You’ve heard the old saying among car guys that fake, replica wheels will break on you. So, can you guess if these photos of a destroyed wheel from some track driving are fake or real wheels?
This Honda Fit suffered a catastrophic wheel failure driving at high-speeds on Suzuka Raceway earlier this weekend, its front wheel exploding clean off the car, all six spokes broken. Taking one look at the exploded wheel, I bet you can’t guess if this is a real JDM wheel or a cheap replica copy A.K.A. fake wheels.
Here’s the wheel below.
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This photo comes courtesy of @Osakakdm_kaz on Instagram but since his profile is private, these are just screenshots.
This was, as mentioned, a catastrophic failure of the highest degree. Looking at the aftermath, it’s hard to tell where the damage started from and it looks like the entire wheel failed all at once.
The Honda Fit owner even provided a video when the accident happened on this Suzuka Corner named 130R.
Here’s a copy of the video below.
Stripped bare of any unnecessary weight and this chassis known for its cornering capabilities, this Honda Fit is probably carrying a lot of momentum through each corner.
Towards the end of the video is where the wheel’s failure happens, exploding into smithereens and ending his on-track session.
Did you guess if it was a fake or real wheel yet?
You probably think it’s a cheap knock-off.
Well, you’re wrong!
It’s a real wheel, an authentic semi-forged JDM SSR Competition Type C wheel.
The SSR Type C is a discontinued JDM wheel, ending production just a couple of years ago.The SSR Type C was a popular racing wheel known for its strength and being lightweight.
According to Upgrade Motoring, you could get an SSR Type C wheel in sizes ranging from 14″-19″ weighing next to nothing.
A typical JDM wheel size for the SSR Type C, 15×6.5 in 4×100, only weighs 8.7 pounds. In comparison, the popular Spoon SW388 wheel in the same size weighs more at 9.48 pounds.
This is a light wheel and is no wonder it was popular for racers who wanted that competitive edge.
But here’s the reality, even real wheels break. And, as this shows, when there’s a hairline fracture somewhere on the wheel, the failure properties of semi-forged aluminum goes from 100 to zero real quick.
If you own older JDM wheels, even if they’re 100 percent real, it’s worth it to inspect them for hairline cracks and for potential failure points, especially if they’re known for being super lightweight like these wheels.
If you’re wondering, according to the owner, he only damaged that one wheel that day, the rest of his race car pretty much not damaged.
