What is the best bang for the buck strut bar
 

As title says.

Either strut bar or the the whole 3 piece (triangle) brace system. Looking for functionality and looks/build quality

Strictly for functionality? Stock. Seriously.

If you want something pretty, buy the one that looks the prettiest to you.

Stock doesnt have a strut tower brace....

If you're looking for bang for the buck, a strut bar isn't going to get you much functional improvement to the car. Lots of other things you can do for the same amount of money.

Honestly, you'd see much more handling improvement from the 5 dollar OEM camber bolts and a performance alignment.

- Andy

That said, the grimmspeed piece looks nice.

We have a whiteline strut bar on our car and it's fine. It is much more noticeable when you have moved on to stickier rubber and firmer suspension. On a stock car it's not much of a difference.

- andy

Thanks Andy!

Stock has a triangular brace that works far better than any aftermarket strut bar.

-alex

Strut bars are really just about the bling. They're the last thing you should do suspension-wise if you're looking for improvement per dollar. You just see them all over the place because they are easy to install and look cool.

Now, once you've got your suspension upgraded to the point where you're seeing higher lateral loads than the car was likely designed for, then a strut tower bar can be a good choice. But not before then.

So get one early to look good, or get one later to keep your suspension where you last left it.

If you're in the market for one anyways, I personally like the Cusco/Whiteline bar with the Master Cylinder brace. Again, near-stock it does very little. But it looks cool, clears the Innovate SC, and the M/C brace is good to have if you upgrade the rest of your braking system. However, bang-for-the-buck it isn't.

I removed mine for the supercharged and didn't notice a change. As long as you have a quality set of coilovers it's hard for it to be noticeable. However, I did order one that will clear. I like the look.

Precisely!

We don't use one on our car. Neither does Robispec. Or Evasive (on their street BRZ).

I'm assuming the front does benefit from a strut bar because it came with one stock. Adding an extra aftermarket one probably doesn't do much. I'd guess if anything adding a rear bar would be more helpful vs the front since the rear doesn't come with one from factory.

The front comes triangulated, but doesn't have a direct connection from tower to tower. That's not to say there is enough flex to warrant one. I don't think there is until you're generating MUCH higher lateral loads. But the fact that it comes with the triangulation bars at all means that the chassis is capable of producing enough forces to distort the front clip.

The rear "strut bar" is even more useless. It connect the tops of the rear "struts", but they're not even struts. They're just dampers and do not locate the suspension at all. Connecting the two tops (which are already connected via a flat floor board, would do absolutely nothing for handling. You'd be better served with under-chassis braces on parts that actually locate the rear suspension arms.

the oem fronts does not really do anything.

i removed them due to my turbo placement and car still handles the same

While I don't doubt that you noticed no difference, I highly doubt Subaru / Toyota would spend the money to put them on the car if they served no function.