[Shankenstein]

First off, please try to be respectful when criticizing a supplier who actively supports our community (with engineering content, customer support, group buys, and vendor fees).

As a quality engineer, I'll add my 2 cents:
- Bolting to that area is relatively risk-free. There's plenty of reinforcement at the strut mounts, and M10 bolts can withstand ~5000 lbs in single shear (Class 8.8). With 2 on each side, I'm pretty certain other components will be failing first.
- The difference between stitch/spot welds and running a full bead is minimal. Tack welds are a different story.
- The XIIIMotorsports bar looks over-designed, but more structural rigidity is a good thing.
- If Grimmspeed isn't getting significant field returns or customer complaints, that's a good indicator of quality. Validation/Simulations are an important part of the R&D process, but field data is king.

We all want good quality parts in the aftermarket, and both of these fit the bill. From what I can tell XIIIMotorsports makes some legit bushings/mounts for other vehicles. Their bar looks beefy. There's no reason to suspect that they copied Grimmspeed's design, since this is a mature product sector with FT86Speedfactory and Perrin also having similar "keep it simple" solutions.

If I were in the market for a strut brace, I'd support the guys who invested early in their R&D with legit tools (like a FARO arm), data analysis, and taking the time to market the product transparently.