Corvette Z06 runs over 6x6 log... 6 times!

[idkfa]

This post is copied from vadriven which was copied from 6speed which is copied from corvetteforum. Normally I'm not one to do this, but this was really shocking. Maybe there's more to the story than what I've gathered but from what i've read, this is pretty amazing.

The fact that Lou Gigliotti was willing to do this is both insane and incredible:


Let me tell you guys this story REAL QUICK... thanks..

It all started... when a user on Corvette Forum called "Just J" posted up that his coil-over system had failed. Basically, something happened and he ran over a 6X6 piece of wood in the road. Someone happened to take a pic of the corvettes as they cruised past the wood, you can see his orange Z06 coming around the turn, not knowing what is about to hit his front right tire at 30+mph...



The colossal crash caused the shock mount to break, and the coil-over to be pushed up through the fender, and nearly through the hood!









Lou Gigliotti, who has raced for 35 years and is currently the only non factory funded GM driver in the American LeMans series was quick to point out, that although the circumstances were extrordinary, if the same car ran over the same log with LG's coil-overs installed, the mount would NOT have failed, the wheel would have simply been damaged and the car would have continued...

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...3&postcount=33

: This is precisely why we build shorter shock bodies in our Coil over Pacakge. We never want the shock to bottom and become a solid connection.

The manufacturer of the coil-overs that failed was quick to respond.

: This is an interesting thread because it is the first time I have ever seen an actual shock tower failure. It will only ever be speculation about whether this same failure would have occurred without coilovers being on the car. My personal feeling is the same as several of the other vendors on this thread in that probably the same thing would have occurred even with stock shocks. The limiter of the suspension travel in all of the C5 and C6 Corvettes is the shock absorber . Clearly the impact of the wheel with whatever J hit caused an extreme wheel movement. The stock shock would have bottomed out and then likely pushed up through the frame.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...6&postcount=42

The battle began. The resulting 20 page thread would get over 10,000 views on the Corvette Forum, before finally, Lou made a challenge no-one thought even a mad-man would say...

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...&postcount=348

: Ignorance of the details of my Coil Over package does not mean that it is the same as the "other guys" product. Because it is not the same. And since it is NOT the same, it will NOT react the same under the same circumstances. And if we believe that over the same log, our coil over would not have done the same thing then So be it. Because it would not have punched through the top mount. So I apologize for nothing. And bring the log to me and we can video tape my car running over it 10 times, then we can look at the mount. I never make claims without offering to back the claims up. I am serious. Bring the log! Thanks Lou Gigliotti

Of course, the people called him crazy. People said he was drinking. This one claim alone stirred up a frenzy and people began to realize... he was serious.

The great risk here is that you would bend or total the frame, which on a Z06, would TOTAL the car. A $80,000 car. So, fundamentally, you have a guy willing to risk a $80,000 car to prove a point on the internet. Sure, sounds crazy, but give Lou the credit, he would have NEVER made the offer if he was not 110% sure of his science, design and product.

So Lou approached me to film the video.

We decided as a team based on the one photo that the "log" was 6X6 and 24" long, so we went to Home Depot and purchased the log. It was cut to spec, and then lag bolted into the cement in our parking lot.






The front end of the car was removed and the fender. Cameras were mounted inside the fender to watch the shock. There was no doubt "something" would get damaged, most likely the wheel, but the point of the experiment was to prove that the LG COIL OVER would NOT go through the fender under the same impact.



The test was done.

: The test was conducted to answer questions related to a recent shock mount failure with another brand coil over shock. We felt that the same thing would NOT and could NOT happen with our own LG Coil over design, and the only way to prove it was to do a test hitting the same size 6x6 block of wood at about 30mph +/- just like the car that sustained the Damage did. AND We ran over it 6 times. Yes 6 times total and the tire and wheel still stayed drivable.

With the massive amount of footage, a small, 60 second trailer was produced to give a preview into what was to come next week...

Enjoy!

LG Motorsports - Coil Over R&D Shock Mount Test - Video

[BellaVerde]

Now THAT's the kind of product support we'd ALL like to see.

[CenturionAVRE]

My uneducated two cents here:

IMO, from an engineering standpoint, this is not an accurate test case. First of all, the plank on the highway is not laid out such that it is horizontal to the on-coming tire. Also the actual highway was not flat like the test site.

The actual plank was haphazardly placed in such a way that it is actually about 60 degrees incident to the on-coming traffic. Additionally, there is a slight bank to the turn, the Z06 would have been leaning slightly on the coils / suspension. As such, the front wheel of the Z06 would have ran over it at 30 MPH in a slightly banking turn. The front wheel would have contacted a corner of the actual plank (not directly against the lengthwise side of the plank in the test) and travelled across a distance diagonally along the plank (not just the 6 inch distance straight across the plank).

My point is, the forces subjected to a car / suspension travelling at 30 MPH while turning is vastly different from a straight on impact against the plank on flat ground. We may not even know whether the driver of the Z06 slightly panicked and turned the steering wheel away from the plank in a last ditch effort to swerve, subjecting the car to yet another set of lateral forces.

Just my two cents. I run testcases for electronic devices as a job, but would think that an accurate scenario is needed to fully replicate the failure the Z06 went through. If a part is subject to external forces, no matter how sudden or massive, if done correctly, the part will remain functional as these stresses are within the part's design specs. Yes, these may contribute to a mean time to failure, but it will not cause a dramatic failure the Z06 experienced.

For well engineered parts, all the right circumstances have to happen at exactly that moment for it to fail in a spectacular way. People don't drive Z06's over boulders and rough terrain and this car must be very well kept (mechanically); all it took was one incident for the actual Z06 coil-over to fail. As such, I think running over the plank 6 times will not re-create the exact same failure the Z06 experienced. Yes, something will fail in some manner from that kind of repeated stresses but not the type the Z06 went through.

[-Zenith-]

There is a clear lesson we can all learn from this.

Don't run over a 6x6 plank in the middle of the road, regardless of whose coils are on your vehicle.

[Daywalker]

Now for the rest of the story.

Lou basically states the damage was caused by the other vendors inferior coilover design. Other vendor being Pfadt Racing.

Pfadt's position is that running over a 6x6 with a Vette should fall under the accident catagory and same damage could occur with any coilover design. Car in question is exceeding it's factory recommened suspension travel limits at the point it drives over a 6x6.

Lou makes video to back up claims that his design would not have the same effect. See Lou jump 6x6 nominal block in original post. Block actual size is 5.5x5.5 which Lou later confirms.

Pfadt performs the same test to prove his coilover is just as capable as Lou's setup.

Pfadt coilover test video

Pfadt coilover thread

Pfadt extreme coilove test

Pfadt uses an actual rail road tie. Lou states the tie may be cut down, suggesting it is not as tall as a standard RR tie, which is not true. Below the pic shows the dimensions of at minimum 6" and higher than 6" at the center for the Pfadt test.



In my opinion they both have great products, but one vendor should not take advantage of an accident to promote his product and trash the other vendor.

And yes I have the Pfadt coilovers and am very satisfied with the product and have yet to see better customer service in the automotive aftermarket.

[thatbob2]

Originally Posted by -Zenith- There is a clear lesson we can all learn from this. Don't run over a 6x6 plank in the middle of the road, regardless of whose coils are on your vehicle.

Especially one that has been been bolted to the pavement. If it weren't bolted down and rolled, wouldn't that expose you to a potential 8''+ lift? Or even worse, isn't there potential for that chunk of wood to stand up on end?

Regardless, if you hit something that big, you should expect some major damage.

[tdrc]

If it were mine I would want it put on a frame machine and checked.