They definitely keep you from beating your chassis to death. I always
have them on my VW's and have noticed a bit of an improvement in steering
response and stability due to it's ability to help hold the alignment.
Without a strut brace and with good grip especially at higher speeds I.E. a
road course, I can watch the gap between my hood an my fenders grow bigger
and smaller during hard cornering. Put the brace back on and it goes away. I
don't know how much they help other cars but they have helped all of my VW's
quite a bit.
Mike Hood
Systems Administrator
BPS Internet Division
Tulsa, Ok
85 VW GTi 8v DSP
84 500sel Mercedes (street legal boat)
> My take on it is this.
>
> The flex in the chassis is enough to affect alignment..sometimes a -lot-.
>
> Since alignment matters so very much in what we do, anything you can do to
> lock the car in on the exact alignment you need, is good.
>
> Also, in a more flexible car, the force of the chassis flexing, then
> snapping around in a winding course, will slow you down a lot while you
have
> to work extra to keep the car under control.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: David K Yeung [SMTP:dkyeung@juno.com]
> > Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 1999 9:44 AM
> > To: autox@autox.team.net
> > Subject: quantitative analysis
> >
> > has anyone ever seen/done a REAL analysis of benefits gained from strut
> > tower braces? they are so popular among the ricers yet I wonder if most
> > cars can generate enough grip to flex the chassis so much as to see any
> > real benefit from the added stiffness. but maybe the real benefit is
> > reducing the small amounts of flexing that over time will fatigue the
> > body/fender welds.
> >
> > Dave Yeung
> > Houston Region
>
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