Front styling - 981 Boxster vs. Cayman

[jb92563]

Originally Posted by southernstar

Yes, the Cayman has more precise handling because, as a hardtop, it has substantially more torsional rigidity. However, this is inevitably the case as between convertibles and hardtop versions of the same car.

Brad

I always wondered about the torsional rigidity and the impact it might make on handling and how a solid roof structure could play a roll.

Seems to me that the rigidity bars people are putting in their cars are between the Coil/shock towers which makes the lateral areas more rigid to maintain tire/road geometry and hence the settings made to the alignment etc.

Torsional rigidity is the twisting of the frame which would deflect maybe 1/8" ??? between the front and back tires in extremely harsh cornering.

If it was even this much I would expect to see cracking paint on the body and stress blemishes in the under body, perhaps cracks in the steel eventually etc.

This might result in a 1/8" difference between the front and rear lateral alignment so the Camber might change by 0.3 degrees (Yes I calculated it)

So is 0.3 degree camber change on occasion really going to make any noticeable difference at all ???

Also I don't see any Boxsters being scrapped due to cracked and broken steel bodies.

Just enough truth to be a fact for a salesman to use, but not enough impact to actually manifest itself in any noticeable way to the driver?


I'd say that any noticeable handling differences are due to the differences between the coils/shocks and wheel geometry and parts more than anything else.