Patrick O'Sullivan wrote:
>> I understand that the 26R chassis is reinforced in some areas.
>> There's a significant upcharge for this, and I'm trying to
>> assess if it's worth it.
Tony C. replied:
> Actually, neither the homologation papers filed with the FIA nor the
> "build-sheet" used by "Lotus Components" to modify the Elan chassis
> indicate much in the way of "reinforcement" to the Elan frame in the
> building of an actual 26R race car. <snip>
Yeah, as Tony has told us before, the configuration of the chassis
is pretty far down on the list of things that distinguishes a real 26R
from an Elan. Other than the all-important chassis number, they just
aren't very much different!
> Of course,
> racers and chassis modifiers have welded up all sorts of bracing,
> "triangulation", reinforcing, anti-intrusion bars, roll bars and
> cages <snip>
Some of which things have been commonly adopted, with good effect, on
road driven cars too. Just about any good early Lotus shop ought to
have some standard upgrade work that they would do to an Elan chassis.
On the other hand, it gets kinda complicated when you start talking
about which chassis modifications offer the most improvement per unit
weight.
Regards,
Erik Berg
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