My Disc Got Run Over By an SUV:Will It Fly Right?

[Maverick3324]

I was playing Highland Park on Saturday and Hole #9 for those of you that know, is a huge 600 foot bomb. I tried to throw a giant flex shot with my Bright Orange Champ Boss and it Flexes quite nicely, but catches a tree limb right next to the road and drops down, literally half of the disc on the road and half on the grass. Others in my group throw their shots and as the last person is about to tee off, I see a car coming around the bend. My first instinct was to race the car and pick up the Boss before it could even come close to being run over, but I figure its a pretty wide road and you better be able to see a bright orange disc on the side of it. Well, whether the lady was an oblivious driver or had a vendetta against disc golfers, she drives directly over my disc with both tires. I freaked out and sprinted out to my beloved disc like it was a member of my family. Ironically, the disc did not have any cosmetic damage. It felt a little less stiff, but for the most part, I can't find anything wrong with it. I have not had the chance to go out to a field and throw it, but my question is, how will it fly? Has anybody else had a disc survive being run over? Before that incident I would have been willing to bet that a car running over a disc would ruin it, but my opinion may have changed.

 

[colodiscgolfer]

doubt it did much damage unless the disc was on it's edge. The tire and disc both have some give so the load should be well distributed, and there isn't much room for deflection if the disc was flat on the street. Really no different than stepping on a disc for the most part.

 

[wolito]

I have had a couple of mine run over with any real noticable difference in the flight. One was a driver and the other a putter. Sometimes I wonder whether drivers truly do aim for the discs to run them over.

 

[solomon.trenton]

doubt it did much damage unless the disc was on it's edge. The tire and disc both have some give so the load should be well distributed, and there isn't much room for deflection if the disc was flat on the street. Really no different than stepping on a disc for the most part.

except for the weight

 

[Umbraphobia]

The course I play on doesn't have any nearby streets, but during practice if I ever throw one into the road, I immediately go and pick it up. Needless to say I've never had one run over..

Just go out and throw it. That will be the best way to see if anything has changed. =)

 

[mashnut]

I've had a few discs run over. The dx and pro discs seemed to lose a little stability, the champ and star had really no change, and just some cosmetic scuffs. Especially on a wide rimmed disc like that, you're probably not going to have much change in the flight.

 

[mambrose]

my star wraith was like brand new, got hit by an SUV and it dosent fly right now....it was also proped up agnist a buckle in the pavement...

 

[colodiscgolfer]

except for the weight

The weight is a factor, but not as much as you'd think. The real thing you want to look at is pressure, or force/area. Here's a quick rundown of the comparison:

Getting stepped on:
weight = 200 lbs
area of a foot = 20 square inches
pressure = 200/20 = 10 lbs per square inch

Run over:
weight = 4000 lbs
area of all four tires= 2 square feet = 2 x 144 square inches = 288 square inches
pressure = 4000/288 = 13.8 lbs per square inch

This is assuming that the person in question doesn't heel step your disc in which case the area of contact would be about 2 square inches and the pressure about 100 lbs per square inch. If you've ever had your toes run over by a car tire, you know that it really doesn't hurt much. SUVs typically have lower air pressure in their tires than most cars and the area of tire in contact with the road will be even greater so pressure will be even less than for most cars.

 

[Vepr]

I had a disc i couldn't throw for the life of me. And because of this...i "accidentally" threw it in the middle of the street, it got ran over...and now i can throw it! Yeah me!

 

[kyflash]

My son got an Ace with his Star XCal on home 2 on hole 11 (same round) he goes OB with the same Satr XCal and it gets run over. The car ran over it with front and rear tires. The disc became real flippy.
I would think Champion plastic would hold up better.
But the BOSS has such a wide flight plate that could be a varible in this discussion as well. My thoughts are that if the weight of the tire were to roll over one edge onto the dome and onto the other edge it would cause less damage than if both edges and the dome absorbed the weight at the same time.

 

[huskie2husker]

I once threw a pro plastic disc that skipped onto a road that separated the course from a row of houses. Some douche bag that must have lived there was backing out of his driveway and saw the disc...I'm not sure if he didn't see me walking up to the disc (I was about 40 ft away, but coming from behind a tree)...and he floors it, swerving to be sure he ran directly over the disc. It didn't do much damage other that leaving a tire mark on top, and I still throw it from time to time.

I just thought it was a dick move, especially since I could see the driveway he pulled out of. It took a lot of control not to throw the disc at one of the windows. Now that I think of it, it's probably good that I didn't, seeing as how my name and number were written on the disc.

 

[sonny]

No personal experience, but I have heard from others that having a car run over a disc does a rapid "beat in". I'd just pretend he disc has hit an extra 30 - 40 trees.

 

[Omega SuperSloth]

as long as you dont see anything it should be the same

 

[A.Mutt]

I had a DX Teebird get run over ... can still see some tire marks on it. Anyways it lost some stability and I just went and bought a Star Teebird to replace it. It wasn't toast but it didn't fly like I wanted it to anymore.

 

[steven2361]

My champ valkarie got run over once, not a scratch, good ol champion plastic

 

[Huk Finn]

I had a champion beast ran over by an F-150
I didn't have any problem with it after that. Just keep huckin it, if anything use it for what it now does.