TRD brace set, or Cusco?

[VersionUp]

Originally Posted by jkonquer

I dont know how much "racing" experience you have, but most of people will not use cusco suspension due to the lack of "stress tolerance" for racing. I for one had all cusco parts and now i have none. I see their parts fail all the time. Their products werent made with much thought into it

Seriously, cusco parts are mainly for show, just look at their cage, chassis/bumper braces, and etc. if you still believe that cusco parts are made for full on racing, i got nothing more to say

So that is where you're basing your opinion?

So you think these Cusco engineers sit in a meeting room tinkering on what existing part they have on the market that they can hack out to make it fit in another model?

I've a lot of Cusco before and not a single failure. Purchase your Cusco products from an authorized dealer not from eBay. LoL.

oh BTW "racing" experience- just TRD NASCAR program. And yea we suck, we like blowing engines up.

[illusivema70]

from my experience and it was mentioned previously, TRD is rebadged "insert company specializing in specific product here". Springs used to be and still might be Eibach etc. Intake contract expired with a certain company a few years ago. with that being said I am sure the product does what it is intended to do, the difference is how long and how well. I have had and still have TRD exhaust and braces for Celica and Supras. I will tell you I was impressed and pissed, when stuff failed where is the support? replacement parts? what do you mean discontinued? either way TRD is good.

Cusco now....well I love their products!! I have had their braces on my Supra for a long time, no corrosion, no breakage and no issues of any sort and I have had them since 2004 with hard track days and autox. I now have them on my FRS and whoever said there is no benefits and that automakers build a rigid car towards where it makes them unnecessary.....uhhhh wrong! you can feel the difference going over speed bumps! I beat the car up and a few track days already without and with braces and I will tell you I am so glad I have the Cusco product on my ride. it makes the suspension cycle like it is designed to and lets you feel like you are in TOTAL control at all times.

sorry for the long response and I hope I made sense, Cusco 1st, TRD 1.5 lol. I unfortunately can't respond on Whiteline though. no experience with.

[Ravenlokk]

old thread is old! /troll

[switchlanez]

Originally Posted by VersionUp

You are 100% absolutely wrong. ALL Cusco products are developed chassis specific. TRD doesn't have a real advantage 'cause they couldn't produce an "aftermarket" product until the platform is finished. And TRD also shares their specs and data to Cusco, and Cusco actually do R&D with products with more "stress tolerance" for racing.

Originally Posted by illusivema70

from my experience and it was mentioned previously, TRD is rebadged "insert company specializing in specific product here". Springs used to be and still might be Eibach etc. Intake contract expired with a certain company a few years ago. with that being said I am sure the product does what it is intended to do, the difference is how long and how well. I have had and still have TRD exhaust and braces for Celica and Supras. I will tell you I was impressed and pissed, when stuff failed where is the support? replacement parts? what do you mean discontinued? either way TRD is good.

Cusco now....well I love their products!! I have had their braces on my Supra for a long time, no corrosion, no breakage and no issues of any sort and I have had them since 2004 with hard track days and autox. I now have them on my FRS and whoever said there is no benefits and that automakers build a rigid car towards where it makes them unnecessary.....uhhhh wrong! you can feel the difference going over speed bumps! I beat the car up and a few track days already without and with braces and I will tell you I am so glad I have the Cusco product on my ride. it makes the suspension cycle like it is designed to and lets you feel like you are in TOTAL control at all times.

sorry for the long response and I hope I made sense, Cusco 1st, TRD 1.5 lol. I unfortunately can't respond on Whiteline though. no experience with.

Guys, be careful which TRD you are referring to. TRD Japan has had access to this car since early development. I prefer their parts over any other aftermarket company including TRD USA. I've had TRD USA Celica parts... with clangy springs/struts, snapped brackets, and other people have had their TRD USA exhausts bust open on them. And I've seen some posts on this forum comment on less than reliable TRD USA supercharger kits for other cars. But TRD Japan stuff... man... that's some well thought out engineering. They develop parts in-house or with a tuning arm such as Sportivo which ends up stamped on the parts (I've had a complete TRD Sportivo suspension kit for my MR-S). I'd say TRD Japan is more thought out than Cusco and here's why...

Cusco's stuff tends to beefier than TRD. There is such a thing as too beefy/stiff. If a company offers thicker sway bars but nothing else to complement that upgrade then it's up to you to figure to upgrade your end links and/or replace your rubber mounts with urethane (I've had a sway bar mounting bracket break on me). You may need one, the other, or both. Sometimes a basic bolt will be your weakest link (in which case you'd need to overbore stock screw holes to fit bigger bolts which I've had to do) which sucks. TRD designs everything to work with OEM parts or will include any necessary bits to support your upgrade as a kit. People tend to frown upon how TRD comes out with more conservative parts (not beefy enough, needs MoAR LoW, etc.). Well... yeah... but you'll be happier with it in the long term because they design for reliability and not so scrape your front lip everywhere you go.

[GT86_PRAGUE]

Originally Posted by TuxedoCartman

<face-palm> See opening post where I said I'm looking for comparisons on these two items, NOT advice on what other parts you think I should be buying.

And the car may not have rear struts, but that doesn't stop Cusco from offering, quote, "Rear Strut Tower Bar." I'm sure you knew what was being referred to, but it's easier to be snarky on the internet than to weigh in with anything useful.

Edit: side note here: why do people consider chassis bracing for this car "show"? You can't even SEE most of this stuff once it's installed. Hell, both TRD and Cusco had to take the whole rear of the car apart just to give a glimpse as to how the bumper brace is installed. Do you guys really think I'm buying these so I can pull into a PepBoys parking lot, pop the hood, and give all the fanbois wood?

So, whichone did you got?

[MaxxCann]

I installed the JDM TRD member brace kit and I can take 90 degree corners at 45 mph + with nearly no body roll. I also have most of the TRD suspension stuff except the sway bars, and to be honest I don't know if it's all in my head, but it looks tough as shit!!!!