Front Strut Tower Bar Question

[russv]

I am considering the front strut tower bar option for the new FRS. It appears to have 2 fairly rudimentary angled bars from the towers to the middle of the engine bay. I was wondering if anyone has experience with strut tower bars in other cars and if it would be worth the investment. I do not plan on autocrossing. Thanks

[MmmHamSandwich]

Originally Posted by russv

I am considering the front strut tower bar option for the new FRS. It appears to have 2 fairly rudimentary angled bars from the towers to the middle of the engine bay. I was wondering if anyone has experience with strut tower bars in other cars and if it would be worth the investment. I do not plan on autocrossing. Thanks

If you don't plan on competitive driving you likely won't notice a difference. The stock one should more than suffice.

[ichitaka05]

^Yup, pretty much. Keep it stock

[Racecomp Engineering]

Agreed. You would feel a much larger improvement from a good alignment (which would require some cheap camber bolts). You could do this without excessive or uneven wear on your tires as well.

- drew

[bneale]

As everyone has already mentioned, keep it stock if your not heavy into Road Racing or Autocross. It's not worth the extra cash unless your just trying to show off.

Even if you are a serious racer or want to get into it, a upper strut mount is probably the last upgrade you'd want to make. You'll get a way bigger performance increase from upgrading the swaybars (aka roll bars) then you would the strut mount.

I plan on Autocrossing and the first upgrades for me will be Rims and Tires followed by swaybars.

bneale

[tripjammer]

But that carbon fiber TRD strut tower bar, looks way cool.

[russv]

Originally Posted by tripjammer

But that carbon fiber TRD strut tower bar, looks way cool.

Yes!

[Bristecom]

The bars connecting to the center are the most effective. That's how all the WRC cars I've seen have it.

[bneale]

I saw that this morning. Yeah it does look nice. But thats about it for me. The extra weight it adds for me though wouldn't outweigh its performance increase. So for me its still not worth it.

If and when I decide to go that route, I think I prefer the cusco one! This is the one I like.

But to be honest, I'd rather get a smaller battery and shave weight before spending money on the strut mount.



bneale

[bneale]

Originally Posted by Bristecom

The bars connecting to the center are the most effective. That's how all the WRC cars I've seen have it.

Don't take this the wrong way, but just because you can see it, doesn't mean its better.

Trust me, the Rollbars / Swaybars are way more important then an upper strut mount. The sturt mount is only going to stop very small movements between the 2 mounting points. Can you imagine how much force has to be applied before the 2 mounting points actually start to move closer together? Or moving at all?

Again, you can see an upper strut mount (Which is probably why you guys are so interested in them) but the rollbars will make a bigger difference in handling.

Photo for reference. The black bar which runs underneath the transmission and connects to the lower part of the spring is what I'm talking about. This is the "Front Rollbar"







bneale

[tlp]

Do both. Add the struts and get a new battery. That way you offset any increase in weight with a lighter battery. Best of both worlds.

Only downside is money

[bneale]

Originally Posted by tlp

Do both. Add the struts and get a new battery. That way you offset any increase in weight with a lighter battery. Best of both worlds.

Only downside is money

Which is why an upper strut mount is the last thing on my mod list when it comes to buying parts for Autocrossing.

Seriously, its like part number 101 on my list of 100 parts. Number 1 being tires, 2 being wheels, and 3 being rollbars.

bneale

[Turbowned]

Even a thicker sway bar (or anti-roll bar to some) probably won't be necessary on a car that's not raced. The whole purpose of this chassis design is to reduce body roll from having a low center of gravity. Keep in mind the BRZ also has very neutral handling, so that could turn into a more understeer-prone car if the rest of the suspension isn't adjusted accordingly along with it.

[bneale]

Turbowned makes a good point. I'm probably going to consider a good set of coilover springs before I get into rollbars. Unless of course I think the car REALLY needs them badly.

bneale