So, this weekend I was at a local track taking a driver's instruction day, getting ready for another season of playing with the IX, and one of the track stewards informs me I will not be able to track my car in Seattle until I get my cracked windshield fixed. Talking with the guy a bit, their rules say that cars after 1974 count the windshield as part of the chassis reinforcement, and they will not allow a cracked windshield.

Any thruth in this with the Evo IX chassis?

 

Bull crap. I guess no one there is allowed to track an Aerial Atom.

 

no its not at all

 

i believe the windshield and rear window help the roof assembly, so yes it is part of the structure. Must be like a motorcycle helmet though, one hit and its toast.

 

Just like a FIA roll cage

 

Yes most definitely the windshield is bonded to the pillars to create a structural web.

 

There's a thread somewhere about the 'track crack' in the lower right of windsheilds. Not sure if this is where yours is cracked but it seems common.

 

Atoms are are not a Unibody chassis. The A, B, and C pillars are a lot more complicated than most people think, they're part of the integral rollcage design of any unibodied chassis. You have to compare a similar chassis.

 

talk about ****..... i had about 4 different cracks for over 2 years on the windsheild before i replaced it...

 

You didn't flip it on its roof to know....

 

I was being sarcastic and making a mockery of the fact that, according to the rules, "cars after 1974 count the windshield as part of the chassis reinforcement." Clearly -- it's not always the case.

Sure, I'll agree the windshield probably stabalizes the roof of the car to some extent -- but not all cars even have roofs or windhshields and, I may be wrong, but I don't see how having in un-cracked windshield is going to help the car be that much safer or protect you that much more in the event of a rollover.

Oh well it's their rule. I'm just saying it seems a bit ... silly.

 

I don't think they didn't let you on, due to the windshield having a structural problem, but more that the windshield will "flex" with the chassis and if you already have a crack, it can DRAMATICALLY increase during an event...

I've even seen some Evos crack their windshield all the way across during an event. Was more a stock Evo with sticky tires, so had a lot of chassis flex.

Once the windshield cracks further, it can cause vision obstruction, or possibly even shatter completely.

I would agree that noone should track their car with a broken windshield.

 

Most wouldn't allow it, simply because it's an open wheeled car.

 

This.

And yes, in our cars, the windshield is part of the structural rigidity. When I worked for a company that makes the adhesive that bonds the windshield to the chassis, we had computer simulations of how the structure responds to different adhesives and what happens without a windshield in place. One of the engineers when as far as saying if a car (where its structural) is driven for a little while with no windshield the chassis could flex to the point were a windshield wont be able to be seated correctly due to the flex in the A-pillars.

 

cracked windshields break NHRA rules as well.