MWP":puwi5n4l said:
... yeah, its cost cutting.
Nothing else
There's not a single cost cut in today's world rally car. I mean the cars cost $750,000 & that's not even with a single spare, or the team of engineers required to turn the thing on. As far as composites go it uses Autoclave formed prepregnate carbon on the bumpers, fenders, and mirrors. Shit they use autoclaved Kevlar fender liners, It would be nothing for them to whip up a set of doors and a roof skin, it comes down to safety. A rally cars safety is a whole different world than a circuit cars, where composite panals are more commonly found.
MWP":puwi5n4l said:
I think i would prefer for a brittle FRP roof to break up, than for a steel one to slice me up.
The roof rarely ever gets the opportunity to seperate from the car and begin slicing and if the doors do come off their hinges the chances of them entering the 2'x2' ingress/egress hole for the drivers compartment is slim. That's the benefit of steel, a carbon door would explode sending sharp carbon shards everywhere. The steel on the other hand will just deform & in the roofs case as far as the cage will allow. I included some of the more recent "bad" crashes in the WRC, notice how the roofs never separate from the unibody & only deform to the shape of the cage.
