimed the lives of Paul Walker & Roger Rodas from LASD - HQ Newsroom (SHB), Los Angeles County Sheriff : Nixle

Still very sad...

>8^\
ER

 

9 year old tires...how does that happen on a CGT.

a Camry, sure. but a CGT?!?

 

In the words of a professional racecar driver friend of mine who's a longtime owner of a Carrera: "On a Carrera GT, the tires must be changed every two years irrespective of how many miles have accrued. Otherwise, the car is a death trap."

That's probably one of the contributing factors as to why Roger Rodas lost it in that curve. Another friend of mine who does special prototype work for various European automobile manufacturers told me that the rear suspension pressure on the Carrera GT is quite peculiar -- a design attribute that contributes to massive instability in the back of the car (i.e. especially in light of the lack of any electronic Stability Control). To address this after the unfortunate Carrera GT accident at Fontana Speedway, Porsche had my friend install an a system whereby an electric motor drives the front wheels. This went a long way towards curing the rear end instability. Interesting how the new Porsche 918 features similar technology up front....

 

OEM tires, never replaced.

Just because a guy has money and fast cars, doesn't mean he has a clue about how to maintain them safely.

Sad. $2K and a call to tirerack.com might have saved their lives.

Some folks just don't pay attention to this stuff. I've seen guys at track days with tires I wouldn't use on the street, much less on the track. And guys who acknowledged they should get new track car rubber but don't want to spend the bucks.

Same guys probably wrap their $10,000,000 heads in $100 helmets.

D
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I don't think you understand the history on this car

 

What does the "history" of the CGT have to do with driving on aged tires, what am I missing?

 

Owners of cars like these can afford to sell them on with fresh rubber.

Buyers of cars like these should recognize a set of old tires and replace them on purchase.

This particular former owner, as I understand it, has a more than passing acquaintance with fast cars. The buyer, likewise had a familiarity with fast cars.

Both, theoretically, should have known enough about cars and tires to replace them when they were (pardon the pun) tired and in need of replacement.

Neither did, which is unfortunate. It seems that it should not have been an issue of money for either party, but certainly any buyer is subject to caveat emptor and a good PPI would have resulted in a recommendation to replace the tires.

Just unfortunate that this pretty basic piece of maintenance was apparently not performed.

 

Yes it is sad. I still cannot fathom the reasoning of a so called "professional driver" driving and taking such risk on public roads, I have no sympathy for people like that. I am jaded.

 

There are plenty of Ferrari owners with nine year old tires on their car...

Kai

 

That's probably fine if all they are doing is holding the car off the ground in a climate controlled garage.

I really wish the accident report had highlighted the age of the tires as a primary contributing factor instead of simply focusing on the government's campaign against speed and then leaving the comment about the tires as a footnote for those paying attention.

>8^\
ER

 

^^^^^^^

 

I completely agree with you...

...but if they would have crashed at half the speed that they did, they would very likely still be alive.

The tires are very likely the cause of the accident, but the high rate of speed increased the severity of it.

Still no excuse for having the original set of tires on the car though. That's just stupidity and dangerous (and in this case, fatal) negligence.


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

You could argue it either way, but the real cause of the accident was a loss of control with speed as a complicating factor and fresher rubber could have gone a long way towards allowing Roger to remain in control.

I wonder how many, if any, recommendations to replace the tires exist in the service logs for this car and why a number of people who should have known better about performance cars never did just that.

>8^\
ER

 

Interesting point. If such records exist, could these be grounds for a possible lawsuit?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

Will a lawsuit bring them back, no. Will a lawsuit seeking a financial reward rekindle the devastating loss both families have endured, yes. There is nothing to be gained by a lawsuit for any one.

 

My uncle died due to a part on a cargo train not being up to code. Suing the train company wasn't going to bring him back to us but we sure as hell wanted the people responsible to face some kind of consequences for their negligence.

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This is America. Who says anyone needs grounds to file a lawsuit?

>8^\
ER

 

Not sure if this was discussed here previously, but it seems in the months prior to when this accident occurred that this CGT had its four year service completed by a shop in SoCal. One of the things on the extensive list of service items is to check the condition of the tires.

This thread was posted by the shop not long before the crash:

GMG Racing Porsche Carrera GT Major Factory Service - 6speedonline.com Forums

The same images appeared in a prior thread on Rennlist dating back to April of last year so the work wasn't quite that fresh. Even if it was done a year prior, one has to wonder if 'Replace 8 year old tires' made their follow up list and was ignored or simply wasn't recognized. Not sure how many mechanics are trained to read the date codes on tires like the guys who work at tire shops or for tire distributors.

>8^|
ER

 

Paul Walker died from speed, not from mechanical failure of the Porsche: LA Sheriff's Dept report.

What weird is they also note the tires were probably bad, but speed was still the cause. The car's speed was between 80 to 93 mph if you read the report. Neither was drinking.

Basically, Rodas lost it.

Paul Walker -- Speed, Not Mechanical Failure, Caused Fatal Crash | TMZ.com

http://tmz.vo.llnwd.net/o28/newsdesk/tmz_documents/0325_paul_walker_crash_report_3.pdf


Paul Walker died as a result of speeding and not mechanical problems.

A source connected with the CHP -- which did the speed analysis -- tells TMZ ... Roger Rodas, the driver, was going between 80 and 93 MPH when he lost control going around a curve and crashed.

The Associated Press quotes a source from the L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. -- the agency that conducted the mechanics analysis -- who says the crash was NOT the result of mechanical failure. Speed was the trigger for the fatal accident.

Investigators also noted the tires were 9 years old. Shortly after Paul died ... law enforcement sources told us they were the original tires on the car and they had hardened ... which means it lost traction on the road.

 

Another link..

Paul Walker car crash was caused by speed - not mechanical problems: investigators  - NY Daily News