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Long time ago, something similar happened to me. Came home and noticed the damage to my rear diver side wheel. While it was similar to yours, it was not as large. Keep wondering what it could have been and then I remembered that when taking a turn I heard a small thump. Did not think much of it and the time, but the more I thought about it, the more I came to the conclusion that I caught the edge of the curb as I was turning.
You have explained it all but it still doesn't make sense. The tire does not show evidence on the sidewall of this severe a roll. I'm still thinking you curb rashed it somehow.
Either way if you're sure it wasn't there at pick up it's yours to deal with now.
I guess before you call the wheelfix guy, you need to sharpie the area of damage, get back out there, and throw it into that corner again, even harder, and see if you can top it... just for peace of mind, of course.
You have explained it all but it still doesn't make sense. The tire does not show evidence on the sidewall of this severe a roll. I'm still thinking you curb rashed it somehow.
Either way if you're sure it wasn't there at pick up it's yours to deal with now.
While I appreciate the input and ideas about possible causes and next steps, I should clarify a couple of things further:
1. This is a rental car from a major rental car company. I've had it for a few days. When I picked it up we did the walk around and carefully noted all existing damage. I looked carefully at the wheels because I know these are particularly prone to damage with the low profile tires. I observed no damage. The rental car guy actually found stuff on the underside of the front spoiler that I didn't spot and called my attention to it. Bottom line: there was no pre-existing rash on this wheel.
2. As soon as I got into my garage I checked the tire pressure and got a 40 psi reading, which was one pound higher than this morning, when I checked it again cold. The reason the difference wasn't that great is because I only drove the car about a mile down the road to pickup takeout food.
3. At the bottom of the first picture I posted you can see a bit of silver-colored material on the sidewall of the tire. Someone posted a comment asking what that was, so I went out and looked again, it was actually a paint chip that came off as I was cleaning up the wheel with a damp paper towel before I took the picture. This is fresh damage.
4. In the pics below, note the arrows pointing to the mold marks on the left tire, and their absence on the right tire. Even though the left tire only has 37psi this morning, these marks are present and there's some gloss in that area at the edge of the tread. On the right tire, at 39psi, those marks are scrubbed off, and there is evidence of uniform wear in that area at the edge of the tread. There is no evidence of any scrubbing on the sidewall itself below the tread edge line.
5. The corner is a pretty sharp left-hander.
Given all the available evidence, I'm wondering:
1. Is it even possible to do this to a wheel no matter how hard you push it into a corner? I've certainly never experienced it or heard of it in all my years of driving and hanging out with people who are active auto-crossers and DE participants (as I have been - just not in this car).
2. Is it possible that wheel camber could contribute to this if it's set wrong?
3. Is it possible that a damaged or loose suspension linkage could cause the whole wheel to rotate enough to cause this?
I am just as puzzled as everyone else who has posted on this seems to be. And I'm not going to be able to claim it was there when I picked the car up, so I need to figure out whether I drove the poor thing too hard (really??); or there was something amiss mechanically that contributed to this happening.
Notice the mold marks on the left tire. These are gone on the right tire.
No way you rolled the tire at 40PSI; I start PZeroes at 29PSI on the track, and could probably safely drop them to 27PSI.
That wheel either hit a curb, or somehow rubbed against something based on the right photo. The top/side of the lip would be ripped up if you rolled a tire, where's your damage is only on the side.
Coincidence does not always equal causation. Maybe you barely curbed the wheel at some point, and then investigated after the strange sensation in the turn? Maybe the strange sensation was hitting something like a big rock in the turn?
While I appreciate the input and ideas about possible causes and next steps, I should clarify a couple of things further:
1. This is a rental car from a major rental car company. I've had it for a few days. When I picked it up we did the walk around and carefully noted all existing damage. I looked carefully at the wheels because I know these are particularly prone to damage with the low profile tires. I observed no damage. The rental car guy actually found stuff on the underside of the front spoiler that I didn't spot and called my attention to it. Bottom line: there was no pre-existing rash on this wheel.
2. As soon as I got into my garage I checked the tire pressure and got a 40 psi reading, which was one pound higher than this morning, when I checked it again cold. The reason the difference wasn't that great is because I only drove the car about a mile down the road to pickup takeout food.
3. At the bottom of the first picture I posted you can see a bit of silver-colored material on the sidewall of the tire. Someone posted a comment asking what that was, so I went out and looked again, it was actually a paint chip that came off as I was cleaning up the wheel with a damp paper towel before I took the picture. This is fresh damage.
4. In the pics below, note the arrows pointing to the mold marks on the left tire, and their absence on the right tire. Even though the left tire only has 37psi this morning, these marks are present and there's some gloss in that area at the edge of the tread. On the right tire, at 39psi, those marks are scrubbed off, and there is evidence of uniform wear in that area at the edge of the tread. There is no evidence of any scrubbing on the sidewall itself below the tread edge line.
5. The corner is a pretty sharp left-hander.
Given all the available evidence, I'm wondering:
1. Is it even possible to do this to a wheel no matter how hard you push it into a corner? I've certainly never experienced it or heard of it in all my years of driving and hanging out with people who are active auto-crossers and DE participants (as I have been - just not in this car).
2. Is it possible that wheel camber could contribute to this if it's set wrong?
3. Is it possible that a damaged or loose suspension linkage could cause the whole wheel to rotate enough to cause this?
I am just as puzzled as everyone else who has posted on this seems to be. And I'm not going to be able to claim it was there when I picked the car up, so I need to figure out whether I drove the poor thing too hard (really??); or there was something amiss mechanically that contributed to this happening.
Notice the mold marks on the left tire. These are gone on the right tire.
In your own words the vehicle was inspected by the rental rep with no documented rim issues before it was released to you. Most car rental agencies and dealerships will walk the perimeter of the rental and document existing damages. You should have received a copy of the document highlighting these damages. I read your post and understand you can’t explain how the rim was trashed. I assume you also have vehicle insurance with a higher deductible than $200 that will more than likely cover the damages, or just pay out of pocket. My opinion is to be open with the rental agency when you return the vehicle and take it from there.
My guess, cheapy repair made just prior to you picking up. Either to fool the rental place or you. Looks very old.
This ^^^^.
Just returned from visiting my local indie Porsche mechanic, the local certified Porsche dealer, and my local wheel refinisher. The dealer said there's no way a Porsche OEM wheel finish would chip like this, regardless of what was done to it. He said it looked to him like someone rashed the rim and did a quick "parking lot" touch up job on them, which subsequently chipped off while I was driving it.
My local indie shop guy noticed that the two rear tires don't match - a detail I missed. Yes, both are P-Zeros, but the left one doesn't have the sidewall lip that the right one has. Also, the right one is has less tread 3/32 on outside sipe, 4/32 on center sipe. Left has 5/32 outside, and 7/32 inside.
And last, the wheel refinisher said if this just happened around so much of the rim there would be at least some minor abrasion or scuffing on tire itself. There is none on this tire.
As for the "grinding" I experienced, as someone mentioned above, that probably was the PSM engaging in a way I'm not familiar with, and may have created the vibrations that caused the cheapo paint fix to flake off, exposing the rashing and areas that were touched up.
Now it all starts to make sense. "So," says Columbo, "just one more question for you. What will the rental car people say when I turn this thing in?"
I'm going to call and get a hold of the pre-drive inspection report, and may even report this now so it's on record as to when it happened. I'm "stuck" with this thing for another 3 1/2 weeks, and want to enjoy it without wondering whether I'm going to get hosed when I turn it in.
That's a good question to ask. I was the manager of a car wash/auto detail/Oil change shop in my late teens, and there was this guy that always brought his 355 Spyder in for a hand wash, but one day he was in a huge hurry and said to just put it on the line and run it through. When I watched the car roll off the line I almost puked when I saw that the driver side rear wheel had rubbed on the metal track all the way though because it was so wide. It was fvcked! We tried to polish/buff it, but it ultimately had to be replaced.
06-21-2018, 01:58 PM
