[Tamar]

Crash test Dummies, post test analisys
So those who watched the videos will have noticed that the first time I ran into the Nissan.... I chickened out.
As we checked the videos I noticed the head lights going out just before I hit the Nissan. 
Ok I had spent countless hours on getting the M8 test car "just right", the spirit was strong but the body was weak..
At the last moment... my finger had come off the throttle.
Still a pretty good hit, but with no damage to the M8...I had to do it again, no place for the faint hearted.
In the 2nd test I did keep the pedal down (trigger pressed) and hit the Nissan at high speed and with full force, a clear hit..
...with a damaged nose, a split splitter and paint chips flying off. (just love that slow-mo)


 
Directly after the crash I did some damage assesment. Frontsplitter itself had remained intact (carbon/kevlar laminated) but bend downwards with such a force that it tore the kevlar reinforcement in the centre of the grill clean out of the resin. 
The blow delaminated the gel coat (that's the first thin "cosmetic" layer of resin) of the grill from the (thin GRP) lamination behind it and caused the right side to tear.
But besides a bit less ground clearance due to the damaged front Splitter...the car was still very much drivable.


 
Back home I peeled the broken the gel coat from the grille and saw that the GRP behind it had teared as well.
The tear continued up and to the right (viewers left) where the paint chipped off, and then up straight ending in the hood just above the right headlight. 
That area I had dremelled a bit to thin to remove the excess resin from the lamination process.
 

Pictured above, you can see how far the nose flexed during the crash by the traces off chipped paint.
Such was the force of the blow and it travelled that far aft, that a bit of gell coat chipped of the lamination behind the leftside wheelarch. (picture above right)

But, the reglued front body posts to wich I had mounted the chassis...were still firmly fixed in place !!!
So definitely going for the flexible glue. And last but not least the structural integrity of the lamination was still intact on the inside of the body.



Crash test Dummies, post test evaluation: Good and bad news
I've never crashed a car like this...deliberately, but I'm glad I did it now, that I had the luxery to do it now. Because crashes like this will happen during the 24hrs.
And the speeds and forces of a hit on the 20m long 1/32 Mulsanne are a lot bigger than on the 6m  Suzuka pit straight.
So the good news is that although its bad news to the way the M8 looks....it just that, cosmetic damage which could have been easilly repaired.
The lessons I can draw from this crash test will allow me to improve the lamination process in such a way that this will not happen again...during a next crash test. 
The bad news is, to be sure that I have succeeded I will have to crash it again 
 
to be continued

with kind regards
Tamar