[GrimmSpeed]

ATTENTION: The Group Buy is officially CLOSED!

Check out our website for more information or to purchase your brace!



[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YrchyZDwiQ"]GrimmSpeed BRZ/FR-S Strut Tower Brace Install Guide - YouTube[/ame]

It's official, ladies and gentleman. Strut bars are back from powdercoat and are looking really sharp! Most of you have been following it's development since day one, but for those that haven't, what you see here is the very best and most cost effective strut tower brace available. In both simulated and on-road testing, we're able to show that the factory triangulation bar actually do their jobs quite well! The only missing piece is a rigid bar tying both strut towers together, completing the triangle, and let me tell you, what a difference it makes. From the moment you pull out of the driveway, you'll feel a stiffer front end. Less creaks, noticeably smoother and more stable over cracks/potholes/etc and much snappier steering response. I wouldn't say it if it weren't true, but you don't have to take my word for it!



Quick Specs:

• Laser cut, CNC bent brackets ensure a perfect fit
• Mild steel construction provides maximum stiffness
• Rigid design prevents unnecessary slop and tolerance stacking
• Durable duPont powercoat
• Legal in autocross classes that allow a strut tower bar but no other modification
• Installation in minutes with only a single tool

(MSRP: $158.99)















Original Post:

We're back at it again folks, and once again we're looking for your input! In our previous ft86club collaboration, the hood struts, the ideas and responses from the community here were very valuable. With your help we were able to release an extremely successful product with ideas and features that YOU want. So please, once again, any and all input is welcome whether you have a question, concern, idea, or just want to hit us with some motivational words!

Most people are aware of what a strut tower brace does, but aren't entirely aware of why they want one. So what does it actually do? Most people would say: "It stiffens up the front of the car." But what does that accomplish, and how does it actually make your car better?

Lets start with some expectations of what it SHOULD be doing: A properly designed strut tower brace should reduce movement between the strut towers, which results in more predictable handling characteristics. What you should notice as a driver (especially if you have sticky tires and complimentary upgrades) is increased response, turn-in, and traction. This is accomplished because you are minimizing a portion of the chassis as an additional deflection in the suspension system, which removes some unwanted changes in camber, castor, etc. An additional side effect of adding a strut tower brace that is often overlooked comes from reducing chassis flex. Reducing movement will reduce fatigue, which is useful for increasing the structural longevity of the car itself.

The first thing that we did before developing any concepts was to determine if these cars actually benefit from a strut tower brace, as we're not interested in providing a part that does nothing. These cars already come stock with triangulation bars to provide additional rigidity, so we wanted to determine how effective these were, and if we wanted to design a brace that included them as well. We will touch on the specifics of our testing in another post, but in the interest of brevity we'll summarize our testing and results here. We made a very simple brace out of metal that fit on the studs on the strut towers that the triangulation bars are bolted to. We then took several data sets with our Faro Arm with and without different combinations of the stock triangulation bars and prototype strut tower brace. We did this to compare how much the strut towers were deflecting when we jacked up one side of the chassis to a calibrated height. This is NOT indicative of the lateral loads the strut towers see in cornering, where the forces are much higher and specifically located. Instead, this test is much more simplified, and results seen here will be more exaggerated when applied to real life cornering.



I took several data sets and then compiled them looking for trends. In my software I held one strut tower in place, and measured the differences in deflection in the other strut tower. I'll post a picture here showing some quick visual results. The blue stud represents the car sitting on the ground, completely unloaded. The yellow stud is the car loaded (jacked up to a calibrated height) with the triangulation bars and our prototype strut tower brace. The green stud is the car loaded with just triangulation bars. Finally, the red stud is the car loaded without the triangulation bars or strut tower bar.



What this initially shows is that the stock triangulation bars do a pretty decent job of minimizing deflection. It also shows us that adding a strut tower brace to those triangulation bars does an even better job at that task. Let the designs begin!!!

We've identified how the strut bar should perform as our initial criteria for design. From there, there are still so many decisions that need to be made. We've weighed many options, and are still on the fence with some. Should it be hinged, or welded solid? What mounting method/location should it use? Is adjusting for preload important? What should it look like? How much should it cost? The list goes on and on! Thus far, the direction we're leaning in is a strut tower bar that is welded solid, non-adjustable, fits over your stock triangulation bars, and utilizes those two mounting studs. We're thinking something that is clean and appears to be OEM...

We've whipped up a few designs in CAD, just to get moving, and we're interested in showing off a couple to give you an idea of the direction we're headed in. These will most likely be made in steel, and powdercoated textured black. Use these quick concepts as a jumping off point for your ideas, and let us know what you like, what you don't, what is important to you, and what isn't, we want to hear it all!



I know what you're thinking: "I dunno, I guess I need to see what it looks like on the car to really be able to tell." Well, me too. So I used my favorite thing in the world to print one of these concepts up:

Re-read this post a couple of times, take a look at the pictures, visualize it on your own car, then come back and let us know your opinions! I'll be updating this thread often as this project progresses, just the same as we did on our thread about the hood struts. We literally can not wait to hear your ideas, so don't be shy!

Chase
Engineering