Rigidity improvement - much improvement?
- Thread starter smithda86
- 15 comments
- 4,865 views
I have just tested this exact tunning upgrade on one of 2 identical Elise 96 RM's. They are exact in every way so i tried them out on Trial Mountain & Nürburgring Nordschleife.
On Trial, the elise with the Rigidity Improvement was quicker, but by less than a tenth of a second. On the Nordschleife, the non RI elise was quicker but again it was close.
Conclusion: inconclusive as to whether this application improves your car at all!!!
It would be interesting to hear from other forum users and their own findings and opinions. I'm sure this upgrade must be effective on some cars but which ones?? Heavier? Lighter? Race Cars? Road Cars? Who's gonna risk adding it to an expensive/rare car and potentially ruin it when its irreversible?? !!!!!!!
On Trial, the elise with the Rigidity Improvement was quicker, but by less than a tenth of a second. On the Nordschleife, the non RI elise was quicker but again it was close.
Conclusion: inconclusive as to whether this application improves your car at all!!!
It would be interesting to hear from other forum users and their own findings and opinions. I'm sure this upgrade must be effective on some cars but which ones?? Heavier? Lighter? Race Cars? Road Cars? Who's gonna risk adding it to an expensive/rare car and potentially ruin it when its irreversible?? !!!!!!!
nomis3613
Premium
- 831
Chassis stiffening can iron out some nasty handling characteristics (such as inconsistent grip through a corner). But the effect is pretty subtle so you might not notice it. Also, the suspension settings will need to be tweaked afterwards to get the full benefit (which is why people often cry that it "increases understeer"- IMHO it is actually removing nasty effects which give the impression of oversteer).
- 28,470
- Windsor, Ontario, Canada
- Johnnypenso
I'm in the process of testing this out myself and so far, not doing the chassis improvement is the way I'm leaning. I've tested it out on three cars and each was .2 to .5 seconds faster without the rigidity option, with the same tune. One one car, the Alfa Twin Spark from the dealership, was a full second faster without the improvement.
Perhaps there is something I'm missing in tuning that would allow me to somehow take advantage of the more rigid chassis but I haven't found it yet. I find the non-improved to have more overall grip and more predictable. If you lose the back end it's not as dramatic as when you do with the chassis improvement, which is contrary to what it should be.
I'll keep testing to see what I find but so far I'm definitely leaning towards not doing it anymore.
Perhaps there is something I'm missing in tuning that would allow me to somehow take advantage of the more rigid chassis but I haven't found it yet. I find the non-improved to have more overall grip and more predictable. If you lose the back end it's not as dramatic as when you do with the chassis improvement, which is contrary to what it should be.
I'll keep testing to see what I find but so far I'm definitely leaning towards not doing it anymore.
I think the consensus (in laymans terms) is one of the effects of rigidity upgrade is that it will increase a cars natural tendency to over or understeer. You cannot just slap it on and expect the vehicle to improve without also tuning the other aspects of handling (suspension).
I completely agree with this process as the rigidity improvement (strut brace) will make the car stiffer, so some softening will be required to gain the same feel as a non RI car but it goes a lot deeper than that i'm sure
Im choosing to do my tests on identically set-up elises' so that i can quantify the noticeable changes.
Its subtle but i have noticed that the Rigidity improvement makes a car more accurate in cornering and more stable in succession's of quick direction changes but also slighty less supple at absorbing an uneven road surface (such as the Nordschleife) which makes sense as there would be less chassis flex.
I attempted the Nurburgring again in my RI'ed Elise but attempted a little more commitment on the corners and found that i could carry a little extra speed. Consistent laps were easier to repeat also. I ended with a lap time roughly 0.7secs quicker than the afforementioned non strut-braced elise and that was with a trip to the grass on the 2nd Karussel!!!, which i estimate lost me a second.
I have a theory that the strut brace has a more noticeable affect on a light, moderately aero'ed car thats running softer springs (like the Elise, due to its fly-weight) than a more stiffly sprung highly powered race car with high dowmforce, though im yet to test this out.
- 37
- rockstar95_86
I tried it on a Nascar for Daytona, which everyone knows Daytona is all about speed, and I didn't feel any difference in how it drove. I never keep up with my lap times, so whether or not it was faster, idk.
- 37
- rockstar95_86
I guess the best conclusion/answer is, if your car handles decent and still hauls ass, don't change anything to it.
- 5,812
- shmogt
lol yup. If the car is crazy and you have tried everything than you mine as well instal it and see if it helps. Not like the car good before so you have nothing to lose
nomis3613
Premium
- 831
+1
Since reinforcement isn't removeable, I don't use it unless I've run out of other ideas.
- 24,054
- It/It
- GTP_TheCracker
Depending on how PD model these things, an Elise probably isn't a great test vehicle. I assume that their rigidity improvement means a full chassis stiffening not just a strut brace as is illustrated at the Tuning Shop. The design of the chassis of an Elise needs no strut braces or seem welding - which are the usual methods of making your chassis more ridgid IRL, it's bonded extruded aluminium chassis is incredibly stiff already.
You'd be better off taking a couple of cheap identical cars from the dealer and adding the Rigidity to one of them then comparing the results. A Golf or an Audi TT or the like would be ideal.
Your point is a good one and your right that a strut brace shouldn't make a difference with a car constructed the way an elise is but Gt5 is still a game, not a 'pure' sim and the rigidity improvement is offered nonetheless, so it was a case of that was the particular car i was testing at the time so i was interested so see if there would be a difference with an identical car suitably rigidity improved. The difference is subtle. On the subject, the game shouldn't have the option available for full race cars because if they had them irl, they should come as stock. But you still get the option, further proving this IS just a game, not a exact-as-possible sim.
Similar threads
