Quote:
Originally Posted by jhynesrockmtn
The Chief Driving Instructor at the Porsche Club here had one he used for track days. Funny, we never saw his 911 out there or at least I didn't. Fun car to drive and I rode with him a few times. He could make that car dance. The front end failed at speed on a slight off camber corner. Totaled the car. There was a thread a while back on how much abuse the SVT can take before a catastrophic failure. Now, he ran the car hard and had pretty sticky tires on it. If you're not using it as a track toy I'm sure it will hold up much better. Just a data point.
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I was right behind him, just going around turn six, when it happened. For those of you who don't know our track, six is a hard left hander just starting up a hill. It really loads up the right front. On his car, it was the right front that failed, with the wheel and hub (or at least part of the hub) breaking completely off. Pretty frightening to watch; I thought he was going to take me out as well. His car had not yet come to a rest as I was going through seven and lost sight of him.
I'm sure these are decent cars for their intended purpose. That kind of (ab)use does not fall under its "intended purpose". It's still a cheap little econobox, built to a price, not to a standard. It was only a matter of time, with the way he was driving it (he is a very good driver) and the sticky tires on it. I have never seen over-stressed suspension components simply fail under load (as opposed to hitting something, or due to age and neglect) on a relatively new, well maintained car. With all of the Subarus, Mitsubishis, Mazdas, Toyotas, and whatnot running with us, I have never seen one of them have issues.
Granted, this might be an extreme example. I do think, however, that it speaks to the relative design, build, and materials qualities. Like I said, built to a price, not a standard (of course all cars are, it's just a matter of where they land on that spectrum). The Focus is definitely pushing the "cheap" end. Other, similar cars of the same vintage are of much higher quality, and not that much more used. As an "enthusiast" driver, I would not even consider the Focus. There is a reason they are cheaper than the rest.
As an aside, I took a lot of heat for the concerns I raised over this incident. Nobody had a better view of it than me, other than the driver himself, maybe.