Strut Brace
 

I just got 2000 Boxster S with the Sport Suspension Package and I'm curious of any of you have added a strut brace and if you noticed any considerable improvement? The car seems pretty stiff but I have only had it out on the track 1 day.

Art

Nylart, this has been discussed a lot here the past couple years. You should do a search and read through some very informative old threads.

Here's one, I'll get ya started:

http://www.986forum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5278&highlight=strut+brace

Hey Art, I added both the front and rear/mid strut braces. To answer your question, Yes, i noticed a considerable improvement. I installed the front strut brace first, and noticed a dramatic improvement... way more solid feel, handling was improved, less squeaks/rattles. I installed the rear/mid about 2 weeks later, and saw a nice improvement as well. Perhaps not as dramatic as the front, but it was indeed a noticeable difference. It complemented the front bar very well, and felt more solid. Overall, I'd recommend doing both front and rear/mid bars. Very well worth it.

it might be just my metal model, but struts bars are a waste of money. For a strut bar to be effective, the chassis would have to be terribly designed. I've installed struts bars on my S2000, Celica's and GTI, and non of them ever did anything. I wanted them to do something, since they looked so cool and were so easy to purchase and install, but the bars never improved my times, even on R-compounds.

A manufacture designing a "sports car" would definitely consider a cheap strut bar if it actually improved handling, dont ya think?

Sway bars, now were talking!!

Yeah, this mod is a bit of a mystery to me... I won't pass judgement on whether it helps or not because I haven't tried my car with a strut brace. But Art, I've got the same car as you - a 2000 Boxster S. Before you decide to buy a strut brace just go under the front hood and take a look. Take the plastic covers off the battery and the two side covers over the struts. If you look there should be a black metal bar there at the top of the strut towers/mounts that connects each side to the firewall. It looks to me like Porsche pretty much already has a strut brace designed into the front of the car. Look in the back and you'll see the struts aren't bolted into strut "towers" of any kind, they're bolted into the body which has a straight connection (no big hatch area or void or anything) between the struts. I honestly don't see what a rear strut brace would do for you here as there's already a direct, strong connection through the body. Again, just my observations, your mileage may vary.

Kirk