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completely useless for trips to the DIY store
Local BandQ car park a while back:
[url= http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6148/6010796249_f2d6a95092.jp g" target="_blank">
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike-davis/6010796249/ ]Tool for the job[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/mike-davis/ ]MikeDavis[/url], on Flickr
With it's central seating position, I think the greatest danger of an F1 is slipping whilst getting into the drivers seat and becoming overly acquianted with the gear lever.
I flatly refuse to believe that a Mclaren F1 just 'goes' like that on a patch of diesel at 70mph on a big almost straight road
I see what you're saying and accept your POV, but diesel is lethal, even at slow speeds. Hit enough of it at 20mph, and you'll be struggling in any car. That said I've never had a problem in a car myself.
But you do learn this on a motorbike, and you develop 'diesel vision' on corners near garages. I've had it where I've smelled it before I've got to it! A bike only needs a small patch to have you off though, where a car will slide then regain grip when it's clear of the spill.
Something ran out in front of him?
I haven't seen any claims to this effect?
True in a way, but at the same speed as a Focus, you'll get away with a LOT more.
Depends - if you happened to accelerate just as you hit the diesel in a Focus and you might get a bit of wheel spin (or if it was a lower powered variant nothing at all), do the same in an F1 and the instant power could have the car from under you in an instant.
Wasn't it someone here (SbZ???) that innocuously hit some diesel and crashed their car - slid out of a slip road and into oncoming traffic or something?
I haven't seen any claims to this effect?
Neither have I, just saying there may be circumstances we don't know about yet.
At least he can't have been getting 'treatment' from a lovely in the passenger seat and lost concentration...
Where does the prick in his/her ferrari put the wheel chair???
Something ran out in front of him?
If it turns out to be true I'll give him that.
PP: see your point but like you, never had a problem in a car.
Where does the prick in his/her ferrari put the wheel chair???
Could be using a stick? Could have been someone giving a disabled badge holder a lift, badges are transferable like that no?
And to be fair, from the damage on the car, it looks a pretty low speed accident. If you read the 'Sun' article it would have you think he had a 'Hammondesque' dice with the devil at really high speed.
[b][i]Rowan Atkinson cheated death last night after crashing his £650,000 supercar[/i][/b]
FFS - he didn't even knock the signpost over!
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Where does the prick in his/her ferrari put the wheel chair???
Disabled parking badges and wheelchairs aren't mutually inclusive.
That said, the extra width of the disabled bays is handy for preventing those parked alongside from dinging your paint work when they open their doors.
Neither have I, just saying there may be circumstances we don't know about yet.
Maybe. All I'm saying that is unless something like that happened, there is no excuse for losing control of the car on a public road.
No badge in evidence 😉
Yeah I know that but Id bank on the fact the driver wasn't disabled and was just protecting the doors from the arseholez who park within a foot of you and then pile their doors into the side of ya car!!!
Why does wanting to protect your car justify taking up a disabled parking spot? I want to protect my car, it's not a Ferrari but I'd still rather people don't slam their doors into it.
All I'm saying that is unless something like that happened, there is no excuse for losing control of the car on a public road.
Of course not - but accidents happen. It could have been suspension failure or anything. It is easy to come to the assumption that he was caning it (or just got a bit over-eager overtaking someone and his a wet manhole cover or something), but none of us know.
But at the end of the day, no matter what car he was driving, he just had an accident - no-one else was hurt so I don't see what the big deal is - at least he uses and enjoys his lovely cars.
A bit naughty in disabled spaces. Use parent & child spaces instead, and do something about childhood obesity.
It's not very nice parking in a disabled bay but then if you look at some of the "disabled" people driving around, seemingly able to carry lots of shopping bags without assistance and driving manual cars, I can see why some people don't care <can of worms>
Our ASDA had a trial where if anyone parked in a disabled space, this dirty great klaxxon would sound so everyone could look round and see the perfectly able person get out of their car. I guess it didn't stop it happening sadly, presumably because the tossers have no shame anyway, you can't embarass them.
Use parent & child spaces instead
The parent and child spaces are nearer to the doors of the shop too 🙂
The parent and child spaces are nearer to the doors of the shop too
They aren't in our local supermarkets (Asda, Sainsbury and Morrisons in Harrogate)
Our ASDA had a trial where if anyone parked in a disabled space, this dirty great klaxxon would sound so everyone could look round and see the perfectly able person get out of their car. I guess it didn't stop it happening sadly, presumably because the tossers have no shame anyway, you can't embarass them.
Our ASDA tried issuing tickets: this was the result.
[url= http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/Jaguar-driver-jailed-car-park-rage/story-13010077-detail/story.html ]Jag driver jailed for car park rage[/url]
Has anyone actually read the news article at the start of the thread? No? Well it says "after he crashed his McLaren F1 super car which caught fire." This would allude to the fact that he didn't crash because of a patch of diesel, nor did he crash because someone/something ran out in front of him. I'm sorry but if I was him, I'd be suing McLaren for the damage to the car, whiplash, the shoulder injury and the mental trauma caused by the crash as it's just not acceptable for a supercar to set on fire now, is it?
i have a t5 transporter with black windows in the rear...i once had a woman get all gnarly with me when i parked it in a super market space for parent and child, i said nothing and just opened the side door slid it back and revealed a van full of children. 🙄
she didnt say sorry. 😐
I just drive round in one of [url=Our ASDA had a trial where if anyone parked in a disabled space, this dirty great klaxxon would sound so everyone could look round and see the perfectly able person get out of their car.
]these[/url]. No one is any the wiser.
They aren't in our local supermarkets (Asda, Sainsbury and Morrisons in Harrogate)
They aren't in my local Sainsburys either, but they are in the car park in the picture which was the one to which I was referring. I wasn't making a general point 🙂
I flatly refuse to believe that a Mclaren F1 just 'goes' like that on a patch of diesel at 70mph on a big almost straight road.
I think you'd be surprised…
I’ve spun a 911 around accelerating in a straight line at around 50 mph because of a diesel patch on the road.. if the back wheels break traction, the way an F1 rev's they are going to spinning up to a ridiculous speed exceptionally quickly unsettling the car as they do spin and when they regain grip.. there’s not always a lot of room to correct these things on the road
These are very direct cars the slightest input through the wheel or you right foot makes a difference to what they do...
It certainly wasnt me that hit a patch of diesel and crashed.
I also have no mutual acquaintances with Rowan Atkinson. 😀
I have had a Lotus Elise start wildly fishtailing on a mildly damp road before due to breaking traction during harsh acceleration.
Our ASDA had a trial where if anyone parked in a disabled space, this dirty great klaxxon would sound so everyone could look round and see the perfectly able person get out of their car
Ahh, but you can have a disabled badge if you're deaf. And that won't bother you then! 😉
I'll be honest, If I had a Ferrari (I'd actaully have a Lamborghini, but that's by-the-by) and I just HAD to go to B&Q for a tin of magnolia, if there was plenty of disabled/parent & child spaces I'd probably use one as well. If I could afford a [s]Ferrari[/s] Lamborghini, I'd not give a hoot about the price of a parking ticket, but a ding in my door would have me in a right old rage!
As an aside, why are the parent & child spaces near the door of the supermaket anyway? They have no mobility problems, all they need is more space.... And where do you see most space in car parks?? Right at the other end as far away from the doors as possible! THAT'S where they should be!
I flatly refuse to believe that a Mclaren F1 just 'goes' like that on a patch of diesel at 70mph on a big almost straight road.
You are joking right?
I've slipped over on a patch of diesel on a petrol station forecourt, at all of about 1mph! I was wearing my grippiest trainers too, not some leather soled loafers or anything... Diesel on the floor is lethal stuff. I know many a biker who's binned his bike at perfectly legal speeds and on "safe" roads just from hitting a patch of diesel.
i have a t5 transporter with black windows in the rear...i once had a woman get all gnarly with me when i parked it in a super market space for parent and child, i said nothing and just opened the side door slid it back and revealed a van full of children.
she didnt say sorry.
She was probably shocked and appalled you had the gall to show off your latest stock for sale in such an inappropriate manner! Maybe a disused warehouse or an old multi storey carpark at night is better for sordid child sales? 😉
As an aside, why are the parent & child spaces near the door of the supermaket anyway? They have no mobility problems, all they need is more space....
With my two it is more of a crowd control issue! I want to be as close to the door as possible to minimise the chances of one of them escaping and getting squashed by some **** in a massive 4x4 that is heading at great speed towards one of the disabled spots.
Back on topic... The OP posted about not understanding how or why it's OK to be driving these 150mph+ "Supercars" on the road...
Well... I've had a number of cars all capable of that kind of speed. One of them cost me £1500! That's right, I had a 4 litre V8 engined BMW with almost 300bhp that did 0-60 in 6 seconds and was limited to a top speed of 155mph, that cost me less than either of my Mountain Bikes... And what's worse than that... I enjoyed driving it very much thank you! 😀
And then we COULD talk about motorbikes... For the price of an average full suspension bike these days you can get a 1litre Motorbike that's maybe 8 or 10 years old, but still in VGC, that is easily capable of breaking through 180mph! And it will get there MUCH faster than a car too... Should they be banned cos someone with ants in his pants thinks they're wrong to be on public roads?
All you "holier than thou" people getting so het up about people with some spare income actually enjoying spending it on something they like... GET A F***ING GRIP! The world would be a much more boring place without such nice cars for the rest of us to look at and admire, and perhaps even aspire to one day. What is life without aspirations? If I had none, well... I'd end it all tomorrow as there would be little point carrying on!
Just hope Mr. Atkinson (being clearly ok if he walked away from the crash) gets his Macca fixed ASAP. Those things are just the epitome of a Supercar in my eyes, engineering par excellence. For the world to be deprived of another one would be a great tragedy, even if his is perhaps the worst colour he could have picked! Incidentally, saw him driving it through Oxford many years ago, only 12 months or so after he had his first prang in it, and its surprisingly subtle to pass. Hardly anybody was stopping and looking at him in it, as they might say if it were a bright red Ferrari or Lamborghini...
I've slid on road bikes going round roundabouts after hitting diesel. There was no warning, just started sliding. Certainly got my attention and was pretty lucky to get away with it.
Also had a front wheel drive car's back end step out on a slight corner on a damp road leaving me on the wrong side after correcting. Turns out something had gone on the suspension. Cars in front and behind went round at the same speed with no dramas, actually the ones behind slowed right down after seeing me sliding onto the wrong side of the road! Many things can catch you out.
Clicky for bigger pic:
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mastiles_fanylion - Member
And to be fair, from the damage on the car, it looks a pretty low speed accident. If you read the 'Sun' article it would have you think he had a 'Hammondesque' dice with the devil at really high speed.Rowan Atkinson cheated death last night after crashing his £650,000 supercar
FFS - he didn't even knock the signpost over!
Looks a lot worse now!
when I was a student I had a night shift job with 3 other students.. we worked ate Mclarens F1 Road Car shell build factory in Shalford..
all we did was cut carbon sheets according to a patten, then bag then up in kits and put them in the freezer for the laminators to play with in the day time..
dull really, but still 'motorsport' 😆 i cut carbon + honey comb for cars 76-79
Mclarens would often be in the car park - one in metallic brown and with the two passenger seats full of crisp and choccy wrappers! for such a car they were quite invisible...
at that time Ferrari F1 where building making their F1 gearboxes in the building next door.. people would look at a 355 (best looking ferrari imho) over a McLaren parked next to it...
ps cars are awesome - especially mental ones!
Sports cars are fantastic in the dry but can get a bit tricky when its cold, very slightly damp, diesel etc etc.
The bodies tend to be that stiff, suspension firm, and large low profile tyres. So you can quite often get a situation where a floppy soft family car will be able to go much quicker than an exotic highly tuned sports car... just take last weeks F1 race for example.
As to why he crashed, does it matter? He obviously wasnt going quick as there isnt much damage to the car.
Could have accelerated hard on a damp patch/oil. Could have down shifted too quickly and locked the rear. Could have been picking a bogey from his nose, or having a sex act performed on him... who knows.
EDIT: Ah after that pic obviously was travelling reasonably quickly!
these threads are crap without surf mat
these threads are [s]crap[/s] [b]better[/b] without surf mat
FTFY.
I've slipped over on a patch of diesel on a petrol station forecourt, at all of about 1mph! I was wearing my grippiest trainers too, not some leather soled loafers or anything... Diesel on the floor is lethal stuff. I know many a biker who's binned his bike at perfectly legal speeds and on "safe" roads just from hitting a patch of diesel.
So on foot you'd only have one contact patch while walking, a bike just two and a thinner one at that. Totally different.
They have no mobility problems
They usually do if they're under 12 months, unless you don't count "unable to walk" as a mobility problem 😉
355 the best looking Ferrari? It's like a mk2 MR2!
And Shirley spaces for cars with small kids is about safety?
And Shirley spaces for cars with small kids is about safety?
Safety and the ability to open the doors wide enough to get them out of their car seats - when we use standard spaces it is a sod getting the girls in and out of the car.
They're really meant for 4x4s I reckon
Maybe. All I'm saying that is unless something like that happened, there is no excuse for losing control of the car on a public road.
There's many reasons for losing control of a car at speed (over 20mph) on a public road. An earlier post said conditions were atrocious so it's entirely possible he hit a large patch of standing water and aquaplaned briefly, which is highly likely. A mate's VW Polo was aquaplaning going up a fairly steep hill in pouring rain, where the water was running down dips in the surface caused by traffic wear. As he tried accellerating the front wheels were just spinning in the water, at around 40mph. I had a Capri 1600, my dad's, go totally sideways on a stretch of dual carriageway when overtaking a mini at 60, just missing the front of the mini and a large roadsign and coming to rest against a hedge forty feet from the road on a wide verge. A couple of cops stopped to see what was going on and helped change the trashed back wheel and they reckon a back tyre had just gone flat. Imagine the same on a soaking wet road.
Oh, and the OP ought to actually try driving such a car on a track day to get a personal opinion as to why people who can actually afford them drive such cars, rather than just ask the opinionated on here a question. It's entirely subjective, and if you have no knowledge or interest in the subject, someone else's isn't going to help you very much.
Like my seeing no point in dance music outside of a dance venue. It has no other merit.
Just my opinion based on over forty years of listening to live and recorded music. Actually saw the very first band I saw live forty years ago this year again in June. I have the experience on which to base my personal opinion, but others will have a different experience which I wouldn't be able to grok.
355 the best looking Ferrari? It's like a mk2 MR2!
it is the pop up lights for me, 355 was the last Ferrari to have them.. for me supper cars [i]should[/i] have pop ups....sad i know
shame they banned popup lights completely really... also a sham that there are those crappy mr2 mk2 to 355 look alike kits...