Underblu

There have been GT3 Strut tower failures and the it’s my understanding the GT3 uses the same strut tower part as the GT4 etc.

Given the seeming randomness of this issue, it would seem it could be the coilovers themselves that are the offending part. They are active, compressing and expanding so if there was some variable causing this issue the probability would favor a “moving” part over a fixed part such as the strut tower itself. Also given the adjustability of these coilovers for camber etc., there might be certain setting that expose greater risk of failure. The strut tower itself should have been reinforced to provide a greater margin of error but barring a material defect in the aluminum it seems the more likely culprit is the coilover.

Good to hear it was a rear apparent “stress” failure. I hope the front strut tower failure is a thing of the past. Interesting, looks like that car with the failure was running PCCBs

2XIPA

Certainly but it’s a closed group as you mentioned. https://m.facebook.com/groups/911087...83375471752717

_nosubstitute_

Same here! I think the fact we also haven't seen new posts to the 981 GT4 strut tower thread, makes me think there was a bad batch 981s that possibly had those issues. Now most 981s have even more miles, you'd think that that thread would be even more active if failures continued. All speculation I know, but it's a free country : ) Really glad this above issue is a rear tower and seemingly random.

I want to believe Porsche did pay attention to this issue and strengthened the 718 top mounts a bit more.

#1SomeGuy

That's the top hat, not the strut tower. No biggy, cheap to fix/replace and nothing to do with the structure...Mazda 3's were known for doing this all the time on their rear struts too. Aftermarket can even deal with this if it becomes a regular problem.

I'd call this a non-issue.

#1SomeGuy

That piece is part of the top hat, it's holding the spring in compression which is a fairly substantial bit of force, that's why it looks like it tore.

2XIPA

Supposedly totaled.

okie981

Let's be careful here, EVERY instance was due to hitting something is not 100% accurate. If you take the time to read the GT4 forum thread you'll learn a lot about this failure mode.

https://rennlist.com/forums/gt4/9483...r-failure.html

Archimedes

I’ve read that thread before. Not everyone admitted hitting something, because they don’t want to pay for it. But they all hit something at some point. There is no way the strut towers just failed driving down the road. People lie about damage to their cars all the time.

Jawnathin

That is surprising. Any context behind why it was totaled? Is there more damage to the car than we can see in the photos?

rakh1

Guys - he reports that there was an accident on the highway - the real damage is a twisted frame in the rear rendering the car a write off. Seems like a torn strut was a byproduct of the accident. This is certainly different from the 981 failures.

s2kspyder

I read all the comments and pictures on FB before I saw this thread. The car is a write off because there is a 1.4cm bend in the frame, it would cost more than 70000 EUR to fix it, new chassis is needed. Looks like car is taken apart by either insurance company and/or Porsche to find out what happened but the owner is trying to get more information. The owner mentioned “accident” on the highway in 4th gear but there looks to be no physical damage to the exterior of the car. The way I interpreted the comments is that it was not an accident but the incident happened on the highway (I.e. maybe a loud noise, car felt off, etc). He did not hit any bumps and said it is not his fault. When they took car apart, the found the rear shock in the picture and the frame damage and determined car is not worth fixing.

If you look at the picture carefully, you will see the base of the top hat is wavy meaning there must of been something to cause this to happen. This is probably the initial source of the problem. The fact that the top part ripped probably happened afterwards (maybe a few days later) from the initial damage. When the top hat is bolted to the chassis, it should sit flush/flat with 3 bolts. So if it is wavy, the chassis would be wavy too? If the bolts were loose, I am sure driver would have heard some noise from the rear, it would be like a thumping noise as the suspension is doing it’s job. I think everyone is looking for answers....

One thing to consider is this is the first time they put inverted dampers with helper springs (full Motorsport setup) in a boxster chassis. Maybe the chassis needs extra reinforcement to handle the more aggressive damper settings. You noticed the weight of the spyder is same as cayman, normally open top cars need extra reinforcement and weigh more than close top counterpart. Just something to consider....

Underblu

You must be kidding right? The chassis needs extra support for more aggressive damper settings?

The Cayman was developed from the Boxster not the other way around. The “Boxster” has one of the most rigid chassis of any open top car. If it was an open top issue it should’ve happened to the Speedster first. You know that other chopped top Porsche GT car that was developed from the coupe.

Ferrari doesn’t seem to have issue with their Speciale Aperta or Pista Spyder suspension imploding for “no reason” So to suggest it is an open top issue is beyond absurd.

For that level of damage, some major impact had to occur. Otherwise, Porsche has a major quality control issue, but this would have nothing to do with open top vs hard top.

wizee

To bend the chassis like that, make the top hat wavy, and shear off part of the top hat, would have taken an immense impact. A defective top hat wouldn’t bend the chassis, and a bent chassis wouldn’t cause the top hat to fail that way either in normal driving. Claiming it happened by itself on the highway without an impact sounds like BS unless it was previously damaged.

Was the wheel damaged?

s2kspyder

Everything you said makes sense, I am new to the Porsche brand so didn't know about the boxster was properly designed as open top car. In that case, it should not be a problem.

I know ~20 years ago, my friend had a 911 cab and it would squeak when the car went over the driveway, we both commented how it was a coupe chassis which had the roof chopped off so even with reinforcement, it was not perfect.

I know a properly designed open top chassis should not have any of these concerns. My last car was very stiff and I ran Penske racing shocks with 900/800 pound springs with no problems.

Archimedes

Frame bend just driving down the highway. Didn’t hit anything. Rigggggghhttttttt.....