Hi All

I was happily driving along the M25 this morning at 70mph on my way to see Ben at Shark Performance. I moved out to overtake a slower moving vehicle and drove straight into this:

(which was on the carriageway at the time I hit it) - it's a downpipe from a lorry I was told, and was about 75mm diameter.

which caused this:

so I had to fit this:

Then I managed to get itl bent back into shape and rebalanced:

I was not happy.

I am now sitting at home, when I should be watching Ben work his magic on Elsie. I'm now going to have to rebook.

I have now bought another wheel and ordered another spare winter tyre. I don't want to be stopped again........180miles at 50mph max. rather defeats the object of what I was going to do.

Mike

Edited 5 January, 201115 yr by rockhopper

Bad news Mike, I hope you get it sorted A.S.A.P.

Was your steelie from Skoda?

At least you had a 'spare' to fit.

It's one beauty of a 'steelie', that it will bend back (with judicious use of a club hammer I presume) to its original shape; an 'alloy' will likely have shattered.

Commiserations on not being able to get up to Shark today. :'(

Bad news Mike, I hope you get it sorted A.S.A.P.

Was your steelie from Skoda?

I reported the incident to Skoda Assistance around 10.05 who came about 10.55. I was back home with a winter wheel back inlace by 1.30pm I bought the wheel from Allams Skoda. I could have fitted the spare myself, but didn't feel safe with it being the offside on a very busy M25 motorway.

Mike

Ouch! Not good news!!! Grrr.

Hope the next Shark day is not too far in the future?

I was ready to believe this story until I got to the part about doing 70mph on the M25

Seriously, that was bad luck. Hope everything goes well for the next appointment.

Stewart

Edited 5 January, 201115 yr by StewartK

Ouch!! That's not good Mike. Glad you're okay, its not fun having incidents on the motorway.

Mike thank your lucky stars you did not hit something like this:

http://www.roadtransport.com/blogs/big-lorry-blog/2011/01/hellowhats-this-travelling-tow.html

Scroll past the truck with digger...

Hi Mike,

very pleased your obviously OK as that could have been nasty at motorway speeds :S Me thinks you will be glad your running on steels and 215/60 tyres, rather than the standard summer set-up.

One of the reasons I go for steels for winter, as a bad pot hole will do the same damage Will have to get some more steels for the new bílá Monster as I let Pats original set go.

Regards,

TP

We had something of an "interesting" day in the office too Mike.. must have been the day for it but it looks like we both got sorted in the end.

Look forward to seeing you on Friday

We had something of an "interesting" day in the office too Mike.. must have been the day for it but it looks like we both got sorted in the end.

Look forward to seeing you on Friday

I'm also looking forward to it as well.

There are a few others on the forum who will be interested in the results as well.

Mike

"There are a few others on the forum who will be interested in the results as well."

You Bet!

Sorry to hear of the accident - glad you're ok!

BTW, did you suffer a blow-out deflation or a more gradual one? And, either way, do you think the "electricks" (ESP etc) helped maintain control?

BTW, did you suffer a blow-out deflation or a more gradual one? And, either way, do you think the "electricks" (ESP etc) helped maintain control?

The deflation was a very gradual one. The tyre took quite a while to deflate. It was the noise of hitting the debris that made me stop, as the car was still handling correctly, so no driver aids that I was aware of kicked in. I stopped as soon as I could after hitting the debris.

Amazingly, the tyre was not damaged, but I have ordered a spare anyway.

Back up to Shark tomorrow (friday).

Mike

as they said...OUCH!

glad you're ok chap

Noticed today that the rear wheel also has a dent in the rim, but not as bad as the front one. Must have happened in the same incident.

I'll have to get the Tyre place to unbend it when the fit my new spare wheel.

I haven't checked the bodywork, but I hope there is no damage to it. It is a little dirty at the moment.

Mike

Hi Mike,

to hear you have found further damage; hopefully it won't of hit the unprotected the bodywork. Are you still driving up to Shark tomorrow :wonder: if so I hope your journey is a lot less eventful and your map provides the desired enhancement to Elsie.

Regards,

TP

Edited 6 January, 201115 yr by The Plumber

Hi Mike,

to hear you have found further damage; hopefully it won't of hit the unprotected the bodywork. Are you still driving up to Shark tomorrow :wonder: if so I hope your journey is a lot less eventful and your map provides the desired enhancement to Elsie.

Regards,

TP

Tomorrow is still on, and yes, hoping for a very uneventful trip. Saying that, there may some more snow around if the forecast is to be believed, which might be fun or.........;-)

Mike

Sorry to hear of the mishap, bet you are glad you opted for the spare wheel and not the gunk.

Looking at the images I don't think the gunk would have allowed you to continue your journey.

Tomorrow is still on, and yes, hoping for a very uneventful trip. Saying that, there may some more snow around if the forecast is to be believed, which might be fun or.........;-)

Mike

Have a safe journey, the rain this morning on the way into work was pretty yuk, but you are probably en-route already!

Have an enjoyable journey back.

Just about to leave....the rain is here as well

Mike

Well i arrived at Shark at 9 this morning and its all white up here. I'll have a look outside and see if its stopped snowing in a bit.

Glad you have recovered from what could have been a very dangerous incident - waiting with great anticipation to hear a report on the remap, as I have a growing (and unsettling) niggle in the back of my mind that it is something I might want to do too - ah me!