We have all had bad experiences at car dealerships and car repair shops. Heck, being a former service manager, I have had to attempt to repair these bad situations at times. Typically, when customer service turns sour, you simply express your anger, go home, call the corporate office, and eventually get a resolution. Well, apparently this is not the way the customer service flowchart goes in some countries.
In a Nissan and Suzuki dealership in what looks to be Russia, if I am seeing the sign correctly, a customer decides to take part in creating his own resolution for a customer service issue.
According to the story that we read, this customer took his Suzuki SUV, which he bought new, back to the dealership to have a faulty shock replaced. The dealership refused to replace the shock under warranty, which really isn’t that uncommon, and from there the customer bypassed calling customer service, and chose to take his frustrations out on the dealership, by way of ramming his Grand Vitara through the dealership’s window.
That’s not where it stops, this driver then smashes up a few brand new floor model vehicles, using his SUV as a battering ram, then eventually disappears from the screen – likely to do more damage on the other side of the dealership.
I used to have pretty nasty road rage, but mine mostly consisted of laying on my horn and flashing the occasional one-fingered salute. This guy really needs to get his anger issues under control. I hope his car insurance company is prepared to pay out to fix his now-smashed SUV, or their office may receive the same “redecorating.”
Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face, sheesh. Check out the above video to see all of the craziness, pay close attention to the brave guy that goes knocking on this lunatic’s window at the 1:57 mark. What’s he gonna do, ask him for some Grey Poupon?
It always pains us to bring forth news of any car burning to a crisp, especially a supercar, but this one was just too ‘good’ to pass up. The Lamborghini Aventador has only been on the market for a couple of months, and in that time, the Murcielago’s successor seems to be a raging success. That is, however, until the black example pictured above went up in flames in southern California recently.
We all remember the horrible run of fires which plagued the Ferrari 458 Italia in 2010, and we sincerely hope that this doesn’t hint at a possible problem in the latest supercar from Sant’Agata, Italy. Initial reports suggest that the fire began in the engine bay, before the unfortunate owner pulled over to watch their brand new hypercar send a plume of black smoke into the atmosphere.
Whoever owns this car, no matter how wealthy there are, will definitely feel it in their bank account as it’s worth in excess of $350,000 and is a complete write off.
Just as a quick reminder, the Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 features an all-new 6.5-liter V12 engine producing 692BHP (700PS) and 509 lb-ft of torque at 5,500 rpm. As a result of this immense power, and the appropriately named ‘Thrust mode,’ the Aventador can sprint from 0-62 mph in just 2.9 seconds and hit a top speed of 217 mph.
However, this unfortunate example will never reach those speeds again, as it’ll be sent straight to the scrap yard. We just have to wonder if it was one of the examples that was rumored to be recalled back in December 2011 with "software issues."
Remember back in the late-1990s when there was all of that hubbub about top-heavy SUVs and how they roll over easily? Apparently, some people really need to be reminded of how SUVs handle. We totally understand that the Nürburgring is an awesome thing, as anyone with a car, $34, a driver’s license, and a heartbeat can take their car screaming down this famed course. We also completely understand that some SUVs belong on this track, like the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8, X6M, and so on.
That said, c’mon guys, taking an obviously stock Honda CR-V for a cruise around the ‘Ring? Are you trying to record a 20:00 time around the course to gloat about to your buddies? There comes a moment in every person’s life where you simply have to decide that the risk really isn’t worth the reward, and flying an early 2000s CR-V around the ‘Ring is one of those times.
It looks like the driver in the above video doesn’t quite grasp any of that… The first minute of the video consists of almost all high-performance vehicles, or at least modified ones. Once you get to the 1:05 mark on the video you hear a loud screeching sound of tall, skinny tires and coming around the corner sideways is a CR-V. A quick flick in the other direction to attempt to correct the spin and that’s all she wrote; over goes the CR-V into a spectacular rollover.
The CR-V then leaps over the guardrail on a single bound and sticks the landing like a pro. Keep in mind, the only reason we are so nonchalant about this horrible wreck is that according to the YouTube post, the people in the CR-V were fine, except for the fact that their mom’s gonna be mad when she sees her car.
Enjoy the video and make this a reminder, don’t race your CR-V on a track designed for racecars. It never turns out well.
We all love the BMW M lineup, and we are particularly fond of the brand new 2012 Ms, which punches 560 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque from a TwinPower Turbo 4.4-liter V-8 engine. According to our report in January, the 2012 M5 can hit a top speed of 190 mph, and a driver on the Autobahn decided to test this spec.
This 60-year-old man pushed his fresh-off-the-showroom-floor 2012 BMW M5 all the way up to an estimated 186 mph. As he approached a merging vehicle he swerved to avoid it, sending this machine into ping-pong ball, as it careened back and forth between the left and right guardrails. The M5 then flipped several times before coming to a rest in the grass to the side of the high-speed highway.
Miraculously, the driver, his 20-year-old passenger, and his dog all survived the crash, though severely injured. This clearly shows how advanced the BMW’s safety features are. Judging by the images (hat tip to Bimmerpost for the images) if this were any other car, the results would have been more tragic.
This just goes to show that just because you own a car that will do 190 mph and are on a section of the Bundesautobahn (Autobahn for short) that has an unregulated speed limit, does not mean you should push the car to its limits. By all means, stretch its legs when it’s safe, but don’t max the thing out. We should all use the tragic death of this brand-spankin’-new M5 as a lesson in how not to drive. Save that craziness for the racetrack.
Toyota’s road racing days pretty much grounded to a halt when corporate headquarters pulled the automaker from the F1 program after the 2009 racing season. Since 2009, Toyota Motor Company has shown improvements, as buyers began returning after the car-buying slump ended and the safety issues that plagued the automaker were rectified. This allowed Toyota to start to experiment with road racing again and develop the TS030 Hybrid.
The TS030 Hybrid had its debut race set for the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on May 5th, 2012. Things were looking good for the 3.4-liter V-8-powered TS030 Hybrid until its most recent test run. An undisclosed driver was testing out the TS030 at Paul Ricard and must have had a fairly horrific crash, as Toyota Racing Team President announced that the team could not build a new monocoque – chassis for those that don’t speak race-a-nese – in time for the May 5th debut.
Most people would think “Why not just use a second body; they all have spares, right?" Well, when you are easing your toes back into the racing pool, like Toyota is, you can’t really afford to go blowing millions of dollars building and testing multiple cars. In the future, yes, they will have multiple monocoques, but for now there was only one.
According to the press release, a new monocoque will be ready in time for the June running at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
A few things come to mind here. First off, was Toyota planning on arriving at the Six Hours of Spa-Francorchamps with only one monocoque? Secondly, how much of a bum does the driver that thrashed their only vehicle feel right about now? Maybe that’s why they kept wraps on which driver it was that wrecked it.
Well, here’s to a speedy rebuild, Toyota, and we hope to see you in June, sans the black cloud floating over your head.
Hit the jump for the official presser from Toyota Racing and a cool video of the TS030 testing.
Rear-end collisions involving supercars are no new thing. A large percentage of their owners have no real regard for the speed limit and tend to launch these super-expensive machines into the rear end of slower-moving vehicles. Because of how common these wrecks are, we typically pass them off as not newsworthy.
Of course, when an accident looks more like it happened during the red carpet affair at the Emmy Awards ceremonies, our ears tends to perk up a little. This time around, a $200K Ferrari California “lightly tapped” the rear end of what appears to be a Lincoln stretched limo. By “lightly tapped,” we ultimately mean slammed into the rear end at a fairly high rate of speed.
This California driver hit the rear end of the limo so hard that it pushed this massive luxury transporter forward hard enough to smash it into the rear of yet another Lincoln stretched limo. We managed to scrounge up a video of the accident’s aftermath, but unfortunately, we were not able to find footage of the actual accident, which was likely an extravagant display of speed and complete disregard for public safety.
By looking at the accident’s results, it doesn’t look like anyone was hurt. The Ferrari owner’s wallet, on the other hand, is likely hurting pretty badly, as is his ego. You really have to wonder how fast this guy was driving to push a car nearly three to four times its weight forward into another car, while at a stop.
Sit back, enjoy the above video, and have a nice chuckle. Let this be a warning though, just because you drive a supercar, you are not automatically a super driver.
With Formula One being such an intense and well-followed sport, literally dozens of films could be made about it tracing the various rivalries which have made the sport as great as it is. After the resounding success of ‘Senna’ 12 months ago, the latest F1 blockbuster is currently being directed by Ron Howard and follows the historic rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt the Brit.
We’ve already brought you some exclusive photos from the set, and the latest scene has just leaked online and it’s arguably the most important scene of the entire film. As we’re sure you know by now, the film revolves heavily around Lauda’s infamous crash at the Nurburgring in the 1976 German Grand Prix and the resulting fight Lauda put up to re-enter the sport and compete with James Hunt.
And that exact scene was recently spied when being filmed at the Nurburgring by Bridge to Gantry and it really highlights the intensity of this film. As the film is a true story, rather than the work of a creative producer, historical accuracy is paramount and it only makes sense that the crash was staged in the exact same spot that it took place.
To make a relatively long story short, Niki Lauda was at risk of perishing in the blaze which engulfed his car and if it wasn’t for the help of fellow F1 drivers, he would have indeed died. The 1976 ended up being the final race on the Nordschleife sector of the circuit, while the Nurburgring racetrack is still used to this day.
No release date has been set, but the film will likely debut in 2013.
The land speed record for the GT-R was 218 mph, until AMS Performance decided to drag old Alpha Omega, the company’s monster GT-R, out to the Texas Mile to try to beat its own record.
The first run the GT-R rolls up with 24.5 pounds of boost and a tarmac-punishing 1,050 horsepower at the wheels. This run came out okay, as the Alpha Omega GT-R broke its record, hitting 221 mph. Throw the shoot, load up the car and take it home, right? Nope, not the AMS guys.
Apparently, 221 mph in a mile wasn’t good enough, so the AMS techs hopped back under the hood and cranked the boost to an insane 29.5 psi. This put the Nissan GT-R at an intense 1,250 wheel horsepower. After a mile the monster GT-R hits 233.1 and its driver Ivan reaches to pull the parachute.
Obviously the GT-R didn’t like Ivan taking the credit, so after catching a dip in the runway, the rear of the GT-R lifts up and slings itself sideways, sending its pilot into a deadly 200+ mph slide. At that point we were thinking that a farewell story to this power GT-R was in order, but somehow Ivan manages to calmly keep this monster in check and keeps it from completely spinning out of control.
We watched this video repeatedly looking for any sign of panic from the driver, but there was absolutely none. His eyes simply stayed focused, as he steered the 1,250 horsepower GT-R out of its slide. Hats off to the driver for keeping his cool and getting this car back under control. Check out the video and see if you could have kept your bowels, let alone the car, in check during the spinout.
“Epic fail” is ultimately one of the most overused and incorrectly used phrases in the world. But, we are going to go ahead and chalk this one up as just that, an epic fail.
If you have ever watched drag races, you have likely noticed one thing in common with all of them. They are always on a straight and flat track. This is not without good reason, as drag cars, rail cars especially, are designed to simply go in a straight line really fast. If you’ve ever seen a rail car veer off the track you might notice that they rarely ever recover prior to a spectacular crash. This is because they have the turning capabilities of a fully loaded semi truck on an icy downhill slope.
Now that we’ve let you in on that secret of the dragster, what do you think would happen when a 1,000+ horsepower rail car decides to take a Sunday drive down a back country road? If you still don’t know, we’ll fill you in. It would crash at the first tiny kink in the road, much like the above video.
In what looks to be some sort of dragster road racing event, these guys take a rail car about 50 feet up the road before sitting it down in a small ravine, in a less-than-desirable way. It’s absolutely hilarious to watch the driver attempt to correct the car and you can really see the minimal amount of steering these things actually have. Fortunately, the driver wasn’t hurt, but we are pretty certain the car has a couple of bucks worth of damage… Enjoy!
A number of 25 McLaren MP4-12C GT3 will be racing during the 2012 season, two of them coming from Gemballa Racing: one for VLN and one for ADAC GT Masters. However, Gemballa’s debut wasn’t as impressive as the company might have expected, because their car signed up for the VLN series during this past week-end had a tragic end.
While the causes of the crash are still unknown a video taken after the crash reveal that the car is in a very bad situation. It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but for sure we won’t see it racing any time soon.
For those of you who have forgotten, the GT3 features the same 3.8-liter twin turbo V8 as the standard model, a carbon fiber safety cell, a racing front-splitter, a large fixed rear wing and a rear diffuser that offers it better stability at high speeds.
