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My "used to be" RX8

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Old 10-24-2004, 05:55 PM
  #26  
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tonym, the seat falling back is a bad thing........no back protection, and basically you need a seat for the seat belts and airbags to be efficient.

Mazda should be made aware of this as this IMHO is a defect.

Wonder if MA is listening
Old 10-24-2004, 06:33 PM
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AMG, yes thinking it through I agree with you this should not happen and I will raise this question to Mazda Aust asking for a comment on this issue.

Tony.
Old 10-24-2004, 06:35 PM
  #28  
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Is it just the pictures, or did your entire back of your car get crushed, while the other car barely scratched it's bumper?
Old 10-24-2004, 07:01 PM
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Good to hear you are mostly OK Tony, and I feel very sorry for the other people injured and killed in this tragedy.

We are also on the Central Coast and insured with NRMA (best price by far) so I will be interested to know how it all pans out with the wreck and getting a new car. I would love to see another blue (even if it is not 'Winning' ) - on the Central Coast !

As far as I know the insurance company takes ownership of the wreck when they provide a new car.

As for wanting anything off the wreck - it is all structurally unsafe now - even the wheels - most car companies advise replacing alloy wheels in the event of a serious accident - like this one. So just walk away and remember it fondly.

I am also concerned about the driver's seat reclining - MA might need to explain this - perhaps it is the fault of the electric motors ? Has anyone with electric seats (in any car) had this happen to them ?

Years ago my wife's Corolla was rear ended and it happened to the driver's seat then too but that was a 1982 model car and things have hopefully come a long way since then.

Regards
Jeffneil
Old 10-24-2004, 07:47 PM
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tonym,

I saw that on the news, looked nasty, good to hear this car is made well. I feel sorry for any smart car in the same situation.

isn't now a god time to tell the NRMA you had sway bars, springs, flywheel, and other goddies on the car so they can have them ready on the new car
Old 10-24-2004, 07:55 PM
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Jason - I don't know if the car that the RX8 was up against was one that hit my car at any time during the wild spinning ride. The major impact on the rear occured probably 30-50 metres up the road from this spot and we both ended up facing the wrong way when we cam to a stop. So no the rear end damage wa not caused by the crummydore

Jeffneil - mine is the "S" version - no fruit So standard seat with no electrics, I don't know if the leather seat is different structurally. I'll post some interiors soon for all to see.

Tony.
Old 10-24-2004, 09:10 PM
  #32  
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tonym,

Glad to hear you are OK. Interesting but disconcerting info about the seat.

Hope you sort out the insurance and you're back in a new '8 soon.

sco
Old 10-24-2004, 10:20 PM
  #33  
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Dont think NRMA will write it off for you..They are shocking at this in my experience..

Did the air bags hurt you?? A friend of mine had a minior accident and he got more hurt from the airbag than anything else in the crash.

Regards
Phillip
Old 10-24-2004, 11:58 PM
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god bless it..

u r ok ... are u still shocked from the whole thing....?

hope you are recovering ok, from the whole event...
Old 10-25-2004, 12:07 AM
  #35  
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can i quickly ask you mate

1) what happened exactly (in a nutshell if u wish)

2) how many airbags went off... and did it hurt....?
Old 10-25-2004, 12:26 AM
  #36  
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Wow, great to hear you are ok!

Hell of a ride by the sound of it. Best of luck with the new one? Will you stick with the Titanium?
Old 10-25-2004, 01:18 AM
  #37  
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What happened ...

daz1300

1) what happened exactly (in a nutshell if u wish)

Well, ya see, I was traveling home and there had been a relatively minor accident on the north side of the Mooney Mooney Creek Bridge (the big one just before the Gosford exit, about 5 mins from home) and all the northbound traffic was doing 10-20kph because of all the rubbernecks. Anyway I had moved to the LHS lane at the top of the hill going down to the bridge and I had made it about 80 metres onto the bridge (it is about 350-400 meters long) when I heard much loud banging and then I was hit from behind with an enormous force which speared me forward into the car in front then into the centre lane into another car and then much hitting and spinning and there I was about 70 metres further onto the bridge in the centre lane facing the oncoming traffic. I did not get to see much as my drivers seat had collapsed and it was mostly noise and motion being tossed about.

What had happened was that a semi had come over the hill in the left hand lane doing the normal 120kph and rounding the bend had come on to all 3 lanes of solid traffic doing around 20kph (this was backed up all the way to the other side of the bridge). He started braking and went into the breakdown lane with his horn going and his brakes on fire all the way down to the bridge, gaining speed. Now you see, there is NO BREAKDOWN LANE on the bridge. So he could choose to go off the bridge (175 metres down!) or ride the traffic which was doing 20kph. Well he made it all the way to the other end of the bridge (350 metres) before he stopped, taking out everything in the LHS lane along with other cars around him. He stopped with a large Toyota Navara Crew Cab Ute embedded under his front LHS up to the ute's cabin. One of the first cars he hit exploded and burned and there were other cars totally trashed, about 30 odd, plus many others with some damage. his happened around 5.40PM Friday night and they reopened the F3 at around 7AM Saturday morning.



2) how many airbags went off... and did it hurt....?

4 of the 6 deployed - none with the heavy hit from behind , the front 2 when the car was speared froward into another and then the passenger side 2 deployed with a third glancing hit to that side rear. I did not feel the "bag explosion" from the front bags as I was then flat on my back on the collapsed seat. But I can say that the explosive used really stinks.

I have included a pic of the interior as well as a couple of better ones of the rear. Notice how no glass was broken - amazing!

I will find out whether the NRMA does wrtie it off by the end of this week - fingers crossed!

Tony.
Attached Thumbnails My "used to be" RX8-imgp0442.jpg   My "used to be" RX8-imgp0445.jpg   My "used to be" RX8-imgp0448.jpg   My "used to be" RX8-imgp0465.jpg   My "used to be" RX8-imgp0466.jpg  

Old 10-25-2004, 01:52 AM
  #38  
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There is the write off right there. There is NO WAY they can repair this. Be prepare to run in another car, Tony.

You will hate me saying this, the wheel looks ok though
The Hymee pipe only have a few dents - that is sugoi!
Old 10-25-2004, 01:52 AM
  #39  
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God it hurts to see an Rx8 in that condition........

At least you'll be getting a new one soon Tony.

The sad thing is that I'll probably see your car "rebirthed" and doing the rounds around my neighbourhood (Bankstown) in a matter of weeks.
Old 10-25-2004, 02:59 AM
  #40  
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that will be a write off, the parts are too exxy and looks like a chassis damage.
start looking for a new colour mate :D

e
Old 10-25-2004, 03:25 AM
  #41  
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Crash story from Sydney Sun Herald

daz1300

The story from others - taken from Sunday's Sun Herald with pic of semi.

Tony.
Attached Thumbnails My "used to be" RX8-f3_truck_runaway_smh_430x268.jpg  
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SMH_F#_Truck_story_nopic.pdf (33.8 KB, 163 views)
Old 10-25-2004, 03:30 AM
  #42  
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Lucky escape Tony.

At least you are alive to worry about replacing the RX-8 - unlike the poor woman whose car was incinerated with her in it.

Perhaps you should contact Mazda Australia and see if they are interested in collating information from the crash and your mangled car?
Old 10-25-2004, 03:55 AM
  #43  
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You are 100% right, I am extremely grateful that it is only my car that is broken and not me. I really feel sad about the poor woman in the Hyundai and the others seriously hurt, my problem is inconsequential in comparison. They were only going home from work like me

Just take a look at what used to be some sort of car that came off far worse than mine - no question here about write-off, and the poor people inside this!

I will contact Mazda Aust to see if they want to look at the car before it is "fixed" or written-off. In the latter case they will have to work through the NRMA.

Tony.

Originally Posted by kiwimeat
Lucky escape Tony.

At least you are alive to worry about replacing the RX-8 - unlike the poor woman whose car was incinerated with her in it.

Perhaps you should contact Mazda Australia and see if they are interested in collating information from the crash and your mangled car?
Attached Thumbnails My "used to be" RX8-crash1_smh_430x286.jpg  
Old 10-25-2004, 05:06 AM
  #44  
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Surely there are only two chances that car won't be written off - Buckleys and none.

I suppose they could get a good front cut and fix the front 1/2, and a good rear cut to fix the back 1/2 ?

FFS - There would have to be chassis deformaton. Surely that can not be an economical proposition to repair? If they don't write that off and replace it with new as per their policy, I give you a grill kit for free.

The exhausts looks even better in those rear end shots. I might advise people with the stainless systems to remove the rear bar just to show them off a bit better!

Is that interior picture showing the seat - is that as far as it reclined, or has it been lifted up slightly? The worrying thing about the seat going back is the seatbelts are basically useless and you can "submarine". I saw a Mini get hit from behind by a gravel truck one day, and the seat collapsed back just like that.
Old 10-25-2004, 05:23 AM
  #45  
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Hymee,

Yep, in the holding yard shown in the photo I had to adjust the seat back up from its position in the crash against the cushion of the back seat, to get at some of my belongings that had "migrated" around the cabin. I forgot to return it for the pic. I to was worried that this would end in submarining in a front-end hit that followed a heavy rear-ender. Fortunately this did not seem to happen to me. Perhaps the front-end hit I had was not severe enough given that my car was spinning at the time?

I'll hold you to the free grill if they don't write it off, as I'll need something to make me happy with this result. Yes I will be buying another Hymee MkII Exhaust as well.

Tony.
Old 10-25-2004, 05:51 AM
  #46  
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Tony,

What a tragedy - glad you made it through OK.

Let us know if MA responds re the seat issue.

Cheers,

Pappy.
Old 10-25-2004, 07:07 AM
  #47  
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I'd be guessing that in the next few months we'll be receiving safety recall letters regarding the seat.
Old 10-25-2004, 07:40 AM
  #48  
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I'd expect the seat to buckle if my car was hit up the **** by a semi at 120kph. Don't hold your breath waiting for that recall, AMG!

Gomez.
Old 10-25-2004, 07:53 AM
  #49  
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Really sorry to read that you were involved in the accident Tony, also condolences to the family of the woman who died - very sad.

Why-o-why in Australia don't we have warning signs above the freeways/motorways advising of accidents/slow traffic ahead?? These work VERY well in the UK. The Mooney Mooney bridge is so damn dangerous for cars going down - let alone trucks, heavy vehicles should either be forced to slow down (low gear - and stay in the slow lane) or not be allowed to run during peak hour. Accidents like this will happen again and again until they do something about it.

Good to see the RX-8 held up pretty well, there has to be at least $30,000 worth of damage to your car. All going well they'll write it off.
Old 10-25-2004, 10:19 PM
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I'm sorry to hear about all this, but glad to hear you are ok, tonym. Sad someone was killed, but amazing there weren't more


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