So yesterday I was with my girlfriend on my way to my aunt's house for a new year's eve party. We were pretty late, so I was driving pretty fast (I'm not going to say how fast because I'm aware it was one of the most idiotic things I've done in a few years) on some of the back roads on the way to the highway (my aunt lives about an hour away).

As I'm coming around the first part of an s-turn (I was just entering it), I realize I'm going way too fast to negotiate the rediculously tight turn. It doesn't help that there's a dip halfway throught the first part of the turn and the road has a good bit of shale on it. Instinctively, I get off the throttle and onto the brake (not lock-the-brakes-up hard, but it was pretty aggressive braking). Just when I'm thinking "Thank God... I made it!"... the back end of the car slides out. My girlfriend screams. I'm now coming around the first turn in an s-turn quite literally sideways (Ken Gushi would've been proud) countersteering and praying I don't nail the fence I'm sliding towards.
The back wheels are now in a ditch off the side of the road, shaking the entire car with every bump they hit. Not good. I hear a quiet "crunch" as my back bumper brushes against the other side of the ditch. Also not good. My bumper's gotta be less than two feet away from the fence I was trying to avoid. My girlfriend grabs my right arm. I hear the back tires scream in protest as the back end straightens up and the tires are re-introduced to pavement. A small smile crosses my face. I've made it; I'm safe. The smile vanishes in what must be less than a tenth of a second as I steer through the second part of the turn; the back end is starting to slide again.
So now I'm sideways again, this time in the left lane of a two-lane country back road, still moving at a decent speed. For the second time in less than three seconds, car is sideways. I hear the tires screech. The car is still at more than a 90-degree angle across the road as the back wheels hit grass. S***, I've hit the point of no return. Sure enough, the entire car is sliding sideways through a field by now; thank God there's no ditch on this side of the road. I come to a stop. The car is still running, a good sign. Without hesitation, I drive the twenty feet through the field and get back on the road. I look over at my girlfriend; she's ghost white, staring at me. "Are you okay?" She says she is and I get out of the car to check the damage; the scent of melted rubber and overheated brakes fills the air. The car is dusty, but it's not a concern. In the low light, I can see my front lip is cracked, probably from the second slide. The clips holding the sides of the rear bumper on have become completely separated from my rusted quarter panels. But everything looks okay; there doesn't seem to be much damage.
I'm back in the car now, driving (slowly). The adrenalin is still pumping through my system as I reach toward the climate control to turn the heat down. Everything seems fine, but the tire noise has changed a bit. I pull over for a second time, this time to investigate the sound. Sure enough, I hear the steady "hissssss" of leaking air coming from the rear left tire. S***, I pulled the spare tire when I cleaned my car inside and out a few months ago and never got around to putting it back in. I'm ten minutes from my house. I decide to risk it and drive home.
I get home safely and pull the wheel to put the donut on. Once the car is off the jack, I roll the wheel into the garage and lean it up against a wall; after all, there's no reason to keep a flat tire with me. Once I get the wheel into the lit garage, the cause of the leak is obvious: small rocks had managed to get lodged between the tire and the rim, creating gaps that air could escape through.
Sure enough, I drove the speed limit the whole way to the party and back. I think I'll take it easy on the driving for a while; one close call a year is enough for me.

Anyway, now that I'm out of "journalist" mode ... here's my little dilemma: I can almost guarantee the car needs an alignment now. I took off my Ground Control coilovers a few months back when I planned on selling the car, and got it aligned with the stock springs. I also want my cat-back exhaust run at the local muffler shop in the next few months. If I put the coilovers on the car and tweak the height to my usual slammed lowrider stance, one, I'll have to put up with an aggressively lowered (2-3") car throughout the winter, and two, the car will probably be too low to fit on the lift at the muffler shop (last time I was there I had my body kit and I had to take the skirts off for it to fit on the lift). If wait until spring to put the coilovers on and get the exhaust run, I'll have to have the car aligned at least two more times (or drive with the alignment off for the rest of the winter). Also, I'm going to try to get the rocks out of my wheel and fill it back up with air to see if it leaks. If that fails, I'll have to take it to a tire shop and have them pull the tire off and put it back on.

I'll have pics up in a few minutes.

 

Pictures:





(and it just started snowing today... the roads were perfectly clean yesterday)

 

That's quite a story! I have similar things happen a couple of times, but now if I slide I go into total concentration mode.

Nasty looking rust, how extensive is that?

 

man that sucks to hear, well atleast no one got hurt.you should probly wait till winter is over to lower your car.i hate diving in the snow with a lowered car. think i took a piece out of my front bumper cuz of snow/ice on the roads but anyways do what ya gatta do and what a way to end new years

 

I would also recommend waiting on the lowering. When you do, get grnd plates to protect the paint work!

 

yeah, I want to wait to lower it, but after all that sliding (on dry pavement/dirt) and everything I'll be surprised if the toe isn't off right now. It just annoys me that I'll have to pay for two alignments in the next few months. And the plates aren't a bad idea... especially since in the spring it's getting a metallic blue paint job.

And the rust on the driver's side is pretty bad... there's a small hole into the trunk that I siliconed up until spring when I'm doing the rust work.... the passenger side isn't quite that bad yet.

And yeah, it was definitely the most interesting new year's eve I've had, period. lol

(oh, and a little update... my spare tire is extremely low on air (as it was yesterday), so I went to drive my civic out into the back yard where my dad has his carpentry workshop (complete with big-a** air compressor). Well, I got stuck and in the process of getting unstuck, I finished breaking the front lip... It's now in 6 pieces. Oh well, I was planning on getting a poly lip soon anyway)

 

That sucks dude. Good luck with the repairs.[sm=signs003.gif]

 

I did a similar thing with my Mustang many, MANY years ago - went too fast around a curve, lost it, did a sweeping 180 around the curve (probably looked pretty cool) winding up pointed back the way I came from, and bounced off the steep embankment on the inside of the curve... forced a bunch of rocks through tire bead - but I didn't lose air - no other damage to the car. I sure am glad the road had a 6-degree banking towards the inside of the curve, because the outside of the curve was a 150 foot drop-off. It was in the mountains around Alamogordo, NM, on the way up to Cloudcroft, and I was bored that day. I was alone, though.

Took it to the tire shop the next day, the pulled the tire, emptied out the rocks, put it back together, and gave me crap for being a dork and driving too fast.

I have a healthy respect for driving close to the speed limit in situations like that. Sure, it's fun to put your car through its paces and see what it'll do - but that's best done in a controlled environment, like a track with lots of run-off area for when you lose it.

The important thing is, you guys are OK. The car not getting beat up any worse is awesome as well. Be careful, Man.

 

Wow. What a story! I'm glad youre alright. The back bumper situation can be a good thing. You can take this time to patch up that rust on the back of your ride. Damage isn't that bad, it could have been 100x worse.

What a way to start the new year eh? Happy New Year!!!

 

Damn you slid through two turns? must have been fast and slippery. i have slid like that before, but i wasnt going too fast , and it wasnt twisties.