Came across this technical review (PDF) on Mitsubishi's Website this morning:

Weight Reduction Technology for Improved Handling Performance of LANCER EVOLUTION

It talks about the technical challenges and advantages of going with an aluminum roof on the EVO. Here are a few of the conclusions:

"The aluminum roof yielded a 3 mm reduction in the height of the vehicle’s center of gravity and a 1.3% reduction in roll. These benefits are equivalent to those that would be yielded by a 70 mm reduction in the roof height of a vehicle with a steel roof...

"Adoption of an aluminum roof yielded a 45% weight savings over the conventional steel roof, resulting in handling-stability improvements that cannot be achieved by means of regular suspension and tire tuning."

Now I really wish I didn't have my sqeaker of a sunroof.

 

Cut out your existing roof panel and weld in an aluminum one. A little expensive, but worth it if you can use the difference in performance. Of course 99% of Evo drivers wouldn't notice the difference unless you told them the roof was aluminum.

 

I wonder if the aluminum roof would be as rigid as the steel one, especially in a rollover situation...

 

Probably not, but anyone who would cut their sunroof/steel roof off to weld in an aluminum one would also most likely have a full cage.

 

You can't weld aluminum and steel together. That's why they used self tapping rivets and adhesive to provide a barrier preventing corrosion.

Does anyone have any definitive information regarding the weight of the sunroof components?

I'm also intersted in some formulas that will help determine how a change to a carbon fiber roof panel (such as the one AMS offers) will impact the car's center of gravity and roll center.

 

why would you have to pur a roll cage in??? My RS has an alum roof and it didnt come w/ a cage...mitsu designed the alum roof to be light and strong thats why the 2 "bumps" near the edges of the roof (parallel to the rubber stripping) are there - for strength

find a totalled out RS, MR or SE w/ no roof damage and use the entire roof...it would be cheaper then buying a new car

 

He's saying that if someone were to go as far as to find an aluminum roof to rivet onto their body, they would probably be the kind of people that would have a cage also.

 

Hmm, nice find. Makes the AMS CF roof look even better.

l8r)

 

+1 on that.....thats when i have 1200 i dont know what to do with....+ the shipping

 

The sunroof was supposed to be an extra 60lbs back in 2003 (back when all the roofs were made of steel). I'm not sure now though.

 

That it technically incorrect. Those ridges are there to keep the aluminum roof from distorting because the steel body and aluminum roofs have different expansion rates when they are heated by the sun. That is the reason they are there. I'm sure they add some amount of torsional rigidity to the roof, but I doubt they would make it any stronger in a roll-over type accident.

EVOlutionary

 

screw the aluminum! get the ams carbon roof! =)

 

I wonder how much install would cost for the AMS roof...

 

This really isnt nothing new alot of track guys do this thats why the rs is on the top ten fastest cars sold becasue of all the ill things mistu is and have worked on over the years of rally.


The ams roof looks great it might be light weight and all but. One hard launch plus and chasie bend off the line and that roof will crack. I can bet anyone that roof wont last. Thats why there is no lifetime warrenty that goes with it. Its more for the drag raceing guys that are looking for the edge .

You would not put that roof on a track car as many g's they hit it would crack after a few hard turns.

 

Even if it doesnt crack, Carbon fiber is known to peel off their clear coat much faster than anything. Aluminum FTW