Is This Even Possible: Michael Hastings MB C250 Crash
 

You are driving along in a new Mercedes C250 at a fairly high speed, hit a tree sideways, the car bursts into flames and the engine, transmission and drive shaft are thrown 200 feet.

Sounds a bit fantastic to me.


Michael Hastings contacted Wikileaks lawyer hours before death claiming FBI were investigating him - Hastings Turns A Mercedes C250 Into A “Bomb” - 12160

He was a bit paranoid as well as a thorn in the govt's side. Wonder if he was hounded/threatened/scared into driving fast and killing himself. Sad story, man died far too young.

I was once told that some Germans would drive their cars at high speed into the Berlin Wall to commit suicide. The ones that failed were driving Benzes.

I can accept a fiery crash (or just a plain old fire if you are in a Ferrari) but an entire drivetrain being thrown out of the car? That is hard to swallow.

I've seen cars split in half when they hit a pole like that (and actually seen folks walk away from it!). To eject the power train completely and cleanly is strange though I have to admit.

This was in one of the right ups attached to the article.

After a little more looking around came up with this:

DHS

I guess these guys are going to be the equivalent of Hitler's SS.

This song needs to replace the star spangled banner song for the US.

country joe

We love to fight.

The engine and transmission are made to break free so they can slide under the car. If they remained attached to the car in a side impact it would cause the car to deform more and do more damage to the occupants.

BRB, let me get my foil helmet.

They guy was a prick for what he did to McChrystal and I won't miss him, but something about this smells funny

I'm sure the forces at play here were enough to break the engine mounts and etc and send it tumbling.

The physics are understandable, but the circumstances are shady

Bush did it.;)

Not if you understand physics. Once the car's basic structure is undermined -- as in hitting a tree sideways at a high rate of speed -- those big pieces can and do separate and they can also travel quite a ways. Loss of structural integrity + big mass + intertia = get out of the way.

Back in the olden days (after the advent of rubber-cushioning motor mounts, but before things like safety/restraining motor mounts came along) it was not unheard of that after the motor mounts had failed, one could launch the engine and transmission into the radiator, smashing it with the grille into the front bumper...simply from a panic stop. And in the event of an accident from even a moderate rate of speed, they could end up in the street pretty easily. Obviously things have improved quite a lot, but you still can't overcome the laws of physics.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is a little over-emphasized for the reporters, but it does confirm that the guy was flying.

Senseless loss of life no matter how you slice it.

Witness: Hastings' speeding car ‘shook my car like a freight truck going by

How long were the skid marks?

I drive this stretch of road on a weekly base, it's a narrow two lane with a divider of grass and threes. He must have made a weird move, the road is straight with no curves what so ever.