P1Fanatic

Sad times. No one knows what happened other than clearly there was excessive speed to make that much mess of a car.

Scoobysmeet

One story is saying possible steering fault coupled with excessive speed. Either way two people too young to die have done. Thoughts can only go out to friends and family, which can be seen in the pain of Tyrese Gibson's eyes in a video doing the rounds.
At the end of the day we can all preach about bad driving, but we all own high powered cars which at one point or another we have used to show off to someone either watching us or in the passenger seat!

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

tony de wonderful

Paul wasn't driving according to reports. It's worth thinking twice when you get into a high powered car with someone.

Scoobysmeet

Agreed, but the driver was a racing driver so it shows it can happen to anyone.

328isport

iTrader: (6)

Very sad news indeed, I feel for the family and friends of both men. Paul Walker seems to have been a very generous person and I thought he was superb in the first Fast & Furious film, the stand-out performance. It also seems his charity Reach Out Worldwide does some very good things, I'm sure they'll receive donations from those looking to honour his memory which will be more than deserved.

It's fair to say that Roger Rodas whilst not famous was certainly well known in his profession, he was rated in the top 1000 financial advisor's in The States 3 years running, in the case of Paul he was not only a partner in his AE Performance business but also his financial advisor as well as helping him create his charity. Perhaps the saddest part of this event is that Rodas' 8 year old son was one of the first on the scene, I can't imagine what a traumatic experience that must of been for a young child

I have to say though accidents like this do fascinate me to an extent, I'm sure the full investigation will reveal what happened soon enough, but in the meantime I've been looking at the facts we know now to build my own opinion.

It's fair to say that both men were capable drivers, both competed, Walker in a Time Attack series as well as a Pro-Am race (alongside Rodas - supported by two pro drivers) and Rodas in a Pirelli Porsche Cup series and later a Pirelli Worldwide series, so it's safe to say he could drive and had more experience behind the wheel of a Porsche than most.

Despite this the Carrera GT is a notoriously unforgiving car, with over 600bhp from an engine initially developed for the Footwork F1 team, a carbon tub and no traction control. With a few high profile accidents over the years, and the legend that is Walter Rohrl calling it scary, it's fair to say anyone can get it wrong. Add to this that Rodas' car in particular seems to have had a fault of some description, which was the whole reason Rodas and Walker ended up in the car as one of their employees at AE Performance kept stalling the car whilst trying to get it back in the garage, at which point Rodas decided to go for a test drive with Walker deciding to join him, and you've got a very tricky car on your hands.

Surprisingly it would seem sources of AE performance have claimed a possible power steering fault, after a fluid trail was found leading up to the point of impact, and sighting this as the cause for the fire spreading so quickly to the front of the car given that the engine is at the back. The reason I find this surprising is that I'd expect the reason the fire spread to the front so quickly is because this is where one of the main sources of the fire was located, with the fuel tank in the Carrera GT being at the front by the drivers/passengers feet, and the fuel lines running under the passenger side of the car. The speed at which the car burst into flames and the ferocity at which it burned wouldn't suggest engine fire as the source to me.

I've also now read reports that the car may have been travelling at close to the 45 mph speed limit, which is where the cause of the accident gets really interesting, if you haven't looked already stick

Hercules Street, Santa Clarita, CA, United States

Into Google maps, looking towards Constellation Road from Kelly Johnson Parkway, it's fairly easy to see the crash site if you go to street view and look for the building with the glass front set down from the road, just after the turning into that section of the business park is the lamp post that was hit, with the speed limit sign on it. If you find this point and turn to look down the road towards Kelly Johnson Parkway you'll be able to see that the road is basically straight at this point, I find it almost impossible to believe that given a straight road and a speed of 45mph that you could crash sideways into a lamp post with such force to level a lamp post and cause such huge damage to the car, seeing as there is tyre marks before the impact point so the chances are the car would have hit the post at more like 35.

My thoughts would have to be currently that with or without a throttle/steering fault or even a tyre blowout, the driver started to lose the rear of the car on the exit of the very long Kelly Johnson Parkway curve, at a speed of more like 100mph, with the driver fighting the car until the point of impact, which would explain it being some way along the straight section after the corner before hitting the post, and also the positioning of the car, which to wrap round the post and flatten it in the angle of the road rather than into the carpark, must have been close to broadside at the impact point. The short tyre marks which are currently suggested towards backing the steering failure claim instead suggest to me the point that the driver reached the point of sheer panic, I wouldn't expect a capable driver to even flinch at some oversteer on corner exit, so it seems possible to me that the driver would have thought the car would come back to him until the final stage.

I'd guess final impact speed was more like 70mph, enough to cause big damage when hitting a pretty solid object, but not enough to launch the car through the post and trees and into the car park as may well of been the case of a 100 odd mph impact speed. I've personally experienced a crash at an initial impact speed of around 80mph, and at this speed save for a totally immovable object there is little a car won't flatten and it can take a number of impacts to shed speed. Given that the car came to rest not too far from the posts original position would to me limit the the chance of the crash happening at a mega speed.

Of course the bodies are still officially yet to be identified, needing dental records to be checked. It wouldn't be out of the realms of possibility that at some point the men switched seats and Walker was actually driving, but time will tell...

LUCKO

iTrader: (3)

interesting

GC8

I agree. The film was quite well reviewed before people who 'knew a bit' / car enthusiasts started to deride it.

In my opinion its only real shortcomings are that its story is very similar to No Man's Land and the driving scenes were realised by someone who knows nothing about cars and in an attempt to create an impression he ended up making it look rather lame (I will include 'Danger to manifold!' and the car floor panel in with this, too).

I was always surprised that Paul Walker didnt achieve far more than he did after this.

daveyj

iTrader: (1)

In fairness, that depends on what "franchise" he chose to sign up to. Vin Diesel was once quoted as saying that he turned the F&F franchise down because the XXX franchise was more lucrative. So yeah, he may have had his hands tied by a contract. I thought he was a pretty decent actor tbh. Anyone eho can stand in front of a camera and do what they do has my respect, it isn't easy!

EmEm

I haven't been on here for sometime, after selling my last Scooby a few years back, but after hearing about the accident, I had to come on here and post.

I am totally devastated about the loss of Paul Walker!! He was an amazing actor, who also done so much for charity, and worked tirelessly for Reach Out World Wide, a charity he founded.

The Fast and Furious "series" will not be the same without him... its not the same when any of the long term cast members aren't in it.

I know they are still in talks with regards to F&F7 and whether they are going to finish and release it or not. I think it would be a great tribute if they did, but that's my personal opinion!!



Some people may think I am being dramatic, but I don't care!!

RIP Paul Walker, you were a total legend!!! xxx

BrownPantsRacing

iTrader: (6)

Sad to see his death, and the driver. Never nice. I did really enjoy all the films.

However, one of my friends raised a very valid point. If when they were speeding they had ploughed down a family or child in an accident we wouldn't be saying the same positive big farewell. At the end of the day they were driving recklessly/dangerously and things could have been MUCH worse.

328isport

iTrader: (6)

Your friends point is valid to an extent, however it's worth bearing in mind that the accident happened in a industrial park on a Saturday afternoon (quiet), on a very wide and seemingly well sighted road. Whether their driving can be called reckless or not will depend on what the speed the car was travelling turns out to be, I'm pretty sure it will turn out that they were 'speeding', however it's very hard to judge someone on this basis as we've all done it, and given a Carrera GT and a nice wide road in the same conditions I doubt I'd have been doing 45mph either..

One interesting thing that I read today is that it seems the car was owned by Walker & Rodas' company, AE Performance, not Rodas himself as thought initially, taking this into account I'm very interested to find out how long they'd owned the car for and what work if any AE had carried out on it.

CharlySkunkWeed

iTrader: (7)

The drivers son was one of the 1st on the scene , which makes me wonder if they went there to mess about , and also luckily (in a way) that the boy didnt go along for the ride.

GC8

Sadly the coroner has stated that he died through a combination of impact injuries and fire.

tony de wonderful

Cause of death: he died.

jonc

R.I.P.

riiidaa

iTrader: (2)

http://www.cuzzsoft.com/wallbank/764...-furious-6.jpg
High res version

RIP Paul Walker

BrownPantsRacing

iTrader: (6)

Found this.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Paul-Walke...item2ecc78201d

Really?????? Amazing!

mrmadcap

What's amazing?

Osimabu

iTrader: (2)

Perhaps that someone has seen fit to produce memorial stickers for an actor many people (me included) had never heard of until he died?

hodgy0_2

yes he has to be the most fammous actor no one has ever heard of

i just thanked fvck it was not Paul Weller

BrownPantsRacing

iTrader: (6)

I find this amazing for various reasons.

1. Someone is making stickers and profiting from someone else’s death in less than 1 week of their passing.

2. He is somehow on all forums being hailed as a hero.

3. Large meets are being arranged to commemorate his death, even though he was in a car under his own free will being driven dangerously.

As I’ve already said on here, how would this thread be going right now if this reckless accident had killed a child?

In my opinion there are FAR more important and interesting people who have given far more to this world that have passed away without being given the credit they deserve.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved all the F&F films and his other films too. Good actor in my book and sad day to see him or anyone die like this. Not nice at all. Just seems so strange this is being built up so much!

Maybe our values are different if you can’t see this.

Absolutely no offense meant by this post. Just my opinion.

JayM

So you're in a car with a mate and he decides to floor it, start drifting round roundabouts and doing silly speeds which are inappropriate for the conditions, what do YOU do?

Not saying that's whats happened, but being a passenger in a car, you don't really have free will over what happens, every time you get in a car with a friend/family member/taxi driver, they could act like a t*at and drive dangerously/end up in a crash, what can you do about it? Say stop, but they might not... Hit them? You might cause a crash..

BrownPantsRacing

iTrader: (6)

I think I'm right in saying that the driver was a stunt driver? In which case they both probably thought he was able to handle the car.

We have no way of telling what happened, I'm just presenting the other side that's all.

AndyBaker

If you've ever been in a car with a proper mate / close colleague and you were really scared you know damned well that if you told them to stop or slow down they would.

mrmadcap

No you are all wrong, amazing is when:

You wake up and your **** has grown to 30" over night or a flying saucer has landed in your front garden and little green men get out or Subaru sell more than one car a year in the UK.

Selling a few stickers on ebay is not amazing.

JayM

Not necesarilly, people change, people snap, things can happen that changes a persons mindset that you might not know about, you can never ever take anything for granted.

Just to point out again, I'm not saying he asked him to stop and was refused, I'd imagine he was grinning from ear to ear right until it went wrong, he was after all doing something he loved.

RobsyUK

iTrader: (2)

I don't know if anyone here is on twitter but there are pictures of their bodies everywhere. It's truly shocking.

mantazini

iTrader: (25)

Both of them were more of enthusiasts then Celebreties IMO , he had some exceptional cars .... not only "celeb" usual ones...

Leslie

Looks like these Porches are not to be trusted if you wind them up a bit too much!

Les