What we call "The Space Monocoque Body" Results in both weight reduction and high rigidity and was also designed to Enhanced the cornering performance.
Our design philosophy - down to the last gram- is also reflected in the development of the body for the new RX-7. The process, however, was far from easy since it was not just a matter of shaving weight from the car. The main requirement was body rigidity. An example of how body rigidity affects handling can be seen in this anecdote from development of the 787B Le Mans racing car. In the early stages of the development program, the drivers reported to our chassis engineer, who also designed the RX-7 chassis, that handling of the 787B was not linear. After extensive analysis, through our supercomputer and repeated track testing, the engineer finally found the cause of the problem - the suspension had not functioned correctly because of the lack of body rigidity. The solution to this problem consisted of attaching a strut with a wing-shaped cross-section laterally beneath the floor. The result was impressive- lap times over a four-kilometer track were trimmed by more than one second. The engineer arrived at this solution not only through detailed analysis but also through his involvement with the body construction if the new RX-7. The RX-7's unique Space Monocoque Body consists of a monocoque body structure combined with a race-proven space-frame configuration, assuring outstanding rigidity. A longitudinal member with a large cross-section runs along the underbody. The cross-section of the side sills are as large as possible and a mini bulkhead is also built in. the cross-section of the tall center tunnel has also been enlarged,		the opening of the tunnel is reinforced by three aluminium bars, and five cross-members support the longitudinal frame.The front and rear cross-members, where the suspension arms are mounted, have been bolted rigidity to the body without rubber inserts, thus ensuring the stiffness of the suspension mountings. The cross-member for the rear suspension is connected to both ends of the rearmost tunnel bar via diagonal bars to strengthen the pick-up areas of the toe-control links. The box section of the front cross-member's mounting area is strengthened by a bonding-welding method, which combines adhesive bonding with conventional welding. The front and rear suspension towers, connected on both sides, are effective in increasing the stiffness of the suspension mountings as well as raising the static and dynamic rigidity of the entire body. The net results a 50% increase in lateral rigidity and a 30% increase in camber rigidity for the front suspension. At the rear, lateral rigidity is increased 100%, while camber rigidity is increased 60%. The body of the new RX-7 allows supple, calculated movements of the suspension to be translated into precise handling characteristics. In our pursuit of a stiffer body however, we did not neglect our basic criteria of weight reduction. Through various ingenious method such as the extensive use of high-tensile steel, the total weight of the white body, including the doors, bonnet and boot lid, remains unchanged from the previous model.