Local opinion on strut tower braces

[xjohnx]

i'd be willing to bet if someone setup a blind test on the same car, the average 86 owner wouldn't be able to notice a difference.

[gmookher]

Originally Posted by xjohnx

i'd be willing to bet if someone setup a blind test on the same car, the average 86 owner wouldn't be able to notice a difference.

I bet your right, keyword is average.

[White64Goat]

Hotchkis

[Darryljr11]

Originally Posted by White64Goat

Hotchkis

http://www.hotchkis.net/search.html?...mitForm=Search

[Areddi]

Originally Posted by Darryljr11

http://www.hotchkis.net/search.html?...mitForm=Search

Oooooo that's a solid 3 point piece, nice.

[OrbitalEllipses]

If you're getting a strut bar always look for bracing in more than one direction. The Carlabs Development X-Brace is a good example of what I'm talking about, though it was developed for the rear of the Impreza. In the front of this car you want to do more than tie the shock towers together; combining that with a 3rd connection point to the firewall is key.

Chassis bracing is really one of the last things I'd do on a car. There's so much more to do that changes the way the car acts, namely the suspension as pointed out by another poster.

[Biggins]

Originally Posted by Areddi

Oooooo that's a solid 3 point piece, nice.

I think most are/should be designed like this one. A design like this would be my preference if I cared about chassis bracing.

I know you mentioned autocross in previous posts, so just know that if you install it, the strut brace would bump you to like Street Prepared/Modified with SCCA since it technically mounts four places. If you don't care about autocross classing and don't want to upgrade anything before this, go for it.

[Areddi]

Originally Posted by Biggins

I think most are/should be designed like this one. A design like this would be my preference if I cared about chassis bracing.

I know you mentioned autocross in previous posts, so just know that if you install it, the strut brace would bump you to like Street Prepared/Modified with SCCA since it technically mounts four places. If you don't care about autocross classing and don't want to upgrade anything before this, go for it.

Yeah the majority of what I ran last year was local with Capital Driving Club, Mazda Club, and Corvette club, none of which class on things like that. My Miata was in STR and this car will end up in STX for me since I'll be doing exhaust, etc. SCCA classing is alphabet soup and pretty confusing, but I'm learning it. Frustrating that something minor like that would put you into street prepared...

[UncleFester]

Originally Posted by Biggins

I know you mentioned autocross in previous posts, so just know that if you install it, the strut brace would bump you to like Street Prepared/Modified with SCCA since it technically mounts four places. If you don't care about autocross classing and don't want to upgrade anything before this, go for it.

I agree. My interpretation is that we don't have a strut bar from the factory. As such, we can only add a two point bar whilst leaving the factory chassis bracing intact. We would need the option to "add" a triangular bar in order for the hotchkis bar to be ST legal.


SCCA Street Touring rules:

"G. Strut bars (per Section 12) are permitted with all types of suspension,
subject to the following constraints:

1. a two-point strut bar may be added, removed, modified, or substituted,
but only with another two-point strut bar.

2. A triangulated (3-point) strut bar may be removed, modified, or
substituted; substitution may be with either a triangulated or a two point-strut bar. The connection to the chassis (i.e., firewall, bulkhead,
etc) must be in the standard location."