strut-tower brace? or no?

[Larry C Leung]

As I posted earlier, you may wish to try the front bar (before the
springs), you are, in this case, just trying to reduce roll the point
that the tires can actually work, any additional roll stiffness will
result in added understeer. The strut brace will also help in keeping the
alignment straight, but not as much as the front swaybar. You CAN add
more front bar, thus reducing the need for extreme front - camber (which
also means better braking and accelerating) but then you MUST stiffen the
rear by either a bigger bar, stiffer springs or both (but this leads to a
hobby horse ride that isn't too stable, go for the bar alone). Basically,
you are trying to get a less than ideal for track sedan to do what your
track intended 911 (and believe it or not, to some degree, the Neon)
does. There are definite compromises in the the 80's design here, and
you're finding them. 

LL - NY

On Thu, 19 Jul 2001 11:34:35 -0700 (PDT) Tessie McMillan
<tessmc at drizzle.com> writes:
>Well, I've got the more rigid, urQ strut-tower mounts, but still 
>can't
>find a brace. I looked at the URL several of you kindly posted:
>
>	http://www.humanspeakers.com/audi/strut-brace-90.htm
>
>but when I look at this OEM brace, it looks under-engineered for track 
>use
>on an 80Q. Am I wrong? I was also hoping to find an aftermarket bar 
>that
>had more engine bay  clearance. I've called Blau, GPR, and TAP, and 
>they
>don't have a source any more. 2Bennett says they have a Sparco bar, 
>but
>they don't know if it fits my car. I've called them every day this 
>week
>and they say they'll get to me when they can, but they just don't call 
>me
>back.
>
>So... Since I've had all this downtime, I've been thinking about 
>Larry's
>driving-style comment and it reminded me how the car takes a set in
>turns. (Note, I'm used to driving an '87 911, and I also had some 
>seat
>time with a Neon racecar). It seems that my 80Q takes a split
>second longer for the front end to set relative to what I'm used to in 
>the
>911, plus it sets with the nose slightly down and dipping in the 
>direction
>of the outside of the turn. In the 911 and the racecar, the cars will 
>set
>more neutrally (for *just* a split second).
>
>The car has been lowered all around with lowering springs, and I have
>Boge Turbo Gas struts (although nobody can remember when this was 
>done.)
>I also have the 22mm rear anti-sway bar from Blau.
>
>Can we revisit the question of: what is the practical difference 
>between a
>strut-tower brace and a front anti-sway bar in this car? And what 
>happens
>if you put stiffer springs on the front, leaving everything else 
>as-is? I
>do intend to put in more rigid tower mounts. Would Delrin bushings on 
>the
>control arm really help by themselves?
>
>And last - if anyone does have a lead on a good aftermarket 
>strut-tower
>brace, I'd like to hear it.
>
>Thanks for your ideas guys! Sorry to keep belaboring this issue.
>
>Tess
>in Seattle, WA USA
>
>-- 
>
>