Video: GT350 Crash At The Nurburgring

[waterman]

It will buff out. Just tuck the airbags back in.

Seriously; #1 concern, driver is OK. Hopefully he was properly insured.

FWIW, splitter was in all probability removed because of Euro regs. regarding safety for pedestrians.

Air bags deployed, sub frame/chassis and control arms/suspension are probably significantly damaged/bent; LF wheel assy. took most of the force of impact and is way off center. Unfortunately, that car is likely totaled. Even if it is repaired, it will never be the same....Windshield wipers work

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[nastang87xx]

Are there any documented failures of the 6GR wheels besides it rubbing on the caliper?

Is that on the caliper face to wheel spoke or on the barrel of the wheel?

 

[WildHorse]

Looks to me that the front left wheel locked. Why? Didn't look like the wheel left the ground when it hit the riser.

 

[jmn444]

Is that on the caliper face to wheel spoke or on the barrel of the wheel?

it's barrel, but it technically doesn't rub, it's just tight enough that rocks and crap can get stuck and rub....

 

[jmn444]

Looks to me that the front left wheel locked. Why? Didn't look like the wheel left the ground when it hit the riser.

eh, freeze the frame when the "smoke" appears, to me it looks like the bumpercover/splitter hits as the smoke is in front of the tire I think....

 

[WildHorse]

Okay I looked again at 1/4 speed. Def looks like the tire went flat (you can see the deformation on the tire) then locked up before it got to the riser.

 

[shogun32]

the NTSB has declared that "pilot error was a contributing factor". (sorry if you don't get the joke)
The 'Ring *really* needs to put some soft-barrier on both sides of that corner - nee the white BMW doing a head-on after losing the rear.

Yes I know the track isn't FIA certified but come on, this is just callous disregard for general driver safety NOT to put readily available driver protection devices in place. And how is there not a flagging station that could have immediately flow a waving yellow so successive cars didn't have to panic stop to avoid the stricken white car?

Also always SLOW in, fast out unless you are quite familiar with the corner. No special skill to deal with too slow in. You rarely get away with too fast.

 

[revinto7]

Looks like 6GR wheels. Junk.

Anyway, entered the turn a little hot, off the line, missed the apex, and carried and maintained brakes into the turn. The tires look to be a non R compound tire. No front dplitter. No tow hooks. As usual, more damage is done to the car because of that. Looks like amateur day at the 'ring. I'm glad the driver is ok. Definately not wheel related, but a better set of tires and better driving technique may have saved him.

Now back to the wheel topic. I've used 6GR wheels on and off the track. They are cheap spun forged wheels. I think the point that Terrance was trying to make is that why would you spend 60K+ on a car and go out and get a cheap set of wheels and take them to the track? I'll answer my own question and say because they are less money (cheap). Although the wheels in this particular example didn't cause the accident, they seem about par for the course for a guy who was cutting corners (so to speak).

Tracking a car is not a poor man's hobby. If you can't afford to do it right, don't do it. Get instruction, do a thorough mechanical inspection and perform maintenance as needed. Depending on the track, I would start with a fresh set of tires because so much is riding on them. And knowing what I know about cheap spun forged wheels, I certainly wouldn't choose a cheap knock off origin wheel for track duty.

if people want to nit pick the wheels thats fine but everything you said was exactly correct. I totally agree

 

[millhouse]

I think calling non-forged wheels "shitty" as a blanket assessment isn't right. Aren't most OEM wheels even on the high performance cars cast? Just like any aftermarket part, some are good, some are shitty.

Are people freaking out about a Z06 on oem wheels taking the car on track?

If I was on a track where the curbs were harsher, then i'd go for forged, but till then I'll spend the extra money on consumables personally. This was the 1st 6gr wheel I've seen a pic of broken like that, and like said before ANY wheel will be trash after that impact.

The biggest difference here is that aftermarket wheels are not typically engineered for OEM loading. Once upon a time I designed both forged/spun and fully cast wheels for OEM's (GM, Ford, Chrylser, Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin). The loading requirements for all OEMs was SEVERE...to the point where if failure were to occur, the vehicle would already be destroyed. Aftermarket companies don't typically have access to this data (and I question if they even run FEA on any of their designs). So what you're left with is a product that has some guesswork involved, and is likely weaker as a result.

Speaking aftermarket, a fully forged aftermarket wheel is going to allow a larger margin of safety than a similar cast wheel, as they are much more ductile.

Looking at that crash, not a single wheel I designed would have failed like those 6gr wheels after that "minor" impact.

 

[jmn444]

The biggest difference here is that aftermarket wheels are not typically engineered for OEM loading. Once upon a time I designed both forged/spun and fully cast wheels for OEM's (GM, Ford, Chrylser, Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin). The loading requirements for all OEMs was SEVERE...to the point where if failure were to occur, the vehicle would already be destroyed. Aftermarket companies don't typically have access to this data (and I question if they even run FEA on any of their designs). So what you're left with is a product that has some guesswork involved, and is likely weaker as a result.

Speaking aftermarket, a fully forged aftermarket wheel is going to allow a larger margin of safety than a similar cast wheel, as they are much more ductile.

Looking at that crash, not a single wheel I designed would have failed like those 6gr wheels after that "minor" impact.

I get the point, and agree to a point. Curious though, how would the wheels you designed have failed? just bent? surely you don't think they'd still be usable after that impact, correct?

 

[sdiver68]

I can almost with certainty say that the OEM 350 wheel is the better wheel and the 6GR's wheel is not equal or better and the only advantage is weight. Much more to wheel design than weight. I would never track the 6GR wheel or any other cheap wheel alternative. Nope nopity nope!

Not 1 shred of proof for your claim but if you repeat it often enough people might start believing it!

The wheel did not fail. Ive seen the exact same crash destroy an entire vehicle or just result in minor damage. Once you go off track anything can happen.

 

[nastang87xx]

it's barrel, but it technically doesn't rub, it's just tight enough that rocks and crap can get stuck and rub....

Okay, thanks. I was gonna say, if your wheel is deflecting even 1mm, you have some SERIOUS issues on hand.

 

[nastang87xx]

Okay I looked again at 1/4 speed. Def looks like the tire went flat (you can see the deformation on the tire) then locked up before it got to the riser.

Looks like typical tire wall deflection to me, not a flat. You'd be amazed at how much rollover happens on a tire.

I've personally seen a wheel scrape asphalt because someone thought it would be a great idea to come autocross with 22" wheels and something like a 245/25-22 or whatever. Bad day.

 

[Spart]

Looks like typical tire wall deflection to me, not a flat. You'd be amazed at how much rollover happens on a tire.

I've personally seen a wheel scrape asphalt because someone thought it would be a great idea to come autocross with 22" wheels and something like a 245/25-22 or whatever. Bad day.

Came here to say exactly this. That tire didn't go flat.

 

[WildHorse]

Looks like typical tire wall deflection to me, not a flat. You'd be amazed at how much rollover happens on a tire.

Fair enough. Why did it lock up?

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