sparco brace. :)

[demlotcrew]

Personally i dont think a strut brace is needed in the E30 as there have been tests done with micro meters and the conclusion is that the E30 chase is strong and does not flex enough for the driver to notice a difference, and the main reason for a Strut brace is to reduce camber on the front wheels during a sharp corner, but i didn’t notice anything on my car. Also people who stick them on the back just make me laugh, so my point is that its a waste of money or in your case 80$

Really???? your chassis must be the strongest ever that left the assembly line... 8)

Seriously, I have personally come accross 2 E30's with slightly out of shape strut tower... Tried fitting the strut brace but the holes are off by 1cm.. It's not the strut brace, it's the tower collapsed inward.... (confirmed by the wheels alignment machine)
Moral of the story is: putting the strut brace helps to keep the 2 towers in its place...

And I do notice a lot of difference during hard cornering with and without the strut brace... Now that I gotten used to driving with one, I don't tihink I can drive the same way without one... The car would definitely understeer like mad in the first corner I would take....

As for the rear strut brace, the difference in handling is not that great, but still feel it at fast and tight corners. The rear feels more planted with the strut brace.
And the rear does not crash down that much when going over big speed humps (We have a lot of these speed humps here in Malaysia, cos we got lots of crazy buggers who love driving fast, even in residential areas)

Apart from that, there's also less rattles from the rear. Confirmed by a few fellow E30 members who installed it...

Thats just nonsense really. The rear towers only support the Dampers so what you are experiencing is the Placebo effect! Also cheap Struts don’t fit! full stop. The good ones you can adjust to fit. But lets agree to disagree, its your money.

Mtechnik thanks mate, yes its a long time coming. I few other things to be done in the car. The last mod has been HIDS from a E46 M3 and i got the electric self leveling to work. And the wipe wash. Yes Ove got me thinking of the whole strut brace idea and theory. I really cannot tell a difference either, I would rather spend the money on some good dampers and tyres much better effect to the car.

[iXer]

...
Seriously, I have personally come accross 2 E30's with slightly out of shape strut tower... Tried fitting the strut brace but the holes are off by 1cm.. It's not the strut brace, it's the tower collapsed inward.... (confirmed by the wheels alignment machine)
Moral of the story is: putting the strut brace helps to keep the 2 towers in its place...
...

Hmm... :roll:

That would be interesting to try on my iX, I have an unexplicable camber problem with my right front. I will take the car to a professional shop to get an alignment done and see what they say about it first.. A strut brace sounds like a nice thing to have.

[demlotcrew]

not an alignment but have it meassured right?

You can do that yourself. Dead easy.

[fabianyee]

Thats just nonsense really. The rear towers only support the Dampers so what you are experiencing is the Placebo effect! Also cheap Struts don’t fit! full stop. The good ones you can adjust to fit. But lets agree to disagree, its your money.

Mtechnik thanks mate, yes its a long time coming. I few other things to be done in the car. The last mod has been HIDS from a E46 M3 and i got the electric self leveling to work. And the wipe wash. Yes Ove got me thinking of the whole strut brace idea and theory. I really cannot tell a difference either, I would rather spend the money on some good dampers and tyres much better effect to the car.

Well.. You don't harsh to be that harsh with your words...
Anyway, what you said "The rear towers only support the Dampers " is correct but don't u think there would be some form of flex at extreme cornering especially if the driver flicks to intentionallyto try to throw the rear sideways (like I did). The rear holds with the bar it but doesn't when it's not there...
As for the better speed hump absorpsion, it's common sense that the 2 rear strut tower will flex a little towards eah other when the whole weight of the car crashes downwards after a speed bump. So with the bar in, it makes it more rigid and there's a solid "After-speedbump" feel...

As for the front strut, if it's adjustable wouldn't it be contributing to some form of flexing under hard driving???
The non adjustables will hold still under hard cornering. Doesn't this make sense?

As for those sceptical of the effects of strut bars, get a loaner bar and drive with it for 1 month, and then remove it and attack the same corners you've been attacking for the 1 month with the bars in and you would know the difference..
Sometimes you don't appreciate what you have until you're without it... (this applies to everyday personal life too)...

[nando]

maybe I'm just crazy, but with my suspension setup is teeth-rattling stiff, and it's just an ix with H&R sports, konis, polyurethane and F/R braces.. I'm not sure that the rear would flex much, since there is a lot of steel support from the chassis in that area, but the brace happens to supports the shock mounts, which are a known weak point.. in any case, it certainly hasn't made my car any sloppier!

[YAN-3]

ok so im not the only one who is having the same problem with the holes not matching up? and how did you finally get the holes to match up??? its a sparco one too, red one.

[rs4pro3]

The bar I've got didn't line up either it's an aluminum bar and I have no idea who made it. When I had the car aligned one corner was .5 degree's off from the other corner so that explained why the bar would fit as the one side had moved inward a little. I just pryed the bar into place. My car is supper stiff now but I like it.

[demlotcrew]

Thats just nonsense really. The rear towers only support the Dampers so what you are experiencing is the Placebo effect! Also cheap Struts don’t fit! full stop. The good ones you can adjust to fit. But lets agree to disagree, its your money.

Mtechnik thanks mate, yes its a long time coming. I few other things to be done in the car. The last mod has been HIDS from a E46 M3 and i got the electric self leveling to work. And the wipe wash. Yes Ove got me thinking of the whole strut brace idea and theory. I really cannot tell a difference either, I would rather spend the money on some good dampers and tyres much better effect to the car.

Well.. You don't harsh to be that harsh with your words...
Anyway, what you said "The rear towers only support the Dampers " is correct but don't u think there would be some form of flex at extreme cornering especially if the driver flicks to intentionallyto try to throw the rear sideways (like I did). The rear holds with the bar it but doesn't when it's not there...
As for the better speed hump absorpsion, it's common sense that the 2 rear strut tower will flex a little towards eah other when the whole weight of the car crashes downwards after a speed bump. So with the bar in, it makes it more rigid and there's a solid "After-speedbump" feel...

As for the front strut, if it's adjustable wouldn't it be contributing to some form of flexing under hard driving???
The non adjustables will hold still under hard cornering. Doesn't this make sense?

As for those sceptical of the effects of strut bars, get a loaner bar and drive with it for 1 month, and then remove it and attack the same corners you've been attacking for the 1 month with the bars in and you would know the difference..
Sometimes you don't appreciate what you have until you're without it... (this applies to everyday personal life too)...

Sorry mate dont mean to be so harsh, but the rear does not flex it cant have you tried to push a damper down yourself? Easy aint it. The rear parcel shelf is the strut brace for the rear of an E30. Its just not possible to tell even the best driver cant make it out.
I have not had a brace on for A whole month but for a little while and i could not notice the difference.

I think a better anti roll bar on the back would be a better upgrade. something like 18mm on the back and 19mm on the front works well for balance.

Again sorry for the harshness but i am a firm believer that these things just dont work on our cars.

[MattM20]

I'm not sure that the rear would flex much, since there is a lot of steel support from the chassis in that area, but the brace happens to supports the shock mounts, which are a known weak point..

Bingo! if you feel any difference from a rear brace is mostly going to be due to the shock tower being reinforced, not so much less chasis flex. i dont have a rear shock-tower brace, but when i put on billet alluminum RSM's and Z3 reinforcement plates i noticed a very welcomed difference in how solid and slightly stiffer the rear end felt.

[YAN-3]

hay are those ronal ls wheels?

[MattM20]

hay are those ronal ls wheels?

yes they are

[demlotcrew]

Matt do you know what the Z3 plates do exactly?

[MattM20]

Matt do you know what the Z3 plates do exactly?

well after reading this http://e30m3performance.com/installs...port/index.htm i was convinced. plus i got them for pretty cheap, considering they usually go for around $15 each. i did notice a nice difference with the entire setup on, but since i did it all (rsm's, bushings, z3 plates) at once, i dont know how much each part contributed to the tighter feel.

[e9nine]

..just to chime on on the front strut bar. Its effect is noticed in high speed turns. You car stays more planted. If you are referring to Ove's measurement experiment or some other experiment, how about if they tried another device to measure??

I had one on my old m20 but not on the m42 yet. I want one for the m42 but its not a priority yet.

The rear bar is one I have not tried yet and will not comment on as a result.

There is a reason for front strut bars being on race cars and some "sports cars" from the factory.

This is one of those areas where other people's opinions really don't help. You either notice the difference or you don't. The best test will be for someone to attach one to your car and take it off on a particular course under the same conditions and speeds. The aim is for you to not know whether or not the bar is attached.

I can bet you wil notice the difference....we all did

[mdistel]

I installed the Z3 plates and honestly never thought there would be a difference in handling. I did it to distribute the force on the towers.

Mark

https://www.e30m50.com