I'm looking to buy a strut brace or sway bar. What does a strut brace do and will it interfere with the CAI? I know the purpose of the sway bar, but I only have money for one.

 

I have the JCW strut brace....you'll notice a MUCH bigger difference in handling by going with the rear bar. The strut brace is to add torsional rigidity(stiffen) to the front end of the chassis, and help maintain front end geometry. I also have Alta intake and it fits fine with the strut brace. Here's a pic of my engine bay with both strut brace and intake

 

Hey Scott, would you say the JCW strut brace offers any protection against mushrooming?

 

Ah, forgot about that.....it will definitely help protect against mushrooming....the aluminum strut brace mount, covers much of the top of the strut mount, so it'll definitely help.

 

Hey scott thanks for the pic! looks good

What do you think the 22mm rear sway bar would do? In terms of the 1st and middle settings?

Have you noticed any rubbing on your intake?

 

unless you plan to upgrade the front sway, and the shocks/springs, stick with a 19mm rear bar. The larger bar will make the car ill without stiffening the rest of the suspension.
--Dan

 

The 22mm rear bar will do the same thing as the 19mm one, but the affects will be exaggerated due to the increase in bar diameter; so it will make it oversteer more. The middle setting is where the stock endlink bolts to the stock sway bar, and the middle stiffness setting. The hole closest to the tubular part of the sway bar(furthest forward), will make be as stiff as it can go......and the strut brace only slightly rubs the rubber trim, which is definitely a big deal at all.

 

Rear bar.

Strut brace is pure bling unless you're tracking, or autcrossing your car on a regular basis. Even then, the R56 is way-ridgid with the strut towers so close to the firewall. The top plates on the JCW bar don't completely cover the strut towers, so I don't think it'll do much against mushrooming when compared to Cravenspeed's reinforcement plates or M7's reinforcement product (if they ever make 'em for the R56, that is).

That said, I still want a strut tower brace, too.

 

tell me about it I want that f*ing thing!!!

 

I bought both... the JCW rear sway bar and the shock tower brace. The rear sway is going in tomorrow, so I will get to see how the car handles with its new toys in place. The shock tower brace looks nice, and I would say definitely improves cornering, even on the street. I suppose that really depends on how fast you corner... I tend to do ninety degree turns in second gear at about 30mph... so pretty quick but not fast enough to make the tires squeal.

 

i thought it was impossible to get the MINIs tires to squeal

 

Don't do the rear bar unless you get some more downforce on the tail. It'll stiffen it up and affect you lap times in a negative way. If you want better lap times get better tires for a start.

Ditto on the M7 strut.