While flipping through Hyper Rev, I notice that the record holder for the fastest NA S2000 at Tsukuba is the Amuse S2000, and what caught my eyes was that it's not equppied with strut bars or x-braces! Neither does the Mugen S2000. This is quite surprising since so owners claim to have gotten amazing results with the misc. braces on the market.

I'm sure the race cars have been spot-welded for reinforcement, but so are other race S2000s from J's and Spoon and C-West, and they are equppied with STBs etc.

Can anyone enlighten me if these things actually work? I could see the tiny benefits they provide, and the fact that the fastest NA S2000 doesn't use them backs up my theory.

Comments welcomed.

 

No one can figure out why?

Is it that hard to justify spending a few hundred bucks to "stiffen" up the chassis?

 

Everyone is tired of talking about it.. Try a search for hundreds of opinions

 

I have both the X-brace and the solid one-piece shock tower brace. I bought them to help the car stay stiff for many years by eliminating a bit of the inherent flex. I bought the car as both my weekend toy, and as my track car, so I know over a 10-year period on the track it will be subjected to some serious stress. As far as I'm concerned a race team can go without if they choose to, because there is no way in hell they will be using the car for 10 years.

It was not hard to justify it at all for me, and clearly the two together were more than a few hundred bucks....

Want precise steering input? Buy the braces!
Want to eliminate some of the chassis flex? Buy the braces!
Want your oil changes to be a mess? Buy the Spoon X-brace!
Want a nice clean garage floor after your oil change? Buy the Nuespeed X-brace!
Want the maximum stiffness from a shock tower brace? Buy a one piece, not a three!
That

 

I have searched about this. I'm just wondering why one of the top S2000s run without them if they're truely beneficial. There are people who call them junk, and there are people who experience a great difference after installing the braces.

What I'm wondering here is, I personally noticed something from another local owner's car before and after the brace, but why doesn't Amuse use them? I'm sure they can afford them.

Is is because the weight penalty of the braces aren't worth the tiny improvement in stiffness?