Dembo

A friend of mine has such a thing in a trackday car (and one for the cabin too).

There's no way I'd try and open the bonnet in those circumstances. Letting all that oxygen in is only going to do one thing.

I have one of the small ones in the boot. I used on once at the Nürburgring after coming round a corner to find an upside-down Porsche on fire . But all it was good for was putting out the burning trail of oil that was coming from it (others got the driver out and the car fire died down BTW). I don't think it would do a lot to save a car unless you were very early, but it might save a person.

Stoatmaster

I have one i all my cars, I've seen how quickly a car will go up from something as small as a small electrical short.

I'd rather unload a canister under the dash than stand and watch something smoldering develop into a raging car fire! Can't put some things out, but prefer having the option to hand.

Craig.h

Yes, you are right, NEVER open a bonnet if it's on fire!

If you pop the bonnet from the cabin you should get in enough to spray in, if not I would personally recommend staying away from it!

When my evo went up I had a friend with me who hid below the front bumper and slowly opened the bonnet as I sprayed the powder in. Worked a treat! We both had fire fighting experience which is the only reason we done it.

I don't want to give out advice really as you never know, but common sense prevails in most cases and you can easily judge if it's worth trying to save! Just be very very cautious if you do take the decision to open the bonnet!

BenRNBP

Quite odd, I can't seem to find auto-activation foam extinguishers only dry powder or Halon replacement - there must be a reason, does foam have to be stored at a higher pressure or something ?

Craig.h

Well, without looking too stupid here I'm changing my mind...... powder is actually best!

It will deal with more situations than foam. A car has several hazards. Electrical, fuel, oil etc as well as materials such as plastic, cloth etc etc.

Powder gives a broader range of what it can deal with effectively compared to foam (the biggest difference being electrical and oil).

I will edit my previous post and return to my corner.........

U9aXy6Dn

I've kept a fire extinguisher in My S pretty much since owning one (it may need replacing now). I understood that you only get one go at putting it out. Always makes me chuckle when people ask what the purpose of the fire extinguisher is for when they get in for the first time.

I will change it over for a powder one now.

Dembo

Though if it's something electrical you're worrying about, perhaps a battery/engine cut off is also a good idea and could well be more effective?

Nick Graves

Compulsory in Belgium, so my S2000 has one too.

Will probably not work as it's well past its sell-by date.

loftust

Excellent advice - this, combined with a foam extinguisher is the best setup. Even though Craig has recommended a powder extinguisher, they are cack at reducing the heat - and it doesn't take much for it to crack and reignite - I've seen it at our firefighting school.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

ian_6301

I've done the same firefighting training that Loftust has, plus the aircraft firefighting one, and have been a race marshall and attended at a number of crashes.

An in-car extinguisher is designed to prolongue the time available to the driver / marshalls to get the driver out of the car. Approved types for motorsport are AFFF or Halon only.

As a track marshall, I've seen a car burst into flames on a few occasions. This is normally due to oil or fuel coming into contact with hot exhausts. The onboard extinguisher will keep the driver from burning, but in most cases, particularly if the fire is already established, it won't put the fire out completely. Marshalls usually carry 9l AFFF and Powder and will then put out the fire. Normally, one extinguisher is enough, but if it isn't, the guys from the next post along will bring reinforcements and ultimately, the circuit fire tender has a huge AFFF tank onboard.

Dry powder is the best thing for a fuel fire, but arse at anything else. AFFF is the best all rounder by far. And bigger is better...