Body flex
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Body flex is a lack of
cabriolets
are not often considered to be good candidates for high-performance sports cars because of their lack of a rigid roof.
Although, for some time, body flex was a result of attempts to keep a car's weight down, makers such as
in chassis production to get around this obstacle, ensuring the weight of these cars and their level of body flex can both be kept to a minimum.Typically, the stiffness of the body is measured in torsion. The body is supported at the spring caps at the rear, and then a torque is applied to the front spring caps via a long beam and a fulcrum. Values achieved range from 1,000 lb⋅ft (1,400 N⋅m) per degree for pre-War racing cars, up to 25,000 lb⋅ft (33,900 N⋅m) per degree for some modern production vehicles.