Mike Kojima posted on December 29, 2008 04:00
The front of the car has major changes for increased stiffness. As we mentioned before the front suspension is supported by a stiff cast aluminum subframe. The subframe is deeply waffled with deep cast in buttresses to make it exceedingly stiff. We suspect that that is the main reason why cast aluminum was used instead of a welded tubular fabricated part. Additional steel braces tie the subframe into the main frame rails and the rocker sills as well. This is much like the under car braces Cusco sells for many cars but done to the extreme with much larger in cross area parts.
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| The front subframe has deep ribbing cast in place for maximum stiffness to weight. |
This steel brace ties the subframe to the frame rail and the rocker still, the stiffest parts under the car. |
The result of these changes is marked. The 350Z was already known to be a stiff car making it a hard target to beat if weight was to be kept at a reasonable level. The 370Z's torsional stiffness is up a whooping 30 to 22 percent (front to rear) and bending stiffness is up by an amazing 30 percent.
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| As an added detail this bolt on piece stiffens the subframe where the lower control arm bolts in by boxing in this area, cool! |
If beef was added to the cars body structure and underpinnings, weight had to come off somewhere. The hood, rear deck lid and doors are made of aluminum. This is pretty smart, by taking weight off higher in the car, the stiffness improving weight added lower in the car will reduce the CG height and hence weight transfer to the outside tires in cornering. Lowering the engine 0.6 inchers and the seats 0.4 inches also help lower the center of gravity. In all around 225 lbs of weight was removed from various components over the 350Z. 130 lbs of stuff had to be added to the car to improve stiffness and meet more stringent crash and emission standards. The fact that the new 370Z is around 95 lbs lighter than the old 350Z is a tribute to Nissan engineering prowess.