Oh, god, my Miata!

Takumi Fujiwara

Takumi Fujiwara

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United States
Los Angeles, CA
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WRBWRXMAX
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Max Archer
Oh, god....

I just went out for a late night drive. I'd found out some bad news, and wanted to clear my head py practicing my stich technique. Well, coming around a corner on my local mountain road, I hit the wrong pedal, and my car oversteered. I tried to correct, overcorrected, and slammed over the curb, up the dirt incline, and into the retaining wall. The engine runs, but the throttle is stuck, and won't go below 4k rpm, the hood is buckled, and the front right corner has a huge hole in it. The engine runs, and feels OK, but the car is stuck,a nd my parents are pissed! I think the car is so bad, fixing it would cost more than the car is worth.

The worst thing is the realization that when trying to push the car, I did fine, but hen I just went for a slow, calm, drife, I crashed. This is just my luck...

R.I.P., Miata.

I'm crying as I write this.
 
Be thankful that you didn't end up hurting yourself or someone else. A car is just a car. There will be others. A life is irreplaceable.

A co-worker of mine's 17 year old son recently lost control of his truck and hit another man in the opposite lane. The other driver was killed instantly, and if the son hadn't been thrown from the vehicle, he'd been killed too. However, he now has to live the rest of his life knowning that he had taken away from someone a husband, a son, and a father. And while he won't admit it, I know he had to have been driving like a typical 17 year old. I know this because I was 17 once, and I still wonder how I survived it with the way I acted behind the wheel.

Why don't you try attending a HPDS like Bondurant or hook up with a local car club for a track day? They're the safest and quickest way to learn how to drive at the limit.


///M-Spec
 
Hope your alright man. Sorry about your car. And as ///M Spec said, join a car club, or the SCCA, its lots of fun. Even if your just a volunteer, working at the track, its awesome. If you go to the Skip Barber Racing School, you'll not only learn race driving, but emergency driving as well...
 
Well, the car made it to the mechanic. It's absolutely totalled. Frame's like a pretzel.

And i'm in deep ****, because it's legally my dad's car, and worse, i'm not actually supposed to be driving without permission.... I thought Iif I went down to the abandoned road and practiced a bit, it could only help. I was wrong. :banghead:
 
Man, if I was your Miata, I'd claim abuse. This is like the 3rd time something tragic happened to your Miata...and this 3rd time killed it. Well, frame straightening can be possible depending on the damage, but it would make the frame weaker. I hate to say it, even if it was an accident, you just lost more of my respect as a Miata driver. 99% of Miata drivers are enthusiasts, and rarely are the cars wrecked beyond repair...I've only seen one in the many junkyards around here, and it was in because the person was one of those 1% of the owners that doesn't take care of the car and just keeps driving it till it dies(as did this one, it had rust and the engine was toasted).

I've driven angry too, even just because of small things like trying to follow a friend to his house and getting stuck at lights and stuff, and I do end up driving fast(going by the 323 speed scale ;) ), but I know the limitations of my car, and occasionally I do push the car to 110% of it's abilities, but I always do it on roads I'm familiar with where there aren't many hazards. I've never lost control, wrecked, or broken the car(The extreme example of high quality Mazda engineering of the late '80s), and I intend to keep it that way. I've skidded(laugh if you want, you try to get a 82hp 4 speed auto to peel out without doing a nuetral drop(which I will never ever do)), gone flat out from virtually 0-90mph(and atleast once on any given trip, I go flat out, and the 3' runs brilliantly), and make turns with all wheels skidding and flat out. I've never once felt that would lose control, and the closest I've come to crashing was flooring it at a stop light play-racing with a friend, it was wet out, the 323 broke the wheels loose, and I was headed towards a median, and all that I did was let off, complete the turn, and light the tires up again(gotta love wet roads when you are driving in the slowest car in Mazda's '88 line up).

Next time you think of doing "spirited driving", think about where you are driving, what you are driving, and the possibilities. If you have that on your mind, you will be more cautious and in the end will come out with a grin and proud of yourself for not going overboard and totalling a Miata.
 
Man, so many things have happenned to this car, despite how well we've taken care of it, it's not even funny. I mean, the first big one was the simultaneous failure of the oil reservoir and the gauge. It was a bit low, so my dad refilled the reservoir. The whole time, the gauge showed full. A few days later, the engine died. The culprit? No oil. That was when the engine had to be replaced.

Then a few years later, during high winds, a huge (about 20' long) branch fell off a tree and onto the miata. You can imagine what that did.

Then there was the recent hit and run

And now...this.
 
I feel your pain. I was doing the same stupid ****... but it's typical for teenagers. My accord would be in the exact same situation (and claim my life, for I didn't wear sit belts) if there was a barricade while the car was understeering at 60mph. Instead it hit a curb. The front axles were bent, but still driveable, and it had been fixed for $1500 :( Since then I learned how to minimize the understeering, and starting to master trail braking. I drive slow now, but back then I was completely abusing the car.

Tak, you'll feel better in a few days. You had to, because you're still alive.
 

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