Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
Goggling Google's results for "dune buggy curb weight" it looks like 1000-1400lb, although I remember claims as low as 800lb. Consider the differing requirements for a drag racer (minimal) and off-road racer (maximal).
They appear to use a large thin-wall aluminum box tube in an un-triangulated structure, If I read their pictures right. You couldn't just leave the top tube off to make way for a door, the thing would collapse.
But they have an interesting design management process, scrum. Maybe that would allow them to accommodate the changes that would reverberate through the rest of the car if doors were added.
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Seems like they could eliminate the upper square tubes, and replace them with two arches running diagonally from the strut towers, an intersecting X above the cockpit to form a roof/rollover structure. That way, they'd get both torsional bracing and rollover protection, and could have doors to actually get in and out of the car. Gussets at all intersections a good idea, too. Need to beef up the wimpy upper shock/spring mounts, which will last about 3 blocks without such improvements. I have serious doubts about their aero efficiency, as that LeMans shape is more about downforce than efficient streamlining.