Taking Fire Safety Seriously In Modified Corvettes

It’s still a rare occurrence, but the destructive nature of fire can not be ignored.

Following along a build such as 1320video’s Unicorn C5 build is always fun. We see things behind the scenes, the delays that set back a build for a few days or even a few weeks. But while those are setbacks, we rarely see things go wrong, especially when a car is built by reputable folks.

All of that can change in an instant, however, as modified cars present their own risks. Running a car hard increases those risks, and as you can see in the video above, Kyle’s C5 was erupting in flames at the end of a 1/8th mile run. It instantly turned his attention to safety, specifically fire suppression.

Competition fire suppression systems not only save the car, but they also save the driver. Shopping around on some performance websites will have you find various sizes (rated in lbs) and various plumbing options.

For driver safety, a nozzle can point straight down from above the driver, straight at the chest, but most importantly, down at the feet. After all, flames would breach the firewall first. For keeping the car from becoming a s’more, there’s additional nozzles that can be put in the engine bay. All of those nozzles will help in those critical seconds of saving your skin (literally) while the car slows down, or saving your car from being a total loss.

Considering some of us make drives down to Mexico to go racing, knowing the risk of fire should be a major concern. Throw a fire into the mix at one of those remote locations, and a car could be a smoldering pile of fiberglass before emergency services even arrive. Frightening.

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