I wish I could remember the real discussion.... its in the forums somewhere, but it was enough to convince me to promptly forget all about

 

It is much easier for me to ask someone here (usually you or Alex) your thoughts rather than having to go through pages and pages of crap in UTH or S2k Talk and still be confused as fcuk at the end of it ....

 

I remember that thread, and it was a bunch of BULLSHIT. They said the x-brace would prevent the engine from dropping out of the frame in a frontal collision, or that it detracted from the crumple zone.

Either way, if the force is great enough to crush the front subframe, and the front portion of the frame rails, to shatter the engine mounts and force the engine into the bulkhead or out the underside of the car, no $300 piece of skinny, bolted-on metal (forged or welded) is going to get in the way.

My reasoning, however, is that if the force is there, pushing vertically or horizontally on the x-brace, the bolts would be first to go. Grade 8, or peened titanium, or whatever material, the tensile and shear strength of the bolt is nowhere near strong enough to hold that x-brace in place.

I think the bolts would snap, the x-brace would be free, and thus not preventing the crumple zone from doing its job - not that it ever would in the first place.

 

James, I remember you told me about how there was a spider crack in your windshield, and that under hard cornering it caused the crack to spread?

Well, with an x-brace, which I highly recommend, it'll minimize that frame flexing to almost nothing. It was the frame flexing that twisted your windshield.

My preference for these "generic" parts is always Comptech. Top-quality parts for back-shelf prices.

 

This was what I was thinking .... just wondered whether it really DID reduce the flex noticeably or whether it was just a placebo of types for some people .... ??

 

Well, I can't really comment on the x-brace alone. I installed it recently along with my other suspension mods, which were all "major" mods - KONIs, bushings, and tie-rods.

the super-hard shocks shouldnt affect frame stiffness, but the bushings, and to a certain extent the tie-rods, affect it greatly.

combined with those two, yes, frame flexing is virtually eliminated. but i don't know which part played the biggest part.


in that case, all i can do is tell you that from what i've heard the x-brace makes a very noticeable difference in performance.



either way, i still highly recommend it.

 

I am thinking of going with stiffer springs and a x-brace and I am also toying with the idea of the Mugen front lip .... just worried that I won't be able to get the nose of the car over anything bigger than a matchbox if I lower it AND put on the Mugen lip

 

cdelena, a super-fast track regular at TWS, uses an x-brace. he says it's one of the first mods you should make to your car. if cedelena thinks so, it's good enough for me.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by alexf20c

 

Well, my car is slammed. I have 16in wheels with a meaty tire (a little lower profile than stock), and the tire tucks in quite a bit behind the fender. my car scraped at stock height, i'm 95% sure it'll scrape now on even lesser grades, and i'm damned sure a front lip will scrape if you lower your car.

it really isn't that big of a deal as long as you avoid the speed bumps or steep ramps. if not possible to go around them, just go at it at an angle and you should be fine.



but then again, my car is slammed. if you're talking about only lowering an inch or so, i think a lip would be fine. just be more cautious.