lupin..the..3rd

So what compelled you to install one in the first place? And why did you keep it upon finding no noticeable improvement?

NP993

I didn't notice any difference whatsoever on my car, but I'm still keeping it...for the reason that, at the track, when your tires are warm and sticky, and you're really driving the hell out of the car -- that's when a strut tower brace may make a 2, or even a 5, percent different. On the street they do nothing, because nobody drives his car hard enough on the street to create the kind of G-loading and chassis stress that cause a strut brace to come into play.

For street driving, they're a psychological aid, not a real one.

DocTock993

I feel that my cab "drives better" (whatever that means) since I installed a PerfectPower strutbrace.

Maybe the major auditory effect of a decrease in creaking and rattling from less cowl-shake and flex leads one to perceive that the car "drives better" when the strut-brace is in place in a cab.

Quasr -
IIRC, the strut attaching nuts are supposed to be torqued to 15#.

quasr

Thanks RKB. What I was looking for was the tension between the struts. What torque on the seperating nuts if that make sense. My bar is just snug with no play. I have read others put quite a bit of tension in the bar to support the struts. If anyone has the formula, please assist. Thanks.

cdmdriver

Quasr, you have got it right. You do not need to put a great deal of torque between the struts. Just snug it up. The brace is to simply hold the shock towers in place and keep them from moving.

To put to rest Noah's question, the difference the "shock tower" brace made in my cars handling is not imagined. The reduction in understeer and "cowl shake" from this strut brace has been very noticeable. Perhaps if I too drove my car like an old lady on the way to church I would not notice a difference.

Flatsixer

Just curious where this can be purchased from ? I have a Cab and would buy it just to help tame some of the cowl shake.

nile13

cdmdriver, I very much disagree with your observations. I do not believe, nor feel that there is anything that the strut brace can do for understeer. If it does... there might be some severe problems with suspension geometry to begin with. But even that would not cause specific difference one would feel. Body geometry issues are more likely. Even though I would not believe that a stiff car would be affected.

So in my experience the turn in feel a bit crisper. But I would not say that understeer decreased. Perhaps different terms are being used interchangeably here.

I do agree with you on teh cowl shake reduction and overall more direct and sharp feel to teh car, especially on the initial turn in.

We could discuss theory here a bit, since there's a disagreement on the actual feel. The brace connects the tops of the strut towers (not the struts themselves). How dos it case decrease in understeer?

PS. Not sure how you drive on the street. I drive fairly slowly. Then again, I've averaged 22 autoX events per year for the last 9 seasons (about 1400 runs total). And I believe Noah has more than that on the track. So I believe there's no adrenaline left for the street.

PPS. I've been trying to work out understeer with larger sawy bars, 225 fron tires, alignment (car is on Bilsteins and H&Rs now)... and still it understeers. Not as much as it did in stock form, but pretty obviously and significantly. But I'm comparing it with my very neutral autoX car.

WHB Porsche

Sounds like cdmdriver could be experiencing increased effects due to worn out shocks/other suspension components.