Sorry to report...We lost another SVX.

[wasions]

This is really sad. You have my condolences.

By all means (I know you don't need to be told), keep whatever's salvageable.

And for what it's worth, there's still a claret '92 available locally (cheap). Look in my locker.

[Noir]

matt...well i'm glad it was me and not you and kim. if an svx had to take a fall, i'd rather it be me and alone vs you and kim. i think it was a bad weekend there period. i mean friday a biker got killed. saturday morning 3 bikers wiped out at the same spot same time. xt6 hit a biker and totalled his car. that biker got his arm broken and his bike smashed. a few wrx's i think had a few minor problems but not severe like 180's etc. none the less i had a great time and met many good people.

thanks wasions. i'll check into that. i have my car at the shop now and the insurance will be up to look at it soon. i'm scrambling to strip the car down to stock. i doubt the insurance will pay me for the upgraded rotors, stebro system, brand new calipers, speakers, head unit, etc. too bad the tranny cooler is smashed, new pads probably will have to go, rims are scratched, 1 tire is down. (and i just bought those rims and tires 1 week ago for $1500 ) got to make up as much losses as i can before the insurance tries to rape me.

<Harry is practicing to 'assume the position' for the insurance company.>

[Motorsport-SVX]

the cars cockpit stayed together and uncrushed
like it was designed. At least you are unharmed..
you can always buy another SVX and start over.
They will defineatly total the car, then youll have the
option to buy it back for a cheap price. Usually a good
idea, at least you can get your car back and
extra parts you have into it. Sell off what you dont need
and start another project.
Just curious, where you wearing just your passive seatbelt
or your lap belt too.?

[Motorsport-SVX]

Originally posted by Motorsport-SVX
the cars cockpit stayed together and uncrushed
like it was designed. At least you are unharmed..
you can always buy another SVX and start over.
They will defineatly total the car, then youll have the
option to buy it back for a cheap price. Usually a good
idea, at least you can get your car back and
extra parts you have into it. Sell off what you dont need
and start another project. Youll come out ahead in the long
run.......
Just curious, where you wearing just your passive seatbelt
or your lap belt too.?

[Noir]

passive only. i normally don't wear my lap belt. if i had, it would have been a pain to get out. after they cut my belt, i climbed out quick because since it was smoking we did not know if it was dangerous. i would have cut myself out, but my glasses came off and i could not see. i was also trying to find the walkie talkie to call my pack leader to let them know i was down.

[immortal_suby]

Wow - passive only - you are very lucky.

[Bwana]

WOW, I am SOOO sorry that had to happen....atleast you didnt go over the gorge though.

That is extremely freaky....I dreamt of a flipped SVX too...except it was mine, but still...

Perhaps we should get some scientists in here and study our "psychological connection" If 4 of us dreamt of a flipped SVX, and then it actually happened...it cant be coincidence.

We should start a new forum with dreams of bad things happening to SVX's...then maybe we can all be on the look out for things.

[svxistentialist]

Sorry to hear this bad news Harry, but real glad the car kept you safe.

When they let go like this, hard to get them back without very fast rally style steering racks.

We have a saying over here, "Keep 'em shiny side up, and oily side down", you may have a variant of it in the States?

Keep safe, hope you get another and better one soon.

Joe

[SubaSteevo]

Kinda makes me feel better about my run in with a deer. Luckily I just ended up with a dented hood and a hoel in my radiator. Glad you're ok!

P.S. I'm surprised it was an SVX that lost control, I was pretty sure our cars have better handling than a WRX.

Noir, I'm glad you got home safe.


What happened was this... Noir was trying to follow two of the fastest Imprezas in the southeast US through the Cherohala Skyway, a very high speed, high altitude parkway that snakes across the top of the Eastern Continental Divide from North Carolina over into Tennessee.

Both of the Imprezas had significant aftermarket suspension work done (JIC FLT-A2 coilovers on one, Prodrive/SPT suspension on the other) and were wearing very sticky sport tires.

The SVX has a prominent initial understeer characteristic, but when the back starts to let go, it does so in a big hurry and the weight transfers violently. Kent watched this happen in his rearview mirror and described it in detail, he heard the tires squealing and watched the SVX go through two full pendulums as Noir (very capably) tried to keep it under control, but in the end the car came across and dipped the outside wheels off into the grass and did a slow roll.

There were ~10 cars there to help within a minute or so, and there is video footage of them rolling the car back over once Noir was out safely.

Pics and video are forthcoming!


This type of pendulum oversteer is a problem with the soft suspension design of the SVX from the factory... it understeers up to a point and then completely lets go, a characteristic typical of severely under-sprung suspensions on heavy vehicles. I am incredibly pleased by my Koni/GC setup after this weekend, the car actually feels much lighter due to the quick suspension response and weight transfer, and the violent oversteer characteristic at the limit has been completely eliminated.


I'm so glad that Harry is OK, everyone was really worried and some general freaking-out occurred when word got around at lunch a few minutes later. We've never had a rollover before, or any significant forceful accident like that, so it was a new one for the group. It's a blessing that it turned out as well as it did, the images I saw of the car upside down in the ditch made my throat tighten up before I found out that he was OK.


On a brighter note, there are now a LOT of new fans of the SVX in the Impreza community, and several people have commented to me that they want to buy one to use as a race/track car. After my experience on the new suspension, I say great idea! My car is now one of the most balanced, fun-to-drive vehicles I've ever driven. Two thumbs up for the new suspension.


Cheers everyone, I'll post a full suspension review in the Mods forum.

Originally posted by immortal_suby
Wow - passive only - you are very lucky.

In my accident too...only passive and I was fine. I'll post more about it in a while..but first...

This is very important. What was your speed? How many miles did your SVX have? Did you hydroplane? How many miles old was your transmission? Was your LSD in working order? Did your tranny ever slip?

I'm glad to hear you're okay, and/but this is truly scary. The way your accident happened was EXACTLY the way mine did 3 months ago. It oversteered, I got control back, and then the rear gripped and I oversteered again, then went 70 MPH into a concrete divider on the NSP that's 4 feet thick, preceded by a tree at 30. I have a feeling that the tranny transfer clutch/LSD condition played a big role in both our accidents, because I distinctly remember right before the rear tires gripped a driveline hiccup, like a buckling or a stutter. Strange.

Originally posted by CopsodyX


In my accident too...only passive and I was fine. I'll post more about it in a while..but first...

This is very important. What was your speed? How many miles did your SVX have? Did you hydroplane? How many miles old was your transmission? Was your LSD in working order? Did your tranny ever slip?

I'm glad to hear you're okay, and/but this is truly scary. The way your accident happened was EXACTLY the way mine did 3 months ago. It oversteered, I got control back, and then the rear gripped and I oversteered again, then went 70 MPH into a concrete divider on the NSP that's 4 feet thick, preceded by a tree at 30. I have a feeling that the tranny transfer clutch/LSD condition played a big role in both our accidents, because I distinctly remember right before the rear tires gripped a driveline hiccup, like a buckling or a stutter. Strange.

The "driveline hiccup" you are referring to was the center diff transferring power around trying to get the car back in control. It's completely normal and thank goodness for it. If you keep your foot in the gas the skid will typically come back into control as a result of the AWD pulling the car out of the skid, of course only if you have your steering wheel pointed in the right direction. If you're past the point of no return in the pendulum then the only option is to pull the e-brake and try to spin the car to a stop... failing to do either of those things results in a crash.

As for his speed, I'd say it was probably quite high. I'll leave it to Noir to comment on that, but up until the crash he was keeping up very well with two of the finest handling Impreza WRXs in the Southeast US. Speeds in the straightaways were probably above 70 but below 100. I was averaging 55+ in the corners on the Skyway.

[Motorsport-SVX]

what tires you where running on your car ?
and what the Imprezza where running....
This is one of those cases where experience
prevails ... Dont get me wrong Noir, not saying you
are a bad driver at all, but if those guys did have
better tires and even been thru some driving schools
it was bound to happen.
I dont think their cars where set alot better...
although if they did have full coilover set ups etc
chances are their tires where best possible too.
Also good chance theyve had more driving experience...
Hey, ....chalk it up to experience yourself and keep
an eye out for SVX #2.....bigger and better !

[Noir]

dale, the tires i had were new yokohama avs es100's. i broke them in 1 week before the dragon. i got about 800 miles into them before i took the trek up to fontana. without a doubt those two guys were much more experienced in the awd playing field. i've only driven the awd for about 5 months. this was also my first major course like this with an awd. i've driven a few similar but short roads like the skyway around atlanta, but those are short and few in between. i was slowly trying to learn the limits of the svx and was adjusting myself as i progressed along the skyway. well i learned a bit more and i'll practice to learn to control it better. all in all i still had a very interesting experience and without a doubt i learned a little more. that's all what life's about learning from experience.

coposdyx. let me reflect on that and let you know.

in regards to speed. i'm not sure how fast i was going. i was watching the two imprezzas and feeling how my car handled so i don't quite know the speed. guess it was over 70 but was under 100. 80-90 maybe?

thanks for all the support and concern from all of you. i did not crack or breakdown from this experience but i'm eager to hit the dragon and the skyway again.

Originally posted by Noir
i'm eager to hit the dragon and the skyway again.

Sweet!

We've got a mid-year group meeting up there again in September, on a much more informal basis. We'd absolutely love to have you there. I'll see you soon in Decatur!