Short Initial Review - Radium MC Brace

[Capt Spaulding]

I bought and installed one of Radium's black MC braces this week. Installation was a breeze and the brace made a noticeable difference in braking performance.

First, Installation. All told, the installation took about 15 minutes from opening the hood to latching it. I chose not to remove the strut tower stabilizer and it was a bit of a toss up. If I had it would probably have saved me 3 to 5 minutes. It would have taken me 3 - 5 minutes to remove and replace it.

Other than that, it's dirt simple. Remove the black stickers on the strut tower; compress the little finger thingies to release the fuel line holder from its bracket; and remove the bolt/bracket. I installed the brace bolts just over finger tight (don't forget to reinstall the fuel line bracket), then adjusted the stop bolt as directed (1/2 turn beyond contact with the MC) and then tightened to 6mm bolts holding the brace with a 4mm allen bit. The only dodgy thing was the allen recess in the bolts seemed a wee bit sloppy for the 4mm allen bits I had. It worked, but didn't feel all that reassuring when tightening them. Click the fuel line holder back into the bracket, confirm the correct preload on the stop bolt, drop the hood and go for a spin.

The difference is impressive. I've been looking for a way to firm up the brake pedal since I bought the car a year ago. They firmed up a bit as the pads bedded, but never got to the point I wanted. I considered new pads, SS lines, and the MC brace. Since my pads were almost new and the lines are a bigger pain, I went the MC brace route. Good move, Jim. The pedal moves through the take-up phase, the pads make contact with the discs, and from that point on there is very little pedal travel all the way to incipient lockup (or at least pissing off the abs - with stock tires). Sure you can push hard enough to get a bit more movement, but I'm pretty sure you'd be well past ABS engagement (unless you're running pretty gummy rubber).

I only have about 40 miles on the car with the brace installed, but the brakes feel much firmer and it seems to make heel/toeing a little easier. The pedal stops in one place and all I have to do is modulate pressure on the pedal and roll my fat foot over onto the accelerator. The bottom line? Well worth the money to me. I suspect the similar products offered by most of the major houses would perform just as well. Happy stopping.