Why do Ferrari center caps crack?

Have a little Vino. You'll hardly notice the cracks after three glasses. At least that's what the ferrari engineers say.

 

Because their Italian

 

It's probably because the UV in sunlight degrades the plastic?

That seems more likely to me than mechanical stress.

 

Great Question as I replaced 3 of mine two years ago. Again, only this time my fronts are the only one's cracked!

 

heat from the brakes, also ditto on the uv light weakening the plastic. aircraft plastics suffer faster due to heat / cold extremes and air friction. little horsies suffer from the combination of elements. all of mine have to be replaced as well...... on my to do list.

 

Strange...I have not had to replace them on either my 78 308 GTS or my current 87 328 GTS. And I believe that both cars had the original caps, as they were kind of fogged up on both cars and required extensive buffing with plastic polish to look new again.

I kind of wonder if the cracked ones are from use of non oem ones, like what happed to another individual recently, where they fell out while driving?

Dave

 

Like Michael says, heat from hard braking jointed to environmental-induced degradation is the most likely cause of the problem.
Mechanical stress should not be an issue. Plastic deformation at the center of the wheel shouls not be such to damage the caps.

Ciao

Eugenio