2002 Body Flex

[TEAShea@xxxxxxx]

AS time has progressed, car manufacturers have made dramatic improvements in body stiffness.  The new E46, for example, is several times stiffer than a 2002 - almost an order of magnitude.  Car design used to not be too concerned with body stiffness.  There was even some thought that it helped and acted as part of the supspension when it flexed.  New theory is quite different - the stiffer the better.  This is assisted by better design tools, computers, structural modeling and better materials.

You are correct, a 2002 is a rag doll.  It flexes substantially.  Unless you replace the frame with a newly desinged, $100,000 pagkage, you can't really do much to improve it.  You can make some slight differences by adding stiffeners but these will not put it in the same league as a modern car.  

Tom Shea

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