Originally Posted by
daleburr
I've seen similar posts on here before, but I'm yet to see a post from someone who has made a rigid chassis and gone any quicker
The cars haven't always been flexible. They started out rigid, following full-scale vehicle dynamics. Over the years they have evolved, as chassis flex gives more grip, better bump handling and a wider setup window.
Our cars are now about 500 times lighter than the lightest full-size race car. Yet they go at about one third the speed (mod TC >70mph). And they do it with much simpler suspension, tyres and aerodynamics. And they encounter curbs that come up to their axles, and bumps that would destroy a full-size car if scaled up.
When you put all that together, it's amazing the cars get round the track at all. So they need a lot of help, and flex is one of the things that helps. It keeps all 4 tyres in contact with the track, without resulting in any extra pitch or roll.
Give an old TC3 a go. The suspension geometry is similar to a modern car, but the chassis is ultra-stiff. See how it compares to a modern car.
^ thank you for that, that's the first time I've personally seen someone actually explain it in a thoughtful way. It makes sense when put that way, we race to have fun and just so happens winning is very much more fun than losing, why not use every means at your disposal to make driving easier. I get that, I do. Just seems, to me at least, "flex" is an unknown quantity, whereas all the components meant to do that job are of known values and predictable...
But I guess if you've done the trial and error on adding or omitting certain chassis fasteners and figured out how it effects handling on the track what's the difference, it's a tuning aid like anything else I reckon.