How would have he been better off in a coupe? He was ejected from the car. If he was in a coupe the impact and fire probably would have killed him anyway.

 

Yes, indeed AMEN!!

 

I would offer that without a seat belt, he's doing a swan-dive right through the windshield.

 

WTH are you jumping on me for? Did I or anyone say that was a stock vette? I also didn't say he walked away, he was carted away. Only thing about this post of yours directed at me was the period at the end of your post.

 

You're sort of right here. The SLK was designed for autobahn speeds, but the Limited crossfire is a better aero design than the R170 SLK. The SRT is even better. I've driven both at high speeds, believe me the Xfire has less wiggle. To add to this I remember coming back from cars and coffee (one of the first we all went to where Steve shredded a belt) After stopping on the side of the road and him telling me to go on I shot off at 140 towards an interstate turn/bend. Getting into the turn I washed up and had to roll out of the throttle mid turn otherwise the car would've shot straight off the road.

What I'm trying to say is, on the interstate the crossfire is going to wash out/push/understeer way before it'll snap on you. Most likely he went into a bend the car drifted out until it hit the rumble strip or completely off the road and then all hell broke loose.

 

Joliet JohnRe: High speed chase and death.
OK ... I'll be the first one to mention it's a bummer there appeared to be no salvageable parts... maybe the left rear wheel, but the center cap is missing.
:/
not to make light of the situation but i cant help but wonder if his upper windshield molding flew off at around 130mph??? js

 

That's some pretty deep **** ole , I felt pretty bad after reading your post.
But i do agree 140 is very much achievable in the crossfire , given enough road and space to think about the fact that your driving the length of a football field every other second

 

Relax. I was jumping on the reporting in the vid.
Believe me, this vid was throughly vetted on the C4 forum (pun intened).

The only reason I posted it was to show how easily the rear tires can break loose at those speeds.

 

Beep, that old vid is even shown at pursuit police training. His rearend stepped out because he was stepping on the brakes while turning...abs wasn't up to snuff in those old cars... the left rear quarter caught the duels, the impact opened the drivers door, threw him out and the car continued on...lucky sob... The car was stolen...

 

Sad story, he might have been under the influence (not necessary alcohol) and/or riding dirty or an arrest warrant. Much higher % of people around my age get popped for prescription pills like OxyContin/Xanax rather than alcohol these days.

 

Ya, we have to remember in this thread....a human, lost their life in the crash.

 

Of course. It's all about input.
People are on here saying "hell, my car can do 140 easy". Well, duh!
The question is, how much control do you have at 140? In a Crossfire? Not much.

I would argue that the aerodynamics and balance of the C4 exceeds that of a Crossfire and look what happened with small inputs of steering and brakes.
btw, the Bosch ABS standard on 86 and newer vettes is very good.

Not enough opinions? Here's another.
If you're going to try to outrun a modern police dept at those speeds, you'ld better be in a C6 or equivalent supercar. Even so, good luck with it. Rant completed.

 

OK.....I have owned both in the last 40 yrs....I will take the XF over a vette anyday...I have been turned around more in the vettes than the little crossie...although the crossie is much quicker to come around....as far as outrunning us....that radio has always been quicker....and stop sticks do ruin those expensive summer compound tires.....just sayin' movin' on to the next debate....

 

I guess JT, and JJ never got that memo before they made that "split second decision" to engage in a high speed chase with a possible drunk driver. I mean isn't that the automatic opinion every LEO assumes when ever anybody does a U-Turn to avoid a DUI check point?
I guess what really frosts me is the caption above the photo of the two "One" year veterans of the force that said, Troopers actions (after high speed chase) saved lives. You know, the high speed chase that they initiated.
I know, I know....the guy driving the Crossfire was at fault when he decided to jack rabbit, but wouldn't common sense dictate not to pursue a "possible" impaired driver. Isn't THAT what the RADIO is for?

I've probably been through at least a 1/2 dozen or more DUI check points over the last 10 years or so, and every single one I've been through, I remember seeing a cruiser parked on the opposite side of the street just before I notice the check point. I always assumed they were there to catch anybody who made a u-turn. I guess the NCHP didn't get the memo on that little tatic either.
I'm sorry but IMO, Bubba and Jim Bob made the wrong decision when they decided to continue their pursuit as soon as the speeds got out of hand.
I have 5 LEO's in my family (all Cousins) and over the years the topic of high speed pursuits have been discussed at length, and it almost always comes down to the severity of the offense, traffic and road conditions, and whether or not an ID of the offender can be made from the license plate or not. Oh, and "crotch rockets" always get a pass. I'm sure there were other reasons too, but those stick out. One thing I found rather interesting was that none of them had ever been involved in what they considered a high-speed chase.

 

Those are excellent points...but, we weren't there...if me, in their shoes, I would have went after the XF....but once we started, we would have been on the radio. WE would still pursue, but once the 100 was hit, I would have backed off, kept him in view, and hoped we had other units in the area to pop those pretty tires...if necessary, but that can cause problems as well...pursuits aren't always the same...but the outcomes usually are. Some depts have a non pursuit policy...Hell, Mike, I saw 2 city officers rearend one another, after seeing their guy had hit a pole, and they were about to blow right by him...#1 locked it up, #2 rearended him....their sgt wasn't pleased...just never a good outcome....

 

I know Doc, it's real easy for me to be an arm chair 1/4 back when I wasn't actually there. You know me, no disrespect was intended, but sometimes it can even boil down to what kind of car the perp is driving to set the wheels in motion.
A few years ago, there seemed to be a rash of high speed chases in Cleveland Ohio. Like you said, they all ended badly. But the one thing that remained a constant with every chase, was that the Cleveland Police seemed to possess the uncanny ability to call off the chase just seconds before the offender crashed and burned.
I know it's important to get a DUI off the road as soon as possible, I just don't think chasing one at break neck speeds is the best way to do it.

 

193 MPH top speed. 500 HP. And this example is truly poor. The 911-based auto is notoriously light in the rear. It needs a large=surface spoiler.

A cat of another color altogether.

 

To everyone:

I haven't read this thread for 2 days. I stuck the above post in before reading all of the posts through.

Sorry.

 

I will shut up now...very good points were made.... It is always a bad thing to get into a pursuit. When someone turns away from a check point...is he/she drunk, had just a few, or committed another crime we haven't been informed about yet? You have to go after them, but caution should always be used, especially if you were close enough to get the plate. Although, if it is stolen....which you find out within minutes...that pursuit can cover a lot of ground in minutes...bottom line here, is just dont' drink and drive...and never flee the police...The new Dodges do pretty well today...and although my career is all but over, these kids today love the EVOC course and are very good at it. I miss those days of throwing the cars around and pursuits on the course...BE SAFE...

 

Another article was written about the same story
Unfortunate story but checkout what the writer says about the Crossfire.

In this case, law enforcement consisted of two Highway Patrol troopers who lit out to catch the driver of a black Chrysler Crossfire,
a high-end coupe with a top speed of 155 miles per hour.
This wasn’t your usual gas-sipping, underpowered four-banger.
The Crossfire, a spawn of the ill-fated merger of Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz, has solid German engineering and performance to match.

Full story here
The Durham News | No police pursuit is worth a human life