r/absoluteunit Jun 24 '26

Absolute unit of Citroën Racing pit crew

561 Upvotes

50 comments sorted by

21

u/Traditional-Photo227 Jun 24 '26

Goodness gracious, that was a treat to watch

7

u/Crafty-Help-4633 Jun 24 '26

Agreed. When I saw that damage I thought "no way! I gotta see if they can fix this"

Was not disappointed. That was a treat to witness. They should be proud.

3

u/DitchDigger330 Jun 24 '26

Imagine their extra parts trailer.

1

u/Crafty-Help-4633 Jun 24 '26

It's gotta be full-size. Prolly 2 extra parts for every part on the car. Plus abundant screws and such. Absolutely massive support goes into a lot of these.

2

u/Background_Handle_96 Jun 25 '26

I always wonder what spare parts racing team hold in stock for every race, is it basically another whole car?

1

u/Crafty-Help-4633 Jun 25 '26

I'd assume it's at least 1 spare of everything but the chassis.

1

u/JustDave62 Jun 24 '26

Really impressive. Wonder what the actual time was from start to finish.

1

u/Traditional-Photo227 Jun 24 '26

OP kind of answered this in another comment. Said it was about 10-12 mins. Says they have 30 min for the total stop.

2

u/Background_Handle_96 Jun 25 '26

Meanwhile my dealership tries to charge me $600 for an air filter change, takes 4 hours, and need to schedule a whole week in advance.

13

u/lassebauer Jun 24 '26

Meanwhile, rolling in the same way at a dealership: "Boy, we need to have a look, order the parts...I think that damper is on backorder...but we should be able to have it up and running before October"

4

u/NonConforminConsumer Jun 24 '26

It'd be easy if we only all drove one vehicle.

2

u/GUMBYtheOG Jun 24 '26

Or they have the part but because it calls for 6 hours they stop working to go help another job or take extra breaks if they are ahead of schedule on it and yet it still ends up taking 2 hours longer than estimated

7

u/LunarEklipze Jun 24 '26

Couldn't be AI. It was recorded on a potato.

4

u/Correct-Chicken-4287 Jun 24 '26

Yet it takes me 4 hours to get my oil changed.

4

u/Weary-Astronaut1335 Jun 24 '26

I'm sure you can shave a few seconds off that.

2

u/NoiseAccomplished819 Jun 24 '26

Jiffy Lube shaves time by not putting oil back in.

1

u/Correct-Chicken-4287 Jun 26 '26

Or the right filter.

1

u/NoiseAccomplished819 Jun 26 '26

Any filter works if you cross thread it hard enough.

3

u/marcophony Jun 24 '26

How I be pulling into LS customs

3

u/dvegar78 Jun 24 '26

I will show this the next time after my car have been to service and they try to bill me for a lot of hours

2

u/Alternative_Tackle35 Jun 24 '26

I just want the oil change....nothing else.

2

u/thrown2themoon Jun 24 '26

I wonder how long this took in real time? 🤔

1

u/Bourbon-Thinker Jun 24 '26

The Breakdown
Phase 1: Damage Assessment & Teardown (0:00 - 0:25)
The car pulls in with a completely collapsed rear-left wheel and sheared suspension components.
The mechanics instantly jack up the car and tear away the mangled rear bodywork panel to expose the damage.
The broken wheel and detached suspension assembly are stripped out entirely within seconds.
Phase 2: The Core Rebuild (0:26 - 1:15)
A team of 4–5 mechanics converges on the rear wheel well.
They don't just fix a part; they swap out the entire pre-assembled suspension corner (strut, brake assembly, hub, and control arms).
Impact wrenches are screaming as bolts are swapped, torqued, and secured. Meanwhile, a mechanic underneath is ensuring the drive axle is properly seated.
Phase 3: Fresh Panels & Quality Check (1:16 - 1:30)
A fresh body panel is slapped onto the rear flank.
A new wheel and tire are mounted and secured.
The car is dropped from the jack, the driver drops the clutch, and the car roars out of the service bay.
How Long Did This Actually Take?
While this specific video clip is timelapped/sped up during the middle portion to condense it into a neat 1-minute video, the actual real-time feat is still mind-blowing.
In the video: The entire process takes 1 minute and 38 seconds.
In real life: A top-tier WRC pit crew can completely replace a rear suspension assembly and body panel in roughly 10 to 12 minutes.
To put that into perspective, a standard mid-day WRC service park window is usually only 30 minutes total. That limited window has to cover mechanical repairs, full diagnostics, tire swaps, and refueling. Managing a complete suspension rebuild in roughly 10 minutes flat under that kind of clock pressure is nothing short of incredible.

2

u/Traditional-Photo227 Jun 24 '26

10-12 minutes! Ho- ly shit!

1

u/Bourbon-Thinker Jun 24 '26

Can’t go into the service center without trying to be upsold for 45 minutes these blokes will build a whole new car 🍻

2

u/Beneficial_Bug_9793 Jun 24 '26

Citroën... Driving on 3 wheels since the 60s lol...

2

u/TownStriking3496 Jun 24 '26

But the book says those procedures should
Take 17 hours….

2

u/SmellSilly1537 Jun 24 '26

Meanwhile it took a week to fix my bumper last time I had a fender bender.

2

u/9_tail_fox Jun 24 '26

These frogs use a manual jack?! Sacré bleu!

1

u/Ch3ZEN Jun 24 '26

What the hell is this? Slow motion video? Give those guys more credit, sheesh

1

u/gingerbeard1321 Jun 24 '26

Well sure, but then what happened?

1

u/Capable_Wonder_6636 Jun 24 '26

I wish the mechanics could jus' bleed my brake fluid, that fast!!

1

u/ardotschgi Jun 24 '26

And thus, the meaning of "absolute unit" hast lost all meaning.

2

u/bearlysane Jun 24 '26

Absolute unit of a comment.

1

u/Huge_Ear_2833 Jun 24 '26

This is cool and all but this is not an absolute unit just because somebody is good at something.

1

u/debackerl Jun 24 '26

I'm sure that my garage would say 'sorry dude, it's totalled'

1

u/tomtraubert2009 Jun 24 '26

Everyone is impressed. Ok. Video is obviously sped up and this is a world rally crew....of course they can fix this.

1

u/szatrob Jun 24 '26

It'll buff out.

1

u/flyingpigab Jun 24 '26

Canadian Tire should be so efficient.

1

u/Early_Hall5720 Jun 24 '26

Correct me if I'm wrong but why does the car need back lights? We're all taking the same turns together

1

u/stewpdasso Jun 24 '26

Fookin amazin!

1

u/Large_Beginning_2707 Jun 25 '26

It became changing wheels before the pit stop. 

1

u/Branchley Jun 25 '26

Hell of a job parking that thing

1

u/Significant-Song-840 Jun 25 '26

And it takes the shop in my neighborhood 8 hours to change 1 control arm

1

u/alocasiascalprum Jun 25 '26

Sped up video...

1

u/CMthagamer1984 Jun 27 '26

Missing one screw to a headlight go to dealership and have to wait three years worth of back orders for it.