A great drive home, but....

[Anonymous]

Today, it was a great sunny afternoon here in Corfu. Temp in the low 20s.

Normally, when leaving the office, I turn right - continue along a wiggly road and 2km later reach home. Well today it was just 2nice! I dropped the roof and turned left. Those that know where I live will realise that this route takes about 50km! There is no shorter route - it took me high up the mountain and over to the other side, down to sea level and then a coast road blast of about 20km gets me home. What a treat it was now that my new Toyos are beding in (hey I covered nearly 200km this week - that's a record!) The car is handling even better than ever. My ABS problem all sorted and the car gripper than I could ever imagine. The roads where empty, as always, and I enjoyed great pace. Funny thing is, now that the car is perfect I tend not to drive it so hard. Spirited driving is now just a joy rather than a fight!

Anyway at one point, coming out of a fast bend, there was a large bolder in the road.  No way I could have gone over it as it was too large. I managed to swerve but hit is really hard on my offside wheel (dead in the middle) really hard. The car took off on that side, and so didn't touch the underside or rear wheel. It felt like I had broken the front wheel so I gently slowed and  pulled over. I jumped out and heard another car hit it too. He soon pulled in behind me. We exchanged appropriate expletives and both ran back up the road to remove the bolder (a large concrete knob which must have fallen off a lorry!)

I cannot see any visible damage and the steering etc all seems fine. Do you think I should get the tyre taken off and checked?

[Jaik]

Glad you enjoyed the drive!

As for the car, if you can't feel anything unusual (vibrations through the steering wheel, pulling to one side etc) then you're probably fine. As a precaution though I'd check the wheel over to make sure it's totally round which you should be able to do with the tyre on really. I'd also check the suspension arms haven't been bent at all.

[ChrisGB]

What Jaik said + jack the corner that took the hit off the ground and turn the wheel to check for lift (the tyre being out of round), a bulge in the tread or sidewall (don't forget the inside wall). I would also get a full geometry check and have a quick look under the strut gaiter to make sure your damper did not blow. If these are OK, you sound like you have got away with it.

That the car lifted off and is still drivable is remarkable in itself. Definitely an  s:shock: :shock: s:shock:   moment.

Good luck