He was at 40 mph, and unless there is evidence of a collision (pot hole, curb, etc), I would say that it will be hard to prove.

 

I have really hard time understanding what possibly can disintegrate a wheel in a such way at 40mph. One of caliper bolts went loose and it got into wheels spikes? All of them are broken clean like someone pushed steel rod into that wheel.

 

That's what I told him.... This car is supposed to be used on track. The exception is the use of competition tires, that according to Porsche, won't allow proper lubrication in high speed curves. At least I remember something like that in the 987.1 manual...

 

I think that the inertia somewhat helped the integrity of the damaged wheel at higher speeds, once he slowed down, it all came crumbling. The damage probably happened before and was noticed at slower speeds...

 

Or likely under heavier braking before pitting in, either way it should happen.

 

I wonder if the wheel somehow started touching the caliper under heavy braking or turning and the caliper 'cut' away the spokes.

 

Good question, difficult to tell without know what the wheel was before the photo was taken

 

Too weird. I would not expect a wheel "fracture" to end up with a wheelso cleanly disintegrated. I am the first to admit that I do not know wheels, but it really looks as if something got in there......Any track people out there to comment?

 

Would be interesting to find out what actually caused that to happen. From the photo it looks like possible metal fatigue. Maybe have your friend check the other wheels for signs of stress fracture in the metal. Thank goodness he was only going 40 mph!

 

it is very possible that the wheel was improperly powder coated and that led to material failure...I would get those wheels off my car as quickly as I could...especially if you intend to continue tracking

 

It did look a lot like this one. The finishing was different as well the number of screws. Please note that I am not saying it was this specific model, just looks like it. He will get some pre accident pics and then some expert might know which model it is.

I wonder if that happened on higher speeds what would be of the shrapnel flying all over the place...

 

He's keeping those wheels for daily use and buying a new set for the track. Knowing this fella, he'll probably go cheap on the wheels as he did on the tires. I deal with modding my cars for almost 20 years, but the guy just won't listen. There are areas that one can save money by DIY or bringing to someone else than the stealership, but wheels, tires, oil, gas, among others are worth scrutiny before going too cheap... It's not only a cheap that will be expensive, but your life (and others) at risk as well...

 

Does he only track his car in Texas? If so I won't have to worry about sharing it with him.

 

+1^

 

I would still like to have someone who knows wheels to look at this one - all of the broken spokes are SO regular, it really looks as if the spokes sheared, but in 2 areas - by the rim AND just distal to the center. Why such an even break??