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TRD brace set, or Cusco?
I rarely find myself this stumped on parts selection for my ride, but here I am: I can't decide between the TRD Member Brace Set (the red set, seen here), or the same parts from Cusco's Powerbrace line (seen here).
On the one hand, Cusco makes some damn fine parts; I used some of their suspension components on my 03 WRX I owned, and was happy with most of them. However, I know some of their stuff can be poorly thought-out (such as the underbody braces they made for the WRX that didn't fit if you had a cat-back exhaust), and sometimes seem a bit... lightweight... for structural support duty. Still, they race with the parts they design, and seem to do pretty well at it, and their parts are cheaper and seemingly easier to get at the moment. On the other hand, TRD is in-house Toyota, so they've got a head-start on access to the car, and insight from the engineers no other company has. Their brace set seems to be beefier, and of heavier grade steel (which I'm conflicted on, as weight is bad for sports driving, but good for functioning as a chassis brace). Also impressed by their proactive release of a statement explaining why they didn't release some suspension components offered by "other" car tuners; apparently they didn't produce a rear strut-bar because they felt it would upset the chassis balance. Between that and the superior design of their front-strut tower bar, I tend to trust their designs a lot more. (Actually have the TRD front strut-bar on order already). However, TRD has a bit of a reputation for offering very mild performace parts, and banking on their Toyota name association for sales. So I dunno... For those of you out there with experience with both companies, who would you go with for chassis bracing parts? :iono: (P.S. Not looking for opinions on whether chassis braces are altogether dumb, or what other parts you think I should be buying, etc... If that's all you've got to contribute to this thread, kindly move along.) |
Skip em both and wait for Whiteline. They build the beefiest suspension components and braces for cheap.
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Are you looking for show or go? Order goes from trd to cusco to whiteline.
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Really? Am i reading you right, that you feel the Cusco braces are more purpose built? Any particular reasons you've got to support that theory? |
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it's all metal
go with whoever uses better steel and better powder coating |
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don't have any first hand experience, but i do know that TRD USA just rebranded parts from other cheap aftermarket brands, which kind of ruined the TRD brand name in america. but TRD parts in japan are legendary. TRD LSDs, carbon fiber body parts, headers, for cars like the AE86 were all highly sought after even after they were discontinued, they had practically holy grail status. TRD engines like the 4A-GE and 3S-GE were insane, itbs, cams with insane duration, 9000 rpm redlines, extremely high comp ratios, dry sump oil systems. the TRD 4A-GE made 200 hp from a 1.6 liter motor, the 2.0 liter 3S-GE made 280 hp, both n/a.
based on the reviews i've seen of the full TRD GT86, i can assure you that the parts are made by the same people, they're definitely legit. |
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So... do you have any experience with chassis braces by either of these companies, or are you just criticizing me for not pulling my answers up by their own bootstraps? |
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these are metal rectangles with holes in them :bonk: |
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Go the TRD, the more TRD stuff we buy the more they will support the car..
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I'm new to this from the BMW world. Are these cars just have that much chassis flex? Other than the factory subframe brace and strut bars that were fully welded or allowed for pre-tensioning, not a lot of people even bothered with this kind of stuff. Does $1000 in chassis braces have the same impact as $1000 in shocks?
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Depends if you like red or blue better.
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if you really are about go and not show, there are dozens of ways to better spend your money. also, it is likely that trd did not make a rear strut brace because the frs does not have rear struts
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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. :thumbdown: 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? |
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i dont know about you but i think offering a strut bar where there are no struts seems like it cant be for anything other than show. why dont you just the objectives that each part accomplishes? what are you trying to accomplish with these parts? id be surprised if they made you any faster and will likely just bump you into a crazy racing class. what kind of advice are you expecting on two products that havent both been owned by a single person on this forum and more importantly provide no data or testing on the products? but ill go away...good luck on your endeavor |
Loads are still being fed into shock towers regardless of suspension design. That being said, the whole purpose of reducing chassis flex is about precision of the suspension. I don't think it will be worth significant gains until after sticky tires and other mods. But if precision is the priority I think bushings would be a better starting point.
So until you have a lot of complimentary mods, just pick the colour you like better, or name you like saying better. |
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As for asking for advice on products on this forum... yes, I can name at least one person who has experience with the Cusco braces on this exact car. And this may come as a surprise to you, but... CUSCO AND TRD MAKE PRODUCTS FOR OTHER CARS TOO!!! <gasp!> Shocking, right? See, my message was aimed at those out there who've had Cusco Powerbraces on their RX-7's and WRX's, and TRD Member Braces on their Supras and MR2's. If one person says, "Yeah, I had the TRD on my Celica, and it was solid!" and another says, "Meh, the Cusco stuff on my STi was warped after a year"... then I can use my brain-meats, and figure out that this might... might... be indicative of future results on the FR-S. But I forgot... I'm on the internet. Worse, I'm on a car forum. My bad. :slap: |
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how stiff do you need the chassis to be? all these braces seem to me like they are a relic from car culture past. cars are built more rigid each and every year. the interior light in my corolla used to come on under heavy loads, there i can see that helping but cars now...im not trying to start an internet fight so again, good luck in your search. i hope you get what you are looking for |
lol for someone "not trying to start an internet fight" you came on pretty heavy with the haterade for a while there. @OP, why don't you ask moto directly? he has cusco parts installed on his FRS and i'm sure he's had experience with TRD parts on his AE86.
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Also remember. Most of the cusco parts are Not designed ground up from the specific car, they are usually part designed on different car made to fit on specific cars. So as far as R&D, i would say trd has more time on |
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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 |
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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?:lol: 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. :bonk: |
Cusco FTW!
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. |
old thread is old! /troll
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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. |
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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!!!!
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