Engine Strut Brace....I need opinions!

[fabricatorx]

if it was a 3 piece wouldn't it not be as strong as just 1 part all welded together? i mean if you bolt the to bars going to the fron the added bolt holes would be weaker right?

Yes it would be actually, which is why I still think it should NOT we seperable at the brace joints... too costly to do clean and strong, besides, whats the real purpose of this?
Maybe we will offer two seperate designs for this car altogether...

Also, the whole reason we did this is because as I stated in my earlier thread regarding the braces, this multi-point system is much much more effective than a standard brace. Unless you guys want it for looks... ...which leads me to answering the next question; it's purpose is to brace the chassis AT the crumple zone. (disclaimer...) If your worried about safety, please do understand that these are not and never will be DOT legal!! OFFROAD ONLY!!!

We want to steer away from products that have little to no effect...

[B1rdbrain]

it's not DOT? Why cuz it stops some of the crumple Zone from doing it's Job?

this is why i think a 1 bar from strut to strut is good. it works and looks good and would still be DOT.

[fabricatorx]

those are not dot either. to get something dot legal is a huge and expensive process which includes many inspections and or possible testing.

[B1rdbrain]

so if you are in a wreck with the supports? you will need a good lawyer just to say that it didn't cause the wreck?

[exodus]

so if you are in a wreck with the supports? you will need a good lawyer just to say that it didn't cause the wreck?

what? You're going the wrong direction here.

The brace stiffens the frontal "crumple" zone. It won't "crumple" and absorb impact, which means more of the energy of an impact is transferred into the passenger compartment (into you).

As far as any legal issues I could see... An insurance company could possibly deny medical reimbursement (per injuries as a result of the crash), since you had "disabled" or otherwise circumvented a safety feature of the vehicle.

To be honest, though... I see the strut towers tearing apart with this design if you were in a serious accident...

[subachad]

with the front pieces like that, a minor fender bender where you go under an suv bumper will not only bash your hood and cor support, but also jack up your strut towers as well, possibly though unlikely pushing the strut tower bar into the firewall.

Adding a couple of bolts to each side will not make it weaker. The STI and Mazdaspeed braces are this way. It makes it easy to service the car too. What if you need to top off your clutch fluid, you wouldn't want to remove the entire assebly.

I'm looking forward to seeing a finished product. When Ryan talked about an engine brace, I thought he meant for the engine, not a strut tower brace.

Also, I don't know if it could be incorporated, but look at the mazdaspeed rx8 strut tower brace. It has an extra bracket that pushes up against the brake master cylinder to keep it from moving as you hit the brakes. This improves pedal feel and will probably be quite effective in the Aveo since the firewall is most likely not all that stiff.

[fabricatorx]

ok, were all losing touch with the point here. This is not meant to increase the "safety" of your Aveo. What this brace is doing is EFFECTIVELY REDUCING THE CRUMPLE-ZONE CAPABILITY TO NULL which IS the point, because this is why it flexes so much. You hit the front, consider the car fuqqed anyways.

You put any aftermarket part on your car, you do so at your own risk.

If you are worried about anything like this and never plan on actually competing in anything with this car, stick to wheels and eyelids for mods.

Don't expect me to be lenient towards thoughts that have no relevance to the purpose of the brace.

Purpose of the brace: Reduce torsional flex in the front of the vehicle when subjected to high-speed or high-load cornering, thus creating a more stable, solid track which contributes to better handling thus lower lap times.

all please make note of mtlswift's post from earlier...
"It's a nice idea, hopefully those who get it will only use it for track applications cuz there goes the whole front crumple zone."

Other than my rant expect the prototype to be done soon, and I know of a few that are quite ancy to see this in production, so dont worry, give it time, were moving along quite quickly now.

[mystere485]

so are you saying that if i add this brace to my car, i'm likely to see a worse accident than this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCAoeFgi ... ed&search=

[fabricatorx]

let's keep this on topic please

[B1rdbrain]

i like the idea but i think a singal bar would be better for me like we talked about near the start.