200q/v8 stiffness

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

the following are documented in v8 tech reference as additional steps
taken to stiffen up the v8: 

- strut tower brace

- dash brace (this is a huge slab of aluminum that sits beneath the
dash running across the A pillars.  you'll have to see the diagrams
to believe it!

- underbody brace (runs below the car right at the B pillars)

- many, many additional spot welds. (obviously not retrofittable)
i'll try and look it up and see just how many exactly.

- may be more that i've forgotten about...

i thought that the 200Q20V had many of these measures but i took
a very close look at linus' car when it was parked side by side
and it appears that they are not part of the 200Q20V.


eliot

-----

        True, but I understand (from posts from other V8 owners)
        that there are structural differences between the two cars
        that might explain my impression.

        That brings up the obvious question : are the differences
        retrofittable to the 200Q? The strut-tower brace should
        be fairly straightforward, one would think.

        I consider myself relatively unsophisticated in suspension-
        related matters, but the V8 felt noticeably better even
        to me.  I drove my 200 to work this morning, and confirmed
        the impression.

        -Arun