I think your entire argument is flawed.
1-You admit a driver and other conditions can account for 3 tenths (hypothetical out of ass figure). So why can't a change by the driver or other environmental conditions negate a potential advantage to improved chassis stiffness?
2-I already pointed out just adding increased stiffness doesn't guarantee anything. If I add stickier rubber which has potentially more grip but adds 3 lbs more per corner will I go slower or faster on a 2800lb car with 120lbs/ft of torque (even though my grip envelope has increased)? Slower because I haven't done anything to take advantage of the new found potential.
3-You haven't tried it and are talking about abstract unrelated hypotheticals that make no sense for form a conclusion of "placebo". This is just ignorant.
4-Looking for 0.3 secs from an autocross as a quantifiable metric to indicate strut bars do NOT increase chassis rigidity is ridiculous and wrong.
5-Did you do a before and after at the autox comparing laptimes with a lightweight battery versus stock? How about the passenger seat removed? How about the spare? What were the times before and after? Do those things "make a difference" in your objective mind? Do any of those things require any changes in settings or driver input to best maximize those changes and translate them to gains in laptime?
6-If you want actual "proof" I can link a front tower bar from another car I have with clearly visible cracks from mechanical stress over years of use. Stress that was obviously absorbed by the bar and not the chassis. That's quantifiable proof, not talking BS about autocross lap times to prove a claim about mechanical engineering.
If I link the pic, will you stop QQing about your wisdom?
Otherwise be a man, find someplace with an acceptable return policy and put on a Hotchkiss and just drive up and down off your driveway and come back and say whether you noticed no obvious difference if you really care that much to keep crying about it. Otherwise stop pontificating like an expert in something you have no experience with and basically calling everyone else with actual user experience deluded or stupid (yes that's what invoking the placebo claim on others essentially means).
Till then, just stop commenting about things you don't understand please.
Thanks.
