If there are two things the Internet is good for, they are griping and passing on rumors. "It seems that Mitsubishi has set up an automatic Web search that looks for registration and results information for any Mitsubishi," wrote MSM_S2K on www.evolutionm.net forums in June. "It then captures the race results information, matches it to vehicle purchase and service records and proactively puts the car on 'warranty restriction.' Those of you with new cars may want to not list the actual car make or use a screen name."
MSM_S2K's assertion that Mitsubishi has an automatic system for tracking race participation with its products on the Internet is ultimately only that: an assertion. Mitsubishi denies that it does any such electronic monitoring of its products. And frankly the evidence that it does have such a thing doesn't extend much beyond the fact that MSM_S2K's Evolution VIII was denied warranty coverage after participating in an autocross event and munching its engine in the process. After all, it could be that by simply entering MSM_S2K's name into Google that a service manager found the results of the autocross online. It doesn't take high-tech Spider technology to scour the Internet to do that.
Mitsu isn't the only manufacturer being accused of voiding raced cars warranties from information gleaned on the Web. Over on www.srtforums.com, accusations are flying that the DCX moles are monitoring the message boards and voiding warranties. That may be true-and anyone bragging about racing their car shouldn't whine when they're denied warranty coverage-but dealers can also be suspicious of certain types of damage. Broken driveshafts may be a clue that a car is being raced for instance. After all, that doesn't happen to a lot of rental cars.
Mitsubishi, and every other manufacturer for that matter, still claims its right to restrict warranty claims to the terms of, you guessed it, the warranty. And there isn't a new-car warranty out there that doesn't specifically mention racing activities and general modifications as grounds for voiding all or part of a warranty. Everyone ought to know this going in when they buy a new car with the intent of using it for competition. And trying to pass off racing damage as normal wear or a defective part isn't just like fraud, by any legal definition it is fraud.
"Subaru of America, Inc. offers a warranty to cover any repairs to correct defects in material or workmanship," that company announced in a release. "However, the warranty excludes repairs that are caused by abuse of the vehicle or damage to any component that is the result of any competition or racing event. In addition, the warranty does not cover modifications, if there is evidence that the nonauthorized equipment, parts or accessories has been installed and it can be demonstrated that the installation of the unauthorized modification is the source of the failure or contributed to the damage. For example, installation of a strut support would not negate the warranty on the radio."
Mitsubishi's policy is similar. "Mitsubishi Motors and our dealers strive to be reasonable in evaluating each customer's vehicle that is brought into a dealership for a possible warrantable condition in order to provide excellent customer service," they announced. "We give the benefit of the doubt to everyone and appreciate their respect for the terms and conditions of our warranty. Mitsubishi does not have any automated Web search system looking for Lancer Evolutions involved in race events. This is absolutely false." They also add that it clearly states in their Owner's Warranty and Maintenance booklet that racing-related damage, alterations and/or vehicle modifications are not covered conditions. "If a Lancer Evolution is brought to a Mitsubishi Motors dealer for a diagnosis as to a possible warrantable condition and the dealer determines that modifications were made that may have caused the problem, or could be instrumental in causing future problems, the repair will not be covered. The dealer and, if necessary, MMNA staff, investigate each case, always giving the owner the benefit of the doubt."
The benefit of the doubt isn't a bad thing to have on your side. Just don't expect to drive your racing career through it
205 mph in a 65It's one thing to exceed the speed limit and something else altogether to more than triple it. "I was in total disbelief," Minnesota State Police pilot Al Loney told the "St. Paul Pioneer Press." "I had to double-check my watch because in 27 years I've never seen anything go that fast."
That "anything" that was going that fast was allegedly 20-year-old Samuel Armstrong Tilley of Stillwater, Minn., on his Honda 1000 motorcycle ripping along Highway 61 on the afternoon of September 18 (a Saturday). Loney clocked Tilley traveling between two markers on the road a quarter mile apart in 4.39 seconds. The math says that works out to 205 mph-the highest speed anyone at the State Patrol can remember clocking a speeder.
Unless Tilley's Honda was severely modified it's hard to believe it was actually going 205 mph. Tilley didn't return our phone call, so we don't know his side of the story, but it has to be interesting. Our guess is that the motorcycle, whatever speed it was traveling, was likely outrunning Loney's aircraft, and that change in perspective led Loney to snap his stopwatch a bit early, resulting in the credulity-straining 205-mph clocking. That's just a guess.Tilley was written up for speeding, reckless driving and not having a motorcycle endorsement on his license. Another rider traveling with Tilley was written up for 111 mph, reported the "Minneapolis Star-Tribune."
A ticket for 140 over the limit is the highest SCC knows about. If there is one out there that's even more egregious, let's see it.
OneRace, ManyLivesMost street races don't end up in collisions, injuries, arrests or anything except a claim of bragging rights or a few dollars. But some street races wind up in utter catastrophe and change lives forever.
Last April 3, Roy Brandenburg, Jr. of Bremerton, Wash., was driving along SR 303 near that city in his lightly modified, second-generation CRX when he decided to engage in an impromptu race with a late-model Mustang driven by a 19-year-old sailor stationed on the USS Abraham Lincoln. Speeds reached, the Washington State Patrol alleges, over 100 mph.
And it was at something near triple-digit velocity that Brandenburg lost control of the CRX and slid across the centerline of the road. A 2003 Accord driven by Dr. William Caine hit the CRX on the passenger side so hard the CRX's front end from the firewall forward, including the engine, separated from the car and tumbled into the Mustang.
Meanwhile, the CRX's passenger compartment continued traveling with Brandenburg in it-backwards into oncoming traffic. A Chevy Suburban driven by Dr. James Clemen hit the CRX's rear, bursting its fuel tank and causing it to catch fire. Finally, a Ford Explorer driven by James Spitzer hit the CRX hulk one last time.
Brandenburg was still in the burning CRX and, by some miracle, unconscious but still alive. Commuters Michael Oakes, Staci Oakes, Rosa Rice and James Weaver, who observed the accident, were able to extract him from the wreckage just before fire consumed it. He was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with critical injuries. Dr. Caine, a heart surgeon, also sustained serious injuries and was transported to the same hospital. Valerie Clemen, a passenger in the Suburban, also sustained serious injuries and was treated at a hospital in Bremerton. James Clemen, Newman and Spitzer all had minor injuries.
"It was terrifying," Kitty Brandenburg, Roy Jr.'s mother, told us, "when we walked into the emergency room. He had a laceration to the back of his head, a compound fracture to the leg that was broken four times, nine broken ribs, a collapsed lung, a separated shoulder and bleeding of the brain. He was on life support for six days."
Brandenburg's decision to race that night wound up hurting five people besides himself and nearly cost him his own life. He's still recovering with a rod in his leg and what appears to be a permanently separated shoulder, according to his mother. And to this day he doesn't remember the collision.
Brandenburg's CRX, however, has taken on a second life as a traveling display for the Washington State Patrol and its Aggressive Driver Apprehension Team (ADAT). It made its debut as a grim warning at the Puyallup Fair in September with Brandenburg's parents in attendance. "People can't believe he actually lived," Kitty Brandenburg said. "One girl even gave me a hug and was amazed and so happy he made it."
Some of the innocent victims of the crash were also at the fair. "They were there, but we didn't approach them," Mrs. Brandenburg explained. "We were feeling guilty that it was our son who changed their lives too. We know that if we don't get the word out, other people will go through what we've gone through too.
"If I'd known he was racing, that car would have burned in the driveway.