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Porsche driver dies when testing 998 Cabriolet prototype

tryme submitted on 2/14/2009 Official Bell & Ross Timestamp: 7:56:33 AM

41 user comments | Category: Misc News | Source: | SOURCE: www.4wheelsnews.com

Yesterday, Friday the 13th of February, Porsche mourns the loss of one of their test drivers who was testing a 998 Cabriolet prototype at high speeds at Germany’s A5 autobahn between Frankfurt and Heidelberg.

The car is said to have hit the center reservation at 2.25 a.m.

The Panamera prototype travelling close at the heels of the Cabriolet hit the latter but the driver came out unscathed. The Cabriolet was part of an endurance test from 8pm to 6am with three drivers sharing a continuous run.

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Porsche driver dies when testing 998 Cabriolet prototype

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tryme

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User Comments

golfer38

What a rediculously stupid comment!

— golfer38 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/14/2009 9:58:53 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 17   

veyron1001

Wtf do you think testing means? He was trying to max out the car to see what improvement can be made. It is also a prototype. Not even close to production.

— veyron1001 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/14/2009 10:12:23 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

BMWGino

LexusBeautyQueen, At least like he looked fabulous while it happened. If it were a Lexus it would not be so. A Lexus cannot go fast anyways.

— BMWGino (View Profile)

Posted on 2/14/2009 1:03:57 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

TurboSpyder

Nissan should be asking Porsche for lessons on how to win races. And not home market Jap racing but major international racing like Le Mans and ALMS.

— TurboSpyder (View Profile)

Posted on 2/14/2009 5:38:04 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5   

lexusrox123

sounds like everyone needs a hug..

— lexusrox123 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/17/2009 8:54:48 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

moneypenny

way to go with the smiley face you moron, a man died !! My regards to his family

— moneypenny (View Profile)

Posted on 2/14/2009 9:56:18 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 13   

ubercool

Crap barrier design, and dangerous handling car, i'd rather buy an Aston Martin or Jaguar XKR convertible thanks.

— ubercool (View Profile)

Posted on 2/14/2009 10:37:43 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: -7   

AgentOrange

Agree with you on the barrier design.. WTF is that anyway?

— AgentOrange (View Profile)

Posted on 2/14/2009 2:33:40 PM | | Votes: 3   

S4cabriofoxone

NOBODY CARES ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOU WOULD RATHER BUY A JAGUAR. You say that in EVERY FRIGGING ARTICLE. We know that you're a Jaguar salesman. Time to shut the hell up!

— S4cabriofoxone (View Profile)

Posted on 2/14/2009 4:06:22 PM | | Votes: 2   

r_driver04

Aren't they essentially the same cars? Doesn't some Chinese or Indian company own Jaguar now?

— r_driver04 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/17/2009 1:32:44 PM | | Votes: 1   

bimmerMeister999

man.. that is very unfortunate. Of course someone like lexusfuglyqueen won't understand the morosity of this news since she is socially and intellectually underdeveloped.

— bimmerMeister999 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/14/2009 3:16:43 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 0   

Colmfarl

Sad news - best regards to the family. The first comment was a disgrace.

— Colmfarl (View Profile)

Posted on 2/14/2009 3:19:19 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 7   

lexusrox123

thats an Irish flag, not Italian, bimmermike.

— lexusrox123 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/17/2009 8:56:47 AM | | Votes: 1   

Bill

My condolences to the family. I think his friends and family should take comfort in the fact that he at least did what he loved doing, even if it unfortunately killed him. Perhaps his death can even lead to newer safety measures that will make this particular Porsche model (and eventually other vehicles in the entire industry) safer.

Some people on this board should be ashamed of themselves (LexusBeautyQueen).

— Bill (View Profile)

Posted on 2/14/2009 4:49:04 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 5   

ajax

horrible news...truly sad to hear. my condolences to his loved ones.

and LexusBeautyQueen is an instigator. "she" purposely writes the most obnoxiously revolting things whenever "she" can to get people to hate "her". also notice that every time "she" posts, BMWGino is not far behind. i say we all try to ignore these 2 morons.

— ajax (View Profile)

Posted on 2/14/2009 8:28:42 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

ajax

horrible news...truly sad to hear. my condolences to his loved ones.

and LexusBeautyQueen is an instigator. "she" purposely writes the most obnoxiously revolting things whenever "she" can to get people to hate "her". also notice that every time "she" posts, BMWGino is not far behind. they are probably the same instigator.

— ajax (View Profile)

Posted on 2/14/2009 8:30:09 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

rumnyc

a real person with family and loved ones dies testing a prototype car with no safety features and all u losers can do is make racist kraut comments or talk about fugly japanese cars...

sad...

— rumnyc (View Profile)

Posted on 2/14/2009 10:53:18 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

DoctorC

A driver that drives fast in a non closed circuit racing track is not the smartest. I'm glad no other drivers were involved.

Never heard of a performance testing in the open road for a prototype

— DoctorC (View Profile)

Posted on 2/15/2009 3:30:24 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1   

I95SPEEDINGTICKETS

That might be because you live in a country where risks of any sort is banned for fear of Lawsuits. Over here in Europe Road tests of Prototypes are not banned as there is no test track in the world that can truly mimic real world road & driving conditions.

— I95SPEEDINGTICKETS (View Profile)

Posted on 2/15/2009 9:05:47 AM | | Votes: -1   

downtoearth

An idiot was trying to max his new toy on a public road in uncontrolled conditions and results came quicker than he thought.

Fortunately he didn't manage to harm innocent road users.

Autobahns are not for driving too fast. Even on derestricted bits the advised speed is 130 kp/h and even lower limit is enforced when it's raining. Drive faster, cause an accident and insurance agencies have right to refuse payments.

If the title was "Paris Hilton dies when testing a 998 Cabriolet prototype at high speeds", most would leave hatred comments. Swap "Paris Hilton" with "Porsche driver" and some start writing that "at least he was doing what he loved".

— downtoearth (View Profile)

Posted on 2/15/2009 10:04:55 AM | | Votes: 1   

Rupert

downtoearth - can you read??
A Porsche EMPLOYEE TESTING A PROTOTYPE 911 crashed.
It wasn't his new toy at all! Are you blind?

— Rupert (View Profile)

Posted on 2/15/2009 1:14:20 PM | | Votes: 1   

downtoearth

I can read. I'm just annoyed how awfully biased and blindfolded people are.

I only can't distinguish between an idiot speeding down the Autobahn and exposing other road users to risk and an employee/test driver doing the same for any purpose. For me, these two are the same entities.

Normally, the former would be heavily criticized. Meanwhile, the latter is nearly praised.

— downtoearth (View Profile)

Posted on 2/15/2009 1:46:40 PM | | Votes: 2   

Gennissen

whats up with like like like!?

— Gennissen (View Profile)

Posted on 2/16/2009 2:39:18 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

golfer38

Are you some kind of transgender with some sort of extreme mental condition? I don't care if you are just trying to get attention or a rise out of viewers. These kind of comments make you completely irrelavent!

— golfer38 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/16/2009 11:40:45 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 3   

lexusrox123

take off the stupid mask please...you are not convincing anybody.

— lexusrox123 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/17/2009 8:57:38 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Yonder7

Any sport car will be unsafe in an accident laike that , just see the picture, beside that it was a test.....and I am sure at very high speed.

— Yonder7 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/15/2009 9:37:44 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

lambo98

ya thats right plus porshes r built 4 precision and looks and speed and that doesnt say anything about porsche.


R.I.P

— lambo98 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/16/2009 2:09:47 AM | | Votes: 2   

Yonder7

Any sport car will be unsafe in an accident like that , just see the picture, beside that it was a test.....and I am sure at very high speed.

— Yonder7 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/15/2009 9:38:30 AM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

ubercool

Another good reason why not to buy an over rated Porsche, if I wanted the best performance car in the world, i would look at something like a GTR or a Lotus etc... S4cabriofoxone is a retarded loser aswell btw.

— ubercool (View Profile)

Posted on 2/15/2009 1:46:14 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: -1   

adamsaf723

R.I.P.
It's always bittersweet, because he died doing something he loved.

— adamsaf723 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/15/2009 6:19:26 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

tkindred

Better photo. It seems the car was going at such a high speed and that the front bumper was (unfortunately) slightly too low. This caused the guardrail to ride up the hood when it was deflected upon impact. You must consider the guardrail was probably designed for a wide spectrum of motor vehicles including trucks.

http://www.worldcarfans.com/9090213.013/mini1/porsche-test-driver-dies-testing-pre-production-911

— tkindred (View Profile)

Posted on 2/15/2009 6:20:21 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

holmstar

Why doesn't this site have some sort of karma system yet? something where if you get deboosted enough your account just gets automatically banned? And if you keep getting banned (same IP address on multiple accounts) your whole ip address gets permanently banned.

We REALLY need something like this. Really getting tired of the trolls on here.

— holmstar (View Profile)

Posted on 2/16/2009 3:00:24 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

Kthorn

Truly a tregedy. Seems the barrier design is poor at best. I wonder how many vehicles have ended up like this. Also, a speed run in the middle of the night on public roads is an exercise in poor judgement.

— Kthorn (View Profile)

Posted on 2/16/2009 4:07:05 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 2   

r_driver04

Bad deal. Regards to the family. Porsche is still an excellent performance vehicle.

— r_driver04 (View Profile)

Posted on 2/17/2009 1:34:00 PM | reply to this comment | Votes: 1   

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