When you track your car, you know that stuff will break. Parts fail, structural components snap, and things succumb to the extra stresses of being run at the limit. So, you might as well appreciate how hilariously awesome your own wheel looks as it skips through the grass.
Driver Chris Wiita is a less than happy Forgestar customer after one of his F14 wheels failed in spectacular fashion during a track day at Buttonwillow Raceway. The left front wheel on his Honda S2000 failed all around the hub, causing the wheel to split apart after only 14 track days.
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According to Wiita’s YouTube description, six of those days had been on Hankook Ventus RS3 tires, and six were on Toyo Proxes R888s. He then switched to the new Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R tires for his last two trackdays with the wheels, which he credits for giving him more lateral grip—and placing more lateral load on the car’s components, like, oh, the wheels.
That’s a pretty glowing review for the tire, but not so great for the wheel. While Wiita checked for cracked spokes with his hands, he admits that he should have taken the wheels off for a full inspection before running them again. A post-mortem inspection showed quite a few cracks in the wheel that he missed, all of which can lead to a gnarly wheel failure.
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Still, if you’re going to lose a wheel, lose it with style and grace—or just laugh your face off, as Chris demonstrates here. I mean, you’re stuck with a borked car anyway. As long as you’ve careened off track to a fairly safe location, you might as well enjoy the view!
[H/T Stefan!]
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