Chassis braces

[inquirer]

I have recently installed a front strut bar on my Lancer and the positive experience of the difference it made (it increased the level of comfort and the stability of the car), it makes me wonder if any of the other available UltraRacing bars for my car would make any substantial difference, if they were installed by themselves (not in combination with any other of them):

1. 2x4-Point Side Bars
2. Fender Brackets
3. 2-Point Rear Side Bars
4. 2-Point Rear Bars
5. Rear Lower Bar 1155
6. Rear Lower Bar 447
7. 4-Point Front H-Brace
8. 4-Point Rear Trunk Brace

I would appreciate reading your opinions!

 

[Passport1]

I have installed a couple of them on my vehicles. They are vitamin V for your chassis.

Bloomberg

 

[inquirer]

@Passport1

Meaning what exactly in practice?

 

[FreedomOne]

I installed one on the Prius, center brace. It's not really a precision driving machine. Can't say it did or didnt make a difference.

 

[inquirer]

I installed one on the Prius, center brace. It's not really a precision driving machine. Can't say it did or didnt make a difference.

That's exactly the purpose of this thread.
For the front strut bar I can definitely say it made a difference!
I wonder if any other of the braces of the list I have provided would make a noticeable difference if they were installed alone.

 

[Passport1]

@Passport1

Meaning what exactly in practice?

They'll make the important parts of your car stiffer.

 

[inquirer]

They'll make the important parts of your car stiffer.

In many cases that will have no effect though! For example the 2x4-Point Side Bars I guess would make a difference only if you lift your inner wheel.

Obviously all bars make the chassis stiffer... My question though is which of them would make a substantial difference that can be felt by the driver, like the front strut bar did in my case, and which would make a negligible difference that wouldn't be noticeable.

 

[Rogueman2016s]

Braces help. Swap the rubber bushings out for Polyurethane ones if you haven't done so already.

 

[lizpat]

I have installed a couple of them on my vehicles. They are vitamin V for your chassis.

View attachment 187942
Bloomberg

Do you mean to say that it's 'all in one's head' ? ? ?

I too wonder if a front tower bar would make a difference---honestly, I have doubts, a lot of doubt.

THINK about it: if a car can be truly improved just with a bar---it'd be a no-brainer for the factory to install one and upcharge for it (or something) It's just a metal bar, it can't cost more than 5 dollars to manufacture.

 

[inquirer]

Do you mean to say that it's 'all in one's head' ? ? ?

I too wonder if a front tower bar would make a difference---honestly, I have doubts, a lot of doubt.

All these bars will obviously stiffen the chassis. Some of them will make a small difference regarding the car's behavior and others a bigger one. The level of improvement also varies for each car model depending on the initial rigidity of the chassis.
For the last gen Lancer definitely the front strut bar made a difference that can be physically felt.

THINK about it: if a car can be truly improved just with a bar---it'd be a no-brainer for the factory to install one and upcharge for it (or something) It's just a metal bar, it can't cost more than 5 dollars to manufacture.

That could be true for many other parts too. They are way cheaper for the manufacturer compared to the prices they are available to car owners.
The thing is that car manufacturers have a specific target group for their cars in their minds. Many of these bars wouldn't make a difference big enough to worth installing them. For example a bar that would give some tenths or hundredths of a second it may be important if someone races the car, but that difference wouldn't be noticed in other driving conditions including spirited driving on public roads.
By the way, many sports cars come with a front strut bar and that because it makes a more noticeable difference than other bars.

 

[ls1mike]

I have sub frame connectors on the WS6. Certainly made a difference on a T-top car.

 

[inquirer]

Braces help. Swap the rubber bushings out for Polyurethane ones if you haven't done so already.

I haven't. I can find all the bushings of the front axle with a hardness of 80 and 90 ShA.
For the rear axle I can find bushings of 65 ShA max from another manufacturer. I'm not sure if those at 65 ShA would offer a measurable improvement compared to rubber ones.

I have sub frame connectors on the WS6. Certainly made a difference on a T-top car.

Are these parallel or perpendicular to the length of the car?

 

[Rogueman2016s]

I haven't. I can find all the bushings of the front axle with a hardness of 80 and 90 ShA.
For the rear axle I can find bushings of 65 ShA max from another manufacturer. I'm not sure if those at 65 ShA would offer a measurable improvement compared to rubber ones.




Are these parallel or perpendicular to the length of the car?

Look into prothane or energy suspension bushings

 

[inquirer]

Look into prothane or energy suspension bushings

My car is a last gen 1.5L Mitsubishi Lancer.

So far I have looked at:

1. Strongflex which has available the bushings of the front arms at 80 ShA and 90 ShA versions
2. SiberianBushing which has available all the bushings of the car but at 65 ShA hardness
3. Powerflex which has bushings only for the Evo and the two companies you have suggested
4. Prothane which also has bushing only for the Evo and
5. Energy Suspension Parts which has bushings for the Evo VIII

By the way, would 90 ShA make a big difference regarding comfort compared to 80 ShA?

As for the 65 ShA bushing I believe that they will not offer significant improvement regarding performance, only regarding durability. Am I wrong?

 

[ls1mike]

I haven't. I can find all the bushings of the front axle with a hardness of 80 and 90 ShA.
For the rear axle I can find bushings of 65 ShA max from another manufacturer. I'm not sure if those at 65 ShA would offer a measurable improvement compared to rubber ones.




Are these parallel or perpendicular to the length of the car?

Parallel. I have a strut tower brace too. I really depends on the type of car you putting them. They all help on the T-top car.

 

[inquirer]

Parallel. I have a strut tower brace too. I really depends on the type of car you putting them. They all help on the T-top car.

They probably help more when installed on T-top cars, because inevitably their chassis is weaker without the 2 roof pillars.

Did you install the strut bar at the same time with the subframe connectors? If that's the case you can't be sure how much each part contributed to the change of the car's behavior and in what way.

 

[Rogueman2016s]

My car is a last gen 1.5L Mitsubishi Lancer.

So far I have looked at:

1. Strongflex which has available the bushings of the front arms at 80 ShA and 90 ShA versions
2. SiberianBushing which has available all the bushings of the car but at 65 ShA hardness
3. Powerflex which has bushings only for the Evo and the two companies you have suggested
4. Prothane which also has bushing only for the Evo and
5. Energy Suspension Parts which has bushings for the Evo VIII

By the way, would 90 ShA make a big difference regarding comfort compared to 80 ShA?

As for the 65 ShA bushing I believe that they will not offer significant improvement regarding performance, only regarding durability. Am I wrong?

I'm not too familiar with the technicalities of the bushings however you'll find many resourceful individuals on here that will be able to answer those specific questions.

 

[inquirer]

I'm not too familiar with the technicalities of the bushings however you'll find many resourceful individuals on here that will be able to answer those specific questions.

No problem!
I'm pretty sure that the 65 ShA is not hard enough to make a big improvement. It is as hard as the hardest rubbers are.
I'm not sure though how much difference the 90 ShA would make comfort-wise compared to the 80 ShA bushings.

 

[edyvw]

No problem!
I'm pretty sure that the 65 ShA is not hard enough to make a big improvement. It is as hard as the hardest rubbers are.
I'm not sure though how much difference the 90 ShA would make comfort-wise compared to the 80 ShA bushings.

Be careful at the front with poly stuff. They can make things really uncomfortable. Also, they will impact other parts that you kept original. Ball joint will have much harder life.
You should first go poly in the back, particularly subframe. Stiffening back will make rear end rotate faster. It will actually decrease understeer in the front.
If your local roads are bad, I would keep OE bushings. I track my BMW, but I went poly only in subframe and M3 control arms and wishbones in the back (can’t go in the front bcs. xDrive). I would research of you can swap Evo parts for yours. That might be just right stiffness between performance and comfort.

 

[inquirer]

Be careful at the front with poly stuff. They can make things really uncomfortable. Also, they will impact other parts that you kept original. Ball joint will have much harder life.
You should first go poly in the back, particularly subframe. Stiffening back will make rear end rotate faster. It will actually decrease understeer in the front.
If your local roads are bad, I would keep OE bushings. I track my BMW, but I went poly only in subframe and M3 control arms and wishbones in the back (can’t go in the front bcs. xDrive). I would research of you can swap Evo parts for yours. That might be just right stiffness between performance and comfort.

Thank you very much for your input!

My setup right know includes:

1. Yellow Konis front and rear.
2. 2 point adjustable sway bars front and rear. The front one is bolted to the stiffer setting, the rear one is set to soft.
3. Adjustable end links front and rear.
4. Reinforced main springs at the rear axle.
5. Front strut bar.

Right now if I insist pressing the gas pedal the car oversteers a little. It used to oversteer more, but I changed the setup to make it more neutral.

I'm afraid EvoX's bushings are not compatible. I can double check it, but I'm pretty sure about it.

What's your opinion about the difference between 80 ShA and 90 ShA regarding comfort and performance? And what's your opinion about 65 ShA about performance? As far as I know, it seems my only option for rear bushings is the 65 ShA ones.