Best use of £500 on performance mods (Stage 1)

[roger]

In saying that I do have a post facelift car which is braced better as stock, but am also turbo'ed and have never had and issues with just ftsb and bp. I think lowering springs would be on my list after those 2 rather than anything else.

I went breast plate, FTSB, lowering then MSMB. Every time it got better, but to be honest the benefit of the £70 on the breast plate was much greater £ for £ than when I swopped it for MSMB. Still as Phil says, it depends on what you want (coupled with how much you've got to spend). Certainly go for BP now if you can't afford MSMB for a few months, but if you can I suggest you go straight for it.

[philster_d]

bigger wheels upset my handling a little, the full brace kit i spent an arm and a leg on fixed it again. Back like its on rails.

/off topic
Woo hoo Ed your not leaving us after all     s8) s8)  
/end off topic

/Philster

[edward.carter]

 s:) s:)

[Tem]

i know but i prefer my knobs to stick up straight, and che's one curves to the left.

actually the B&M and cheapy ones are the nly ones that do go straight up

the stock one actually curves to the right

Are you sure about the B&M? I don't recall how the actual shaft curves, but the TRD is pretty much positioned where the stock is. The B&M moves the stick to the left, which is good for us LHD guys, but probably sucks for RHD.

I've had the stock, the TRD 5spd and the genuine B&M on the stock cage. Don't know about anything else.

[Kool PT]

front strut brace is fitted...it's good...but it's not amazing! have only driven around town so hopefully i'll notice a difference once i hit a few b roads. seems to have a tendency to understeer a little bit. also looking forward to breast plate & fstb combo

[roger]

hopefully i'll notice a difference once i hit a few b roads.

Definitely comes into its own in "more spirited" driving, like on an airfield   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[kentsmudger]

front strut brace is fitted...it's good...but it's not amazing! have only driven around town so hopefully i'll notice a difference once i hit a few b roads. seems to have a tendency to understeer a little bit. also looking forward to breast plate & fstb combo

You are the first person I've read of to put the front brace on before the breastplate. I have just the breastplate and I am considering FSTB myself so I am watching this with interest - My budget is similar, ie very limited, and my mods have to be useful improvements fro the money, much like yours.

Have you noticed a reduction in scuttle shake from the front bracing?

I found this to be the most marked effect of the breastplate, followed by a more of-a-piece feel to the body, leading to more feel and more predictable behaviour approaching rear breakaway.

Can you be more detailed about what the tower brace is giving you ?

[Kool PT]

OK i have done a bit more driving, and I will definitely say that shake is greatly reduced at the front with this and the che FMB. Turn in is sharper and there is less body roll, and if pushed hard the front end seems more twitch than the rear as previous. I must say that I've not noticed steering feeling any more heavy, but I have not taken it round any sharp corners at a decent speed yet. I will reserve final judgement until the breast plate is on but I'm hoping that that's the missing link to tie it all together  s:D s:D  as it stands, I would probably not recommend spending £150 on these two mods if no other chassis bracing was to be done. stay tuned for BP update though.

[markiii]

intriguing I noticed a masive massive difference with these mods, maybe your not driving hard enough  :-) :-) :-)

[edward.carter]

 s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[Kool PT]

i've not been out of town yet and my drive to work is primarily in traffic jams with a tiny straight stretch of dual carriageway. the weekend will give me a real idea of it, i just noticed no difference in steering feel at speeds up to 40mph and most people said it got really heavy. what's unmistakeably improved incrementally after member brace and much more so after fitting FSB is the lack of noticable wobble at the front. it feels very connected and planted to the road.

[markiii]

what you should notice is that cornering speed increase by 15mph or so (don;t go stack it just because I said so  :-) :-) :-) ) and rough surfaces that would have your teeth fall out before now seem acceptable

[Kool PT]

what you should notice is that cornering speed increase by 15mph or so (don;t go stack it just because I said so  :-) :-) :-) ) and rough surfaces that would have your teeth fall out before now seem acceptable

the latter definitely, the former, who knows, my testing has been limited to 'giving it large' on quiet roundabouts etc so far   s:D s:D

[Kool PT]

after this lot i think i'm going to do catback exhaust, unichip & short shifter.

fingers crossed for BP installation on sun, might get a 2nd pair of axle stands and just do it on 'all fours'

[Anonymous]

Pfft, you can do the BP with the car just jacked up on the supplied jack-thing.


Very dangerous and I wouldn't do it again, but you don't need half as much room as you think you do.

[DannyN]

Pffft again,  I fitted 2 different BP's by just lying on the ground and sticking my arm under the car,  the hardest part is clipping the pipe into the plastic clip

[Anonymous]

Ah, but you're somewhat skinnier than me  s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

[Kool PT]

i was under the impression that a BP was something you wouldnt want to fit while the car was jacked up unevenly... i've got a pair of axle stands, kinda skint though, will I be ok with just them? for the record i'm not exactly rotund but not the skinniest bugger either

[Jaik]

You should be fine if you put either the front or rear on axle stands. Like you say, ideally it would be fitted when the car's flat and even, but raised front-to-back shouldn't make any difference really.

[loadswine]

I would have thought that if the car was jacked unevenly and there was some flex, the bolt holes wouldn't line up properly.
When I did mine on my last Roadster, I used someone elses driveway that had a convenient dip, just right for positioning the car over to get enough clearance without the need to jack it up.

[evileye_wrx]

Agreed, when we put Alex's on we didn't bother jacking, just got underneath laying on the ground

Phil

[Kool PT]

cool.

the other part i'm worried about is the cables - have seen some fitting guides but none of them make it exactly clear where they are and why you should bother unclipping them - are they attached to the stock centre bracing? i assume this will become clear when i get under there tomorrow..

[Kool PT]

took the car down the south deeside roads for some twisties today, as it was absolutely scorching for some reason. i even ripped the perspex out of the back so tha ti could fold the roof down...what a feeling   s:D s:D  

i think i was majorly skeptical to begin with about the FSTB because i didn't feel a difference in every day driving. i will say now that cornering feels a lot safer and i was comfortable attacking some of the twisties with a lot more gusto. i am NOW fully satisfied with this mod   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[Kool PT]

 s:scared: :scared: s:scared:  snapped bolt fitting breast plate...is there any course of action other than drilling it out? if i were to tap it out with a screwdriver and hammer would I be any worse off? Where does it go once it's pushed in?

[Jaik]

Stud extractor if you have one/know someone who has one/don't mind buying one.