Paul Walker Dead.

Better than Nick Cage

Local news (I am in the LA area) says "someone" has the theory that the steering failed in the car. The reason for this is that they said there is a line of fluid on the road from the steering (how they would know this, I have no idea), that the car skidded straight ahead (no steering) and that the fire was focused at the front of the car.

All sorts of things wrong with this "theory", prime of which: Is there any fully hydraulic steering in any car? Earth moving equipment maybe... but a Porsche?!?

Well, if he lost all steering assist at a critical moment, he may not have realized in time, even if he had been strong enough to overcome it under less extreme circumstances.

Oh E36 M3 - yah, this is possible. That happened to me in the Panamera Turbo S at Mosport. A hydraulic cable blew, and left a long line of fluid all the way around turn 1 - by the time I got to Turn 5, I had next to no steering left. There was an error message about the hydraulic suspension - apparently it's served by the same system.

EDIT: Little late on this one

Not that they were not speeding but this is very interesting and may explain things more.

said: Sources linked to Always Evolving - the shop co-owned by Walker and the Porsche driver Roger Rodas - told TMZ they saw evidence of a fluid burst and subsequent fluid trail before the skid marks at the accident site. They said the noticeable lack of skid marks until just before the crash site suggest the driver may have lost control of the steering. On top of that, they appear in a straight line, not in a swerve pattern as normally occurs when a driver loses control of a car. The sources also told the website that the flames spread so quickly to the front of the car reinforces their theory of a steering fluid leak. The engine of a Porsche Carrera is at the back of the vehicle.

From Here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2516403/Porsche-supercar-crashed-claimed-life-Fast--Furious-actor-Paul-Walker-involved-street-race-moments-earlier-says-witness-stars-father-reveals-familys-heartache.html

aircooled wrote: Local news (I am in the LA area) says "someone" has the theory that the steering failed in the car. The reason for this is that they said there is a line of fluid on the road from the steering (how they would know this, I have no idea), that the car skidded straight ahead (no steering) and that the fire was focused at the front of the car. All sorts of things wrong with this "theory", prime of which: Is there any fully hydraulic steering in any car? Earth moving equipment maybe... but a Porsche?!?

I bet there is and it is hydraulic assist to the steering. It could also have been a transmission or oil cooling line or a cooler it self could have cracked. If there was some sort of hydraulic line or cooling line failure at the front of the car it would / could spray oil under the front wheels. If this occurs even if you had steering it would be the equivalent of loosing it. Especially at the speeds they appear to have been traveling.

Not a fan of the F&F series at all. Having said that, I hate to hear of anyone dying that young.

On the steering failure: Mercedes used a similar system on some of their cars, the power steering pump runs both the steering and the hydraulic suspension. As Lesley noted, a leak will kill the steering function pretty quickly. The bad part with the thing is a suspension hydraulic leak can cause the system to empty very rapidly.

I left a virtual oil spill at Mosport. They had to shut down while it was cleaned up, and the car got put on a flatbed. Just needed a hose replacement. I'd been doing 240 (km) up the backstretch, I guess I can be thankful it didn't happen there.

Glad you're OK Lesley

In reply to Lesley: I hit a virtual oil spill at Suzuka once. I would have hit a Ferris wheel if my quarter hasn't run out.

I was reading about the accident on a friend's Facebook page. The hate that comes out after accidents like this is somewhat hypocritical. Most of the people are the same ones barreling down the highway looking at kitten videos. I would rather be sharing the road with a speeding Porsche then most of the idiots saying these guys deserved to die.

If the steering assist failed that would make for some pucker factor. Had the car been traveling at or at least near the speed limit there'd be no problem. But when you are doing multiples of the speed limit it gets deadly. I've lost brakes and steering (not at the same time) and didn't have anything other than sweaty palms as a result.

I really question that they were alive and trapped though - the car looked thoroughly mashed. Let's hope not anyway.

TMZ has a video that someone took of the car burning (at the start, the passenger compartment is fully engulfed). Not suggested viewing, but there was no one standing near the car in the video so I am suspicious of that story also.

has anyone taken a moment to look at the Google streetview of where it happened?

this is basically an office-park area where the tuning shop he co-operates has its base of operations.

A largely un-trafficked area of pavement 5 lanes wide for warehouses and offices, a road thats at least 3 turns from any thru-fare, and a road that makes a small circuit around a particular plaza.

We all know a place like this, where our local performance shops take people for a "quick ride around the block" or where they go a bit faster than prescribed to shake out the bugs in something they just worked on.

looking at the picture, you can see where the front wheel caved in from the impact with the square curb/gutter. That says to me above 80, but i'm definitely no scientist.

In case anyone is interested: 25601 Hercules St Santa Clarita, CA 91355 is the site of the accident.

aircooled wrote: TMZ has a video that someone took of the car burning (at the start, the passenger compartment is fully engulfed). Not suggested viewing, but there was no one standing near the car in the video so I am suspicious of that story also.

Yea, I was checking that out. I was kind of thinking the same thing. No one was trying to get close anyway. Its on liveleek as well.

I figured the collision with the tree damaged the fuel tank, which is located inside the firewall between the passengers and the engine bay.

Apparently he went the way he wanted to. Found one of his quotes made into a meme.

Does this article appear to have no reliable source? http://nypost.com/2013/12/02/mechanical-failure-behind-paul-walker-crash-report/

I picked the F&F movies apart and subsequently grew to strongly dislike them. I did watch the extras on one of them that showed the driver training the actors went through and the instructors said Walker took to it like a duck to water. Apparently he did most of his character's driving stunts and he was a genuine racing and fighting enthusiast.

I definitely can't fault the guy for starring in some cheesy street racer movies. Any of us would jump at the chance.

I do believe it's high time for a F&F marathon at my house in tribute to a guy who lived the dream.

MCarp22 wrote: I figured the collision with the tree damaged the fuel tank, which is located inside the firewall between the passengers and the engine bay.

Are you sure about this?

I don't think this is a Carrera GT, but this is where I would assume the gas tank would be:

I can't find any pics of the fuel filler either. Not sure where that is, but that will tell you where the tank is.

In reply to aircooled:

I don't know the facts, but MCarp22 appears to...

MCarp22 wrote: I figured the collision with the tree damaged the fuel tank, which is located inside the firewall between the passengers and the engine bay.

From another source:

The bulk head on which the rollover bars are mounted, is the fuel tank! Size is 24 gallon, it's sandwich construction, the actual tank is inside the whole bulkhead is built around it, single piece.

aircooled wrote: All sorts of things wrong with this "theory", prime of which: Is there any fully hydraulic steering in any car? Earth moving equipment maybe... but a Porsche?!?

Earth moving equipment and some serious offroad rigs (not many commercially available)...but if your front tires are lubricated with PS fluid you might as well not have any steering.

Here are some diagrams of a Carrera GT. The entire rear has to be dissasimbled and seperated to access and replace the Fuel tank:

From the pictures you can see the car was sheared in half. Being that it is bolted together it probably takes a lot less force than a normal car to accomplish that. Also being sheared in half means the fuel take was fully exposed. I believe that is why most cars use monocoque construction instead of a split chassis.

In reply to N Sperlo: The NY Post is often the equivalent of overhearing something in a mental institution.