Strut tower bar helps handling on the street?? Yes or no??
 

There seems to be at least one member on this forum that thinks that adding a front strut tower bar to an FD (without a bar) will not have any noticeable effect on the street. Curious to hear what others think???

Please vote on the poll.

What poll?

Sorry, I didn't see it at first.

Made a HUGE difference for me
 

I have rear brace as well and a few under the car. Car handles very well

what brace is that looks high quality, kinda like cp designed ones i've seen but looks better

Took my front and rear off one day to feel what would happen, drove around the block and put them back on. Didn't even drive hard, only did the speed limit and I felt the difference. Reason, I had a debate with my Dad who called BS, he's kinda old school. So I let him drive it too with them off, then on and he felt the difference. He'd never driven the car before. Mind you the street is shite and bumpy but, still a difference. Good poll.

I think its an OEM option or mazdaspeed or something. Beautiful brace though!

I believe it is a bit of a stretch to say that a strut tower brace makes a noticable difference in handling or chassis dynamics on the street.

The chassis of the FD is very stiff. The original R1 came with a front strut brace partly as a marketing item and partly because at high g-loading, the brace would further stabilize the front suspension.

The front upper brace is certainly a fine idea and should probably be on every FD, but a blanket statement that you can immediately discern a difference in handling is a bit silly.

On the street it is most likely that the tires will lose their grip long before the chassis sees the loads necessary to cause flex in the front suspension.

I have done back to back sessions on track (VIR, Summit Point, etc.) with the front brace on the car and with it off and I couldn't tell any difference.
My data acquisition peaked at over 1.19g throughout the sessions and in my meager hands I couldn't tell you which times the brace was on and when it wasn't.

With that said, when on race tires, it's a very good idea to have an upper brace because the chassis is seeing incredible loads that certainly weren't in the range of what the engineers expected the car to see on the highways. (therein lies why the R1 came with one)

I would say for normal street driving there wouldn't be any major differences. You shouldn't be flying around turns anyway on the street. For track use however...that's a different story.

That's quite a brace setup Doc. I'll bet that really locks up the entire engine compartment. I like the OEM badge on a "non-oem" brace :)

I agree. You would need a whole lot of grip and turning force to exert enough force on the chassis to get the brace significantly loaded. I've run with it on and off and there is IMO no difference. Even "aggressive" street driving (whatever childish shit that's supposed to represent) won't come close.

Dave

Can't tell a difference on or off when driving on the street. Take a sway bar off, front or rear, that you can feel on the street.

Tim

if your definition of "street" is sitting in traffic, no difference.

however, if you live in crestline, where i used to, the streets all wrap around the mountain and once you put one on, you can never live without them.

it all depends on how much you turn.

Brace Set
 

I have the AutoExec brace sets top and bottom. They have them for the towers and the tunnel. Costly but well worth it. Turns like a Mini and runs like a Viper.
http://corksport.com/store/category/...sion_misc.html

case closed...same thing I've heard from other experienced drivers, not street squids

At this point, 79 % of the people who have voted disagree with you. Yeah, case closed!!!

WVrX7 whats your setup? tires, struts, and springs? are you just an r1? 1.19 is pretty impressive...

So, conveniently, the few that see things your way are right, and the vast majority don't know what they are talking about? I think you just insulted a lot of people.

Nothing too potent.

I have Konis, Ground Control Coil-overs, Eibach Race Springs and Kumho Victoracer tires.

http://webpages.charter.net/wsgammon...atavir0606.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/wsgammon...Ourpaddock.jpg

I stand by what I typed.

If strut brace makes an owner feel better, that's great, but if that piece of metal truly makes a difference, then there is something wrong with the car.

How was the install on the bottom pieces?

It looks like the top ones won't fit on my FD--engine bay b/c of ignition amp placement and rear hatch b/c of battery placement.

Also, (kind of) on topic---although there is disagreement over the use of the front bar, go out and remove your *rear* strut tower bar and drive without it. You'll find out very fast that you need that bar to keep the car stable. My dad had accidentally not tightened his in his R1 after removing it temporarily to install struts/springs. The bar was there, but not bolted in.

Thank god he is a good driver, because the car scared the absolute shit out of us.....on a clear stretch of road he went wide open throttle, and toward redline went over a manhole cover with one rear tire, which upset the car and sent the rear end out. He had to correct like mad about six times before the car settled down.....at times the car was swaying like a pendulum so violently that we were in the oncoming traffic lane, which was empty. All in all, not a fun experience.

I felt the street difference with the front one removed from my R1 when I tested it over 6 years ago. That was driving around 90 degree corners near my house.
Under the speed limit but faster than most peole do it. It was more of a turn-in response feeling.

My two cents
 

It is kinda obvious that BMW, Audi and the rest of the better Auto makers spend a lot of money trying to make the chassis stable and stiff. I wonder why all the racers and the Auto reviewers speak to it so often. The roll cage protects the driver, true, but its real reason for being is to stiffen the body. I raced a little in the 70,s and play around now that I am old. Take a look at any winning car. You will see a lot of braces. While the tires will lose traction with and without the braces…what they do for you is add control. This is my 2 cents. Don’t take my word go to the track and have a look. I have NEVER seen a winning car without the body braces. Maybe someone could enlighten me.

I will take a picture of the rear tower brace and post it tomorrow, the bottom set is a bit harder to show. They went in pretty well. Took less than a week to do the top and about 2 days for the bottom.

Doc

i call b/s a piece of metal isnt going to make your 20 mph turn around the stoplight on the street any better, stop lying to yourself if you're saying you can honestly feel a stiffer turn in or flatter cornering from a strut tower bar on the street. sway bars are a bit different you can feel a removed swaybar on the street easily.

the track is obviously a different story, when you're putting extreme loads on the chassis you'd bet you can feel the difference with a strut tower brace, and it helps a lot too!

The front strut tower bar does not improve handling for the street. Can you feel a difference with and without? Sure. Does that difference equal a handling improvement? Not IMO.

As far as that disagreeing with the majority, I'm not bothered in the least :p:

Completely different story on the track. I notice a definite improvement in the feel of turn in response and that's a plus because it gives the driver clearer feedback, but it doesn't add performance to the chassis.

Damon,

I don't autocross much anymore. My local club lost its lot years ago. Because I have to drive 140 miles (one way) to get to the event, I only go 2-3 times per year. With relatively few events each year, I just race on my street tires (Toyo T1-R). Are you saying that a strut tower brace make ZERO difference for me while autocrossing? I believe it does improve my car's handling while autocrossing. And if it does while autocrossing on street tires, how is that different than pushing the car hard thru low speed turns on the street?

I contend that it does make a difference on the street, especially on a car with stock suspension.