Probably could have happened to a number of wheels, though I've never seen a Porsche factory wheel do this. Driver clipped a curb

 

And CCW has been a great wheel for me and others I am sure.

 

I had set which was well used at the track that developed cracks. Happily the failure mode was the wheel starting losing pressure and not a catastrophic failure like the wheel Mike showed us.

 

I think the thread show be titled - use quality wheels and inspect them on a regular basis.





Kinesis

 

Hey, the last shot is my wheel. That's a real, not a knockoff, factory Fuchs. That was a totally unexpected failure. It happened just after Madness at MidOhio a bunch of years ago in a PCA club race. That was the year they repaved the place and grooved the asphalt. It was like a cheese grater for tires. People were cording their tires (Hoosiers) after 1 or 2 sessions, so I was being diligent in inspecting my wheels and tires, swapping them from side to side after every session. There weren't any visible signs, the first manifestation was the event. A bunch of folks stopped by to gloat and offer suggestions about what a dumbass I was for running replicas in a competition environment - don't blame them - but got real quiet and left quickly when they found out that wasn't the case.

That year I was the shoe-in for our club's Broken Wheel Award. Won it hands down.

- Cris
http://alpinemotorsports.blogspot.com
"To achieve anything in this game, you must be prepared to dabble in the boundary of disaster (S.Moss)"

 

Good suggestion, done.

I'm curious about the ages of the wheels that failed in your pictures? It's one thing for a 30+ year old wheel to fail on the track. It's another for a cheap knock-off to fail when it is essentially brand new.

 

WOW...that is scary..... Time to clean and inspect all my wheels!!!!

A friend races a 95 trans am with over 700hp and 13" wide slicks.....he did the same thing to rear Z06 factory wheels!!!!!!! it put him in the wall and significant damage to his racer!!!!

 

Mike - we had a similar failure with a knock-off wheel about a year ago in corner 13/14/15. Scary but definitely a clear indication that you get what you pay for and even the OEM wheels degrade and can fail over time. I will add a detailed visual inspection to my list to prepare for a track event.

The current tech inspection form does not address this potential weakness. Not sure if it is reasonable to add it but why can't a shop do what I plan to do in my garage ...

 

OZ wheels have a tendency to break where others will bend. We used them on our Grand-Am cars for several years. A more expensive wheel probably wouldn't have been unscathed after the impact that caused that damage.