it's tempting when some one posts an engine bay picture with super clean engine and a shiney strut bar.......but I always have had a few questions for the brace...

(1) I assume the 2.0L and 2.3L non-turbo-charged 3's have open differential ( i know for sure the speed3 have limited slip differentials), since the brace makes the suspension stiffer, in a hard cornering, the inner wheel has more tendency to be up in the car (or at least with reduced traction), and this wheel is where the open differential sends more torque which is to be wasted, at least the outer wheel (which has a lot traction) would get less torque. Pushing throttle in this situation may not help at all. Same thing could be said for the rear wheels.

I would think that the brace will help cornering only if we have limited slip differentials.

(2) Since the brace connects two towers, do you feel extra lateral movement (sensation) when one wheel goes through a bump or pothole?

Comments anyone?

--wish we had computer controlled variale suspension so our cars bank itself in a turn......



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In short, the brace holds the towers apart so they won't flex inward when lateral pressures are applied.Since the brace is held to it's mounts by two longitudinally mount bolts, vertical movement is limited by the brace by not completely restricted.
I have not noticed a loss of traction in hard cornering, which I do a lot, but then again the advantage of the strut brace is subtle as well.
And you are correct,all n/a 3's have an open diff. [:'(]

 

Virgin, thanks for your note. I can see your point in that the brace helps reducing tower flex, but does it also help (subtly) to pull the inner wheel off the ground in hard cornering due to weight transfer (see the following picture, esp civic, FL wheel is up in the air)?


[IMG]local://upfiles/13140/A98353007EAB4B769542D510556D6475.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]local://upfiles/13140/5DF6E16EA3F04D1AA6241DC026032725.jpg[/IMG]
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The Vision

 

The brace is only there to stiffen the upper chassis laterally allowing the suspension to do it's work more effectively by keeping the front tires from going to "negative camber" in a hard turn. Struts suspensions are notorious for that because they rely on the sheet metal of the inner fenders to keep the struts in line. It sounds like you are confusing what the brace does vs the work of a large diameteranti-sway (torsion) bar.
No I haven't noticed any ill effects from the brace such as you describe.

 

As Virgin1 was saying, it is the anti-sway bar that actually unloads the inside tire not the Strut Brace

 

My understanding of the anti-sway bar is that it takes tortion to minimize the roll of the car body in a turn. In other word, in a turn, the outside suspension is depressed, the anti-sway transfers some of the tortion to the inner wheel suspension to keep it depressed as well to reduce body roll. It compresses the suspension on the inner wheel side, it does not unload the wheel.

Now for the strut brace, it takes lateral forces between the two towers, no tortion involved. Correct me if i am wrong.
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blonde girl Cam

 

I think I understand what you are saying now......more likely the strut brace would be in compression during cornering rather than in extension, so it won't work against the inner wheel suspension. For that matter, can you actually tie the strut brace to the nearby firewall just to stiffen up the tower?
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The anti-sway bar tries to keep the car level by limiting independentsuspension movement, but the further you stuff the right wheel into the wheel well the more it is going to unload the left side by trying to stuff the left side into the wheel well to keep the vehicle level.

 

Now you're getting it... I think?
Yes, some strut braces that I have seen actually do tie into the firewall in a 3 bolt triangular pattern or 4 bolt ladder style pattern. The whole idea is to stiffen the chassis and let the suspension do what it was designed to do... suspend. This is why car manufacturer's are always touting and improving chassis stiffness and torsional rigidity.

 

Siber and Virgin,

Thanks for your notes. i undertood that adding the strut brace reduces tower flex. the bottomline i am trying to get to is the question: would letting the tower/chasis flex delay the lifting up of the inner tire during cornering? because if the inner wheel is up in the air, no torque will be transfer to the driving wheels with open differential. see the cartoon i drew. i knew thattower flex is harmful to integrity over time, and one would lose negative camber as well. but aren't you worried about traction in cornering?

[IMG]local://upfiles/13140/9D0F844326784559A010A6E8A6D9288E.gif[/IMG]
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