Thanks to everyone for being so interested, but as I said earlier in this thread I don't have pictures because I was rushed to the hospital soon after the crash. The police were convinced I must have been injured in some way. Also I am now a 3 hour drive away from where the car is sitting, and I don't have a car, so I can not take new pictures of it. I have already contacted the fire department about getting copies of their pictures but have none so far. I Promise I will give pics as soon as I get them myself. In the meanwhile please stop hassling me for pics. I have too much red tape to deal with at the moment. I am happy to give any information that I can, but I can not give pics because I don't have any. Trust me I want them as much as you all do.
That being said, I used a rapid swerve technique which I was taught years ago when I took an "emergency vehicle operators course". It's a rapid 1-2-3 manuevre which begins with an agressive turn of the wheel 45-90 degrees in the direction you want to go (1) and is immediately followed by an equal wheel turn in the opposite direction (2), then finished by bringing the wheel back to neutral just as quickly (3). No hesitation between the three steps allowed. This creates a minimum of roll momentum while getting you out of harms way quickly.
As I'm sitting here thinking about it, it may also be possible that the cabrio has a slightly lower C of G than the coupe, because of the cloth roof. I have no idea if this difference is significant, but it might have contributed to stability.
Bottom line: I never felt any significant tilt, let alone incipient roll movement.
By no means is this thing a go-cart. The go-cart handles the way it does because the tires are wider , and you are very low to the ground. The Smart has the opposite characteristic. The tires are narrower and it sits up high. That means that is more prone to a rollover than a go-cart.
The other day, I was driving around 45mph and dodged a turtle crossing the road. I can feel the tires squirm. These are not Z-rated tires. They are either S or T rated, which means they don't perform like a high-performance tires. The sidewall is relatively flexible so you do have some 'roll' effect when you take the corners. If you want to corner like it's on rails, you will need to get wider tires and go with V or Z rating. I'm sure the handling will increase significantly.
It is a safe car but it doesn't handle like a Corvette.
Last edited by blackbeagle; 06-16-2008 at 01:56 PM.
I'm glad to hear that the smart did its job in protecting you in this accident. Yes, we all want to see the pictures of the damage, and we understand the red tape you are dealing with. We don't mean to be pressuring you.
Hopefully you can get an orphan smart to replace yours very soon. Getting you back on the road with replacement wheels is more important that posting pictures for us.
Got some pictures, they are mediocre at best, but they are better than nothing. Still hoping to get our hands on some pictures from the scene, but the New Haven Fire Department has yet return our calls. Additional Info: the tow truck driver that picked up the car said that after talking to all the witnesses the police gave an official count of 3 full rolls. I couldn't figure out how to post pics in the thread, maybe someone can help me out with that, but they are in my gallery.
Now that they're in your gallery, just click on the pic of choice, and either copy the direct link code to use in the insert image button for a full size image, or copy the BB image code directly into the text for a thumbnail version
boy, you'd never guess you rolled the car 3 times, overall looks like the smartie is in pretty good shape!
While your smart is totalled, the tridion cell appears to have performed well. Airbags not deploying is likely a product of the initial impact appearing to have been front corner rather than head-on. Three rolls (and it appears that the roof survived?) without the barrier impact would have been quite a safety test and smart appears to have performed quite well.
Glad you survived your wild ride and thanks for sharing.
initial impact was on the passenger side at about a 45 degree angle their front left into my door. I think thats what ripped the rim apart. The roof did not survive, it didn't fall apart but was badly cracked.
initial impact was on the passenger side at about a 45 degree angle their front left into my door. I think thats what ripped the rim apart. The roof did not survive, it didn't fall apart but was badly cracked.
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Not violent enough to roll ...
"the car", "la voiture"
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