Crashed my nsx tonigh, need some advice. HELP!

[Smoothaccel]

>>Why would a mid-engined car be any worse in the wet than any other car?
POLAR MOMENT OF INERTIA. The NSX has a much lower polar moment than front or rear engined sportscars. I'm not going to explain it here, it's been written up well for at almost 40 years since the first road-going mid engined cars became available. Do a search.

This is a very good point that I don't see many people considering.

IN SUMMARY
> We have tire condition; Good tires does reduce the tendency to spin out
> We have Experience in wet weather; Depending on tire condition and (I believe) alignment, the car does handle differently on wet roads.
> We have Polar Moment of Inertia; (summary) with the center of gravity on the NSX being more in the middle of the car, spinouts are easier. Think of this, hold two dumbels/weights with your arms extended out. Now, rotate your upper body. Try this again with your arms pulled in and the weights against your chest. Standing ofcourse! On a side note, understanding this characteristic of the NSX does help when you want to push the car to its limits (another topic)....
>> Main subject of post, help with Insurance questions. We are all too passionate about spinouts of the NSX. It could happen to anyone of us unexpeectedly.
>> I don't think that we have all the facts as to how or why the car lost control or the experience of the driver.

 

[BladesNSX]

The NSX, like any mid-engined car gives almost no warning before it spins and is virtually impossible to catch once it starts spinning. Until you take your car over the limit you won't feel this happening.

I absolutely agree with this statement.

Shake...glad your okay. I believe you will have your car back in time. Don't worry about it too much. I myself have had a nasty spin two years ago in the rain.

I was on my way home from work driving slowly in the far right (slow) lane, cursing the weather channel and the unpredictable Miami weather, when some idiot pulled right out in front of me from a parking lot onto MY lane. The center lane was clear after a quick check and as I changed lanes to avoid this fool I must have ran over some standing water. Honestly, there was no warning sign. I didn't jerk the wheel, accelerate, or brake. I just made a slight turn of the wheel to avoid the fool. I am a cop and we are trained time and again how to recover from a spin. But, I have never had the opportunity to recover from a spin in the NSX. I did recover however, the car was still in a slide despite straightening her out (and the road curved slightly to the right) so my rear rim hit the curb on the far left.

Whatever, long story short, here are the four things I would keep in mind.

1) if there is a slightest chance you may be cought in the rain driving the NSX.....purchase some great wet weather tires.

2) Know that the NSX will not give any warnings before a spin and drive carefully with that knowledge in the rain.

3) if you have the opportunity to drive the NSX in a controlled setting in the rain, test out the limitations of your NSX.

4) If its raining hard. Do what a motorcyclist does. Pull off the road, say under a gas station cover, and chill out for a bit. Personally, I hate riding my motorcycle in the rain. Gets really hairy. But I would rather fall off my motorcycle that crash the NSX any day.

 

[EIFFEL]

[. I was told before that the insurance would only give me the book value of what the nsx is worth if it's totaled if that's correct then I basically just lost 15 grand which sucks.
I just find out from my insurance agent ( statefarm) that my 91 nsx will be worth about $30,600. in the event of total loss. so it is pretty close to retail value of the car. you may want to use other pricing guide for more realistic market value of your car.

 

[Soichiro]

>>Honestly, there was no warning sign.

Shortly after I bought my NSX I spun it in the rain on a public road. One moment I was driving down the road normally, the next I was driving sideways looking at oncoming traffic. Luckily I did not damage my car too much and did not hit anyone else. The day after that I signed up for my first driving school! That was more than 10 years ago and I still go to several schools a year to polish my skills. If you don't practice slide recovery techniques often they will be rusty when you need them most.

Another good idea is to play in a wet parking lot away from others. Put some dish detergent down and experiment with slide recoveries at low speeds. You may be surprised at how much fun this is and it gives you practice with something that could save your life (or save some bent metal) one day.

 

[Ennesssex]

Actually the opposite is true. The more weight transfered to the rear, the better traction you have and therefore less chance of fishtailing.

This is not the case when road conditions are wet. Just think about trying to push a refrigerator on a wet basketball court with slippers on.

People on this thread are not all talking about the same thing. I'm merely stating that rear-wheel drive vehicles whether they be NSX, MR2 or any other tend to fish tail or lose their rear end more on wet conditions compared to front wheel drive vehicles.

 

[JAYS NSX]

I was following along very nicely until I got to the basketball/slippers/refrigerator the rain scenario!



:O)

 

[Shake]

This was my first mid-engine car, I used it as my daily driver and drove it in the rain quite a few times and never experienced anything like this. Once the rear spun out the car was very hard to control. I now know the limitations of the nsx, it was just unfortunate that I had to find out by crashing the car. The appraiser is coming Monday to look at the car and I will keep you all updated. Thanks for the replies by the way.

 

[JGuidry]

You need to bring it to a body shop who knows the NSX. (Not necessarily an ACURA dealer) Your insurance adjuster may not be familiar with the car, and a good body shop will point out the not so obvious damage. You will need to INSIST that the car be repaired to the exact condition prior to the accident. This after all is why you pay those high premiums. Also, inform the adjuster that you will seek a “Diminished Value” or “Loss of Market Value” settlement if it is not repaired correctly. You may want to do this after their first settlement offer, if it is too low. If the car is in mint condition, you should have no problems convincing the adjuster that it’s market value is at least $35K.

As a reference, I wrecked my ’92 last year with 38K miles. It was in mint condition, and the adjuster appraised it’s market value at $40K. I received a settlement of $23K and sold the car as-is in wrecked condition for $20K.

Just make sure you bring it to a qualified body shop who is experienced with the NSX. Insist on new body panels, and swear that aluminum and bondo don’t mix.


Jonathan

 

[huckster]

sorry to hear about your nsx loss, but glad most importantly that youre ok. End of the day its just a car(damn nice one though)

With chopsjazz on this one. Driven the nsx pretty hard in the rain and their is no problem. BUT your refrigerator wet analogy although funny isnt quite right on. Its about the TIRES, not the nsx. If youve got good tires with good wet handling characteristics the nsx is a great car in the rain. The stock yokos do very well by the way.

Right now im waiting for new tires, and my worn yokos are great practice for nsx handling. I can shift my rear end around like a gogo dancer on saturday night.

 

[ChopsJazz]

I can shift my rear end around like a gogo dancer on saturday night.

Good one. And yes, the car is great, it's all about the tires. Like I said, OEM Yok's.

 

[Shake]

Update, the nsx is totaled. Good news though, suprisingly insurance is giving me $33,000 so I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Thanks for the responses.

 

[DocL]

Update, the nsx is totaled. Good news though, suprisingly insurance is giving me $33,000 so I'm pretty happy with the outcome. Thanks for the responses.

Sorry to hear that your NSX is totalled. How long did you have it? The good thing is that you walked away from the crash. I also think that you should post the VIN because this car will most likely reappear in one year with a "clean title".

 

[JJCNSX]

Thank you very much, Soichiro and BladesNSX!

Where were you guys when i made statements that MR cars are hard to drive, and very unforgiving.. easy to spin out and hard to save once the tail start to let go..

and on the other hand, FR car would be much more forgiven..

i got flamed over and over on this list to make that statement..

NO offense, but i realize that while there are many knowledgable ppl on this list, but there are A LOT MORE that dont know what they are talking about and like to be very defensive..

anyhow, MR cars like NSX can be nightmare to learn to be good, but once you can master MR, you will never go back!

-jjc.
blk supra 6spds
red nsx 6spds



>>The NSX, like any mid-engined car gives almost no warning before it spins and is virtually impossible to catch once it starts spinning. Until you take your car over the limit you won't feel this happening.