This happened this past weekend in a miata driven by a friend of mine in HPDE3. I think they are 949 racing wheels, pretty cheap and apparently dangerous...

Skip to the 1:50 mark for the action..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gTCD...&feature=feedu

 

wow!.... 2:13 mark. Hi tire..

Lucky guy he spun off into the soft shoulder instead of heading into a corner wall.

 

I know tons of people who use the 949's on their s2k's and miatas....never heard of an issue. Ugly incident and ended up in a bad place as well. Nice save, though.

 

Did the center of the wheel fail? I've seen that on street wheels used on a racetrack. Scary place to lose one, he's lucky he didn't hit the wall.

 

I dont think anyone knows what part failed first. The tire was cut as well, but I think that happened after the wheel failed. He had just re-torque all the wheels before that session so maybe he put them on too tight.

 

Wow, theres a pants shitting moment.

Good Save.

 

Wow... nuts

 

Haven't heard anything bad about 949's wheels up till now. Pretty massive failure considering no contact with anything. Wonder if the wheel had been through a previous hit.

 

Could have been factors unknown. Even a defect.

949s are excellent wheels used by countless race teams. Most of the Spec guys use them..

 

Yeah, we don't know if it was a wheel failure, a lug failure, or if a crack had formed from an impact or over torque, or what ever.

Even expensive wheels will crack over time with enough extreme heat cycles.

 

I dont know much about them so maybe my cheap comment wasnt fair to them. There are cheap crappy wheels out there so...but this is clearly a wheel failure, the freaking spokes are missing, all of them! If it was a lug/hub issue, he should of felt some kind of vibration.

 

Were the wheels inspected prior to the event? Just wondering if there were any stress cracks, etc that could have been an indicator.

 

No clue, but now that I think about it..this guy spins this car at least once an event, running R6s, usually staying on the surface. Maybe that had something to do with it...

 

That sucks, but you know how tough some people are on their their wheels to get time. Dropping a wheel in a ditch just off the inside of the track is common place (thus the ditch). And if they are not careful in inspecting their equipment those type of poundings lap after lap will eventually take a toll. And if he frequently oversteps the boundaries you never know. I wonder what the other 3 wheels look like?

 

As with any part used on a race track, regular inspection is important. In the old Datsun world the Panasport Lightweights are known to crack from the lug hole to the wheel center and every racer inspects them carefully when mounting them on the car.

 

Very good save! I'm glad the driver is okay and the car didn't hit the wall.

 

Man that sux...

 

That's exactly what I said in my head.
Good thing the driver's alright though.

I want to drive on a track like that so bad with my Z.
Wish I knew some places here in the Pacific Northwest

 

My Cuz runs those same wheels on his Miata. His is nicely turbo'd and full suspension and he loves his 949 wheels.

 

This one is boosted is well...I think somewhere around 210whp or so