Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community - FT86CLUB

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Originally Posted by MattHoffman (Post 2314702)

What kind of impact do these have on the car? I get the idea but, I don't know how useful they are other than looking cool. lol. If you got the time I'd appreciate any feed back if you have them, or one, installed on your car.

Most of the aftermarket ones do little to nothing or may do more harm than good to a DD car. I'd say unless you're stiffing most of the rest of the chassis and swapping out soft bushings for hard joints, they're mostly engine bay eye candy.

For the BRZ Ts, Subaru engineers discuss the strut bar and properly reducing hysteresis while not harming the ride by tuning the strut bar. Read this to give you an idea of the kind of engineering that needs to go into a product like this vs. slapping on a strut bar to make the front end stiffer.

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Originally Posted by THIS ARTICLE

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...s_first_drive/ ...This is where the innate flexibility of the BRZ's chassis and the controlled flexibility of the tS parts seem to work together. STI engineers explained that the flexible strut tower brace and draw stiffeners promote rigidity only in certain directions. The spherical bearing equipped strut tower brace apparently adds structural support across the shock towers for great steering response while also allowing for a bit of vertical movement that is key for maximum tire contact, and a smooth ride. Same goes for the draw stiffeners mounted to the undercarriage; tension within the shafts keeps the wheels running true, even under loads that would cause unbraced wheels to lift or deflect. If it sounds too good to be true, you're not alone; our technical gurus Frank Markus and Kim Reynolds remain thoroughly unconvinced until a clearer explanation or test vehicle can be provided. That being said, I had the honor of driving a standard Japanese-spec BRZ and the tS around Japan's legendary Suzuka Circuit and can confidently say that whatever STI is doing works well. Really well. The tS feels noticeably more planted -- as though it is more susceptible to Earth's gravitational pull. It enters and exits corners with greater confidence, precision, and clarity than the stock BRZ, which is impressive as STI claims to have left the electric power steering system untouched...

http://www.subispeed.com/media/catal...er-brace-1.jpg

http://www.seriouswheels.com/pics-20...-1920x1200.jpg