Quote:
Originally Posted by Gunman
Very few times will you want the chassis to be softer, only once have I worked with a race car that needed braces removed. That was a NASCAR cup car, during the coil bind era, and when coil bound, the compliance had to come from someplace else, which is the chassis.
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A very valid and unique situation, especially when you consider that the moment you have coil bind, you're effectively suspensionless. At that point (and ONLY at that point onward) the vehicle's chassis becomes it's suspension as well. But until that happens, any wheel movement needs to happen through the suspension, as that's the whole reason it's there, and a stiffer chassis will make it work more effectively and predictably.
Motorcycle frame design started allowing more lateral flex about 15 years ago to compensate for the extreme lean angles that race bikes were increasingly capable of producing. However, this is due to the uniqueness of motorcycles in that their suspension is effectively turned on it's side at these lean angles, and therefore unable to cope with vertical movement in relationship to the road surface. Certainly not applicable with cars. If you're trying to tune this car's performance by adding additional chassis flex, you've already screwed up your suspension selection.