Can you guys comment on the chassis stiffness compared the the Integra Type R?

I know the R has body reinforements, trunk bar, 22mm rear sway bar, strut bars, but what about the S2000? Is the frame really strong?

Just curious.

 

Stiffest frame...way stiffer than an R..look it up on Motortrend...stiffest frame of any production car to date.

 

Anybody got any quantifiable numbers?

 

Considering that the S2000 was designed and built later than the ITR's now "dated" setup, one would expect the chassis design to be stiffer, or at least improved in certain areas.

The DC2 platform has been replaced with the DC5, and while the DC5R is questionably faster than the DC2R (on the track), it has a significantly stronger chassis.

Even though the S2000 is supposed to be a convertible, the design of the body and chassis takes out the "shortcomings of convertibles". And if you aren't happy with the way it is stock, get the X brace.

 

Psst, and the way they design the underbody has a big difference in the way the car's chassis reacts.. Go 'X' design.

 

Isn't one of the improvements to the '03 S2000 a stiffer chassis? Wouldn't it require some serious metal to make a convertible as stiff as a coupe?

 

Integra Type R is stiffer. S2000 is very stiff for a convertible.

 

Sorry, but the S2000 is stiffer...

 

Um, does ANYONE have quantiable numbers to back their argument up?

 

You guys are all wrong. The Hyundai Accent has the stiffest chassis out of all the car manufactured in the world.

 

can you describe "cowl shake"?

 

 

Are you thinking when you type? Usually you are paying closer attention to what you are saying. I --> FOLDED <-- the hood of a GSR in a sharp turn I take to work every day in my S2000. Those have a roof don't they?

Point being all of this is theory, until somebody has hard numbers everybody is talking out their butt. I'll take a stab becuase its fashionable around here: I've driven both the Type R and the S2000 and I firmly believe the S2000 is obviously a stiffer chassis.

 

It wasn't supposed to be a comparison. You stated that no convertable could have a stiffer chassis than a sedan. GSR = Sedan S2000 = Convertable.

The fold was from the strut towers pinching to the center of the car and making the hood form a U-shape with the apex as the hood latch. The paint cracked right down the middle of the hood. Pretty wierd huh? Needless to say, I let the dealership keep that car.

 

Hmmm. . .I bet enterprising young minds could find it.

See, but I won't tell you, "I told you so." All you have to do now is find the Honda data.

Yeah, and I've also heard engineers also say no one would every break 100hp per cylinder. Or an electric car would never be a feasible performance car. There's lots of incidents where people have said it could never be done. . .and then it's done.

I'm not trying to be argumentative or anything but if either side can't back up their case then it's all just conjecture and theory. The idea that anyone with an engineering degree should understand this or that doesn't fly. Hard data, empirical proof, whatever you want to call it, should be provided.

 

i shoulda figured you were a mechanical engineer.

 

stephen c, before you edited one of your posts you mentioned bumpsteer as a result of the chassis design? I just saw it in my e-mail notification. I wanted to point out that the bumpsteer is not due to chassis ridigity but suspension design and it does suck in the rear, simply a lack of dampening accompanied with a stiff spring will result in bump steer.

 

Crazy thing was Lynnwood Honda let me test drive another car immidiately afterwards.

BTW - That was a 2nd Gen GS-R. I tried with a 3rd Gen GSR but the tires kept loosing traction before I could reproduce the event. I can understand why those guys install strut braces now.

 

There is 2 chasis stiffness when consider chassi stiffness. Torsional (twisting) and bending(flex). The S2K is suppose to be the stiffest honda has ever designed in bending, it's stiffer than the NSX and the Honda Acoord sedan, but not as stiff as the Accord sedan in trosional stiffness. The x- brace will help add to that stiffness. The X bone frame is one of the the stiffest chasis ever designed, convertable or hardtop. Remember chasis stiffness can always be achieved at the expense of weight, it's the combination of the 2, Low weight and stiffness that is impressive. The corvette convertible is also one of the stiffest chasis out there, in fact when it first came out it was stiffer than the coupe and they adapted the chasis for the coupe.

 

Not stiff enough? You can put the Spoon Tower Bar, Front Lower X-Beam Bar and the Rear Lower Arm Bar to make the Chassis Stiffer.

 

I think the point was that the stock chassis was enough. All the extra Spoon bling-bling probably won't do anything but slow you down.

 

 

http://www.s2ki.com/imagecatalog/cus.../image/list/3/

 

A cut away picture of the frame from s2ki.com. I'll bite, what are you trying to show with it?

 

Modal Analysis work was performed on both [different sources, however] and the ITR's trimmed body is, in fact stiffer than the S2000. In terms of static bending the BMW Z3 and Porsche Boxter are stiffer, too. The ITR is stiffer than both of those as well it should be -- it's a coupe, after all.

ITR: approximately 38 Hz
S2000: ~34 Hz
Porsche: ~33 to 35 Hz
BMW: ~33 to 34 Hz

I don't recall the static bending numbers, but both of the German cars were stiffer, but both have heavier chassis so the natural frequency, omega = square root of the quantity(static stiffness/mass)].

The Audi TT Coupe was damned close to 40 Hz...

All things being equal [they seldom are, but they are close enough for comparison, anyway] coupes will be stiffer than convertibles and the smaller the vehicle the stiffer it should be.

Also, keep in mind that the data is very difficult to analyze and is subject to interpretation so one guy's 40 Hz may be another's 33 Hz. There is also discrepancy between auto manufacturer's description of the condition of the vehicle: Body in White [no glass]; Trimmed Body [With Glass -- makes it stiffer] and I forget the terminology at Ford for all interior trim minus seats, etc.


[Modified by Chui, 6:28 AM 10/27/2002]