aftermarket chassis brace, worth it?

[friendly_jacek]

There is this guy on priuschat that sells heavy duty stiffening brace that replaces a flimsy factory one.

old OEM part:

People who bought it rave about how it makes cornering better.
I was skeptic about it (placebo effect) till it was revealed that Toyota beefed up the factory brace in the 2012 model.

new OEM part:

On the other hand this person did a blinded test on his wife with negative results (different car though, 2nd gen prius):

Quote:
And the verdict? Well, I performed a totally unscientific blind test on my wife (she still doesn't know, so shhhh!). And I can confirm exactly one thing: That the placebo effect is alive and well. I told her (and showed her some of the glowing PriusChat reviews) about this chassis stiffener. After I had been out in the driveway for 15 minutes fooling with the ramps and the car, I told her the brace was installed. She drove the car. Presto. The car felt "more refined" she reported when she returned from her short drive. The secret surprise? For this part of the test, I had only removed the factory brace, and installed NOTHING. At this point the car was ala carte.

Onto stage 2 of the test... I next installed the BT plate and I told her I'd gone back to the "old" brace to see if she could feel the difference. I was informed that indeed, the ride was not as good. "More wiggly." I didn't have the fun of trying it blind myself... but I can tell you that for me personally, I think I notice a difference in "feel." The difference is nothing I'd call profound; about the same difference I noticed when I went from 38psi to 44psi in the tires. If forced to come up with a specific change in handling, I think that the car now seems to want to follow pavement irregularities more. What I'd call a slight dead-spot wander that I don't think used to exist.


http://www.evnut.com/prius_stiffening_plate.htm

yay or nay?

 

[dparm]

Subframe braces are nothing new. The Honda guys have been using them for years, and they're even popular in the Audi crowd.

Most report improved steering response and more predictable handling.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Always "yay" on chassis bracing. GM G-body guys will use bracing on the rear frame horns where the bumper shocks mount. I added one to mine and it made a whale of a difference (mine also had T-tops). Cross-bracing behind the rear seat also helped. I home-made a strut tower brace for my '07 Corolla and that made a difference also. I installed a factory strut tower brace from a Bonneville onto my '01 STS and that helped.

Any bracing that is available has helped in my experience.

 

[Artem]

Are we talking about stiffening up the chassis of a Prius here?

it's not a race car people!

Chassis braces (ones that are designed properly and for the proper car) actually do work and can improve handling.

From personal experience... My wife's 06 Scion tC was bought from an auction totaled (it was flipped several times). After the repairs, the car felt pretty sloppy on the road as the wrinkled frame twisted under cornering.

I installed aftermarket coilovers to lower the center of gravity and improve handling / high speed stability. The body would creak and groan even more then before. I installed front and rear strut bars. Chassis flex was almost gone. No more noises as i went over speed bumps, pulled outta the drive way or under hard cornering. It feels even better to drive now.

I also installed an interior pillar brace and two under body braces to further stiffer up the chassis. The car is a blast to drive in the twisties now.

Chassis braces do work but i feel you need to really have a good feel for the car and how it handles and instal more then one brace in order to instantly feel a noticeable difference.

If you're upgrading an existing brace, it's hard to feel a different. The replacement bar is what, 20-30% stiffer / bigger? I doubt you can feel that. It's the same as installing a performance part that added 4-5hp. You can't feel 4-5hp from the butt dyno. Even a REAL dyno would struggle to notice the difference in power. It's all pracebo effect just like the quote the OP posted from the other forum.

 

[surfstar]

Prii are better served by belly pans IMO.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Please no prius jokes. I'm fed up with this prius bashing on BITOG.

If one has no opinion on the topic, please don't post.

 

[Astro14]

If Toyota upgraded the part during a MY change, and you plan on keeping the car long-term, then I would retrofit it.

MB, for example, makes all sorts of running technical changes, adding cooling fins, or making things smaller/bigger, etc. during MY changes on the same chassis...they are all incremental improvements based on customer experience with the car in service...will you feel it? Likely not, but you'll know it's there...and as the car ages, it will have a bit more stiffness built it...that's good from a fatigue perspective...

 

[kkreit01]

You asked if it's "worth it?". On a Prius, "no". No bashing. Just simple truth. You may lose a tiny amount of weight going from steel to aluminum. Unless you're autocrossing your Prius, that's the only benefit you'll gain.

 

[hardcore302]

On a Prius? Are you worried about twisting the frame from high horsepower or are you going auto-crossing?


No.

 

[Shannow]

First, you need to identify what the member is intended to do in the first place.

That brace is narrow cross section, has no triangulated mounting points...it appears to me to have been an add-on to stop some second order effect, like an unforseen resonance in the "open box" of the engine bay.

I don't think that stiffening it would affect any dynamic aspect of the car.

(If it was a "K" shaped member, tying 4 corners together, then I'd call is structural/stiffening)

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: hardcore302
On a Prius? Are you worried about twisting the frame from high horsepower or are you going auto-crossing?


If you read my post, I was talking about cornering.
I corner fast with my cars, prius included. It does it fairly well, but there is room for improvement.

 

[friendly_jacek]

Originally Posted By: Shannow

(If it was a "K" shaped member, tying 4 corners together, then I'd call is structural/stiffening)


do you mean like this from Cusco?

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: friendly_jacek
Originally Posted By: Shannow

(If it was a "K" shaped member, tying 4 corners together, then I'd call is structural/stiffening)


do you mean like this from Cusco?

^^^That might actually do something.

 

[DuckRyder]

RE: Worth it - only the purchaser can make the decision as to whether a particular product is "worth it".

RE: Chassis braces in general - they do work and can improve handling.

RE: That particular brace - it looks to me like the problem with improving this brace is the mounting, with only two bolt holes perside located quite close together you can't do much about twist, the OEM brace on the car in the linked article looks quite up to that task. The one in the first picture on this thread a bit less so.

I do agree that the one in the second picture in this thread, the ones in the linked article and the cusco one look like improvements over the stock one in the first picture. I just think you are going to reach the point of diminishing returns very fast.

 

[mcrn]

Is the chassis stiffness really the limiting factor?

 

[DuckRyder]

BTW, it seems all the "BT Tech" stuff is not available. A quick google would seem to indicate that "BT Tech" may be out of business?

 

[friendly_jacek]

I've heard the owner died in bike accident.

 

[rjundi]

I would not bother myself especially on a vehicle that is pretty numb to drive(no offense just the way it is).

 

[Mr_Incredible]

A common hypermiling technique is to take a turn fast to keep up speed and momentum. It's also just plain fun. Anything that can be done to help handling feel is a good thing.

I would think a cross brace on the strut mounts would be money better spent.

 

[kkreit01]

Typically, the under-chassis (H-braces, etc.) are a lot more beneficial than the front strut tower braces. Sometimes a rear strut brace helps. It all depends on the ride.

Does taking "corners fast to save a few pennies worth of gas" help pay for the cost of "prematurely-worn tires"? Probably not. It's also not safe, and people will look at you funny if your in a.....