Front Strut Support Reinforcement

[JP-s-in st. louis]

Everyone here knows how much I like to mod my car but the front strut tower brace is not needed. Did you know Cup Cars do not even use them? I would have to say that if they drive the car at 10/10th where I drive mine 7/10th even on a track I do not need this mod.

[blinkwatt]

Does anyone here think to have someone drive their Boxster into the driveway with the bars exposed to see if they move or bend any as the car drives over the water drain?

[Tool Pants]

Here is a different version of a strut brace. It came out about 6 years ago. Only version that made some sense to me. You don't see it mentioned anymore.

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by JP-s-in st. louis

Everyone here knows how much I like to mod my car but the front strut tower brace is not needed. Did you know Cup Cars do not even use them? I would have to say that if they drive the car at 10/10th where I drive mine 7/10th even on a track I do not need this mod.

I beg to differ. The GT3 Cup Car does indeed use a strut tower brace. That's exactly what I posted a diagram of. If you look at Loren's post at Renntech that I provided a link to he explains how the Cup Cars use the same brace as what we've got stock in our cars. The additional bar that I added just reinforces and stiffens the strut tower brace already in our cars and the Cup Cars.

But is the GT3 Cup Car really the ultimate in racing? The Porsche GT3RS race cars do have an additional strut tower brace... factory from Porsche. So I'm imagining that there is indeed some room for improvement here if Porsche also increased the stiffness on the GT3RS racer. But I agree this probably would only apply at 10/10ths.

[fragdude]

I won't get a chance to drive it hard for a while. Again this is just the beginning of some trial work on this. I go in tomorrow for some surgery (motorcycle accident) on my left foot. So I won't be driving a manual transmission car for at least two weeks. I'll let you guys know once I've got some feedback though.

Hope all goes well and do tell us how it is when you do get to drive it

[chaudanova]

Originally Posted by Kirk

I beg to differ. The GT3 Cup Car does indeed use a strut tower brace. That's exactly what I posted a diagram of. If you look at Loren's post at Renntech that I provided a link to he explains how the Cup Cars use the same brace as what we've got stock in our cars. The additional bar that I added just reinforces and stiffens the strut tower brace already in our cars and the Cup Cars.

But is the GT3 Cup Car really the ultimate in racing? The Porsche GT3RS race cars do have an additional strut tower brace... factory from Porsche. So I'm imagining that there is indeed some room for improvement here if Porsche also increased the stiffness on the GT3RS racer. But I agree this probably would only apply at 10/10ths.

Do you have a picture/diagram of the strut tower brace from the GT3 RS race car?

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by chaudanova

Do you have a picture/diagram of the strut tower brace from the GT3 RS race car?

I will try to get one. I sent Loren a PM about it. Loren just told me there was one and that I would not want it considering what you would pay for it from Porsche Motorsports. I just left it at that. I am checking now though to see if he has got a part number or diagram as I am curious too.

[JP-s-in st. louis]

Originally Posted by Kirk

I beg to differ. The GT3 Cup Car does indeed use a strut tower brace. That's exactly what I posted a diagram of. If you look at Loren's post at Renntech that I provided a link to he explains how the Cup Cars use the same brace as what we've got stock in our cars. The additional bar that I added just reinforces and stiffens the strut tower brace already in our cars and the Cup Cars.

But is the GT3 Cup Car really the ultimate in racing? The Porsche GT3RS race cars do have an additional strut tower brace... factory from Porsche. So I'm imagining that there is indeed some room for improvement here if Porsche also increased the stiffness on the GT3RS racer. But I agree this probably would only apply at 10/10ths.

Kirk here is a friend of mines GT3 Cup he just traded in for a 993TT "S". He raced it in the IMSA series. In addition to that the guy that works on my car built the GT3 Cup that took 6th at 24Hrs @ Daytona.

http://www.truspeedmotorcars.com/vas_inventory_detail.aspx?@page_stock_no=1549

Edit: Did not intend to sound like a prick but I just have seen this car as close as behind the wheel. I did not drive just started and rev'd I did however drive his GT3RS...GAWD that was/is a sweet car!

[noone986s]

The cup cars dont need one, as you can see in the last photo the strut towers are picked up by the cage, so the tower flex is directed through the roll cage. My friend has the last model GT3 and his doesnt have a strut brace.

I have one of the Schnell ones and I am not sure it affected the handling too much but it did reduce a few squeaks from the car

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by noone986s

The cup cars dont need one, as you can see in the last photo the strut towers are picked up by the cage, so the tower flex is directed through the roll cage. My friend has the last model GT3 and his doesnt have a strut brace.

I think there's some confusion here as to what I'm referring to a "strut tower brace" as, Porsche calls is a "suspension cross-brace". The GT3 Cup Car does show the brace in the last picture and it's the same as what's in the Boxster. It's the black bar that the Moton reservoir is mounted to. It ties the firewall to the strut tower and helps to support it. It doesn't look like your Schnell strut tower brace because it doesn't go straight across between the towers, but instead ties them to the firewall. The brace I added then ties to these two suspension cross-braces directly together.

[insite]

cup cars don't tie the shock towers together; they tie them to the firewall like our cars. there is debate as to whether any of our cars benefit from tying the towers together. there is definitely benefit to NVH, but as to performance, some say yes, others no. not sure i like kirk's idea at all; tie-ins at the tops of the struts are more important, so IMO a conventional brace would work better. in addition, the OEM firewall / strut tower braces are designed for tensile / compression load. loading them in the middle is not smart.

[Kirk]

Originally Posted by insite

in addition, the OEM firewall / strut tower braces are designed for tensile / compression load. loading them in the middle is not smart.

Why is it not smart? Under tensile or compressive forces the middle brace simply holds the two OEM braces together to keep them working as one unit and reduce flex or movement. The middle brace certainly wouldn't decrease the tensile or compressive forces that the OEM braces can withstand. So I go back to the old mantra I had with the lower stress bar side braces - it can't hurt and can only help. The main load is still at the shock tower where the force is applied. Any flex or deflection from compressive forces would now be spread over the whole assembly and it should be stronger and more rigid as a result.