Well after two weeks of supporting my trunk, I finally got a chance to get my Muz brace installed this past sunday when I went over to Rob's (aka Ralper) place to get my Mcgard seat locks installed because he had better and more proper tools than I. After we got the locks in, we decided to get the brace on. The actual installation went rather quickly, with the only hitch being a slight misalignment of not the holes in the brase, but of the chasis itself being a bit off. After a few minutes we were able to straighten it out, and the whole piece went on quite nicely. We were unable to torque the brace to 28ft/lbs because Muz's brace needs an allan wrench to install and Rob did not have an adapter for the torque wrench at the time. Regardless, the brace is on.

After driving with it on for about one day and 100 miles later, I can honestly say that the difference is noticeable. The handling and steering is much sharper, crisper, and seemingly more responsive. Taking hard turns with the brace installed seems to impart a bit more confidence in the direction the car is goin than compared to pre-brace hard turning. Also, the ride quality is much improved with the apparent feel of bumps and potholes in the road being much less noticealbe. I guess that's a good thing....

Also, this may all be in my head, but it seems like crusing is a bit quiter as well..perhaps this can be attributed to the fact that the car doesn't bounce over every bump in the road any more...I'm not sure about this part, but maybe someone can confirm this, but for some reason, when I'm driving at speed (70+ mph) on the highway, it seems like the car isn't actually going that fast. Perhaps with the extra stability I just don't feel like I'm going as fast as I really am. I dunno, this all may just be in my head.

Again, these are all my personal observations, whether you agree with them or not, well that's your observations. There are many ups and a few downs with the brace, but overall I think it's a quality modification that enhances many aspects of the s2000 that all of us have come to love.

Many thanks to Rob for helping with the installs!!

--Ron

 

I installed the neuspeed X-brace, and like I have mentionned to many members the difference is incredible. I find the difference was more than when I lowered the car. I tell everybody to get it, the car becomes alot more glued to the ground and it fishtails alot less.

X-brace defenetly a great buy!!!

 

Ron

I'm glad you're happy with the Muz X-brace. As a matter of fact I'm quite impressed with it. I thought the finish was excellent and the overall quality was excellent as well. In fact the install went easier then I thought it would.

I'm very impressed by the fact that you've seen results so quickly.

Now, I'm considering one. If I get it, I'll get the allen key socket that fits my torque wrench and we'll get together again to check the torque on yours. I think its ok.

 

I had the same problem as you... was a big struggle on my car to get the holes lined up but eventually it went! I agree, the difference is substantial, and noticeable. The problem is that after a few weeks your car will feel "normal" again and you'll think it never did anything.

I'm tempted to take it off to remind myself of how good it is, haha.

 

koala...i know what you mean....after a week or so, I forgot all about my PRM CAI....but everytime I stomp on the gas or go into VTEC the PRM revs to life and I'm remided that I have it in there and it always brings a smile to my face. I'm sure I'll forget about the brace, but it's more of a behind the scenes subtle player that is quite important nonetheless..

 

What's the price on the X brace?

 

I have one of Rick's new X braces and am going to have it installed tomorrow.

Ill keep you posted as to my impressions.

The main reason I decided on the brace is because of a notably uneven stretch of road where I usually travel at 70 to 90 and get a lot of bump steer. I am wondering if the brace will help. I feel bump steer may be coming from front, however I have read that you can get it from the rear. The car reacts well to steering at any speed but will move a lot on the road with every undulation and I have to constantly correct. This happened once at over 100 when I was looking in mirror. Very scary.

 

The brace should do wonders for you. I hope that your Rick's brace goes on well, b/c I have read that some people have had problems with the brace lining up.

00S2KFAN: For the Muz brace I paid a little over 180 dollars for it including shipping from australia. If you goto muz's site there's a currency converter, and since you are an owner and s2ki member you can get 5% off. I chose Muz's brace over all the otehrs cuz it does not interfere with oil changes, it's the cheapest one out there, I like the gold anondized finish, and also i believe its the lightest one out there weiging in at roughly 3 pounds. Rick's brace is a bit over 3 pounds i believe...

any other questions feel free to PM or post!!

--Ron

 

Despite many positive posts regarding the benefits of a lower chassis brace for the S2000 I was still skeptical that there'd be much of an improvement. Nevertheless, I went ahead and bought a Rick's brace last week and installed it last Saturday on my MY 02. Took about 20 minutes from the time I jacked up the front to when the wheels were back on the ground. No big deal.
Well I gotta say I'm impressed with the improvement. Like others here have said, steering reponse is better, and the thing does feel tighter. To me though, the most noticable improvement, is the way sharp hits to the suspension when traveling over road patches and other rough sections of road are have been reduced. The suspension is definately working much better now, because of the reduction in chassis flex.
I'm now convinced that a lower brace is one of the best mods goin' for the S2000. Can't understand how Honda missed this one. Should be included as OE on all S2000's IMO.

 

Stratocaster helped me put one of these on about two weeks ago and the difference is incredible.

This is a must-do mod IMO.