basic q on chassis

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Mar 17, 2003

Jon

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basic q on chassis

it has been several times now including on this site that i've found someone saying a convertible car has more chassis flex (less chassis rigidity) than a regular car (not convertible).

can someone explain why plz and how this may affect cornering or straight line performance in any way?

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Mar 17, 2003

WannaBFast

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well.. think about it.. theres less support, most cars are designed like boxes for the most part... and the strongest beams are box beams.. now imagine if the box was cut in half.... its not as strong...

it cant resist bending as much as the full box...

Mar 17, 2003

S2000man01

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Re: basic q on chassis

Quote:

Originally posted by Jon
it has been several times now including on this site that i've found someone saying a convertible car has more chassis flex (less chassis rigidity) than a regular car (not convertible).

can someone explain why plz and how this may affect cornering or straight line performance in any way?

As stated, a car with a hard top built into the frame is more rigid and has less flex. However, this isn't always the case. Of course I know about the S2000, so I'll use that example.

The S2000 is built in such a way with a high X-bone frame that the chassis is actually more rigid than many sedans and even coupes. I'm sure there are other roadsters out there that are the same way, but the S2000 is the one I know, of course.