[Stomachbuzz]

Originally Posted by qqzj

So my question is that whether you guys can tell any difference after installation on street/highway driving? I am driving daily on 280 of SF bay area. So quite some turns on the highway. My major concern is, of course, whether the added weight of the bar will make it undesirable?


Finally, I plan to pick a good brand bar. So how would you rank the common brands? from ftspeed.com, looks like the carbon fiber Cusco one is the best w.r.t. weight. How does it compare to others? Like aluminum Cusco? is Beatrush a decent brand? Thanks.

First of all, I actually passively recommend this as a good place to start. Years ago, I used to work on my cars all the time. Then I got consumed with work and school. Adding a strut tower bar to my car was the first non-oil change thing I'd done to a car in quite a while. It was nice getting into the spirit of modifying something and making it my own, even if the actual performance gains are negligible.
It's a good place to start, and an install that's unlikely to overwhelm you.

I installed a now-discontinued DC Sports front strut bar on my car. Some venders are now selling them for $65 + free shipping on Amazon, so it's a pretty dang cheap upgrade.
You can get triangular 3-link braces elsewhere, but that's another conversation.

Weight is pretty negligible. Assuming my DC Sports bar is made of common steel (vs. aluminum or something lighter weight), it weighs like 3-4 lbs if I had to guess.

Notice a difference? Not quite yet. I put it on about 2 weeks ago, and it's been primarily highway driving since. Haven't thrashed it too hard. Don't feel disappointed though.

Originally Posted by qqzj

Strut tower brace might be the easiest thing to add.

Yes.

Originally Posted by 7 skulls

I have Cusco front and rear strut bars as well as TRD door stiffeners. I felt a noticeable difference for each. Regular street driving, you won't notice. Find a nice empty highway or parking lot and do a slow speed slalom, you will feel it. My brother swears my car rides rougher. Small differences.

Definitely agree on the small differences part. Even if each addition isn't significantly noticeable, doing 3 or 4 small things can add up and help you get to know your car better.

Originally Posted by Nuts & Bolts Performance

+1 for the sway bar upgrade. You'll notice the difference from stiffer sway bars MUCH more than strut bars.

Typically when people install stiffer suspension, it's to help remove the body roll lot reduce the transition time the suspension takes when moving left to right quickly. Sway bars would accomplish this, but still keep your ride "feeling like stock" during compression and rebound of the damper.

Another nice "upgrade" would be wheel spacers. You can run as much as a 25mm with a 225/45/17 tire without running into issues. It'll not only improved the look of the car, but will increase the track width of the vehicle by close to 2".

Interesting note about sway bars not adding harshness unnecessarily.
The wheel spacers are also interesting from a performance standpoint, vs just adapters to make a certain wheel fit.
Are wheel spacers safe to add willy-nilly? Not much of an issue with only 25mm (at max) on stock lugs I'm sure, but I always feel it will overstress the studs. Also not sure if this would affect alignment. I guess it wouldn't affect the alignment, but the stock alignment might no longer be proper? Not sure...

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

In no particular order, here are a few good cheap handling/chassis upgrades on a stock car for not too much money:

1. Performance alignment
2. Steering rack bushings or steering rack lockdown
3. Performance alignment
4. Whiteline rear subframe and rear diff bushing inserts (mild increase in noise)
5. brake master cylinder brace
6. good street/sport brake pads
7. uhhh a performance alignment is pretty good

All of the above are pretty easy to install, but the alignment takes a professional.

Swaybars are a good relatively inexpensive option too, but it depends on your goals.

The grimspeed strut tower bar is not a bad upgrade (i have one) but it's not as noticeable as other options.

- Andrew

Good list. Appreciated.