How NOT to drive an FR-S
 

So here is a short story to go with my pictures. Everything happened around 12:30 am, it was raining hard. I stopped at a gas station to get some gas. I pulled out and was waiting at a red light on the intersection to make a left turn. The light turned green and I started turning, while shifting into second, I reved up a bit too much and my back end started sliding. I managed to regain control for a few seconds before I lost it again and my other end started sliding. I tried to counter steer it but at that point I was just hydroplaning on the payment. Long story short my car ended up on a curb, right next to a tree and a fire hydrant. My driviers side airbag went off, my rear wheel on drivers side is bent in, some damage to the rear panel and rear bumper. I didn't see any other damage. Good thing I didn't have a passenger with me, there were no cars or pedestrians. There was an ambulance next to me on that stop light who saw everything that happened. They pulled up and checked me out, i just have a minor scratch on my left hand. Overall I got out easy, nobody was hurt except for my car which leaves me:brokenheart:. I know it's all my fault, but lesson learned .


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03/04/14 Snapped some pictures while getting my personal items from the car at a body shop



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First rain is ALWAYS the worst. Especially since we haven't had rain in a long time. The oil and water sitting on top....

I hope you were driving with all the nannies on.

Glad you're ok !

:(

Good thing you're fine. Let's hope there is no unibody damage.

I don't think there is, the speed didn't exceed 25 mph/h tops. I'm just hoping that it's just the bent wheel and that the rear axle didn't get damaged. I'm not really worried about the money, insurance or rental or anything else right now. I'm just hoping that when the car is fixed it still drives the same. Would hate for such a stupid to mess up my car permanently.

I barely nicked a curb at 5mph in a previous car and it was never the same. There is a lot of force at play even at low speeds. Best of luck though, I hope she is just fine.

Sorry to say but you are going to have an expensive repair bill. Rear wheel, bearing, axle, and probably multiple control arms will be bent. Looks like the front might be in the same situation. Airbags are expensive. Add on any paint/body repair.

$$$

Sucks. At least it was at low speed with nobody in serious danger. I don't want to be "that guy" but did this happen with the TC on/off? I only ask because it's designed to prevent exactly this.

It was in sport mode, I always have it on. Well bad judgement call on my part.

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I'm glad you are ok!

Nick C.

could've been much worse.

sport mode also turns off traction control, right?

no

Hey if you think about it, it wasn't that bad. Glad you're ok!

it just gives you more room to play until the traction control takes over.

Also, the easiest way to break traction is from a dead stop going into a turn with some gas, which is what happened here; regardless of wet or dry conditions. The wet road conditions just made it 2x worse.

Well, DrawingWaves, that was a nasty spin out .... :(

I'm sure glad you're OK.

Yep, I agree with others, the damage could be extensive .... but, it should fix up just fine and drive straight.

A lesson for most of us in your story, thanks for sharing your awkward moment.

I hope you get er fixed up soon.


humfrz

Happend to me but my whole wheel looked like an egg sticking out.. about 9k in damage..Fixed at toyota dealer drives just as well as day 1! glad no one got hurt and best of luck

It lets u slide a bit more before cutting power, not being in sport mode PROBABLY would have prevented this, but I wasnt there so who knows.

How long did it take for then to fix your car?

45 days... 90% of that was waiting for all the insurance crap.. they fixed the car in about 4 days when they got the O.K. and had all the parts :lol: it was bad timing right before holidays so it prob had something to do with people taking vacation...:sigh:

Holy crap, I knew it would be long but damn lol. Well hopefully they can get it fixed in 30 or less, that's the limit coverage for my rental car. Got a Challanger, this thing feels like a cruise liner compared to our little light wait cars. Can't wait to hop back into my 86! Also miss the manual lol

Well i had no rental coverage the insurance will probably act quick since they don't want to pay for a rental and don't want you to have to make them pay over 30 days! My friend wrecked his truck and got a ram 1500 hemi..My god we had fun in that truck lol

Sport mode in the rain....in winter...with summer tires. Brilliant!

It's SoCal...we run summers all year and it's usually ~70.

The only valid part of your post was: Sport mode in the rain.

:paddle:

Fair enough. Just can't imagine throwing away a car like that SoCal or Nome, Ak when it's easily avoidable.

Correct me if I am wrong but Sports mode disables traction control and retains stability control.

traction control coordinates with The electronic throttle to interrupt throttle signal.

Sport mode will not inhibit throttle, but it will allow the stability control to brake each of the 4 corners as it sees fit to keep the car pointed in the right direction.

pressing off will turn all aids off until you exceed what is it ..40 mph?

Then it will all come back on..

presssing OFF for 5 seconds and holding it ... will turn everything off ..EXCEPT driveline/trail braking. The car will always be doing "nannies" unless ABS fuse or pedal dance is done ...

@Photonic i think you have it backwards. Sport mode disables stability control (or makes it less intrusive at the least) and keeps traction control.

How NOT to drive an FR-S
 

I remember after I added simple bolt to my car it would start to break traction a lot, even at the lowest speeds and especially after I tuned it and this is with the traction control on all the time. There has been so many times where I have almost wrecked my car on slippery surface, especially in the rain, luckily I manage to get it back in control by giving it a little throttle. The car has never let me down. This thing is amazing. Well hopefully your chassis is still ok.


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I've seen a local FR-S get curbed. There was no body damage at all and no paint was needed. His wheels looked to be at more of an angle than the OP's car though. I'm not sure what was needed in the front, but the rear end needed all new arms and links on the right side, a new swaybar, and the complete rear subframe replaced. Damage was around $10K (with no body damage!), and he was without his car for a while. I hope you have better luck.

I hope when the car is repaired, the car will drive the same again.

Welcome to the club!!

It's repairable, its all stamped steel suspension will be fine after all parts are replaced and installed properly and alignment is done.

It's not going to be cheap but its an easy fix.

From what I know from AutoX it super hard to get the car sideways with the system in sport mode. I pretty much can't do it.

Sport mode is the worst of the three. It lets you slip, then cuts everything when you do. For me, it's either everything on or everything off.

Seems that a year with no rain to wash the roads makes em super slick when in finally does. This is at least the second incident like this out of socal from that rainstorm y'all had. Though I have to admit I haven't experienced roads getting that slick from rain before.

When I called the tow truck driver who towed away my car to ask him some questions about the papers I have to sign to release the car to my insurance towing company he didn't call me back for few hours. When he did, he told me that that was the busiest couple days he had in a long time, so many accidents. Hope none of them were the twins.

Yeah Sport Mode reminds me of the traction control in the Supra. It lets you slide, but then when it detects wheel spin it cuts the power. More dangerous if you ask me.

Atleast you're okay and safe.

About a month ago in social I was watching the news and they were reporting a bad car accident and the cops said they couldn't even figure out what of car it was cuz it go was so damaged. The reporter zoomed into the wreck and immediately recognized what was left of a FRS rear light fixture....

Damn, sounds all too familiar. The twins are getting owned by the rain this past week... I've counted at least 3 on this forum, including myself. I've been getting a lot of "light, RWD car, and inexperienced driver caused this", but I would contend that the intentionally under-engineered tires and over-confident driving style that this car brings out contributed to it as well. Good luck to us both, man

Thanks, you too. Well it is my first RWD car so I definitely wasn't prepared to deal with that situation. I've only had the car for a little under 3 months. As soon as I get my car back I'm taking advanced driving classes and putting on new wheels with better tires and driving way more cautiously under rain/snow conditions (not that we get snow here). Also never using sport mod again. I usually never make the same mistakes twice, let's hope this will be the case as well.

My exact thoughts, lol. I also got my car barely 3 months and ~5000 miles ago before I screwed up :T