STi Strut Brace

1 of 2 currently in the country! :D [img]http://www.subaruchallenge.com/Wills/Photos/LegMtr.JPG[/img] Looks great, perfect fit, no issues during install at all. It's a very low-key titanium color w/stamped steel strut tops and an aluminum bar. STi is stamped on the bar (Drivers side) and high-lighted in "Cherry Blossom Red". It comes with new strut top nuts and easy to follow instructions. Weighs less than 2 lbs. Does it make any difference in handling? Hard to tell...but I'm sure it will start a huge debate! :lol: I like it, and it's my car so :P Availible from your dealer...I got mine at Mastro Subaru in Tampa, FL [url]www.mastrowrx.com[/url] is their performance parts website...

What difference are you supposed to notice with the brace?

One day after I have my car and am bored enough I'm going to stick a webcam under the hood and something to measure the distance between the towers... I have a feeling it will be negligible

[quote name='MSB']What difference are you supposed to notice with the brace?[/quote] "Provides additional stiffness to the upper suspension area. Reduces strut deflection to promote quicker steering response." according to the fine folks over at STi :D

That is a sweet strut bar man!

I hear that front strut braces make a slight difference, but I hear that the rear ones are just for looks, for the most part.

That's about the last suspension/rigidity mod I'd care to do, so sure enough that's the first one Stateside. ehhehehe Glad you like it though. =)

In my WRX wagon, the rear strut barce made a very noticeable difference.

That is correct, the strut is designed to take extra loads when cornering therefore tightening up the handling of the car. You wont notice the difference really right off the bat until you start putting it into hard corners and loading up the suspension. After a few months driving with it on, take it off and try to hook up a corner that you have taken with the strut brace on, TRUST ME, you will totally notice the difference.

I was yucking it up with Seth last night and he reffered to it as "factory rice". He may be right, but I want one :D It may not make a difference, but am I willing to take that chance? NO! :lol: How much??

My context of that was for cars that are stiff and rigid, it's just show. For older cars like my BD GT Sedan ('97), it made a very noticeable difference right off the bat. Reduced chassis flex and creaks. I'm not too worried about the new one, even wagon. Should be rather stiff.

It should be a LOT stiffer in this model Seth but it still would be nice to see if anyone finds or spots the difference. They are a show piece too I have to admit.

I wouldn't say a LOT stiffer unless you are tracking this car rather hard, then you're likely to find some defficiencies. That is a scenario most of us will never run into. So in essence, show as most have mentioned here and in other posts.

I'll wait for the whiteline one :)

[quote name='Dr. Zevil']How much??[/quote] Lists for around $280, dealer sets final price...and there is definity a little room between dealer cost and list price! :D As far as it's benefits... All cars flex to some degree, and it can be argued back and forth (and already has been on other forums) if they actually provide any useful benefits. I think when the car is pushed, they do help. Am I pushing mine hard enough to extract all the benefits it can provide, probably not. Do I like the way it looks (eye candy) sure I do. Do I like supporting STi & SPT's parts programs in the hope they bring more goodies to our shore? Sure I do. In the end what difference does it makes...it's my money. To each there own right! ;)

[quote name='Opie'][quote name='Dr. Zevil']How much??[/quote] Lists for around $280, dealer sets final price...and there is definity a little room between dealer cost and list price! :D As far as it's benefits... All cars flex to some degree, and it can be argued back and forth (and already has been on other forums) if they actually provide any useful benefits. I think when the car is pushed, they do help. Am I pushing mine hard enough to extract all the benefits it can provide, probably not. Do I like the way it looks (eye candy) sure I do. Do I like supporting STi & SPT's parts programs in the hope they bring more goodies to our shore? Sure I do. In the end what difference does it makes...it's my money. To each there own right! ;)[/quote] I agree, we have to support STI and SPT or they will stop bringing cool stuff over. If I get one it will be for that reason.

well put.. i am going to get one just to piss off the naysayers :lol:

I installed the STI strut brace on my Outback XT and it made a noticable difference. I have 245/45/18 S-03s on for tires which are larger than you can put on an Legacy and the Outback is 3" higher so who knows how much it will benifit a Legacy. The brace go rid of a lot of side to side bobbelling I had and the car feels far more stable. I am waiting for sway bars and coil overs to lower the car and inch or so . My next major complaint is what feels like windup in the moutns some place - any ideas of where? Charile

Cool. Do you have a link to where you bought it?

Sounds like you have gained maximum benefit out of yr new purchases chucktoo. Anyone else purchased for a Legacy/Liberty as of yet and what benefits have u found?

[quote name='jedimaster']Cool. Do you have a link to where you bought it?[/quote] [url]http://www.legacysti.com/viewtopic.php?t=1930[/url] :D

I bought it from my local dealer - any subaru dealer can order SPT parts if youh ave the number. [url]http://www.spt.subaru.com/microsites/spt/lookupParts.sptaction?command=&year=2005&model=OUTBACK&trim=2.5+XT+LTD.+WAGON[/url] I have seen it cheaper else where but don have the link. Charlie

I suppose for the Oz guys, the best suggestion if you wanted to purchase the brace would be to see the MRT website or go to your local STi dealership.

Thanks! :D

Buy it if you want, but a strut tower brace is bling. I would argue the merits of a lower subframe brace such as the Cusco Type II all day. But for a strut brace to have any effectiveness whatsoever, would mean that your car is flexing torsionally, every time you corner. If it's doing that, you have bigger problems than a strut bar can solve. Strut bars will not cure understeer, they will not make the car handle better. They look really cool, and the chicks dig them, however. If you're still convinced they work, let's look at what would need to happen for them to work: If you've worked on a front Subaru suspension, you know that the strut top has three bolts that fit into the strut mounts on the car. Those bolts fit snugly, in that there's hardly any slop in the mechanism. Further, the strut top fits into the opening on the car, very close to the firewall. You put nuts atop those bolts, torqued to a spec of no more than 20 lb-ft, which is essentially enough to keep them from falling out. So, at the top of the car, short of on the track under extreme loads, nothing is moving as far as the top of the suspension is concerned. But, let's presume the Legacy/Outback is a piece of spaghetti, that flexes torsionally under normal, non-racetrack cornering loads. It would have to, for a front strut bar to matter: Do a "V" flex right around where the engine is Flex torsionally, but if torsional flex follows the path of least resistance, the car will flex torsionally from front corner to opposite rear corner. This is why the lift gate on my '98 GT moved when I was cornering the car hard. The '05 is a LOT stiffer than that '98 ever was, or could be, short of a cage. Now, if the strut bar makes you feel better, and makes you think the car handle better, it is money well spent. No problem, no worries. I will admit that they look very cool. But people have been attributing all sorts of things to strut tower bars, from reduction of understeer and body roll, to elimination of dashboard noises (RSes and WRXes). This just isn't so. Good luck, Kevin