[200q20v] Re: [s-cars] Strengthening the car front between struts A200 20V, S4 ?

[Derek Pulvino]

Russ,

You must be in cohootz (speeling?) with Bernie Benz.  If you check Chris 
Miller's web site on the 200 and look for a thread concerning the "Bernie 
Benz Strut Tie-Bar," that is exactly what you'll find.

Some time ago, exact date unknown, Mr. Benz designed and fabricated a strut 
tie bar for the t44 that included a mounting device that tied the tops of 
the struts together from both sides of the car.  His theory was the same, 
and he also is/was of the opinion that tying the strut towers only was 
relatively ineffective as it does not make up for the built in compliance, 
read slop, in the rubber bushings integral with the strut mounting plate.

Theory sounds good, my only question is that as the compliance inherent in a 
rubber mounting bushing could not be considered an unknown, chances are that 
Audi did not neglect that factor in their suspension design.  So by 
eliminating the compliance in that bushing you are to some degree 
compromising the suspension design.

That's the voice of logic on one hand, but I can't say I have the voice of 
experience on the other hand.  I do however know that there was a recent 
group buy on said strut tie bar, so many people have them, and it would be 
interesting to do a "non-biased survey" on the effect of the Bernie Benz Bar 
(bbb).

Derek Pulvino


>From: "Russ Panneton" <panneton at xilinx.com>
>To: jimmy at urs4.com
>CC: "s-car-list at egroups.com" <s-car-list at yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: Re: [s-cars] Strengthening the car front between struts  A200 20V, 
>S4 ?
>Date: Sat, 25 Aug 2001 20:33:55 -0600
>
>How about putting the brace between the tops of the two front shocks?  Have 
>you ever noticed how much the upper strut mount allows the top of the strut 
>to move around?  You can't just
>rigidly mount the top of the strut to the body or you'll probably get too 
>much road noise and harshness.  But using a longer strut brace to tie the 
>two shock tops together would
>maintain the noise isolation while effectively doubling the rigidity of the 
>top mounts.
>
>Russ.
>
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