Strut Braces

[GLS_mike]

I know they are meant to 'stiffen' the chassis etc but what difference do they actually make to the handling of the car??

cheers

Mike

[G14 NZA]

Couldn't tell how useful they are as i havn't had much luck finding one that fits my car but i've got a brand new one going very cheap if you want one.

[Bourkey]

They tighten up the flex that the chassis has making the car more rigid. They really do work. I had one on my car for a day and you notice a good difference in driving with them.

Get some you will be pleased!!!!!

[!Rush!]

as well as chassis beeing stiffend in some cases (stuts etc) it could also make your stearing more responsive

[Jozinobi]

Hi Mike

Check the Technical Archive as there are an abundance of detailed answers on strut braces and bolt-on suspension components in particular.

Technical Archive Chassis & Suspension Section

Thanks

Joz

[riko666]

Ugh - perhaps the most overestimated estimation - yes, they are helpful and can provide an improvement in the driving dynamics in the vehicle, but beyond that, it'll be very hard to detect the difference. All well and good, a strut brace will help to stiffen a chassis, but the degree of it's extent is probably not even a 10th of a percent of the vehicles overall rigidity (a Rollcage that's been welded in typically achieves an 11% improvement in torsional rigidity of a chassis)...keep this in mind - a Strut brace reduces the movement of the Chassis strut towers.

Now step back a second - these strut towers are designed to take the impact of everything the tyre drives over, surely a car manufacturer designing a chassis would have the strut towers in particular designed and built to restrict as much flexing as possible at the specified cost of chassis development? In that respect, any chassis "flex" only really occurs at very highly loaded situations, like in extreme cornering situations - and as such, any improvements (if detectable) would only be felt in EXTREME situations, not on a poncy little drive. And I'm talking about a trackday or along those lines....otherwise, god forbid those who drive a car with such a soft chassis ;)

[Jozinobi]

god forbid those who drive a car with such a soft chassis

Be quiet Coupe' boy ;)

As the man above says, you would only really feel an improvement in handling when you really push the car to its limits say on a track or very spirited driving (which is not really recommended but happens).

There is always this misconception about 'handling'. You also don't have to be going that fast to have great handling, you could be on a very tight circuit with low speed limit of say 50 that would really push your car to the limit and you would need good driving skills.

Joz

[riko666]

wasn't saying my car was in comparison to the hatchbacks...though they actually are as we have a rear bulkhead and a smaller roof section...anyway. So as I iterated, the suspension turrets only flex in extreme situations, so you would only feel the braces, if at all, in extremis. The "Going fast to have great handling"....eh? A slow circuit isn't really going to tax a car - if anything, it'll tax the tyres chosen, how well a car gets power to the ground, and the agility of a car afforded by it's suspension settings and setup...Circuits that will tax a chassis/suspension are long fast tracks, with long high speed corners that undulate, perhaps off camber, and huge braking zones. Perhaps some bumps and jumps etc...so Nordschliefe for example ;)

And yes - there is a great misconception about handling, take the Saxo thread - there are some people that say they "Handle Shit" with no-one caring to elaborate, yet the Saxo VTS/VTR was well reknowned for exemplarary handling....who am I going to believe, professionals in the Automotive Journalism Industry or...people voicing their typically uneducated own opinions on a forum