Talek

Get one! Hehe. I just installed mine a couple days ago and was definately worth it. Stock, modded, whatever, get one! Now I can floor it without getting torque steer when the secondary turbo kicks on. Everything feels much more "solid", I used to get a lot of engine vibrations on cold start, they're basically gone now, along with most of my little rattles. Finally, suspension feels stiffer, and the car feels more responsive.

Stock R1 ones fit really well, but if you don't wanna spend a whole lot I picked up a BOMZ (never heard of them before) one off ebay for like $20, solid construction, looks good. Easily worth the money.

RonKMiller

Glad you like your strut brace, but it's impossible to have "torque steer" on a rear wheel drive car. Torque steer is reserved for front wheel drives only and is pretty damn annoying. My wife has a new 2002 CRV with a 160 horse V-Tech and it wants to rip the steering wheel out of your hands when you accelerate hard at low speeds. You would think Honda could have figured this out by now.....

I think you may have meant "bump steer", which is the tendancy of the car to wander off center line when you hit a bump in the road. It's a bitch to get rid of on any car with a limited travel, high performance suspension. BMW has not yet figured out how to get rid of it - even on their new (REALLY UGLY...) 2003 Z4 roadster!

I guess it shows how far vehicles have NOT come in the past 10 years. All the more reason to love your FD3S!

jdhuegel1

I didn't even notice when I installed mine... Oh well..

CanadianRex

I noticed a difference when I installed mine....and only $13.50 off ebay. It fit perfect and is adjustable. It's pretty good quality. I'm sure as good as any you'd pay $80-$120 for.

ZeroBanger

I got my BOMZ strut tower brace off ebay for 19.99 last week and its the best thing I have done to my car. It makes the ride quality 100 times better.

Personally I am shocked at the quality of this piece. I expected junk. I expected for it not to fit correct. I expected it to feel cheap.

My steering wheel used to shake on the highway and car felt very loose, this made my car so tight and responsive. knowing the quality and the difference this thing made in my car, i would have paid 100 for it, lol.

I don't know how they can make these so cheap and sell them and still make a profit.

RonKMiller

Ok dood, I just ordered one. I'd better have an orgasm the first time I drive down a bumpy road or I'll hunt you down! (This has GOT TO BE one of those "too good to be true" deals) But hey, it's almost Christmas and my bitch needs a new toy.

MrZUMZUM

Bought mine from Rotorific on the forum here. RACTIVE brand. I paid him $20. Was extremely suprised as well on the quality for that kind of price. Perfect fitment made me as well. Also I nice little ricey sticker to put on the bar.

I "won" one on ebay, but then procarparts.com told me that there's a problem at the manufacturer or whatever and they never contacted me again. Won it for like $17.

Anyway, they say they help big time; haven't really driven my car yet to find out; too much freakin rain lately.

Also just won an ebay auction for the Eibach Pro-Kit springs, so hopefully between those two I'll notice some handling improvement, and have a 1" lower car.

Peace out.

David

Snook

iTrader: (12)

hey can you please post a pic or 2 of it if you have a digital camera.

I want to see what the rest of it looks like

this one looks like it would be the most effective...although its too big and in the way and doesn't look nice



it's a strut tower brace and dual engine brace all in one???

thanks

Snook

WONG FRIED RICE

it's VTEC

RonKMiller

Yeah, Yeah, It's freakin' Honda.. I wouldn't know since I never have to lift the hood... Kinda boring...being dependable and all - takes the fun out of life.

Cihuuy

Snook: wow... wat brand is that?? hows the ride wiv it on??

jimlab

Sorry, but I don't buy that for a second.

A strut tower brace is intended to tie the shock towers together to make them more rigid under load. This is not something you'd benefit much from in straight line driving, and probably something that someone without a very high mileage car wouldn't even notice in cornering.

If your steering wheel was shaking and the car felt loose, I'd suggest you get your suspension checked immediately. You may have masked something by installing a strut tower brace, (although I suspect that your enthusiasm over a new part accounts for about 90% of the benefit you've described) but it's more likely that you have highly worn ball joints and/or suspension bushings, especially if your car has 70k miles or more and none of those components have been replaced.

Jack up the front of the car and try to wobble the front wheel by pushing back and forth on it. My suspicion is that you wouldn't pass tech inspection at an autocross, and that they'd tell you to get the car serviced. Soon.

If you truly did receive as much benefit for a bolt-on bar as you claim, then more power to you. Unfortunately, the strut tower bar has almost no effect on the operation of the suspension. It's sole purpose is to keep the strut towers from deflecting (shifting or changing orientation) under high cornering loads.

RonKMiller

You want a strut tower brace? I got your strut tower brace right here:

Snook

iTrader: (12)

Cihuuy

have no clue
thats not my car by far I just found the pic

I just bought the bomz one off of ebay even though you guys didn't help me and post a pic

JONSKI

Your 7 is the bitch in the relationship?! How did that happen? My 7 owns me, rents me out, takes my money, and it still doesn't do any work.

kmaot

Yup - that is made by CP Racing. PM user guru or 84rex if you need the contact or info.

kmaot

Actually, CP also does the "regular' bar for 3rd Gens as well. PLS see the pic.

CanadianRex

If I get a chance I'll take a pic of my $13.50 brace this weekend and post it.

RyanREX

I like my JIC. It's great quality.

YayeR

small pic but you can see it good nuff. I'd rather have a black r2 bar but my cusco is good for now. I noticed a small difference when i installed it, nothing spectacular but I don't have to worry anymore about 'warping' anything

Nathan Kwok

I recently installed one of the cheapie (from procarparts) braces and I didn't really notice any difference. I haven't had a chance to really test it out in the corners, but at this point I don't know if I could really compare its been so long. I preloaded mine by installing it on a lift too so it should be pretty tight. It does look nice though, looks like it could be stock which is what I like, and it never hurts to have extra bracing. I didn't get any kind of shimmying through the steering wheel before the brace, I used to have that problem but it was an alignment problem, so no change there.

WhtRocket

I agree with Talek. The R2 brace I put on mine really helps hold the track in a bumpy corner. I think it is a very noticable and cheap improvment. Plus I get more sex now too. Ok i made that up. I posted about this a while ago and as i recall I think Jimlab and some else kinda said I was BS but I stick to my guns. If some does not think this helps, take your off. I don't know if all these after market ones areally work but the Mazda factory one does. I'll bet that burly one on this thread works even better. It's ugly but who cares about looks on thier FD, right?

YayeR

it wouldn't be that ugly if you got it polished or painted or something

damian

iTrader: (2)

umm, i dont see where it connects to the engine/drivetrain in anyway, so it would NOt be a tower brace and engine brace...just a honken tower brace :-)

Mahjik

iTrader: (1)

I bought the Cusco bar a while back. I noticed that the car was much stiffer in hard turns after installing it.

However, if someone removed it from my car today without me knowing it, I doubt I would know it was gone until I looked under the hood..