[1]Photos: User TurboWs6 / SVTPerformance.com [2]
Let’s start off by making it clear that things can be replaced, while people can’t, and the most important part of this story is that nobody was hurt. With that said, though, this is one of the more tragic things we’ve seen happen to a Corvette in a long time. SVTPerformance.com [3] forum member TurboWs6 posted up a thread [2] with heartbreaking photos he took of his own highly modified C6 burning, while all he could do was watch.
[4]
The car, a 2008 Z51, had gone through a number of modifications over the years, evolving from a plate nitrous system to a centrifugal supercharger, and finally a single front-mount GT91 turbo. In that form, the car made 1,068 horsepower and 1,024 pound-feet of torque at 18 PSI on E85, and was capable of running a very traction-limited 10.09 at 155.08 MPH in the quarter mile.
[5]Per the owner, he was simply driving down the street when the engine cut out, and when he popped the hood and got out, the engine bay was immediately engulfed in flames. With no extinguisher available, the results were inevitable. There’s no word on what caused the fire, though we’ve seen enough incidents at the race track to immediately suspect a broken fuel line or leaking injector.
It’s a good time to remind ourselves to carry an accessible fire extinguisher with enough capacity and the correct class B rating [6] for fighting liquid-fueled fires (and to make sure it’s not discharged or otherwise inoperable) whether we’re at the track, working in the garage, or just driving to the corner store. It’s also worth noting that if you’ve done a lot of work on your car, your insurance coverage probably won’t account for the add-ons, no matter how well documented the work is – you’ll probably have to purchase additional coverage to be reimbursed for the full value of your car should the worst happen, like this.
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