Open wheelers without rollcages are dinosaurs

[Franklin]

Energy is absorbed by crushing and deformation of structure. The part of the car you DON'T want subjected to crushing and deformation is the cockpit.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally posted by Franklin
Energy is absorbed by crushing and deformation of structure. The part of the car you DON'T want subjected to crushing and deformation is the cockpit.

I think you will find that is EXACTLY why the world's best engineers have designed composite structures. As an engineer of some standing you will no doubt agree that a composite structure is inherently stronger than a tubed structure.

[Mackmot]

Ignore me if you wish but at the beginning of this thread Im sure I heard Sparky (the first man to criticise franklin) say that his daughter had a monocoque go-kart. Forgive me if this is true but I have never heard of such rubbish, if it was monocoque it must be one of the most technologically advanced gokarts around and surely must have cost at least 10 times the amount of a normal one.

[Sparky]

Oh Please, Mackmot... I was havin' a larf!

...are hardly what I would describe as 'cutting edge', and hence are somewhat closer on the automotive evolutionary scale to the dinosaurs you describe than any modern monocoque chassis used in Formula 1, Indy/Cart, Barber Dodge, Formula First, my daughters go-kart....

When I typed that I simply meant every other kind of racing not listed by Franklin. Yes, I was the first to 'criticise' Franklin (or at least his post, remember!) but he had just called every type of racing other than the four he listed as 'dinosaurs'.

You are quite correct, my daughters go-kart is indeed of tubular construction. I contemplated a monocoque MDF design, but as it would unfortunately be used frequently in the Sparky's Back Yard Grand Prix, (which as every true racefan knows is held in the wettest conditions possible) it was universally agreed by the design team that it was likely to swell and rub on the wheels. Until thay start making wardrobes from carbon fibre sheet, material choice is limited.

And that was a joke too.