VIC / MickyG / New (Sad) VIC Lancer VR Owner

[MickyG]

Hi All! I'm a recent owner of a 2008 Lancer VR that I purchased not more than a month ago. I live in Melbourne and drive from the SE suburbs to Melbourne every day. I've got a wife and 2 kids (5 year old and 19 month old). My car is where I spend at least an hour and a half each day.

I spent a long time researching the best value for money in a newer vehicle and couldn't look past the Lancer. The look of the CJs have always been something I've liked and I was quite surprised to find they were within my budget when it came time to replace my '94 Ford Telstar TX5. It was a comfortable car that had decent performance and handling and never really did anything wrong while I owned it.

In the short time I've owned the Lancer, it's been a big step up in almost every possible way (the TX5 felt a bit quicker and you never really get over the sound of a nice alloy V6).

In fact, I felt so confident in how it handled and drove that I booted it around a few turns just last week (the 13th of June) and thought it would do a lot more than my TX5 ever did in terms of cornering and handling. Unfortunately the roads were wet and I lost traction on the way out of the turn, sending me right into the curb! I managed to break the front suspension and fold the wheel up under the passenger's side guard. The panels seem to have escaped any impact damage and it looked like all the carnage was confined to the wheels on the passenger's side.

It's at the repairer now and I miss it greatly! The damage was a bit over $4k and the repairer tells me pretty much everything attached to that front wheel is being replaced, along with the front bumper and guard (I guess it was bent more than I thought?).

Let this be a lesson to you, kids (:P) - when it's wet, all the traction control, ESC, EBD, ABS, and other electronic safety gadgets mean nothing if your wheels aren't rolling anymore!

I'll post up some pics as soon as I get a chance.

[kfresh]

Unfortunately the roads were wet and I lost traction on the way out of the turn, sending me right into the curb!

Damn near had a heart attack reading that part! What a horrifying story to read!

Welcome!

[rokpapaziz]

There's lots of threads about handling and tire mods that should be helpful to you

[Momengah]

Welcome to the club. Glad you're alright. How long will the repairs take? And I can understand how you feel. Been in an accident where the car lost traction and ended up on the kerb. Not Good

[citris.87]

WOOO Telstar Brothers! lol, I owned a 1987 Ford Telstar TX5 Turbo, and I thought the Lancer was slower also, but, the lancer was a much better ride IMO. I use to flick the VRX around a corner near my house all the time because it had a weird angle and would aloud the car to flick its ass out a little, which is hard to do on a FWD so it was a little bit of fun every day on the way home. I tried it once in the wet and almost ended up in the gutter, so I know how quickly it can go wrong haha.

Anyhow glad you are enjoying your car, Lancers are a nice looking ride and fun also. Hope you get it back on the road soon, and hope to see you around the forum

[MickyG]

Thanks all-glad to be here!

I managed to get away from it with nothing more than shoulder soreness where the seat belt was. No airbags deployed, thankfully. My son, who was cheering me on in the back, wondered why we'd stopped! we were very lucky.

The repairs might be done by the end of the week but I'm not holding my breath! In the meantime, I'm driving around an 86-88 Toyota corolla seca that the repairer is loaning me. Long live the 'rolla!

Yeah, can't wait to get my lancer back...

[MickyG]

Here are a couple of pics (tricky to manage on my iPhone):





I couldn't get the angle right when I snapped the photo and was still running on adrenaline or I would have taken better ones-almost looks like the car is just lowered! And I would have checked under the bonnet to see if anything was visibly broken. And checked the panels. And taken more pictures. Hindsight...

[RustyBin5]

Ouch. Lucky the bodywork wasn't damaged tho. Not my job to be a preacher - but personally I wouldn't be trying to find a new cars limits with my son in the back cheering me on - recipe for disaster but thats just me.

Glad you are okay.

[SIX]

OMGF welcome and ouch nice ride height though nice a low lol

[MickyG]

Ouch. Lucky the bodywork wasnt damaged tho. Not my job to be a preacher - but personally I wouldnt be trying to find a new cars limits with my son in the back cheering me on - recipe for disaster but thats just me. Glad you are okay.

Preach away! I'll be the first to admit it was pretty stupid and I felt really dumb. But to put it in perspective, I wasn't actually going all that fast. The advised speed limit for the corner is 20 and knowing it was wet, decided not to push my luck. I doubt I impacted the curb at more than 30, believe it or not.

[Metalstrix]

Welcome to the forum. Man that wheel makes me sad. But you're okay, that's the main thing.

[MickyG]

I'm ok, the car's being fixed and I've learnt to be extra careful in the wet. I'm 35 and this is my second at fault prang in my entire driving career (the other was at in an XD Falcon at a roundabout where I braked and my wheels locked up-hmmm I see a pattern). I'm happy with that record and will certainly learn from this incident.

[bunnishiwa]

Guessing wifie was none to impressed

Glad no one was hurt (other than your pride)
Welcome

[MickyG]

Wifey was surprisingly supportive. Especially considering it was our wedding anniversary on the same day, and we'd have weeks of sick kids, and we weren't going to be able to go out even for a nice meal together because of said sick kids. It's been a horrendous couple of weeks on so many levels...

[VRX_08]

Welcome to Club CJ!

At least there isn't any damage to the body of the car, all the best with the repairs!