Red v Blue M7 Strut Tower Reinforcement Plates. I got these put on at MINI's in the Mountains this year. I have a hyper blue MCS and I went for the Red Anodized M7 Strut Tower plates. Waylen installed them and wanted me to put some pics of them up on here since I guess not too many people get the red ones installed on a blue MINI.

 

I love the look of the red on the hyper blue. The contrast is amazing.

 

I like it on the blue. I want red ones too but they don't have them on the website...guess I could just call them.

You didn't notice any red strut tower braces did you?

 

Stupidhead here, but what exactly do those do?

I'm guessing, shore up the shock towers as they might be a weak link if you're cornering hard? Kinda like the shock towers in the first generation Mustangs (64-68)?

Anyway, I like them and just might be my first mod, or second, or third...

 

search mushrooming. mini's tend to mushroom in the area where those plates are.
going over a lot of big/hard bumps will tend to cause the metal to bend upwards therefore messing up your suspension. i suck at explaining but that's basically it. and those plates help prevent it. but seeing that you have a 2007 on order. you shouldnt have to worry about them...(yet that is..)

back to the thread tho...those red ones look nice. i like my black ones.

 

Waylen put the orange ones on my RG/RG MCS...makes the engine compartment stand out a lot more now, and they compliment the orange dragon eyes from Stoopidgirl, too!

 

Performance is color blind! But it looks good.

Why you didn't install the brace? I guess there is no room with that big airbox.

 

No it's not, Red is always faster....

 

I beleive those are just the plates. M7 sells the plates by them selve or you can buy the plates with the required mounts for the brace.

 

Besides, not everyone wants a brace.

 

Why you would not want the brace?

 

It's cheaper to not get it.....and it doesnt really do much besides look cool. It might add a tiny bit of stiffness to the chassis....but that's be debated on many occasions.

 

Just try it and you'll feel the difference right away.
The car will be a little stiffer but lots more control when hard turning.
For $100 difference there is no brainer, even $200 or $300 I highly recommended.
Between it and the rear thicker swaybar is the cheapest way to improve the handling dramatically.

 

Hey I like how the red plates compliment the red ALTA tube and silver box top! SNAZZY!

 

The brace makes a big difference as it will perceptively reduce the body flex around a full drift turn.

 

anodized gold is even faster than red.

 

Duh, It's Gold that goes without saying....

 

How about gold plated...went ahead and paid a little extra to have the bolts on my wheels gold plated for the extra quickness

 

As mentioned, the added cost
but also
The weight in a front heavy car. It's light if you get an alloy bar but heavy if you get a steel one.

And it blocks access to some things like the air intake box/filter, ECU cover and oil cap/spout and oil filter.

Sometimes there can be rubbing of the inner upper bonnet liner and clearance issues on the MC or MCS engine bay parts depending on which bar you choose- some have more clearance.

As for the performance difference it makes-
Some owners will tell you it is something they can feel that helps
while others will tell you the opposite.

Drive a MINI with and without the strut bar back to back on the same track and you decide for yourself or go by lap times with and without the bar.

And the red is mostly good. Upgrades done in contrasting colors are easy to see and make it obvious unless you want to be steathy like in california where police are looking for compliance with the laws, then contrasting upgrades serve as red flags and steathly is good.