There's a good chance swapping the inner CV's will fix your vibration/rattle.

 

anybody think a front strut brace is worth getting? They are cheap enough might be a random mod I get. is the stiffending worht it? Any trade offs people have noticed? thanks!

 

I think most people around here will say they're useless for an S2k (don't tell the modification forum - they love 'em)...

Our cars do not use struts, so the chassis doesn't have to react the same forces as a strut-type system. Our damping/spring forces are aligned with the axis of the damper. Strut bars are good at reacting lateral forces, not the axial forces of the S2k suspension. Plus, they're just extra weight that is added to the chassis...

 

I think the idea that they don't do anything has or will change.

You may not get the same forces that you do with some strut chassis but you still get forces from the upper arms. I'm not really sure how well an upper bar will do but the ASM bar that connects the shock towers to the steering rack is very noticeable. I'm not sure if the ASM type brace is STR legal though.

 

interesting and helpful.

 

True, but as you stiffen the ride springs the chassis compliance becomes more of a factor in overall stiffness of the car. Running 800-900 lb/in springs dramatically increases the loads in to the chassis and thus chassis deflections. I can't quantify how much a strut bar helps but it becomes a more of a dominant factor as spring rates increase.

There is one in the rear of our cars stock. The rear suspension has a slightly lower motion ratio, so higher spring loads are seen back there.

 

[QUOTE=Suspension,Apr 9 2010, 11:11 AM] True, but as you stiffen the ride springs the chassis compliance becomes more of a factor in overall stiffness of the car.

 

Well, I finally got my feet wet with STR locally. Lots o fun! I'm just using my BS prepped car (same suspension settings as a start) and threw on the TR-C3s and some 255 RS3 all around. The tires were new and got better with each run. I had to run 1st heat with cool temps and only single driver. These tires may do better shaved as I got them with full tread. They have similar characteristics to the A6s I normally run (good bite, avg lateral grip). I did manage to get my car to fuel starve twice after a 1st gear downshift turn-around followed by an immediate lane change, after I shifted to 2nd. I was pretty disappointed about this as some of you are able to run low fuel. I could definitely bee smoother, but I was powersliding out of the tight turn-around to shave time. M

-Marc

 

drove a local event at a slightly less competitive region today... After some more tweaking with the shocks at the advice of a friend who co-drove last weekend the car is worlds faster... took top PAX, (2nd was a GP car and third was a very well prepped very well driven STX WRX)

the course had a lot of transitions and the car was much more planted than it used to be through them... also had 4 different tight sections that had me shifting into first.

Im finally getting the hang of this whole shock tuning thing. I put a Saner bar on my graduation wish list so we'll see if I get it, but I am done spending money on the car until after my wedding in August.

 

Driving back from SD Tour,,,

Jim took 2nd in his AP1. The AP1 gearing was well matched for the high average speed course. Cawthorn got 1st in the MX-5. I got 9/18 which is typical for me, good considering how loose the car was in the back even with rear bar off. More toe in the rear may help tame that. MX-5s very competitive. M-Coupe did well on very open fast course with two slaloms spaced over 100 feet. One ran across hill with on/off camber transitions. Crossing a drainage way was exciting/fun going in both directions.

Videos and photos to come.