I've heard that aliens visit our planet and the Easter Bunny is real

There's a big difference between solidly mounting the bar to the structure and purposely distorting the structure.

 

It was a quick thought...In fact, I can see that this Isn't the cars natural stance If done the pre-loading method. There would be too much forced tension If done this way anyway, I'll pass.

Oh, I hear you about those Aliens and the damn Bunny too.

 

okay, i don't have time to post a lengthy reply, but here is the thing about preloading.
the way i see it, you are not going to get much difference in chassis dynamics WITHOUT purposely distorting the default stance. when you raise the car up you are taking off suspension load. of course the chassis is still loaded to some degree (structurally it must be).
when you go and place the strut bar onto the chassis, and then lower the car to return suspension loading, what happens is that some of the load gets carried through the bar via the suspension. of course you have changed tensions and dynamics of the chassis, but this is the only way that you can alter the path forces take transferring through the chassis.
if you were to simply install the bar when the car is on the ground, the bar would not take partial chassis load and would only come into play when the chassis flexes or transfers enough force to send load to the bar. the thing is, how much does an RX-7 chassis actually flex? i am sure all of you can say that extent is quite minimal for a street car. this is why merely installing it at neutral load would not do a whole lot...at least not from the view point why you are installing this bar in the first place...

now the discussion about whether this loading is good or not i guess i must look further into. in terms of performance all i have are before and after impressions. that in itself i can't support anything on, so i guess this is up for further discussion and research...

also note that the effect of installing something like this is minimal, so it makes it even harder (and i guess to a extent more useless) to discuss.

 

Are we supposed ton "pre-load" the strut tower bar upon installation? I didn't do this whenI put mine on a couple years ago. I don't want to re-install just to pre-load it since I just had my alignment done. Did all of you guys pre-load?

 

Just a note about rear strut bars on FCs. A rear strut bar seems to help temendously in controlling wheelhop, as well as make the rear end tigher during hard cornering. I know FDs come with their stock rear bar, but on an FC the addition of one, I think, makes a great improvement.

 

Strur bars, definitly help; but the difference is so small it's unlikely you would even notice a difference.

 

I guess some people do believe in the Easter Bunny. The strut bar merely needs to be solidly mounted to the chassis. The structure of the car is in equilibrium so to speak when it's parked on the ground. After all, we do drive our cars with the tires on the ground, right?

The bar works in both tension and compression; it's not a one way street.

 

When you install a strut bar, it will act to keep the struts in one position. By installing in a neutral position (as the car sits normally), the chasis will work as it is designed. By preloading the chasis before installing the bar, you will introduce some chasis flex (probably not much) that will distort the chasis when it is put back on the ground. It will not be allowed to return to its intended position. I believe that this will put the chasis in a continuously "stressed position". Eventually, the metal chasis will bend a little bit to relieve this stress, and you will no longer have a pre loaded chasis. You will be back to where you started, and you will have a (minimally) distorted chasis.

 

I just ordered the CS front bar for my vert. As you guys are saying it will surely help stiffen things up, especially since I have more body flex then the coupes.

I also plan on getting the rear one here soon.

ah Btw, I heard that you can't close the top with the rear bar installed. I took the spare cover off and saw it had some room that it could fit in. THe only thing I think would get in the way is the cover mounting holes.
Would it work, or do I have to keep the cover off?

 

I installed a R1 front bar on my FD today and the difference was very noticeable.
Without the bar, when I take a hard corner, I would turn in, it would feel like it's going to understeer for 1/2 a second, then it bites ... kind of a weird feeling.

With the bar on tonight, when I take a hard corner, it would turn in, car will bit immediately with confidence.

I did have to set the probably tension with the tension bolt.