in this month's motor trend (convertibles on the cover) there is an article on the new BMW 645ci convertible. they mention that the convertible's chassis is more rigid than the coupe's, when the coupe has it's windows down.
my question is ---> do windows rolled down make THAT much of a difference in rigidness of a fixed-roof vehicle??
"my question is ---> do windows rolled down make THAT much of a difference in rigidness of a fixed-roof vehicle??"
They can. The majority of rigidity in a roof isn't in the middle of the roof. That part is sheet metal and does almost nothing(for that reason sunroofs do not much of anything). The rigidity of the roof comes from the edges and pillars. The glass probably isnn't a major change, but it probably can effect the pilar rigidity slightly. I'd imagine in a fixed roof car as long as the pillars are strong enough the difference wouldnt be noticable. In a convertible though these pillars are obviously not super strong.
yeah i dont see where this makes a significant difference at all when the pillars are strong, but as brembo said there is likely to be much less roof stability
Well, I guess if you think about it, glass is pretty strong, up and down and side to side - pretty hard to crush, so long as the glass isn't too curved. That's probably how it helps with the rigidity. Pretty cool information though...
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Still Reposting, Still Pimping
It completes the car - its a compliment to how the car would perform in a way - not that big of a difference but the way weight is managed around that area is the reason
chassis rigidity/ body flex question
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