Audi R8 catches fire in Mumbai! EDIT: A few more - page 9

[SDP]

There is no upper limit to cautiousness and being prepared for unforseen events. So by all means, if the organizers have time and energy for it, they should keep an ambulance, a fire-engine, a few parachutes (to address a brake-failure) and a few snipers strategically positioned on rooftops (in case of a terrorist attack during the event). Throw in a deep-water search&rescue team as well if a car jumps off the sea-link into the sea

The only thing I am reacting to is - "were the current year's arrangements adequate?" or "was it a very loosely organized event?"

I do believe the arrangements were adequate.

[i<3turbo]

Originally Posted by SDP

There is no upper limit to cautiousness and being prepared for unforseen events. So by all means, if the organizers have time and energy for it, they should keep an ambulance, a fire-engine, a few parachutes (to address a brake-failure) and a few snipers strategically positioned on rooftops (in case of a terrorist attack during the event). Throw in a deep-water search&rescue team as well if a car jumps off the sea-link into the sea

The only thing I am reacting to is - "were the current year's arrangements adequate?" or "was it a very loosely organized event?"

I do believe the arrangements were adequate.

I just noticed your thanks and posts are same as each other haha sorry to go off topic. Anyways the event is organised for the people who are in it. Now they should realize that there are more supercars in mumbai then the ones in the show.

[heavy_foot]

Going forward, Maybe the organizers should hand out car fire extinguishers to every participant or maybe the support cars can carry a few extinguishers to use in such scenarios. Not only the super car rally, but other auto related events etc should also learn from this. Learning from this incident is a good thing, but i don't thing its fair to blame the organizers for a random car catching fire. I echo with everyone who feels that this event was conducted very nicely and it is improving every year. As a spectator, i could move around freely, ogle as long as i wanted, the bouncers were polite, everyone generally was civilized and the vibes were really people friendly. The free event was managed better than what someone would manage after issuing passes. People who have not been to this event and are commenting merely looking at pics should really take it easy !!

[Tuner]

I think this maybe a clear cut case of a faulty fuel line. R8's are known for this problem of fuel line clips coming off loose and the supply line coming into contact with the heat shield resulting in spillage which could lead to fire. This issue was acknowledged and addressed by Audi in mid 2011 and it is a well documented fact that they recalled R8 spyder's manufactured between 18/5/2010 and 22/6/2011. There were also a few cases of fire in pre-production cars while in testing IIRC. However, even though the issue was noted only for spyders by Audi, it was seen among some coupe's too. They replaced the fuel lines of Coupe's which were identified as faulty. I have this info from an R8 Coupe owner in Dubai. I have no information on how this issue was tackled by Audi India.

As Audi is known for their customer service approach, I assume they would have taken the appropriate measures in India. This probably is an exception if it is the same issue. Unfortunate for the owner.

[i<3turbo]

If it was a fuel line it would engulf in flames in a few minutes to no time! The smoke was coming out of the r8 way before he even got on sea link and people were actually telling him. Some people said the owner thought it was amoke coming from the tires.

[funkydevil]

Found this posted this on the facebook Supercars and Exotics in Mumbai Page - http://www.facebook.com/Supercars.Mumbai

[i<3turbo]

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[lifebuoy]

The point here is .. Even an Audi R8, costing a bomb, can have an electrical malfunction or a fuel spill or an over - rev or whatever be the cause .. and burst into flames.

When a home-grown, engineering marvel aka Nano exhibits similar symptoms, we Indians just start a TATA-bashing spree ! The "owner" threatens to sue TATA and the media blew it out of proportion so much that the sweat and toil put into building the car that put Indian engg on the world map got overshadowed ! No one got down to the cause (poor after-market fittings) ! TATA has done their bit in re-engineering the wiring harness, added protective relays, etc. (Maybe this should have been done earlier is what I can say).

Where are the batterings for Audi India in this case ? Is this a bias towards the epitome of German Engineering ? or just our meek "phoren" attitude ?

[GTO]

Originally Posted by lifebuoy

Is this a bias towards the epitome of German Engineering ? or just our meek "phoren" attitude ?

Neither, actually.

It's also the same reason that a BMW M5 or E350 Coupe Review on Team-BHP is viewed merely 30,000 times, while a Ford Figo or Renault Duster Review crosses over 10 Lakh views (i.e. 30+ times the readership).

Reason = Relevance

An Audi R8 or Ferrari 360 catching fire doesn't personally affect our lives. Less than 1% of folk on the forum would have sat in either of these cars. On the other hand, over 50% (and that's still pessimistic) of us have driven or sat inside a Nano. There are far more Nano owners on the forum, in India and in our neighbourhoods. A Nano catching fire can potentially affect the lives of 1,000 times more people, than an Audi R8.

Therefore, my friend, it's a matter of relevance (and the resultant interest) to us, as Indians.

[Scorcher]

A tad too late for such a question, but weren't there quite a few Ferraris in the supercar rally? If they had indeed stopped to help out the R8 owner, wouldn't it have been wise to use the fire extinguisher that comes with Fezzas instead of waiting for the fire department?

I believe there was considerable time from first spotting the smoke and the car eventually going up in flames.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Scorcher

A tad too late for such a question, but weren't there quite a few Ferraris in the supercar rally? If they had indeed stopped to help out the R8 owner, wouldn't it have been wise to use the fire extinguisher that comes with Fezzas instead of waiting for the fire department?

I believe there was considerable time from first spotting the smoke and the car eventually going up in flames.

There were many cars with fire extinguishers, but hardly any were close to the R8. Some were, but the rest were stuck in the traffic behind. People say they tried to warn the R8 person about the smoke, but they continued. Either way I know for a fact that when the R8 started billowing smoke enough of people got the fire extinguishers out of their cars and ran to the R8. There was also many cars over a kilometer behind, and all they could do was watch.

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by lifebuoy

When a home-grown, engineering marvel aka Nano exhibits similar symptoms, we Indians just start a TATA-bashing spree !
...

Where are the batterings for Audi India in this case ? Is this a bias towards the epitome of German Engineering ? or just our meek "phoren" attitude ?

You are forgetting the Pune Vento fire case, Thread on that single case caused significant damage to the reputation of VW brand, thatis also a 'phoren' brand, rather parent company of the Audi car being discussed here. You can't really say that Tata Nano was discussed to more extent than the few other similar incidents.

And as GTO already stated -

A Nano catching fire can potentially affect the lives of 1,000 times more people, than an Audi R8.

So talking about the mass segment cars is much more needed.

And who talks about Tata Nano fires these days? It has become story of the past that Nano once received such bad image.

[PlatzdaTurbo]

Originally Posted by Scorcher

A tad too late for such a question, but weren't there quite a few Ferraris in the supercar rally? If they had indeed stopped to help out the R8 owner, wouldn't it have been wise to use the fire extinguisher that comes with Fezzas instead of waiting for the fire department?

I believe there was considerable time from first spotting the smoke and the car eventually going up in flames.

Incase you saw the video, you might have observed the long haired guy from the e60 M5 which was next to the R8 screaming out repeatedly first at the R8 and then at the crowds around the spot. So it seems that all their warnings to the R8 fellow were in vain and the only possible explanation to why the people in the M5 did not react with extinguishers is they might probably not have one.

[Fullrevs]

My 1982 Mercedes 240D had a huge fire extinguisher under the drivers seat. Time to bring that back in todays cars.

[A.K]

With another Audi R8 V10 Spyder burnt to ashes a couple of days ago, I had to create this thread as it makes it the third R8 burnt in India after the silver V8 Coupe which was gutted at Parx Supercar show a year ago and then the matte blue facelifted R8 V10 Plus test drive car that burnt in Aamby Valley.
Attaching the pictures if the blue V10 Spyder TDV that burnt a couple of days ago. The pics of other burnt Audis has been posted elsewhere on the forum. Would be great if someone could post them here too

First pic is of the facelifted matte blue V10 Plus and the other two are of the one that burnt a couple of days ago.