How can you tell if the car has a stiff chassis or if it just has really good suspension? Are there ways to test that out like say during a test drive?
B/c i was driving my sisters fiance's Accord w/ springs and shocks and i couldn't tell if it was the chassis that made it more responsive or if it was just that the suspension was better than my 240.
How can you tell if a cars chassis is stiff?
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EazyBreazy
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Hijacker
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'94 F-150 - Location: Fredericksburg, VA
suspension work comes down to a combination of suspension parts. chassis, dampers, springs, sway bars, etc.
performance parts such as the spring/damper combo he's done have increased responsiveness of the car. i don't know what work you've done to your car, but if it's stock, then it's no wonder why his feels better.
chassis-wise, accords are big and a little more loose than a sports coupe such as a 240. the only thing that the accord may have going for it is age. yours is probably a little older than it, so the metal might have moved/stretched and compromised the stiffness. you can get plenty of parts to stiffen it back up though. roll bars/cages, strut tower bars, ladder bars, etc
performance parts such as the spring/damper combo he's done have increased responsiveness of the car. i don't know what work you've done to your car, but if it's stock, then it's no wonder why his feels better.
chassis-wise, accords are big and a little more loose than a sports coupe such as a 240. the only thing that the accord may have going for it is age. yours is probably a little older than it, so the metal might have moved/stretched and compromised the stiffness. you can get plenty of parts to stiffen it back up though. roll bars/cages, strut tower bars, ladder bars, etc
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smokei
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doesnt mugen make parts for hondas?... im not trying to flame just curious.... *cough*
but yeah you should really clue us in to what you have done to your car and how old it is with how many miles. Also another thing to consider is that the accord weighs a lot more than a 240 so if it has some sticky tires it should be be more stable feeling, but not quite as efficent. the responsiveness should be imagined as front wheel cars tend to be a little less responsive than a rear wheel car as far as steering response goes.
so in summary let us know whats up with your car and what your friend did to his accord. that should help us diagnos your quandry.
-dspeed kills buy a civic live forever
but yeah you should really clue us in to what you have done to your car and how old it is with how many miles. Also another thing to consider is that the accord weighs a lot more than a 240 so if it has some sticky tires it should be be more stable feeling, but not quite as efficent. the responsiveness should be imagined as front wheel cars tend to be a little less responsive than a rear wheel car as far as steering response goes.
so in summary let us know whats up with your car and what your friend did to his accord. that should help us diagnos your quandry.
-dspeed kills buy a civic live forever
Even with shocks/springs as stiff as possible, they'll still compress upon hitting track curbs; they're designed to do that so that the chasis doesn't need to flex to absorb the shock.
Have any of you considered wheel-flex? It's very possible...
I'm not really sure what chasis flex feels like, but I don't think I've ever felt it--I think my suspension is a pretty tight setup. I heard the cusco rear cross brace is supposed to do a lot to prevent chasis flex, and of course a roll cage would stiffen the chasis substantially.
My mom has a '98 Honda Accord EX V6 2 door, loaded (don't know if it has sport suspension or not--or if honda even offered that) with brand new sticky yokohomas, and my car would RAPE that thing on a track, any day. But it's not a viable comparison since mine has extensive suspension mods. The accord that I'm referring to weighs a full 500 pounds more than an S14 (mine, anyway). That's a lot of weight to carry into each corner; weight that I think will always make that car inherently less-responsive and nimble. However, her accord is a pretty nice handling car and I don't wish to underrate it.-it's stock suspension is pretty firm and sporty, but the extra weight becomes very evident. My car always handled better than it, by far, even when I first got it with just tokico blues/eibach sportlines
Have any of you considered wheel-flex? It's very possible...
I'm not really sure what chasis flex feels like, but I don't think I've ever felt it--I think my suspension is a pretty tight setup. I heard the cusco rear cross brace is supposed to do a lot to prevent chasis flex, and of course a roll cage would stiffen the chasis substantially.
My mom has a '98 Honda Accord EX V6 2 door, loaded (don't know if it has sport suspension or not--or if honda even offered that) with brand new sticky yokohomas, and my car would RAPE that thing on a track, any day. But it's not a viable comparison since mine has extensive suspension mods. The accord that I'm referring to weighs a full 500 pounds more than an S14 (mine, anyway). That's a lot of weight to carry into each corner; weight that I think will always make that car inherently less-responsive and nimble. However, her accord is a pretty nice handling car and I don't wish to underrate it.-it's stock suspension is pretty firm and sporty, but the extra weight becomes very evident. My car always handled better than it, by far, even when I first got it with just tokico blues/eibach sportlines
Maybe this would work
You could do a chassis deflection test.
Pick a measurement point at the front (such as the bottom of the frame rail by the wheel) and one in the rear, just make sure it's part of the monocoque chassis itself, and not a bolted on part.
Measure on a flat surface the distance of those point to the ground.
Jack up one end of the car until both tires on that side are completely off the ground and re-measure both points.
Subtract the unlifted from the lifted distance. The jacked up end is your reference/zero point. Do the same for the measuring point at the other end. If it's less than the reference point, it's because the chassis twisted/bent/deflected.
Using the distance between the points and the distance the chassis deflected, you can use simple math to calculate a percentage of deflection, or use trig to figure out the number of degrees of flex.
Pick a measurement point at the front (such as the bottom of the frame rail by the wheel) and one in the rear, just make sure it's part of the monocoque chassis itself, and not a bolted on part.
Measure on a flat surface the distance of those point to the ground.
Jack up one end of the car until both tires on that side are completely off the ground and re-measure both points.
Subtract the unlifted from the lifted distance. The jacked up end is your reference/zero point. Do the same for the measuring point at the other end. If it's less than the reference point, it's because the chassis twisted/bent/deflected.
Using the distance between the points and the distance the chassis deflected, you can use simple math to calculate a percentage of deflection, or use trig to figure out the number of degrees of flex.
Re: Maybe this would work
sxseguy wrote:You could do a chassis deflection test.
Pick a measurement point at the front (such as the bottom of the frame rail by the wheel) and one in the rear, just make sure it's part of the monocoque chassis itself, and not a bolted on part.
Measure on a flat surface the distance of those point to the ground.
Jack up one end of the car until both tires on that side are completely off the ground and re-measure both points.
Subtract the unlifted from the lifted distance. The jacked up end is your reference/zero point. Do the same for the measuring point at the other end. If it's less than the reference point, it's because the chassis twisted/bent/deflected.
Using the distance between the points and the distance the chassis deflected, you can use simple math to calculate a percentage of deflection, or use trig to figure out the number of degrees of flex.
You leave yur fancy edumacation outta this!
Good point sxse---glad to see someone knows their stuff. I think it'd be kinda hard to get an exact measurement though, but it's worth a try if someone's really interested in it.