mark@wrx

Fitted my new strut braces today after a trip to Townend Garage to pick them up. Fitted an STi front carbon and a Cusco aluminium rear. Wow, what a difference. Immediately the car feels much stiffer and doesn't roll in corners. Can't wait till the ice goes then I can really try it out!

kevvwil

Aha! In a '93 Rex, they would indeed make a difference, especially the rear one. I only wish we had the roads that you lads have over there. The highlight of my annual southern France vacation is driving.

Re the DMS thing, that's what we thought also, but considered that the torsional effects, if there were any, would still be in effect, irrespective of the strut that was installed on the car.

The debate is quite interesting. We have some folks over here who are about to install strut bars, and make chalk marks on them. Then they'll go out, flog the car, and see if the marks have moved or been altered in any way. Then we'll know.

Kevin

kevvwil

Sorry, but strut braces cannot have an effect on whether a car has body roll or not, even if you believe in the voodoo attached to them.

Here in the States, there is quite the debate raging about their effectiveness, particularly on the stiffer new age (GD, GG) Impreza.

I confess to being in the "con" camp, having tried a rear strut bar on my WRX wagon, and noting an imperceptible effect. The front strut towers are exceedingly close to the firewall on an already stiff body, so the question becomes, can the car see enough torque outside of racetrack conditions for a strut bar to make a whit of difference?

That one hasn't been answered definitively, but I would speculate not.

I helped a friend install some DMS 50mm struts, and we had to remove his rear Cusco carbon fibre strut tower bar to do so (on a GD). He admitted that the car felt no different after removal of the bar, but it sure did look cool.

The older, GC chassis might be able to benefit from the stiffening provided by a good-quality strut tower bar, though to what degree is again, in question.

Kevin

[Edited by kevvwil - 1/5/2003 7:15:33 AM]

mark@wrx

Kevin, I USE my car very hard on twisting UK B roads in the Lake District. I don't know what type of roads you have driven on (having never been to America) but local roads here are very bumpy and undulating. In my experience strut braces have made a difference. They also improved handling on previous cars I have had. By the way, my car is a MY93 WRX so maybe they are just beefing up and old shell!

Edited to say that if you removed a rear strut brace and installed 50mm DMS dampers at the same time, i'm not surprised he couldn't feel any difference. They would more than compensate for the 'feel' of the strut brace!

[Edited by mark@wrx - 1/5/2003 11:03:44 AM]