In a similar vein... I kinda hesitate to post this and give this guy clicks, but it's another example of a shiny happy person thinking that bad stuff doesn't happen to them. He broke so many rules of high performance driving. The fact that he did a brake upgrade, and is trying to blame Tesla for the brake failure says volumes about him.
In reply to racerfink :
Why is it always people associated with that Cleetus guy that are somehow involved with this kinda E36 M3?
Makes me recall the awful Cleetus burnout contest accident where the guy's radiator sprayed boiling coolant all over him while the crowd cheered him on.
Cleetus is max-level cringe flying the flag of everything wrong with our hobby like a badge of honour, not to mention his covid denial. I'm not at all surprised to find he surrounds himself with other intellectual powerhouses.
In reply to AClockworkGarage :
As someone who know 'Cleetus' personally, I'll say that you've missed the mark here. He's young, and he's built up a pretty good little empire, which made some people gravitate towards him. But you'll notice he doesn't make the same mistake twice. He's stepped away from quite a few people that are just about 'destruction' click bait videos.
Nothing like posting the evidence for a huge lawsuit from the minivan people.
Antihero said:I can't play it with sound but from what I see my wife makes a shirt that perfectly describes this...
One of my most firmly held beliefs.
jfryjfry said:I was surprised they made no comment on the person/people in the car they hit.
Being in a pending lawsuit usually does that
AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to Fueled by Caffeine :
Pilots also don't take off if major systems are not functioning properly.
Fair point. In my case I had the brake friction material separate from the backing plate while 40 minutes into a drive. Total and complete failure instantly. They were newish pads with some sort of manufacturing defect that I could see when installing them. Autozone replaced all parts that were damaged ( rotor was trashed beyond belief).
Yes, all kinds of levels of questionable behaviors here. For me personally, it's just another verification of why I will never, ever get in a car that doesn't have 3 point belts.
It is super easy to see in hindsight with perfect video documentation all of the (bad) decisions that lead up to this. That being said I know I have made similar bad decisions, I suspect that many of us here have too. Been in a car with lap belts only? not worn a seatbelt for a short ride? Been in a car that you had any weird behaviors that you would either not let someone else drive or have to prompt them before they drove it? Flat towed something? They are all pretty common, maybe you wouldn't do any of them today, but maybe you did at some point.
It sucks that they crashed and hit another car and it's obvious in hindsight they should have stopped when the first problem happened but I have to give this guy credit for showing the whole mess and trying to educate people. It is similar to the Charlie Morecraft video they show in oil and gas. Link: https://youtu.be/ECHw0y9CQUQ
Was he dumb? Yes. Did many people do the same thing? Probably. Is it good that he raised his hand and said holy E36 M3 this can happen be smarter than what I was. Absolutely.
In reply to NY Nick :
Did he say they should not have continued in a car with a growing number of mechanical problems? That's the lesson that should be the takeaway here. If you're trying to drive a car that needs you to ride the brakes constantly to keep it from running away AND you continue to do pulls on a road with traffic - you are asking for an accident. Blaming it on "old technology" brakes like a bolt on bling upgrade would have avoided the problem is the wrong lesson. He made an attempt at trying to educate and was at least honest about not wearing all of his seat belt, but he skipped over the biggest lesson of all. He's trying to make it sound like there was little or no human error during the actual driving event, that it was all prep. But it was the reaction - the lack of reaction - to the apparent defects that is the real cause here and he's not owning up to that.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I thought he said something to the effect "we should have stopped" as soon as the throttle hung. I thought he had the same sentiment for riding the brakes. I'd have to go back and check. Agreed that the brake technology is not and was never the problem.
This reminds of a time when I was watching that tool Matt Farrah ride around in someones car in the Los Angeles mountain side. He failed to do his own proper inspection of the car before thrashing it around and finding out the kids 2nd Gen Firebird (maybe something of the same era) only had three operational brake calipers and then got mad at the kid for not disclosing it prior too.
I'm not gonna sit here and armchair QB this situation. Not all people can think clearly in a situation of this magnitude. The best take aways from this are:
1) Lap belts are still trash.
2) Make sure your E36 M3 works properly.
Also to whoever was badmouthing Cletus. I've gotten the pleasure to be in a pit stall next to him a few times during Champcar races. He's a pretty chill person, you have to remember that some of these people find a niche to make a living and ride it and it's not always indicitive of who they are off camera.
Streetwiseguy said:You know that little brass thing you turn to make the engine go vroom? You can turn it the other way and the engine goes silent, and stops shoving you ahead. You know the lever thingy that makes the car go ahead and back? There is a position called N that lets it stop pushing you ahead or back.
I was thinking the same things, but I suspect the driver got fixated on the rear bumper of the minivan he was about to hit and wasn't able to think of those things. Still, like everyone else has said they should have pulled over several malfunctions sooner.
DirtyBird222 said:This reminds of a time when I was watching that tool Matt Farrah ride around in someones car in the Los Angeles mountain side. He failed to do his own proper inspection of the car before thrashing it around and finding out the kids 2nd Gen Firebird (maybe something of the same era) only had three operational brake calipers and then got mad at the kid for not disclosing it prior too.
Matt doesn't do that kind of drive anymore because how the heck do you do a roadside inspection that will discover a non-op caliper? He'll certainly test some cars, but not from randos. And he doesn't go blasting right out on the road, he does feel it out somewhat first. I've had the chance to sit beside Matt on a few drives.
I'm not second-guessing the lizard brain instincts of the driver in the crash. That car was accelerating towards a wall of metal and he didn't have a lot of time to come up with options. It was the purposeful decisions by both occupants that led to that situation that I'm criticizing, and the choice to only wear some of the belts was the least of those.
I think it's all been said, but I'll add these two points that my kids often hear me say:
1) Nobody goes out on a drive and expects to wreck. Wear appropriate safety gear all the time, every time.
2) The most important piece of safety equipment is that thing between your ears.
Keith Tanner said:... but he skipped over the biggest lesson of all. He's trying to make it sound like there was little or no human error during the actual driving event, that it was all prep. But it was the reaction - the lack of reaction - to the apparent defects that is the real cause here and he's not owning up to that.
Well said.
I'll mention since no one else has so far. It's the sudden stop that gets ya. If at all possible try to scrub off speed grinding along a curb , wall, the side of other vehicles, or whatever and aim for a gap that will push two vehicles sideways rather than hitting one vehicle straight on. Sure, there's more collateral vehicle damage but less impact on humans. That sudden stop is brutal.
DirtyBird222 said:He's a pretty chill person, you have to remember that some of these people find a niche to make a living and ride it and it's not always indicitive of who they are off camera.
I don't know Cleetus, nor do I follow his content, by my opinion is that you *are* what you give to the world.
To tie that back into the original topic, at least the guys here tried to document what went wrong and educate.
kb58 said:Watching the video again reminded me of a car that was at a C&C event. He probably had the same amount of power, and as he was slowly driving out, he had to ride his brakes the whole way because his ECU tune caused this up-and-down surging between 1000-2000rpm, and that thing wanted to go. Even with his brakes applied, it would push the car forward another five feet each time. Depending on the situation, I could see the same thing happening there as here.
Maybe if he didn't have the converter that came with the truck trans, he would not have had a problem 
jfryjfry said:I was surprised they made no comment on the person/people in the car they hit.
That's because they can't mention them because of the pending lawsuit. Honestly, this guy is doing the minivan driver's lawyer a huge favor.
* I see now that more than one of you had the same thought. *
All modern/new vehicles are designed so that their brakes are many times more powerful than their engines. I know this from some investigations I did with Cummins into a potential engine defect many years ago. Lots of work with bus/truck and equipment manufacturers. If you modify your vehicle to make more power and fail to maintain that same safety factor. That's on you.
you should be able to accelerate full throttle but then mash the brake pedal and still bring the vehicle to a stop.
DrMikeCSI said:Nothing like posting the evidence for a huge and well-deserved lawsuit from the minivan people.
FTFY.
DirtyBird222 said:Also to whoever was badmouthing Cletus. I've gotten the pleasure to be in a pit stall next to him a few times during Champcar races. He's a pretty chill person, you have to remember that some of these people find a niche to make a living and ride it and it's not always indicitive of who they are off camera.
So what?
It's still normalizing being a dangerous idiot, even if it's a 'character' being played.
CAinCA said:jfryjfry said:I was surprised they made no comment on the person/people in the car they hit.
That's because they can't mention them because of the pending lawsuit. Honestly, this guy is doing the minivan driver's lawyer a huge favor.
Yeah if I was the minivan driver I would be using this with an attorney. The driver was an idiot and could potentially be criminally negligible.
In reply to Fueled by Caffeine :
Great point. That car needed a LOT more brakes to hold back 1300 hp.
I agree with all that has been said. I respect them for trying to own it and educate, but there was a LOT of fault on the driver, the builder, AND the film crew (who are automotive professionals)
1300 hp and wheelie bars is a major red flag to me. I would automatically ask if it should be on the street.
Steel dash car, no collapsible steering wheel, no crumple zone, no ABS.... there are a lot more red flags.
It should have taken a VERY minimal visual inspection to realize that car needed a much more thorough "tech inspection". They are very fortunate they are not dead.
But honestly, I've been just as stupid. And I'm pretty sure many, many people here have. So I greatly appreciate their attempt at a PSA, even if they missed the most important things.
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