The most common fires are started by a leak in the fuel system after a crash and sparks from the crash itself and the friction. Fires are very uncommon, but in racing cars they always have easy ways outs unlike consumer cars with the fangled doors and such, and there are things called fire bottles, which is basically a fire extinguisher that sprays down certain areas of the car either by the driver pulling a switch or automatically depending on the system.
And, if you are on a track there are emergency people standing by that are trained to get you out right away (fire proof clothes etc). You do not have that racing on the steet, a stupid thing to do of course.
I bet the RX-8 had
1. Summer Tires.
and
2. The Tires were hard as a rock due to the cold weather ( Illinois ).
and
3. Wet weather conditions did not help.
1. Summer Tires.
and
2. The Tires were hard as a rock due to the cold weather ( Illinois ).
and
3. Wet weather conditions did not help.
On another note, automatic transmission allows people who shouldn't be on the road to drive. If there was only manual, everyone who can't drive it wouldn't. The roads would be a safer place.
IMO.
IMO.
True, most teenage drivers are nuts. Some how I got my head screwed on correctly and definitely don't drive like an ass. Although I do have a fast RWD car.
A newbie maybe?
My aunt had a 90s Avalon that bursted into flames as she was on the road, for what reason I dunno.
Exactly! In England a kid his age wouldnt be able to set foot in a car with more than 150 horsepower without paying a huge insurance premium, When i was 18 i tried to get insured on a 16 year old BMW 320, it must have had all of 130bhp and the insurance companies wanted $8000 a year for it, certainly discouraged me!
Similar thing needs to be adopted over in the US i think... It amazes me that 16-17 year olds have access to WRX's etc! Even Golf GTI's are too much for children of that age!
Nope, then you'd have every no-driving SOB out there driving anyway. Might keep some women and old ladies off the street, but that's about it.
OP is clearly a retard. When was the last time you looked at a running engine and saw a bunch of sparks flying out of it? Whether or not the engine is running has NOTHING to do with a fire starting immediately after a crash - fires tend to start when a flammable liquid leaks onto a hot surface, usually the exhaust manifold or catalytic converter, and usually it's fuel. However, the OP is partially right. Automatics have oil cooler lines that run through the engine bay and automatic trans fluid is flammable (despite people in this thread saying it isn't). So yes, an automatic would have a slightly higher chance of catching fire, but not because of the engine running, that's just fricken retarded.
Evadman
Administrator Emeritus<br>Elite Member
- Feb 18, 2001
- 30,990
- 5
- 81
For those that said the fuel pump shuts off when the airbags go off, that is not entirely accurate. There are 3 (or more) sensors that could go off, usually 2 airbag sensors (one in the front one in the rear) and a fuel cutoff sensor. the fuel cutoff sensor generally has a lower threshold than the airbag sensors, which can cause the fuel cutoff to trip before the airbag. The fuel cutoff is generalys et to go off somewhere around 10 MPH where an airbag is 20 or so IIRC. Some fuel cutoffs are set really low, and may go off without any apparent damage to the car itself. The manual will spell out how to reset it if it does go off.
Though if you hit a column or one of the beams on lower wacker, it doesn't really matter. Trust me, those are not going anywhere, and your vehicle will lose. It isn't like Crusin' USA where you bounce off and lose a few spots in the race.
<--- used to be a dumbass and knows all about going fast on lower wacker. I'll leave it at that.
Though if you hit a column or one of the beams on lower wacker, it doesn't really matter. Trust me, those are not going anywhere, and your vehicle will lose. It isn't like Crusin' USA where you bounce off and lose a few spots in the race.
<--- used to be a dumbass and knows all about going fast on lower wacker. I'll leave it at that.
Zenmervolt
Elite member
- Oct 22, 2000
- 24,514
- 36
- 91
Unless you breech the head, there's no spark from even a running engine to cause a fire. Furthermore, modern cars employ a deceleration sensor that will kill the fuel pump in the event of a collision.
Transmission type has no impact on whether or not a car catches fire.
ZV
Zenmervolt
Elite member
- Oct 22, 2000
- 24,514
- 36
- 91
Yeah, the spark that is contained within the engine's head will magically leap out of an undamaged engine and ignite fuel. :roll:
People who don't understand how things work need to stop theorizing.
ZV
We are all theorizing here
until I see credible data that shows how many manuals vs. automatics that have been on fire... I will still speculate that its mostly automatics. For all the safety stuff installed on cars that are suppose to prevent fires from happening, they still happen. As unlikely that you say it happens, there have already been a case in this thread alone of an automatic that as you say, "magically" caught on fire (the avalon)... I further theorize that even with the sophisticated equipment that car manufactures put on their automatics, its still more dangerous with respect to car fires because its difficult to tell when an automatic is stopped because its suppose to or because it is in an accident. In one case, the motor "turns".. in the other case, its shouldn't.. but if it does a chance of a fire is huge.... exponentially huge
In the case of a manual, if it is in gear (which most of the time it is)... and the car stops, the engine doesn't turn.. since most of the electrical power in a car is based on the alternator which runs when the motor turns.. well, the electricity for the most part is also cut off automatically - its a simple mechanical process... in the case of an automatic, the engine could still be turning which keeps on powering most of the electrical system -- bad situation when your fuel lines are cut or leaking.... or if the energy is used for the fuel injectors to put out more fuel in a crashed car.
take this example... you are driving a car.. you see person in the middle of the road.. you brake as hard as possible (a common thing to do) skidding trying to avoid him.. you go into a ditch... no matter what condition you car is in.. be it slightly dented, flip over... etc.. the car that is manual, will have his engine automatically "turned off" -- not turning anymore because locking the brake will have stopped the engine from turning probably even before the initial impact (before the accident itself)...
If the car is an automatic.. there is still a chance that it is still working after its in the ditch..
In addition, think of it anther way, would you rather have your motor still firing its pistons... still sending sparks to the cylinders AT the point of impact... Or in the manual case where braking usually causes the engine to stop firing.. stop turning... with almost all electricity cut off.. wouldn't you rather have your car essentially dead AT the point of impact?
In any case, would like to see data on this type of stuff.. However, with a lot of automatic cars being sold.. if my theory is correct, its probably buried somewhere.. The automobile companies probably wouldn't want it to be release... remember seatbelts and how long it took for the car companies to implement them on cars?
Evadman
Administrator Emeritus<br>Elite Member
- Feb 18, 2001
- 30,990
- 5
- 81
/me checks to see who posted
/me sees ZM.
/me wonders WTF eleison is smoking.
Also, I may as well point out that it is possible to lock the wheels in a manual car, swerve and fly into a ditch and still have the engine running just fine in your example.
If you want to pull crazy stuff that has a low, but not non-zero chance of happening out of your butt than I can too to refute your claim.
Example: Manuals are more dangerous in an accident than an automatic. Know why? Lets say you are going down the street at a nice leasurly 40 MPH. Now, someone pulls out of their driveway and you hit them, cracking your flywheel. You hit the other car so fast that your rear wheels came off the gound alowing your engine to spin while your foot smashes into the gas pedal, causing your engine to redline for a split second before the engine siezes from the impact.
That causes yoru flywheel to fragment, taking both of your legs with it. the puny sheet metal of your floor will do nothing as the white hot pieces go right through your legs, on their way out of your roof. Then, since the flywheel is so hot, it starts a neigboring orphanage on fire. "Oh the humanity", you scream as you bleed to death and are forced to watch all the poor orpahans die horribly because you bought a manual instead of an automatic, since an automatic doesn't have a flywheel.
engine is not required for most cars to have electric power. Almost all come with a magic device called a Battery that will supply power when the engine is off. Turning the keey OFF will kill electric to some stuff, but not all.
My dad's old Mazda pickup caught on fire one day WITHOUT a wreck(manual), so now we can assume that Auto's are more prone to catching fire in an accident, manual trans are more prone to spontaneous combustion.
or we can throw some login into this thread
My dad's old Mazda pickup caught on fire one day WITHOUT a wreck(manual), so now we can assume that Auto's are more prone to catching fire in an accident, manual trans are more prone to spontaneous combustion.
or we can throw some login into this thread
Turning the key OFF will kill electiricity to MOST stuff.. obviously not all.. But the more stuff you have turned off.. the less, electricity flowing around, the better
If I recall correctly, maybe even the electronic fuel injectors.. Obviously, if I'm wrong feel free to correct me.Out of curiosity, when your dads pickup caught on fire was the engine still working? Remember my theory is automatics are more prone to fire.. I'm not saying manuals cannot catch fire.. they can, but IMHO less likely.
Its weird.. A lot of people seem to not be able to think "out of the box"... they always have to believe what they are told without research or data to back them up. Please, if I am wrong.. give me some links... Automatics are cool... Whenever, I have a girlfriend, they always want to drive my car, but they couldn't because it was a manual. thinking about buying a automatic for my next car... but, if people cannot cannot show me proof that they are as safe as manuals, I'll probably be buying a manual.
im 18 and am on my second trans am. (no I havent been in an accident, I just found a newer one and bought it) It has an LT1 and a 6 speed. I dont drive like a complete idiot, I dont get in accidents, I dont die. You can kill yourslef easily in just about anything.
Originally posted by: eleison
Turning the key OFF will kill electiricity to MOST stuff.. obviously not all.. But the more stuff you have turned off.. the less, electricity flowing around, the better
Out of curiosity, when your dads pickup caught on fire was the engine still working? Remember my theory is automatics are more prone to fire.. I'm not saying manuals cannot catch fire.. they can, but IMHO less likely.
Its weird.. A lot of people seem to not be able to think "out of the box"... they always have to believe what they are told without research or data to back them up. Please, if I am wrong.. give me some links... Automatics are cool... Whenever, I have a girlfriend, they always want to drive my car, but they couldn't because it was a manual. thinking about buying a automatic for my next car... but, if people cannot cannot show me proof that they are as safe as manuals, I'll probably be buying a manual.
Most folks don't have time to turn their car off in an accident.
Zenmervolt
Elite member
- Oct 22, 2000
- 24,514
- 36
- 91
No, there is not.
If the engine is damaged to the point where the G-D spark plugs are waving around out in the open, it's damn sure not going to be running.
If the engine isn't damaged that much, it doesn't matter if it's running or not.
In either case, the key is still in the "run" position which means that, *gasp*, the electrical circuits are still energised even on the manual transmission car. Or do you think that the engine stalling somehow magically reaches in and turns the key to "off" so that the electronics are disengaged?
Are you honestly saying that the fuel injectors are a spark risk? They have fvcking fuel flowing through them all the time. If they were a spark risk, your car would go up in flames the instant you turned the damn thing on.
How many engines have you worked on? How many cars have you taken apart? How much maintenance have you done (hint: changing your own oil or spark plugs doesn't count)? What we have here is you, an inexperienced fool who doesn't understand the basic mechanical and electrical principles of an automobile, trying to tell those of us who have been working on cars since before we could drive that you know more than we do, and hiding behind tinfoil hat theories of "the automobile companies wouldn't want the information released" when you cannot provide anything to back up your asinine claim.
The simple explanation is this: In the situations where the engine would be an ignition source, the amount of damage sustained by the engine would stall it even with an automatic transmission.
ZV
TRENDING THREADS
-
Discussion Zen 5 Speculation (EPYC Turin and Strix Point/Granite Ridge - Ryzen 9000)- Started by DisEnchantment
- Replies: 24K
-
Discussion Intel Meteor, Arrow, Lunar & Panther Lakes Discussion Threads
- Started by Tigerick
- Replies: 21K
-
Discussion Intel current and future Lakes & Rapids thread- Started by TheF34RChannel
- Replies: 23K
-
-
Facebook
Twitter