Ust after some better handling in my fc. Don't have coilovers yet. But just wondering if getting front and rear strut tower braces will make any kind of difference to standard suspension??

 

couldn't hurt... the benefits are more apparent the stiffer your springs are. so with stock suspension, they aren't doing much.

 

If you are not adjusting your suspension and racing, they will not make you faster. However, they will give you some more road feel, and could make the car more fun to drive. If you're after plain old better handling no questions asked, just get some sick sticky summer rubber.

 

yes they do help, but the difference is small, Mazda's SAE paper suggests the front strut bar is about a 2% difference in body rigidity.

so it helps, but a 2% difference in body rigidity does not equal a 2% increase in handling.

as part of an overall suspension upgrade they are a good thing

 

all front end rigidity really does is increase the effectiveness of your front sway bar. the bigger the bar, the more benefit. conversely, less body roll = less benefit. either way, increasing chassis stiffness will change your total lateral load transfer distribution (TTLTD) towards understeer (in most FR cars anyway). That means you can run less bar for a given balance, all else equal.

Here's mine :-)
best i could come up with for purely bolt on- welded bracing is always better.

 

lol

That is very nice bracing.

Although, your car has greater use for it. More weight higher and further forward. Presumably higher speeds and thus higher acceleration and turning forces all around.

I've ridden in two V8 FCs in autocross. They were both sloppy compared to my stock TII suspension, which surprised me. Not that you can't build a superior V8 monster, but it does increase the forces at the front of the car, and you should account for it. V8 swaps are not simple.

I do like yours.