Friend Rolls His RT/10 Twice Over Embankment

[Robert Dyck]

My friend called me to tell me that he rolled his 2000 RT twice on wet pavement. The hard top was on and did not come off, but the front windshield structure completely collapsed. They had to cut him out of the car.

The interesting thing is that he said the roll bar saved him, as it did not collapse or even bend. He had his seat belt on, and came away without any serious injuries.

The State Trooper thought he must've been really going fast to flip the car, but according to him, his speed was around 45. I guess he hit the embankment just right. I suppose that once the car tilted, it was easier to flip over.

 

[wastntim]

 

[CitySnake]

No roll bar...just the "sports bar."

This isn't the first time it's shown evidence of holding up "under" a rollover nonetheless.

 

[JUCD VPR]

WoW!
That *****, i'm glad he is going to be ok! Another one bites the dust, very sad to hear. Can you see if he can get some pictures?

 

[ViperJames]

I know I am beating a dead horse, but the car can be replaced, Thank god your friend is okay. That is what matters. Assuming he has the right insurance on the car, and for the prices of used Vipers right now, he might make out with an even nicer car for the $$.

 

[Robert Dyck]

No roll bar...just the "sports bar."

This isn't the first time it's shown evidence of holding up "under" a rollover nonetheless.

Is "sports bar" the term used by Dodge? In this case it functioned as a roll bar. I don't know if the rear window was in or if the side windows were up, and what structural support they would have provided.

Anyone know how the bar is constructed, and its design strength?

He believes that Allstate treated him fairly, but they would not let him remove the $7K wheels he just installed.

 

[V10SpeedLuvr]

Is "sports bar" the term used by Dodge? In this case it functioned as a roll bar. I don't know if the rear window was in or if the side windows were up, and what structural support they would have provided.

Yes, I know on some cars (maybe all Gen 1's) there is a sticker the sportsbar is NOT a rollbar and will not protect you, but as said before, it has been proven otherwise before.

 

[DodgeViper01]

Glad to hear that he is okay and that the car held up!

 

[NoRice]

I am sure it will buff right out.

 

[ViperGTS]

I saw cars at a stunt show flipping over going 20 mph only.
The angle of impact and a little steering does the trick.
Of course it was a normal car and not a sportscar.

But 40-45 mph should be enough to roll a Viper also.
A lot of kinematic energy!

Glad to hear he was not injured seriously!

 

[Bonkers]

I can't imagine 40-50 being enough to roll a viper without some
serious help (double blow out + curb....) Last year at VIR I
watched a driver spin a Gen1 on the front straight at 120mph+ over
the field up an embankment and even it didn't look unstable.

Sorry to hear about your friend, but Viperjames is right - car is
replacable, friends are not. Tell him to call JonB when the
insurance company tries to lowball him.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

I read somewhere (an old, old Viper magazine?) that the overhead support of a GTS and RT are the same. The difference was that for the RT this supporting structure was encased in fiberglass of some sort to make the sport bar, while in the GTS it was not so it wouldn't intrude into the passenger cabin.

 

[Janni]

I believe the structures are identical. The internal piece of the "sport bar" is a 1" x 2" box tubing piece that is seriously strong, tough to cut and amazingly well attached to the car. We gut out of the first race car we had and it was a BEAR to remove - I have always felt confortable with that structure. The WS surround is likely to collapse - however, your head is usually much closer to the "sport bar" and thus it is the stronger support member.

Unlike the SRT, the Gen 1 / Gen II provides real rollover protection - despite the claims to the contrary.

Glad your friend is OK.

 

[CitySnake]

I believe the structures are identical. The internal piece of the "sport bar" is a 1" x 2" box tubing piece that is seriously strong, tough to cut and amazingly well attached to the car. We gut out of the first race car we had and it was a BEAR to remove - I have always felt confortable with that structure. The WS surround is likely to collapse - however, your head is usually much closer to the "sport bar" and thus it is the stronger support member.

Unlike the SRT, the Gen 1 / Gen II provides real rollover protection - despite the claims to the contrary.

Glad your friend is OK.

There ya go! How does your remarkable husband deal with you're ALWAYS being right, Janni? LOL

The intent of my prior post was simply to point out that the "sports bar" should not suggest the same protection to a driver that you would have with an actuall roll bar. It may achieve some roll over protection....but FAR from that of an actual roll bar.

Regardless, none of my penchant for linguistic precision will give any solace to the owner that's lost his Viper. But it's ALWAYS nice to hear that folks survive such an unfortunate occurance.

 

[HARDVIPER]

I always kinda thought you couldn't roll one of these, just spin circles. I guess anything can roll under the right (or wrong) circumstances.

 

[Janni]

City - believe me I am NOT always right - but this one - I was so impressed with the roll bar - and we had such a problem cutting it out to remove weight (did I mention that it was HEAVY???) that it stuck in my head. again - always condfident in the structure of the RT/GTS.

Hardviper -it's not an easy car to roll, but drop a tire off and let it grab into something soft, or try to yank it back on the road - you can roll one - but it's about the hardest vehicle to roll that there is based on the track and low center of gravity.

 

[Andrew/USPWR]

That story may had ended differently had it been one of us SRT/10 guys:-(

Glad he was all right.

 

[Matt]

He believes that Allstate treated him fairly, but they would not let him remove the $7K wheels he just installed.

Well, if he didn't get his wheels he got hosed unless they added the full purchase price to the amount they valued his car at, which I'm betting they didn't. He should have had it taken to a body shop of his choosing. He could have swapped the wheels out for stock. It's still his car until they cut the check. Even if it's toalled, it just has to have four good wheels and tires, not $7K aftermarket upgrades.

 

[KepRght]

insurance doesnt own the car until they cut the check . they are only covering the stock wheels unless he has aftermarket wheels & value of them listed on his policy. one of our many insurance experts can chime in, but if it were me, i would have my 7k wheels in my garrage, and the stockers back on when they total it & cut the check.

 

[ViperGTS]

A little physics?

Energy required to lift a (complete) Viper 2 meters above ground (simplified):
1750kg * 9.81m/s^2 * 2m = 34,335 kg*m^2/s^2

Kinetic energy of a moving Viper at 40 mph:
1/2 * 1750kg * (16.66 m/s)^2 = 243,055 kg*m^2/s^2

At 40 mph the energy of the moving car is 7 times higher than required to lift the car by 2 meters (7 feet)!


All you need is a tire hitting something rigid and stopping the lower end of the car AND lifting the center of gravity above the "point of no return"...

 

[Mopar Steve]

insurance doesnt own the car until they cut the check . they are only covering the stock wheels unless he has aftermarket wheels & value of them listed on his policy. one of our many insurance experts can chime in, but if it were me, i would have my 7k wheels in my garrage, and the stockers back on when they total it & cut the check.

I agree, this was the case with my V-Mania windows and stereo on my first Viper. Insurance totalled it, and the car just needed to be complete. stock stereo back in and stock windows back in place.

Good luck

I am not an insurance expert, but I did stay at a holiday inn express last night.

 

[Andrew/USPWR]

A little physics?

Energy required to lift a (complete) Viper 2 meters above ground (simplified):
1750kg * 9.81m/s^2 * 2m = 34,335 kg*m^2/s^2

Kinetic energy of a moving Viper at 40 mph:
1/2 * 1750kg * (16.66 m/s)^2 = 243,055 kg*m^2/s^2

At 40 mph the energy of the moving car is 7 times higher than required to lift the car by 2 meters (7 feet)!


All you need is a tire hitting something rigid and stopping the lower end of the car AND lifting the center of gravity above the "point of no return"...

Now I'm afraid to drive

 

[kcobean]

A little physics?

Energy required to lift a (complete) Viper 2 meters above ground (simplified):
1750kg * 9.81m/s^2 * 2m = 34,335 kg*m^2/s^2

Kinetic energy of a moving Viper at 40 mph:
1/2 * 1750kg * (16.66 m/s)^2 = 243,055 kg*m^2/s^2

At 40 mph the energy of the moving car is 7 times higher than required to lift the car by 2 meters (7 feet)!


All you need is a tire hitting something rigid and stopping the lower end of the car AND lifting the center of gravity above the "point of no return"...

Now I'm afraid to drive

The real question is, if the car is level at the time of impact with said rigid object, how much energy does it take to rotate the car around the object (i.e. roll it). The answer would be different if the car were 2 feet tall vs 6 feet tall because of the varying CG. I'll bet the lateral energy required to "tip" a sideways sliding Viper on level ground is pretty high. Drop a tire off onto a steep shoulder and the equation changes greatly.

 

[ViperGTS]

My point is that the energy is "there". Even at 40 mph. Of course the circumstances for flipping a car like a Viper must be very miserable.

If you hit an object with the tires hard enough and the angle of impact is "bad" enough and may be some steering occurs (like in the stunt shows) because the driver tries to recover the spinning car...it may happen.

Unfortunately, it happened. And it will happen again.
You can't win against physics.

This is a pure theoretical question about the energy present in a moving car - but having an accident is very "practical" and some guys here know what I mean...

 

[JonB]

The real question is, if the car is level at the time of impact with said rigid object, how much energy does it take to rotate the car around the object (i.e. roll it).

That all depends on the Angle of the Dangle.......

Janni and Tom are correct on all aspects...same box-tube roof support bars..
We have dismantled MANY a mangled, rolled RT/10 with little or no collapse of the "Sport Cap Bar" hard-encased in plastic.

Roy Sjoberg of Team Viper, in an ultimate show of generous cooperation, GAVE me a sawed-in-half new Sport Cap straight from the MACK plant back in 1993. Fedexed it to me in fact. WHY? I was trying to get a definitive ruling from SCCA-National as to whether or not this bar would pass SCCA tech. It did not. But it is ONE STRONG MOTHER ! It was my FIRST SPARE VIPER PART...and I still have it!

 

[VIPER 93]

pic

 

[GTSRboy2000]

pics!

 

[VIPER 93]

Pictures

 

[George Murray]

After spinning a few times and bouncing off of a guardrail twice, I went inverted on top of a highway guardrail 8+ years ago at probably 60+ MPH in a 95 RT/10 (drunk driver got me). The car went down the guardrail upside down for over 50 feet. Quite a balancing act!

The sports cap held. The windshield frame did not. It buckled inwards to the passenger compartment on the passenger side. I had the soft top on. A couple more inches to one side, and I would have been "The Headless Viperman." Although that wouldn't have made a good book, it might have made for good...I dunno...internet ****??

 

[George Murray]

wow...no wonder the Swiss make such accurate time pieces!

A little physics?

Energy required to lift a (complete) Viper 2 meters above ground (simplified):
1750kg * 9.81m/s^2 * 2m = 34,335 kg*m^2/s^2

Kinetic energy of a moving Viper at 40 mph:
1/2 * 1750kg * (16.66 m/s)^2 = 243,055 kg*m^2/s^2

At 40 mph the energy of the moving car is 7 times higher than required to lift the car by 2 meters (7 feet)!


All you need is a tire hitting something rigid and stopping the lower end of the car AND lifting the center of gravity above the "point of no return"...