Local opinion on strut tower braces
 

Most people seem to go Cusco, but there are other options available.

Anyone local have one they like that could offer an opinion on? Better to wait for Perrin or Grimmspeed to come out with something?

Cusco is a solid option.

We are thinking about making our own. The focus is on making a functional difference while looking good and not being expensive.

IMO there's a long list of things to do first to improve handling, but a strut brace is still nice.

- Andrew

Awesome, keep me posted if you guys decide to make one. I would love to help with testing, working with local guys is always preferred.

Functional difference with a simple, clean look and affordable would be great!

My opinion is that they are a waste of money. Get a larger front anti-sway bar and camber bolts first if you want to improve the handling.

...but it depends on your intentions. If you want to dress up the engine bay for a car show, go for it.

my damn whiteline bars have been on order for 6 weeks. They must have had a meltdown after SEMA

Thats your opinion

Makes a huge difference on my m3
Its definately not for show, got my bar used, its scuffed up, but hella functional

My blue GC bar is in the garage, itching to be bolted on

It is, but you cannot tell me a strut bar is more beneficial than a bigger front anti-sway bar. A strut bar can help, but it's probably one of the last chassis upgrades I'd consider (if at all).

Did your laptimes drop that significantly after bolting on a strut bar in the M3? I noticed zero difference in the BMWs I've driven in terms of feel or laptimes from simply bolting on a strut bar.

I'll do sway bars as well eventually, but I have had experience installing strut tower braces on Mustangs, where they definitely tightened things up.

My Miata has one stock and I drove with and without it on for comparrison and did not notice much of a difference, maybe a little one.

I guess through my experiences I have seen both sides of it, so on this car the jury may still be out. Cosmetically it of course looks good, but as an autocross unnecessary weight that does nothing is not desirable. If it does a little bit, and looks good, thats what I want.

It depends on your goal. A strut bar is going to improve the handling feel rather than actual grip. That's never a bad thing, but it's not going to improve lap times.

Stiffening up the front/rear sway bars would reduce body roll, but it can also change the balance of the car. If you get a stiff front bar by itself and do thing to the rear, you might induce understeer depending on how much stiffer you go, I suppose.

I don't know how this balanced this car is on decent tires, but the one AutoX I did on the stock tires made me think the car felt pretty balanced between understeer and oversteer, but that's probably because of the overall lack of grip the stock tires provide.

I was still in my Miata for autocross last season, but I'll have the FR-S for this spring. I have upgraded sways on my Miata and they definitely made a difference in cornering with body roll, but tires are of course the biggest thing.

Anyway, I think I'll hold out for a little bit and see what else the aftermarket produces. I know Perrin was prototyping something on their SEMA car, and they seem to have their act together.

Depending on your autocross class and unless rules change, you cannot add a strut bar for stock class. Due to that fact, I haven't even considered one. Plus, there are already OEM chassis bars connecting the firewall to the strut towers on our cars.

I ran one on my BMW for years and just sold it two seasons ago. I cannot notice any difference with/without it.

Strut tower braces are nothing that fancy.... I think any reputable brand would do fine...

A swaybar or even a few bushings will make a bigger difference. No question about that.

- andrew

the two do totally different things there is no relationship between strut bar and sway bar so not sure what youre talking about...

ones a chassis upgrade, another is a suspension upgrade

while I cant say times mattered, confidence in control and precision did, and thats enough joy for me to ante up my credit card for a strut bar on cars I track. There is a finite difference in feedback and steering response. Just take my car for a spirited drive, bring two box wrenches, remove the bar and drive again. simple. tell me you cant feel it, and I will show you my line, you WILL feel it. must go fast enough, with grippy enough tires for it to load things up enough to matter, or no, it wont. It may not in auto-x

Track is a different animal. Auto x you barely get past 40mph into most corner. Hard to tune at that speed.
Track you can go from triple digits into a hairpin, which is different for body roll, braking and steering setup. flaws, shortcomings errors in setup become stark.

Sways are part of your suspension tuning plan, it blows my mind how many folks shop sway bars like they were sweaters. Its physics. the math and spring rates need to work with your cars tires, coils, and build weight too, its not like some guys post, that thicker bars are better when it comes to sway bars. Its not so simple. Depends on what you are intending to do, or change

If you plan to stay on stock coils, get a bigger front bar, hollow is fine
if you plan to track your car, I prefer solid bars myself.

I need to buy both a 20mm and a 22mm front bar and see what I like, or atleast get some intel from folks who have tried both with a similar setup to mine, which may be different from what your setup is, and goals are. if youre drifting the car, maybe a 18mm rear is what you want. gotta try it and see if you ask me, so many variables from tires to yes, bushings all make a difference

no, not for show