Paul walker dies at age 40

[ImolaOrange03]

Heard on evening news that the GT belonged to Paul and that his friend wanted to "test" drive it. Could explain why they crashed. But then CBS news could be wrong.

Looking on Google Earth, there was a turn to the right just before the crash site. There was a speed limit sign that laid on the street by the crash... 45 mph.

R.I.P

 

[Jimbo]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...che-GT-just-moments-engulfed-deadly-ball.html

 

[BD]

There was a picture on FB showing them getting into a CGT.

Why do so many of these cars burst into fireball?

Jimbo, I don't think dailymail information is correct, because there was a video floating on FB and YouTube of the car burning with no one around, so his son probably wasn't there during that instant of the crash.

RIP!

 

[CDX_NSX]

Vance, there were a few people who got to the car and tried to put the fire out before the fire department arrived, so that video was probably taken just before the people at the event got there.

 

[BD]

Yeah, the video I saw on FB was the first guy on scene, it was chaotic. I don't think it will take long before people show up trying to do something, but I'll tell you what, with fire burning like that, there wasn't much anyone can do to save them.

 

[Procar Specials]

Monocoque car.......
Not much material around for protection
Very very sad.

 

[davidf]

Assuming the fuel tank is in the front would be a huge factor for the fire. The impact would first destroy the fuel tank spraying fuel everywhere.

 

[Procar Specials]

Assuming the fuel tank is in the front would be a huge factor for the fire. The impact would first destroy the fuel tank spraying fuel everywhere.

Not sure how fast the Porsche CGT really was, but I fear ' a bit' faster than allowed.

This comment make the most sense.......
.........
This happened at a business park located in Rye Canyon near Santa Clarita, California.

During a car show that Paul was using to support his charity “Reach Out Worldwide”, Paul and Roger Rodas (The Owner) of Always Evolving Performance, where the event was held decided to take his red Porsche for a spin.

They left the AEP parking lot turning right onto Alta Vista Ave. They then turned right onto Constellation Rd, and then right again onto Kelly Johnson Pkwy where the driver began testing the limits of the Porsche.

Northbound Kelly Johnson Pkwy has a small s curve and a wide sweeping right turn that turns into Hercules St. This business park loop is infamous for drivers using it as a race track and the “Hercules Curve” is where they test their drifting skills.

Paul and Roger’s speed was far too fast into the curve and the car’s rear end kicked out toward the driver side. The driver then over corrected and the passenger side rear end kicked out to the passenger side.

Sliding sideways at high speed, the car hit a light pole directly on the passenger door where Paul was sitting and the car was split/wrapped around the pole.

The fire was a result of the initial impact with the pole, as the force of the impact tore open pressurized fuel lines and the fuel tank, throwing burning gasoline all over the vehicle. The car continued to burn as it came to a sliding stop on a small tree.....


Where is the CGT fuel tank?

The bulk head on which the rollover bars are mounted, is the fuel tank! Size is 24 gallon, it's sandwich construction, the actual tank is inside the whole bulkhead is built around it, single piece.
Picture no 2 shows the fuel tank cap at the top of the right rear fender side.
In front of the car its the crash box construction only.

- - - Updated - - -

I wish, the car had looked like this after the crash.
German comment: Starke Lastwechsel bringen den Mittelmotor-Porsche an der Hinterachse jedoch leicht an die Grenze der Haftungsreserven.

 

[Ritesh]

So sad in so many levels. May his soul Rest In Peace.

Btw after reading the Autoweek link: I suspect this CGT was the exact same one I looked at in Dallas. The timing, mileage and spec are the same. I decided against it and instead placed an order on my 12C a couple of weeks or so later.

 

[BATMANs]

The driver's 8 year old son jumped the fence to try to save his father and now has to live with that for the rest of his life.....

 

[Texas91Brent]

When are the German and Italian car makers going to quit building these unsafe pieces of crap? sure they are are a noted brand and fast as hell, but not safe!! I have seen too many articles of sports cars exploding on impact. I don't care if the extra weight adds a Full Second to the zero to sixty, they have got to be forced to build a safer car. How many normal type cars do you see explode upon impact? Why cant they build safety into these cars? I did not personally know Paul, but I feel a loss and am pissed, that the people who arrived shortly after the accident could not get past the flames to save him and the driver, they were able to unhook his seatbelt, but the intense flames drove them back.When the firemen arived, they had to put the guys from Pauls shop in the police cars, because they would not give up. The firemen seeing the car ingulfed in flames, made no attempt for rescue, and focused on putting out the fire... Just my 3cents, P.S. If the NSX exploded as easy as these cars, I would sell it.....My wifes cousin has a huge garage full of these types of sports cars, I fear for him everytime he goes out on the street, which is usually in a Ferrai 458.

Hello Porsche....With this kind of exposure, a lawsuit may be heading your way?

Am I pissed? Hell yes I am pissed!!!! No one famous or not deserves to die like this!! So what if they were driving too fast, the piece of Shit Porsche should have held up better than this!!! I have seen kit cars with better build quality. Maybe he would have died anyway? Maybe he would have been in a wheel chair from injuries? We will never know..thats the price he would maybe had to pay, but not be in a crash, injured, and then oh what the hell due to a shitty gas tank design, be burned to death? The entire bulkhead a fuel tank? If he had lived,even permately injured, at least he would be here for his 15 yr old daughter. I am sorry but I am sick of seeing these types of sports cars being involved in a crash, and then after you can't even tell it was a car it is destroyed so bad!!!!

 

[BATMANs]

I talk to tow truck drivers and a few cops and they car they say has the least amount of casualties are the newer Honda/Acura with the Ace body structure, Benz, Volvo.

 

[Honcho]

When are the German and Italian car makers going to quit building these unsafe pieces of crap? sure they are are a noted brand and fast as hell, but not safe!! I have seen too many articles of sports cars exploding on impact. I don't care if the extra weight adds a Full Second to the zero to sixty, they have got to be forced to build a safer car. How many normal type cars do you see explode upon impact? Why cant they build safety into these cars? I did not personally know Paul, but I feel a loss and am pissed, that the people who arrived shortly after the accident could not get past the flames to save him and the driver, they were able to unhook his seatbelt, but the intense flames drove them back.When the firemen arived, they had to put the guys from Pauls shop in the police cars, because they would not give up. The firemen seeing the car ingulfed in flames, made no attempt for rescue, and focused on putting out the fire... Just my 3cents, P.S. If the NSX exploded as easy as these cars, I would sell it.....My wifes cousin has a huge garage full of these types of sports cars, I fear for him everytime he goes out on the street, which is usually in a Ferrai 458.

Hello Porsche....With this kind of exposure, a lawsuit may be heading your way?

Am I pissed? Hell yes I am pissed!!!! No one famous or not deserves to die like this!! So what if they were driving too fast, the piece of Shit Porsche should have held up better than this!!! I have seen kit cars with better build quality. Maybe he would have died anyway? Maybe he would have been in a wheel chair from injuries? We will never know..thats the price he would maybe had to pay, but not be in a crash, injured, and then oh what the hell due to a shitty gas tank design, be burned to death? The entire bulkhead a fuel tank? If he had lived,even permately injured, at least he would be here for his 15 yr old daughter. I am sorry but I am sick of seeing these types of sports cars being involved in a crash, and then after you can't even tell it was a car it is destroyed so bad!!!!

I share this sentiment. F1, NASCAR and Indy Cars all possess this level of performance or greater and the drivers will almost always walk away from a shunt like this. If you build a 600 hp car that can go 200 mph, I think it should be crash rated at those speeds. The NSX is, for example. H-frame with steel beams in the door structure. Plenty of shockingly mangled NSX wrecks on the salvage thread where the drivers walked away.

 

[gleibig]

....or maybe one shouldn't drive like a complete A-hole on the streets?

 

[phryxis]

Terrible and sad news... I was at the event with Regan, Graeme, Albert, and Leon, here are the photos I took:

It was a beautiful day, and some NSX friends and I decided we wanted to support a great cause, so we rolled to the Toys for Tots event hosted at AE Performance.

It is crazy eerie for me to look at this photo...

AE had their collection of cars on display, and you can tell that it's owned by a car enthusiast, not just some rich dude who wanted to buy a lot of cars.

Extremely well curated collection of cars. The E36s are all Lightweight versions.

Tucked way in the back was an M1.

As the morning moved on, more cars came.

So nice.

Oreo

Super nice Karmann Ghia parked next to me.

The amount of fab work on this car is INSANE.

SR20 in this roadster.

Terrible photo of some of the toys getting stacked up in the middle of the warehouse.

Around 1:30 we headed out to lunch and then headed home. A few hours later, I got texts from Regan bearing the bad news. I'm glad I didn't get to see him or meet him because I would've been even more sad than I am now.

 

[CDX_NSX]

Yeah, the video I saw on FB was the first guy on scene, it was chaotic. I don't think it will take long before people show up trying to do something, but I'll tell you what, with fire burning like that, there wasn't much anyone can do to save them.

It is likely, and I'm hoping, that they were killed on impact. Anything else would be unthinkable.

Terrible and sad news... I was at the event with Regan, Graeme, and Leon, here are the photos I took:

It was a beautiful day, and some NSX friends and I decided we wanted to support a great cause, so we rolled to the Toys for Tots event hosted at AE Performance.

Around 1:30 we headed out to lunch and then headed home. A few hours later, I got texts from Regan bearing the bad news. I'm glad I didn't get to see him or meet him because I would've been even more sad than I am now.

It was a great day. Perfect weather and a successful toy drive for a good cause. Colin found a nice little deli nearby where we headed for lunch. Some traffic on the way home, but bearable (since Albert was driving ). But then, as Colin mentioned, I started receiving initial texts from Regan that something might have happened. I desperately scoured the web looking for any information. There wasn't anything at first, but then bits of information started trickling in. Hoping against hope that it wasn't anything serious. It took a few hours, but the mainstream media eventually confirmed the incident and fatalities. The gray very quickly settled over what started off as a nice day. I couldn't get out of my mind the moment when Colin, Regan and I were standing next to and talking about the Carrera GT while it sat in the warehouse. The car that would bring the day to a tragic end.

As a side note, as one can easily imagine, a lot of Paul Walker's and Roger Rodas' close friends are active in the car community, and some of them are familiar with the SoCal NSX community and/or are NSX owners. I think that it is worth mentioning that we should continue to be mindful of our posts and remain sensitive to the possibility that they may be read by people more personally touched by this incident.

 

[Sennansx81]

Rip

 

[Ric]

 

[Texas91Brent]

....or maybe one shouldn't drive like a complete A-hole on the streets?

I did not say high speed driving on the street is OK, It isn't. I said the Porsche should not have exploded in half upon impact. I didn't know the driver either, but calling someone who died and burned in a auto accident a A-Hole is pretty brutal in my book, think of his family and friends....................

 

[RYU]

As with Graeme and Colin.. I feel uniquely connected to his death. What hits me the most is that a couple of my good friends were, themselves, good friends with Paul. They spent many track days, fundraisers, car shows, etc with each other. Seeing them go thru this sucks. If I feel like this.. I can't imagine what they must feel.

Unfortunately, the media continues to post the horrific photos of the fire and remains. Out of respect for the family and friends.. I wish they would stop posting those and sensationalizing the event.

I can only do my small part and promote ROWW.org. I will be making a yearly donation. With Paul's backing all the proceeds were 100% donated to the cause. I hope that continues. I met and spoke with a few folks who just came back from the recent tornadoes. Many are still in the Philippines helping out there even though the news cycle has passed thru that part of the world with so much more left to be done.

 

[BATMANs]

Folks, the road is like a race track. If you zoom in you can see tire marks from racing and donuts.

Most likely (and I've seen the latest TMZ clip from a adjacent building security camera) the dude apex the turn and just lost control.

The exotic sports car in which Paul Walker violently died, crashed as a result of mechanical failure -- very possibly a steering fluid leak ... this according to sources closely tied to the auto shop where the vehicle was stored and maintained.

Sources connected to Always Evolving -- the shop co-owned by Walker and the Porsche driver Roger Rodas -- tell TMZ they saw evidence of a fluid burst and subsequent fluid trail before the skid marks at the accident scene.

The AE sources point to the fact there is a noticeable absence of skid marks until just before the point of impact. They say if Roger had lost control the skid marks would show swerving, but instead the marks were in a straight line. They feel this cements the theory the driver didn't have steering control.

Also suspicious -- the fire spreading so quickly in the front of the car. The sources say flames would be expected in the rear where the engine is ... but fire in the front reinforces their theory of a fluid leak of some sort.

The value of the proper NSX sans girl power assist steering should go up even more....

 

[Teej]

Folks, the road is like a race track. If you zoom in you can see tire marks from racing and donuts.

Most likely (and I've seen the latest TMZ clip from a adjacent building security camera) the dude apex the turn and just lost control.

The exotic sports car in which Paul Walker violently died, crashed as a result of mechanical failure -- very possibly a steering fluid leak ... this according to sources closely tied to the auto shop where the vehicle was stored and maintained.

Sources connected to Always Evolving -- the shop co-owned by Walker and the Porsche driver Roger Rodas -- tell TMZ they saw evidence of a fluid burst and subsequent fluid trail before the skid marks at the accident scene.

The AE sources point to the fact there is a noticeable absence of skid marks until just before the point of impact. They say if Roger had lost control the skid marks would show swerving, but instead the marks were in a straight line. They feel this cements the theory the driver didn't have steering control.

Also suspicious -- the fire spreading so quickly in the front of the car. The sources say flames would be expected in the rear where the engine is ... but fire in the front reinforces their theory of a fluid leak of some sort.

The value of the proper NSX sans girl power assist steering should go up even more....

smh sad man....

 

[Caroline-NSX]

Drag racing ruled out. So I get something happen to the CGT cause the lost control and burst into flames?

 

[Texas91Brent]

Not sure how fast the Porsche CGT really was, but I fear ' a bit' faster than allowed.

This comment make the most sense.......
.........
This happened at a business park located in Rye Canyon near Santa Clarita, California.

During a car show that Paul was using to support his charity “Reach Out Worldwide”, Paul and Roger Rodas (The Owner) of Always Evolving Performance, where the event was held decided to take his red Porsche for a spin.

They left the AEP parking lot turning right onto Alta Vista Ave. They then turned right onto Constellation Rd, and then right again onto Kelly Johnson Pkwy where the driver began testing the limits of the Porsche.

Northbound Kelly Johnson Pkwy has a small s curve and a wide sweeping right turn that turns into Hercules St. This business park loop is infamous for drivers using it as a race track and the “Hercules Curve” is where they test their drifting skills.

Paul and Roger’s speed was far too fast into the curve and the car’s rear end kicked out toward the driver side. The driver then over corrected and the passenger side rear end kicked out to the passenger side.

Sliding sideways at high speed, the car hit a light pole directly on the passenger door where Paul was sitting and the car was split/wrapped around the pole.

The fire was a result of the initial impact with the pole, as the force of the impact tore open pressurized fuel lines and the fuel tank, throwing burning gasoline all over the vehicle. The car continued to burn as it came to a sliding stop on a small tree.....


Where is the CGT fuel tank?

The bulk head on which the rollover bars are mounted, is the fuel tank! Size is 24 gallon, it's sandwich construction, the actual tank is inside the whole bulkhead is built around it, single piece.
Picture no 2 shows the fuel tank cap at the top of the right rear fender side.
In front of the car its the crash box construction only.

- - - Updated - - -

I wish, the car had looked like this after the crash.
German comment: Starke Lastwechsel bringen den Mittelmotor-Porsche an der Hinterachse jedoch leicht an die Grenze der Haftungsreserven.

I am thinking the Porsches weakest point is side impact? Not sure what roll bar-frame is made from either. I am sure the targa top does not help strength as well. I use to love this car, now it really leaves a bad taste in my mouth....

 

[Cozmo]

I've heard people around here call that car the widow maker for years. It has killed several people and many more have been crashed.