There seems to be a lot of anecdotal evidence of x-braces improving steering "feel" but has anyone ever attributed actual reduction in lap times to these things? What about the cusco floor bars, or the rear braces...or even a hardtop? short of caging an s2000 are there things that can be done to improves rigidity of the tub? thanks

 

Roll bar (technically not a cage).

 

I think it depends. On a mostly stock car with Street tires, the addition of the parts themselves probably not. You could argure that the improved "feel" increases driver confidence thus making them drive a little better.

On a more prepped car with raceier tires and suspension where chassis rigidity and grip are critical - I think to a degree all the braces help so long as the weight is not significantly increased.

 

I think we're pretty set with what we have.

 

^Excellent post! Very interesting.

 

You could always do this

 

Wow. I had never seen that picture of the chassis before. That's neat. Good find!

 

Whose car is that?

 

I think its the work of Opera in Japan. Either the owners car or one lucky customer getting their treatment.

 

my experience is actually the opposite.

on the street where you have uneven pavement the xbrace makes a much more noticeable difference keeping things tight since the car can be traveling over varying levels of terrain at any given time.

on the track or any nice, smooth road, the xbrace doesn't make much of a difference.