knight rider

iTrader: (1)

It seems like at least once a month I see an article like this

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/12/07/l...ccident-video/

What is it with Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Porsches bursting into flames?

edit: gas tank in the wrong place, ala Pinto?

rossv1

Ban charity events.

05TLdcc

Gas is a flammable liquid

The owners to these cars push them beyond the limits that are appropriate for the current conditions, and they wreck them causing structural failure to components leading to cracks, leaks, etc.

A small spark can ignite a tank of fuel. It's not hard.

JS + XES

iTrader: (1)

Because super cars + rich kids = boom?

Rick_TL-S

Typically due to the materials used & nature of the engines. They create a lot of heat & sometimes, the materials used melt and ignite.

Porsche doesn't really have this issue, though.

knight rider

iTrader: (1)

Right. If my memory is serving me correctly it does appear to be, disproportionately, Lamborghinis and Ferraris. Paul Walker's CGT caught fire though. I get that it was a high speed impact, but cars shouldn't blow up on impact, like in the movies. If normal cars did that we'd have to hire three times as many firefighters.

DaeHanMeenGuk

Because Hunger Games.

Rick_TL-S

Walker's accident may just be a result of how the car hit the tree. I haven't read any instances of the CGTs developing problems that plague the Italians. Then again, most CGTs seem to have been written off for everything but a fire.

I haven't been able to dig through that thread since it went off topic, but what was the cause of the accident? Last I heard, it was potentially due to the steering locking up.

DaeHanMeenGuk

In another forum, they were wondering if the tires were involved.

quoted from another forum:

When the original Michelins were released many owners and test drivers experienced lot's of eye widening moments due to snap oversteer. One of the first things that I heard from current and former CGT owners after the accident was questions regarding the tires on the car.

The old style tires have a reputation for being extremely slick when cold. The term "like driving on ice" was used several times. This behavior along with further unpredictability led Porsche and Michelin to design a new tire. When the Pilot Super Sports were released owners almost unanimously declared that it was a night and day difference between the two. The car was far more predictable and many of the inherent "problems" were now manageable.

The other thing that many people don't even consider is how old the tires on a low mileage car can potentially be. There are many low mileage CGT's out there and some are still sporting the original tires that are now eight years old. At that point, depending on storage conditions, the handling of the tire is uncertain and a high speed blowout has to be considered as being more likely. This applies to all cars. If you are buying an older low mileage car make sure to check the date code on the tires.

It is important for all of us to remember how precious life is and take the necessary steps to ensure those that love and depend on us aren't left in a similar situation.

Mr. Maker

iTrader: (4)

Consumer report should know.

fuzzy02CLS

iTrader: (2)

The CGT is NOT a super car. It's a street legal track car sold to idiots who think they can drive them.....

The reason is simple. They are designed differently & safety isn't part of the important things that go into building those cars.

UA6

^Exactly. These cars have speed, and appearance at the top of their priority list.

fsttyms1

The main thing with fires and these cars after accidents and stuff has to do with the resins and glues that are used for the Carbon Fiber and bonding of the panels together. Once things get hot enough they burn, unlike metals.

Rick_TL-S

I'm sorry, but I'm pretty sure almost any major supercar in the last decade can be classified as a street legal track car. All of them are obviously designed to have the utmost performance (hence why we continuously read about which one tops the other on race tracks to measure said performance), yet still just managing to be street legal.

And I'm sure safety is still a key element to these types of cars. There's a specific reason many like the Enzo are designed to split behind the tub.

myron

iTrader: (4)

simple, because racecar

Black Tire

Didn't you know? Fire makes a car go faster. Yes this is an R8 that went up in flames in TO.

Hapa DC5

45mph and under you are good to go.

Steven Bell

iTrader: (2)

I like this explanation....

1StGenCL

Rough, especially if it wasn't their fault.

Oh, did anyone see the 7 series 2 spoke wheels in the video, terrible.

Mr Marco

exactly

Legend2TL

Metals can and do burn in carbeques, magnesium blocks in old VW air cooled engines will catch fire and burn at pretty high temps. Mg also used in other area's (wheels, dash structure on new C7,...). Takes some time to get solid Mg to burn, but once it does it's hard to put out.

fsttyms1

Yes, Metals can burn, especially Magnesium but typically much more heat is involved to get them going and in general, most "Normal" cars have very little of it and are still mostly built of metal and aluminum which are FAR less likely to combust in an accident than a chemically infused material like CF and the glues that bond many of the exotic materials together and hence why we have seen so many fires in the exotics (like the Ferrari issue with the glue used and the exhaust catching them on fire)

Legend2TL

The glue in the Ferrari fires had nothing to do with CF and resins. It was glue used to bond body panels in the rear struture.

In terms of Mg, it's slowing rising in content but still low but it's rising. It gets used in some unusual area's that most people don't see (seats, dash structure, transmission frame,...). The industry would like to get up to 350lb average by 2020.

http://wardsauto.com/vehicles-amp-te...weighting-uses

As for CF and the resins that bond it, it's hard to ignite and not high in thermal energy potential compared to gas or oil. Sounds cool to say the CF burned up but the gas, oil, plastics and rubber contribute far more to the fire than CF composites in exotics.