Review: xiiimotorsports strut tower bar

[icybrzzz]

Hey all,

I've had the pleasure of trying out the XIIIMotorsports strut tower bar on my fairly stock brz. Now before I get into the review on the strut tower bar I'd like to share what upgrades I've done to the car and future plans in general with my brz.

DSCF3297 by Daniel Cocar, on Flickr

As for mods, fairly simple just a few bolt ons:

Grimmspeed CAI
JDL UEL catless header
Nameless Performance track pipe (muffler delete)
OFT Stage 2 UEL
RPF1 17x9 +35 245/40/17 MPSS
WC Lathe Werks Titanium sphere
White line camber bolts (-1.3F/-1.5R)

DSCF3325 by Daniel Cocar, on Flickr

As you can see fairly simple, the only suspension mods really would be the camber bolts in the front. Future upgrades I'm thinking RCE yellows and maybe some oem subaru camber bolts to get more negative camber up front. Before I do dip into anymore mods I'd like to take it to the track and see how the car reacts and feel out what I'd like to change.


Now onto the strut bar review! Previously I was skepticle about any performance gain/advantage that a strut tower bar would give me. Before I stumbled upon Xiiimotorsports I had been eyeing the grimmspeed bar as I had already owned a product from them(CAI). Now I love supporting local shops so when I found out a local fabricator was making a strut tower bar for the 86 I was estatic!
Fast forward a few weeks and I had the bar in my possession. This particular bar was in the semi gloss black finish which flowed so well with fairly stock looking engine bay. It paired up very nicely with my GS CAI to say the least.

DSCF3355 by Daniel Cocar, on Flickr

Now onto my first impressions. Threw on the bar and immediately went for a drive. First thing I noticed was that my turn in felt sharper. It felt much more stable and more confidence inspiring. This was especially noticeable on long sweeping corners where higher speeds could be achieved. I honestly couldn't believe the difference such a simple bar could do to the handling of my car. At this point I wanted to see if it was my mind playing tricks or if this was really making a difference.


I take the bar off and bring it to my friend who owns a FRS. We install the bar and I let him have it for exactly 1 week. First thing I notice when I get onto the highway after removing the bar, the turn in isn't as sharp and the car feels very different. I don't feel as confident driving the car into corners anymore and at this point I'm starting to believe the performance gains that I felt when I first installed the strut tower bar.

A few hours later I hear back from my friend with the frs. His words exactly " I could feel the difference instantly!" "the car feels more planted up front and stiffer".

DSCF3312 by Daniel Cocar, on Flickr

One week goes by and I meet up with my friend to get my awesome bar back He has nothing but good things to say about the bar. Although if you are running the stock intake and the sound tube routed to the cabin, the bar does rub on the sound tube bits near the passenger side strut tower. Spoke to Luke at xiiimotorsports about this and he will be fabricating a sound tube delete/plug for those looking to run the stock air intake box.

Once I put the bar back in, I haven't looked back. I absolutely love the difference in handling that it has created. It just makes the car much more enjoyable to drive. I daily drive the car and I find it perfectly fine for my commute to work everyday.

DSCF3310 by Daniel Cocar, on Flickr

In terms of grading the product itself:

Fit/finish: 10/10 fits perfectly snug onto our strut towers. Also love the fact that xiiimotorsports included a rubber clamp that keeps the ac line from rubbing onto the bar.

Build quality: 10/10 The welds on this bar are about the best you will see on any parts for the 86. Bar is very stiff and lightweight which is always good for those keeping tabs on weight.

Performance gain: 8.5/10 couldn't be happier with the difference this bar has made to my car. Can't wait to take the car to my local track and really push the car. Reason for the 8.5 rating is because when speaking to Luke (head fabricator at xiiimotorsports) he mentioned a more "race spec" bar coming into production that will be replacing the bars that attach from the strut tower and onto the firewall of our chassis. This will be a more complete solution for those looking for a much stiffer ride. Also believe that this version will also have a master cylinder brace worked into it as well.

Price/value: 9/10 This is a very well priced bar and considering it bolts on to the stock hardware it is an awesome buy IMO.

Overall rating 9.4/10

Very satisfied with this product and I would definitely recommend this to anyone that is looking to upgrade the handling on the 86. It's a good bang for your buck mod and it looks really good in my engine bay


As of right now I believe there is two finishes available(custom colours available as an added option):

Semi gloss black (same as pictured above)

Raw finish + clear coat

[Cole]

So what's the final price? Any testing done by them to prove that it actually works? What sets them apart from a brand such as GrimmSpeed who has actually proven their bar works and is at an extremely reasonable price point?

Edit: did you pay for the strut bar, or was it given to you in return for this review?

[Milo]

So if I would still have my brz, I would probably buy this... As I can certainly vouch for xiii motorsports, in workmanship and quality of there products, I've bought plenty of parts from xiii motorsports for my 1992 toyota gt-four, and there stuff has never let me down... And for the strut bar, proven test and what not, I do not know, all I know is xiii motorsports fabricates incredible products that are definitely built to last

Sent from my LG-D852G using Tapatalk

[icybrzzz]

Originally Posted by Cole

So what's the final price? Any testing done by them to prove that it actually works? What sets them apart from a brand such as GrimmSpeed who has actually proven their bar works and is at an extremely reasonable price point?

Edit: did you pay for the strut bar, or was it given to you in return for this review?

Final price seems to be $167 CND + tax. In terms of testing, they have an engineer on staff that designed the strut tower bar to be as light and strong as possible without sacrificing rigidity.

If you would like to know more of the technical details I'm sure Luke from xiiimotorosports would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

I was not paid to do this review, nor was I "gifted" the bar in exchange for this review.

I paid for this bar to be custom fabricated on the brz/frs/86 chassis, and it is now available to the public for purchase. I decided to write up this review because I was really impressed with the craftsmanship of the final product.

Originally Posted by Norville Rogers

That does look good tbh but anything else on price and availability

As stated above it is up for sale for $167 CND + tax or $139 USD(In stock & ready to ship). I'm not sure what the rules are about posting direct links for sale so as of right now I will not post a link. A quick google search will get you to the xiiimotorsports store front

Originally Posted by Milo

So if I would still have my brz, I would probably buy this... As I can certainly vouch for xiii motorsports, in workmanship and quality of there products, I've bought plenty of parts from xiii motorsports for my 1992 toyota gt-four, and there stuff has never let me down... And for the strut bar, proven test and what not, I do not know, all I know is xiii motorsports fabricates incredible products that are definitely built to last

Sent from my LG-D852G using Tapatalk

Definitely have to agree, Luke stands behind his products and he does not skimp out on quality at all.

Just FYI he will be making more products for this chassis so keep an eye out.

[Yoshoobaroo]

Any idea how much it weighs?

-Josh

[icybrzzz]

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

Any idea how much it weighs?

-Josh

I can remove it and weigh it tomorrow for you guys

EDIT***

The strut bar with the AC line clamp comes in at 2.2lbs on my scale at home. Not 100% sure on the accuracy of this scale, but I will ask Luke to weigh them at the shop to be sure

[Cole]

Would like to point out that xiiimotorsports has no data to back up that their strut bar actually works. So, I'm definitely going to assume that you got a hook up from them.

Forgive my spelling mistake on GrimmSpeed. Phones are a bitch to type on sometimes.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Clipdat]

Yay! Someone finally had the guts to say that this is a blatant ripoff of the Grimmspeed bar!

Originally Posted by Cole

Would like to point out that xiiimotorsports has no data to back up that their strut bar actually works. So, I'm definitely going to assume that you got a hook up from them.

Forgive my spelling mistake on GrimmSpeed. Phones are a bitch to type on sometimes.

[Yoshoobaroo]

Originally Posted by Clipdat

Yay! Someone finally had the guts to say that this is a blatant ripoff of the Grimmspeed bar!

Guys it's a freaking strut bar. It connects the left strut tower to the right one. This isn't patentable high tech or anything revolutionary. This bar is exactly how I, and many engineers would design it. #1 rule: KISS, Keep it simple stupid.

-Josh

[Clipdat]

Ok, but it's still a ripoff of the Grimmspeed bar.

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

Guys it's a freaking strut bar. It connects the left strut tower to the right one. This isn't patentable high tech or anything revolutionary. This bar is exactly how I, and many engineers would design it. #1 rule: KISS, Keep it simple stupid.

-Josh

[icybrzzz]

Originally Posted by Cole

Would like to point out that xiiimotorsports has no data to back up that their strut bar actually works. So, I'm definitely going to assume that you got a hook up from them.

Forgive my spelling mistake on GrimmSpeed. Phones are a bitch to type on sometimes.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I don't understand why you keep insisting that they "hooked me up".

Originally Posted by Yoshoobaroo

Guys it's a freaking strut bar. It connects the left strut tower to the right one. This isn't patentable high tech or anything revolutionary. This bar is exactly how I, and many engineers would design it. #1 rule: KISS, Keep it simple stupid.

-Josh

I agree with you 100%

There are tons on the market with a very similar design...

http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/race...ace-front.html

http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/perr...l#.V7OjG5MrLXE

http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/ft-8...l#.V7OjXZMrLXE

[GrimmSpeed]

Originally Posted by icybrzzz

There are tons on the market with a very similar design...

http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/race...ace-front.html

http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/perr...l#.V7OjG5MrLXE

http://www.ft86speedfactory.com/ft-8...l#.V7OjXZMrLXE

Similar design eh?

The first link isn't a strut bar, those are replacement for the cross bars to the firewall. Good solid design, beautiful too. Raceseng does good work, and unique designs.

Second link came out after we released our strut bar, and I was VERY surprised to see it since at the time there was nothing on the market like it. However, the aluminum brackets and clamping is certainly a different design.

The third design is one of the oldest. We weren't a fan of the "cut and weld bent bar" design, as it introduces points of failure that don't need to exist and is slightly less effective for it's diameter than a straight bar. BUT the absolute thing we didn't like from a design aspect was that there was zero reinforcement to the mounting brackets at all. Take a piece of 1/8in thick flat steel, and you can flex it with only your hands. Now start to transmit 500+lb horizontal loads from cornering through it, and it should be clear it is doing nothing at all but flexing back and forth.

That is what makes our strut bar unique, it has an end bracket design that maximizes rigidity with it's allotted space. I spent a lot of time designing and performing finite element analysis on this bracket design to hit an acceptable deflection with realistic loads. It might look simple, but bolting to the stock bars, and maximizing rigidity while minimizing size and weight took a good deal of effort.





Now, it's very, very hard to deny that there is an extreme similarity here. With the former looking nearly identical, but having added about a half inch or so to the straight section for some reason. And it looks to be about half as thick. Adding length = longer lever arm = less rigid (is it easier to bend a tube that is 1 feet long, or two feet long?). Reducing thickness = less rigid. Reducing the thickness of the bar = less rigid. I did lots of testing and FEA in order to decrease weight of our strut bar (ours is 3.95lbs) and this one is 2.2, and I can tell you that the loss in rigidity in our design from reducing thickness was severe enough that we went with a heavier design.

So with that said, even though this bar looks nearly identical in shape (even down to the weld-on logo placement), it's not. So no need to call it a knock-off

Chase
Engineering

[JazzleSAURUS]

[FRS Justin]

I will tell you right now the Xiiimotorsports bar will do everything anyone elses bar does...... Not for one minutes will you sell me on stronger better faster.. Look what the bar bolts to, a piece of shit thin metal bracket held on by 4 spot welds...... (its only as strong as its weakest link)
It's getting real annoying people say how their crap is the best and it's nothing more than a copy of what's been done.
How about we invent something new and revolutionary, equipment that works instead of a modified copy.... Look at the new turbo kits mostly copies of something that someone else has already done.. roll bars just about a identical copy of what's been done.. And half the new shit is worse than the old and dangerous....


Come on People we are better than this........shm