Chassis Types & Materials

[Killrob]

Maybe something you guys are keen to comment on: The preliminary selection of chassis and materials that will be available in Automation.

ChassisAndMaterialSelection.png (201.67 KiB) Viewed 7243 times

[V10I10ilove10cyl]

Why no backbone chassis louts elans and louts esprit had them and they were quick cars

[Killrob]

Sure, but how useful is that layout to the automotive industry in general? What percentage of production cars actually used it? A rocket on 4 wheels is fast too, doesn't mean we're including it though, that's not an argument.

[V10I10ilove10cyl]

Well not many cars used it mainly Indian trucks but on a off road car I have noticed a few advantages
1.the half axels have better contact with the ground this really does help the car off the road although admittedly it has little point for a non off road car
2. The often vulnerable parts of the cars drive shaft are covered by thick tubing obviously protecting the drive shaft from outside wear especially dust.

But as I want to contribute properly let me give the disadvantages
1. Absolutely naff all protection from a side impact so if the game were to give cars or in this case SUVs a crash test rating then the car would fail badly on the side impact test
2. As the car will only have 4 wheels the backbone chassis is a lot more expensive in material cost and in man hour costs than many other more conventional chassis of course if the time came when the game had made it available to have more than 4 wheels then the backbone chassis would actually be more cost effective than other chassis.

I hope this is of a much better quality than my simply shit point before.

[V10I10ilove10cyl]

I beg your pardon I do believe that it was not Indian trucks it was Tatra trucks form Czechoslovakia or modern day Czech Republic I got confused with tata

[Killrob]

Ahh I see, yes, that's kind of an interesting point, being somewhat more resilient to harsh environments and cheaper for producing simple, rugged, offroad vehicles. Probably that would be a good option if we had included WWII in the timeline of the campaigns. On the other hand, with the current starting point set at 1946, that would introduce quite a bit of additional artwork for few occasions where it would make sense to use that layout.

[V10I10ilove10cyl]

Fair enough it was just i case people wanted to make a truly indestructible off road car I also forgot to mention on the driveshaft protection part that the service cost would increase if the drive shaft was worn because of the fact that someone has to actually get through the immensely strong tubing around it

[09webbad]

I thought you could mass make carbon fibre...

EDIT: no mass production of glass fibre either???

[V10I10ilove10cyl]

Probably just to keep you from abusing it balancing issue I think

[machalel]

How about 3D printed chassis for 2020?

(Joking)

[Moth]

Will anti-rust measures such as underbody coatings be implemented?

Will there be a way to influence the weight of the car other than just selecting materials?
For example selecting the thickness of the frame and body panels, and using flimsy egg-shell like plastic bumpers as they do now instead of the 80's style thick rubberized ones.

Can we use a mixed construction such as having steel body panels with an aluminum hood/bonnet and fibreglass fenders?
That would be lovely, because I'd rather trim 25 kilos by using an aluminum hood and plastic fenders instead of using an aluminum engine block.

[Squarc]

Very nice! I Want IT SO BAD

[USDMFTW]

What would justify mass and limited production?

[Daffyflyer]

Basically the point with the stuff listed as "No mass production" is really "cannot be automated effectively".

No matter how you do it, it's almost impossible to make a robotized production line that welds up tubular steel spaceframes, and most places still do it with just a guy in a shed with a welder, maybe with some very fancy jigs and stuff, but still not "mass production"

[silenthunter]

The Kaiser Darrin and Chevy Corvette share the honor of being the first production sports cars with fiberglass bodies -- in 1953 -- but Ford built a fiberglass prototype as early as 1938.

If this is the case why isnt the fiberglass available earlier on?