TD in DC

This is exactly the reasoning I heard . . .

TT Surgeon

I would pass.

adsc4s

I just went to the HRE website and no where does it say their wheels are designed for track use. They use "vintage sports cars", "track inspired" and "design found on the race circuit". Does HRE make any track use claims anywhere? Just curious. I have a set of HRE wheels which I have never had any problems with on the street. However, I will not be taking them to the track.

fahren affair

speedlines are italian. champions are re-branded by a mfr in japan.

Super D

I've been told by racing friends in GA and ALMS that their very nice and expensive BBS racing wheels break, and have been warned that any wheel can and will break at some point in its service life, given sufficient forces and stress. As for OE wheels, I don't recall where, but didn't someone post pics from Spring Mtn on here in the recent past (like maybe last year) recounting and depicting their experience breaking an OE Porsche wheel?...Point is, I've never had the understanding that ANY wheel will not break, but quite the contrary, that EVERY wheel can break (just like any other stressed element of a vehicle) and in track driving conditions at some point it's a certainty. That in mind, I would never buy a used track wheel and expect it to last long, and likewise, if/when I track my car, I expect to go through equipment failures and replacements over time, wheels included. Wheels and suspension members especially are under tremendous stress and endure heavy impact forces continually. As for slamming a custom wheel brand by old coots at the track or in the enthusiast community, you and I both know that people are quick to start or join a "sewing circle" without really knowing the facts about what truly happened, or taking the time to get the details before drawing a conclusion. Makes for very entertaining conversation, but it's a waste of time. My $.01...

(I can't offer $.02, saving for mod's)

(Btw, I know not all track stewards are old coots, some are young coots. I prefer the old, because they usually have more stories to tell, and less teeth; usually adds to the overall humor quotient. )

karlooz

really, i thought the champions were made by speedline, hmmm. at least the champions are forged (per wheel enhancement's description)

Cory M

I wouldn't bash Kinesis too badly yet. It seems like they are being very responsive trying to resolve the situation, they are obviously very concerned. Do you think the owners of BBS would fly to you the next day if a cup car wheel failed at an open track day? (Maybe they would, but I doubt it) The owner of the car is the one who has lost the most here and he appears to be satisfied with the way Kinesis is handling things thus far.

Can we move the event organization bickering to another thread, some of us are interested in wheel failures.

TD in DC

I agree with everyone here who is saying that it is premature (a) to assume the cause for the failure; and (b) to blame any particular manufacturer for product defects or follow-up after a failure.

However . . . I do think that there is a tremendous difference between (a) the stresses put on wheels during racing and (b) the stresses put on wheels during "normal" street driving and DEs PROVIDED that there has been no known impact with a road hazzard (i.e., deep pothole, OTE, wreck, etc . . . ).

With respect to a wheel purchased for street and DE use, I expect it to have a significant enough safety margin built in that I should have to inspect the wheel only after some sort of impact or once in a while over a very, very long interval (i.e., years). By contrast, although I also expect a racing wheel to be overengineered, I can imagine the need visually to inspect the wheels before every event and x-ray the wheels once a season. It horrifies me to see a wheel fail during a DE (and yes, I know that I do not know all of the details).

Bob Rouleau

Race wheels (as opposed to DOT approved wheels) are lighter and less durable. The higher magnesium content makes them more brittle and they don't resist potholes (or equivalent) and corrosion very well. That's why they aren't DOT approved. Race teams carefully inspect wheels and periodically magnaflux them looking for cracks that are not normally visible, especially after the wheel is subjected to unusual stress.

I would expect DOT approved wheels to be more durable. Looking back, I think they are. I started and just closed a similar thread over on GT2/3 linking to the audi site because it seems that the information about the HRE wheels is suspect.

Vegas' problem could be a highly isolated failure - one of those one in a million deals. Let's see what the analysis shows before getting too excited. There are a lot of racers using DOT approved lightweight wheels and if there was a pattern of failure I am pretty sure we'd have read about it on the Racing DE forum. Metal can do funny things, I once dropped a marine grade $tainle$$ steel bolt and had it crack in half. Considering it was brand new and cost about $20 I wasn't pleased. OTOH I was pleased it broke from a 3 foot fall because it would have been holding up a 60 foot tall mast on a sail-boat otherwise!

best,

Bob Rouleau

C4S surgeon, Speedline has gone out of business. I am told that their contracts for OEM wheels have been picked up by OZ, Fondmetal and BBS. Speedline was an OEM supplier to Porsche for some time.

leedav

Some years back I saw a news piece on counterfeit bolts. I think it was around the time that DC-10 engine fell off over Chicago. Basically, they take ungraded metal and make the bolts, mark 'em grade 8 or whatever, and sell them to unscrupulous suppliers. At the time, this was rife in the aircraft industry.

LVDell

Very scary!

Re-animator

Spend the bucks to race safely. Get titanium wheels like on the Audi/Infineon R8.

1SICKLEX

I have learned tons about wheels in this thread. I am glad everyone is safe from this accident. BTW, this issue is spreading like wildfire on the net.

yetis

Bob Rouleau: After reading your thread, regarding the legitimacy of these claims, I also did a little sniffing around and didn't find much. I also emailed a few folks at VRL (Viper Racing League), the apparent source of the multiple failures. I will let you know if I hear anything. In the mean time, there is absolutely nothing about a ban on HRE wheels on the VRL web site. However, their "official" wheels sponsor is Forgeline, for what its worth.

Sorry folks