STi Carbon/Titanium Strut Brace!!

Anyone who's into modding cars knows about strut braces... It's basically a stiff bar that bolts across your suspension-turrets to brace them against each other and stiffen the suspension up. I've always liked the idea of buying one, but it's never been high on my priority list. This all changed when I saw the STi one [in the photo] and I figured that seeing as we've gone to all the trouble of TEIN coilovers, I may as well go the whole hog and finish beefing up the chassis in style.

They haven't made any of the STi ones for a long time so it's hit and miss finding one. Demon Tweeks' cheapest alternative is £100, but it's a heavy steel number from Sparco. eBay has some cheap, but great looking ones from about £50, which are made of much lighter aluminium, but they're unbranded and untested. Subaru really had it licked though with their STi one, fitted to V4's onwards - it's made of carbon-fibre rods with titanium-billet joints and is way lighter than the others, as well as looking achingly good. These usually sell for a ton or more and are quite sought after, but a few are cropping up right now on eBay and there are bargains to be had. I spotted a cheap one and put in a hugely optimistic max bid of £60. My chances were low, but the rival bidders must have been napping because I got it for £55, despite another selling an hour later for £81. The seller went above and beyond as well, only charging me £4.50 for standard-parcel even though it arrived within 2 days! :)

I am very surprised at how much difference this brace makes. I've still only got the standard front shocks on, but the whole front-end of the car is stiffer, feeling much flatter, especially round hard bends, but also noticeably firmer over bumps too! Absolutely brilliant for only £60 - I can't wait to get the remaining TEIN coils fitted to the front, it'll be one seriously stiff chassis! The strut-brace really is light too, I would say it only weighs a few ounces, yet it evidently takes some force. It's clearly built to take it too - it has 'Aerospace Division' emblazoned next to the STi logo, which is awesome. It's eye-opening to see how much the body and suspension flexes - I'd recommend fitting a strut-brace to any car!

FITTING :

This couldn't be any easier - all you need is a 10mm wrench. This is for the STi Classic carbon strut-brace, but the fitting is identical for all other types, though the nuts may be different sizes.

1. Pop the bonnet and remove the 3x 10mm top-mount nuts from each of the suspension-turrets. The weight of the body is resting on the top-mounts so they won't move at all.

2. Loosen the 10mm bolts on either shoulder of the strut-brace so the end-rings can be adjusted easily.

3. Lower the strut-brace under the rear bulkhead and the end-ring holes over the top-mount studs so that there is a straight, snug fit and the end-rings can be pushed flat to the suspension-turret.

4. Replace the 3 nuts to each top-mount with a 10mm wrench and give it a good tighten, making sure the raised mounting-points are all flush against the suspension-turret.

5. Tighten the 10mm bolts on either side of the strut-brace so the entire unit is solid across the turrets.

There you go - fitted in 10 minutes and the difference it makes is astonishing!!