I don't drive my car on the street very often, especially far from home. But I finally got it weighed last week (see 8 posts up) then proceeded to drive it into a pole on the way home. You can't make this up.
I didn't tell anyone, because I didn't want to take away from the excitement of finally getting the true weight taken and I didn't know if it was totalled or not, so I didn't want to keep telling everyone, "I don't know," for a week.
But it turns out, it's not totalled, and it will be going into the shop on Monday; insurance has already deposited the check into my account.
And now for the interesting part. Whuh ha happen wuz... I go through a roundabout on my way home from work every day, and when it's clear (about 75% of the time) I give it the business every single time, no matter which of my three cars I'm in. Rarely the FR-S.
So there I was... happy about having finally weighed the car, and extremely happy about it being 70 pounds less than I'd estimated, just roasting the absolute shit out of this roundabout on a beautiful day, as I have for years, when, to my surprise and alarm, my steering wheel just came the fuck off. Instantly. As a whole. No looseness as a warning, no bolt-by-bolt gradual separation, no. Just a nice digital on/off situation.
As you would expect, the car immediately straightened out, and my butthole assumed the density of a black hole. Before my brain had even registered that the wheel was off, I'd already monster trucked over the curb and grass that divide the lanes coming into the roundabout. I managed to grab the naked hub, where the steering wheel once was, with one hand, just in time to meet the sidewalk, which immediately proceeded to obliterate my front wheels.
I got partially airborn a second time, and was immediately greeted by a telephone pole. I finalized the spectacle with a sweet 90° rebound off the pole.
I was amazed at how little evidence there was that anything had happened. There were 0 marks in the street. Just a little scuff on the curb, and a faint mark all the way across the sidewalk. I'm sure the pole was very happy about all the weight reduction.
And now the ultimate question: how the hell did the steering wheel, that does not have a quick release and has been bolted on for over 4 years, suddenly come off?
Answer: too short of screws.
The metal disc you see there is one I had a local guy fab up for me. It's an OEM Lotus wheel, attached to the custom piece, which attaches to an aftermarket wheel adapter for Toyotas. The screws that attach the custom piece to the adapter were just too short. I had no idea, but as soon as I picked up the loose wheel after my initial 3 or 4 "holy shit is this real" laps around the car, I immediately realized what the problem was.
As much as I, and random people who see the interior, love the novelty of the Exige wheel, I'm just going to get an aftermarket wheel like normal people. Which will actually save some weight, so I guess it was all for the best.
03-11-2025, 05:37 PM
