Ultra_Nexus

SOrry, I should have been more accurate in asking what I wanted. What braces are worth getting then taking into account that I would like to be able to push on the road, even if it sacrifices some potential track speed.

Nick Graves

Blimey O'Reilly:

Lickermat & the crew are right about the braces; it won't slow your car down but the added rigidity allows less corruption of the geometry by flex. It allows one to feel what is going on better through the steering, so one may judge the limits better.

A 'strut brace' is a misnomer; it braces the (front) damper towers. There is a rear available, but it robs boot space.

The X-brace reinfirces the front subframe. The problem with the S2000's seems to be that there is no transverse beam between the engine mounts, which permits wind-up.

The rear lower brace replaces the standard item. Rizla - like it!

They are cheap, easily installed & brilliant. I'm uncertain if AB's slightly harsher breakaway is a corollary of the brace, or his non-standard wheeels & tyres. Mine uses JDM wheels & S-02's and very little rear toe. It is like a big MX-5.

The anti-roll bars (sway bars indeed!) are slightly misdescribed. A stiffer one connect the wheels across the car, making it more disturbed by bumps and prone to 'waddle' like the worst German cars.

Stiffening the front has the effect of keeping the grip at a higher level. It allows therefore more rear roll, which is how we sense breakaway approaching. It does nothing for rear grip, as such. Breakaway will happen at the same point, but may be perceived as 'earlier & softer' due to the more level front-end.

You could also softer the rear AR bar, in order to acheive a similar effect, which is exactly what Honda has done!

Taikyu

nicely put Nick, I was going to add my 2p, but you have taken alot of words right out my mouth

Paper Lawyer

I'm still waiting for a price from Ant on the rear lower brace...but there appears to be a divergence of opinion as to the benefits of an aftermarket rear lower brace (or "tie bar" as they seemed to be referred to).

I concur with Nick's explanation of stiffer anti roll bars - I've been having fun &games trying to adjust my shocks to make a compliant ride following my change of AR bars. I would only recommend stiffer AR bars to those of us who track the cars, where the benefit is significant IMO

papa5murf

a rear lower one would be better then the stock one... the stock one is quite flimsy.... while an aftermarket one is solid... however, the advantage will be very small....

and i wouldn't mess with the rear upper one because the stock one does it's job quite well....

to stabilise the rear i would go with a larger front swaybar.... this will give the car a more neutral feeling...

papa5murf

trinis2001

Somehow I get the impression that DBM was asking about taming the rear's tendancy to skip (I assume over a rough or washboard type surface), not the tendancy to oversteer. If skipping is the issue, then the stiffer front bar is not going to help, softer dampers/springs would (like Honda did in the newer models). If it was an oversteer question, then yes, the stiffer front bar is the way to go - it does not affect the ride quality in any other way except when cornering.

PJL

Just to confuse matters some more

The biggest differance in making the rear more stable from my own experience was fitting the Spoon Stiffer Rear Diff Mounts - they realy do reduce the flex in the Drive System & keep the car more stable - since fitted - no more Bump Steer - Simple !

I have the Spoon Rear Lower Brace - the OEM item was all bent & twisted from contact with the Road etc - since the Spoon Item fitted, everything has maintained staight & its it place.

Peter

papa5murf

- front upper strut bar = will do absolutely nothing... if you look under the stock air box you'll see a huge bar that goes across....
- front lower x brace/u brace = will reduce a little oversteer... but not much..
- rear lower bar (already there but is quite flimsy)
- rear upper bar (already there)
- 3 piece midframe braces (stiffens the chasis and reduced body roll)
- front and rear sway bars

gaddafi

The banana (MY99 JDM) has three braces.

Cusco top and bottom at the rear and Spoon lower at the front.

Upper rear shown below:



It's difficult for me to comment on the merits or otherwise of these braces, not least because the car has been running on KW coilovers (set low and firm) and 17" front and 18" rears.

I would say that the car feels stiffer than my standard MY02; I'd describe it as more kart like. I would not say that it is less likely to skip at the rear (I would say bunny hop. If anything, it's worse than the MYO2 in this respect.

The qualification to this statement is that the car is set too firm for poor to average road surfaces, but it is very nicely set up for high quality surfaces. I intend to experiment with the damper settings once the oem wheels and new SO2s are fitted shortly. At the moment I intend to maintain the lower ride height, but soften the damper settings slightly.

I was surprised to read that some people regard the front strut brace as having little or no value. I lexperienced these with an M3 GT, which was a model loaded up with M-sport goodies. The strut brace made a noticeable improvement to the standard E36 M3 steering in terms of sharpening up the response. I know I am comparing apples and oranges, but there you go. They do look good of course.

My advice to anyone contemplating fitting a brace, is to do so one at a time. My car is evidence of how difficult it is to evaluate the benefits of one modification when a number have been fitted.