so,
as i was gazing at my newly installed CAI yesterday
i noticed those two mount points
just -begging- for a strut brace.
seems like a simple, reasonably cheap way
to get even more stiffness in the ride,
and a little more bling under the hood ;>
anyone have any specifically negative
or specifically positive experiences
with any given product or vendors?
____________________ it is smarter to be lucky
than
it is lucky to be smart.
you have the AEM CAI?? i have the focus sport bar, and doesnt bump against my AEM at all, and made my ride so much stiffer, cant wait for the back one now but, on average, i can take corners about 10mph faster because of the stiffness of the ride. definately a good investment. found mine on focusfanatics.com in the "for sale" forum for $50 shipped, all i did was throw a coat of red on it to hide some scuff marks.
I just installed my front strut brace in my car on friday. Love the way my car feels now. The rear is yet to be installed.. hopefully this week sometime..
____________________
It's not about what you have under the hood, it's about who you have behind the wheel...
sveet03 wrote: you have the AEM CAI?? i have the focus sport bar, and doesnt bump against my AEM at all, and made my ride so much stiffer, cant wait for the back one now but, on average, i can take corners about 10mph faster because of the stiffness of the ride. definately a good investment. found mine on focusfanatics.com in the "for sale" forum for $50 shipped, all i did was throw a coat of red on it to hide some scuff marks.
yeah,
i just got the AEM-CAI.
i dunno if its completely placebo
because it -sounds- so much better,
but i -think- i can definitely feel the extra HP.
I have the focus sport one and Chelly has the focus central one. Both identical. The socalled powder coat is rubbing off on mine where the iceman hits it and the same on chelly's except she has stock air tubing.
There is a tossup on wheter or not it really works because of how close the struts are to the firewall. It probably does help a bit. I would go with a solid strut bar over the cheap ebay ones tho. The extra bolt and swivel joint are a week point and coud fail if the bar is really put to use... (Just my 2 pennies there).
fx3 wrote: I have the focus sport one and Chelly has the focus central one. Both identical. The socalled powder coat is rubbing off on mine where the iceman hits it and the same on chelly's except she has stock air tubing.
according to the FS site their's will fit an SVT
and according to the FC site, their's won't.
so,
that makes it an easy choice.
____________________ it is smarter to be lucky
than
it is lucky to be smart.
I've had the FocusSport front strut bar as well as the CoolFlo and no clearance issues. I do feel the strut bar helps with stiffness and handling. Someone said the only problem with the rear strut bar is that the only thing holding it in place are the two thin bolts (it doesn't attach to anything substantial) and it seems as though could break????? Anyone else????
____________________ 02 SVT Focus, CD Silver, No. 2032.
To add to Dan's comment regarding the debate that still runs rampant through Focus Owner forums and groups - Yes, the struts are very close to the firewall, which also adds strength to the struts.
Having said that, Dan bought me mine after driving my car for a year and we had to really give it our all to make the bar fit at a couple of points. I don't care what they say, I noticed an improvement. Granted, not a major improvement, but if it will help sure up my front end so it doesn't drop or bow in any way I'm for it.
Note to Tiff - Be careful now that you've added these mods. If you're noticing a difference, you've changed the way your vehicle will react to your driving. What you were used to over the past months driving has been changed.
I'll add that for anyone. I was in a bad accident with a Focus that had a bunch of modifications done to it and had over inflated 18" wheels and I lost control very easily due to suspension modification.
These cars love the curves, but they can also kick their ass ends out in a heartbeat.
____________________ Get in, Sit down, Shut up and HANG ON!
In my car, with only the brace and my new tires, I've been able to take some exit ramps at over 80mph, but not until I had a chance to "re-learn" my car.
As for the butt end kicking out...yep...she'll go if you're going hot into a nearly 90degree turn that has a banking downward on the outside of the turn with dirt and over inflated tires...yep, that ass will kick and spin.
The back end of these cars (specifically the hatch) is light with a lot of the weight in front.
____________________ Get in, Sit down, Shut up and HANG ON!
Chelly02 wrote: As for the butt end kicking out...yep...she'll go if you're going hot into a nearly 90degree turn that has a banking downward on the outside of the turn with dirt and over inflated tires...yep, that ass will kick and spin.
oh,
well,
yeah.
you have much bigger heartbeats than me, i guess.
;>
____________________ it is smarter to be lucky
than
it is lucky to be smart.
I hear ya Chelly. Got the rear one in last night. Wasnt exactly fun, but its in with the help of sveet03. Thanks again! I did notice this morning that my car seemed stiffer and I pushed it slightly coming off 93S exit 2... definatly a better corner. I know from listeing to Chelly that it doesnt take much to make the rear flip out and im not going to push my luck.. it'll take some time
____________________
It's not about what you have under the hood, it's about who you have behind the wheel...
The front strut bar does help some, but the rear one makes alot of difference. There is little cross bracing in the rear of our cars(zx3/zx5) and adding a rear bar helps make the car firmer.
As for the car spinning out I think it had more to do with the 18's and an improper suspension set-up. If you want to drive crazy your suspension has to be up to it. If you cannot prevent excessive body roll you will spin the car out.
____________________ Honda's are like assholes, everyone has one.
zx3_rex wrote: The front strut bar does help some, but the rear one makes alot of difference. There is little cross bracing in the rear of our cars(zx3/zx5) and adding a rear bar helps make the car firmer.
As for the car spinning out I think it had more to do with the 18's and an improper suspension set-up. If you want to drive crazy your suspension has to be up to it. If you cannot prevent excessive body roll you will spin the car out.
would you say
that a rear sway bar set-up
would be more worthwhile than the rear strut brace?
(if you ignore the price difference)
____________________ it is smarter to be lucky
than
it is lucky to be smart.
I'm not sure of the svtf specs. off the top of my head but I do beleive that the svtf has a larger rear sway bar than the other foci. I think it's 21mm so going a little larger will help make the rear stiffer. H&R make a nice rear sway bar, that is what I will be getting for my car.
A rear sway bar will be more noticable than a rear strut bar, but both together will give the focus a nice tight rear end.
____________________ Honda's are like assholes, everyone has one.
but, on average, i can take corners about 10mph faster because of the stiffness of the ride. definately a good investment. found mine on focusfanatics.com in the "for sale" forum for $50 shipped, all i did was throw a coat of red on it to hide some scuff marks.
