So in the last month I have had a couple things happen. Firstly my Cam position sensor went bad which only cost me $133 to have replaced. (I know the dealership is over $330 for the repair. Secondly (and most interesting) I ran over a turtle. We ain't talking some tiny thing that you keep in an aquarium. It was a very large snapping turtle. Had nowhere I could go, no shoulder and there were oncoming cars in the left lane. Didn't see it until it came out from under the SUV in front of me. I obviously didn't clear it so the turtle didn't make it through the ordeal but there is no apparent damage to the car although my exhaust note is slightly louder and more distinct so it dented something. To be honest I kind of like the way it sounds...

Just thought I would share my experience!

 

I had my 08 about 1 month and had to make a decision just like you had to do with the turtle only it was a dead German Shepherd dog.

I learned not to follow to closely to cars in front of me...

Just like you I had to make a choice whether or not to 1) straddle it 2) or run over it with either the left side or right side of the car (both front and rear tires and the under side of the car would have impacted...) had I choose number 2..

My decision was to gamble and "straddle" it and hopefully clearance would be adequate...

Luckily, I made a good decision and I did feel the impact but no damage was done. Had I choose to run over it with the right or left side there would have been considerable damage to which ever side I had chosen..

 

I hear you man. I ran over a raccoon and hit a deer on the freeway in a span of a month. Deer caused a small spider crack in my bumper but the raccoon... Ripped off my plastic engine shroud and ripped my lower knuckle ball joint.

Sounds like the turtle hit your mid-pipe and caused a gap somewhere.

 

Same thing happened to me a few years back in the Z. Tried to clear a dead racoon. Not just a normal racoon but a big fat one on the freeway at night. Cleared pretty much the front of the car but it nailed the low slung muffler of my HKS Hi Power...there was blood and chunks everywhere. No matter how well I sprayed it down there was the smell of burning flesh that lasted that summer. It's long gone now thankfully. Thank god I didn't have my Voltex diffuser at the time or that thing would've been shattered.

 

I had turtle blood sprayed all up my rear bumper that for a week (thankfully only for!) smelled pretty nasty...

 

question is, how did a turtle end up in the middle of the road :S

 

The night I bought my car, I was driving it home, only 15 miles on the odometer. I took the highway off-ramp to get to my house and the car in front of me lost its hubcap. I can still see the thing bouncing down the highway at 50 mpg, right in front of my car. It hit some road debris and went flying into the air. I drove under it and it missed my roof by only a few inches. I saw it slam into the jersey barrier in my rear view mirror as I drove on. I was shaking by the time I got home. I checked every square inch of that car in my garage and... not a scratch. My wife was following me in her brand new Rogue (we bought both cars on the same night) and was about 5 cars behind me. She couldn't figure out why I was stressing so bad. I'm just glad she wasn't right behind me when it happened. I hate driving on the highway and avoid it whenever possible.

 

I ran over a turtle last sat. on my way home from the cabin, sure glad I took the titan and not the z. a mere speed bump in the road but my wife almost started crying she's a turtle lover. I felt bad as I try not to hit animals in the road but I had no choice it was him, slam on brakes and get rear ended or cross the center line and get hit head on. turtle soup it is.

 

It was just strolling across, like no care in the world.