TSW X Brace impressions & updates
 

It's been a while since anyone has posted any new poop on their TSW X Brace.How's everyone liking them?I'm considering getting one.Observations/testing /opinions??Thanks.:)

I've had mind for a couple of months now and I really like it. The butt dyno says the car is more stable and predicable in high speed cornering. The fit and finish is excellent and installation is VERY easy. I have the version 2 and I have had no issues with scraping as with the version 1. (My car is lowered slightly with the TSW springs)

I've sold several of these and all the customers have come back to tell me they really like it. Especially if you have a cabrio. I have a couple left if you need.

so...not many runnin' the 'ol X brace,eh?

Like WMW's the customer of mine that have them love them. They just don't spend as much time on NAM as we do. :)

I have the version 1 X-brace and I'm glad I got it over the version 2...mainly due to it being chromoly and a little bit lighter weight. As for impressions, its hard for me to say. I put the bar on at the same time as springs, camber plates, a pulley, and poly engine mount inserts.

My car is very stable, I don't get wheel hop, and the front end does grab very nicely. Maybe I will take mine off and drive for a while and then put it back on so I can actually feel what it is doing :razz:

Seeing as how we've sold through two complete production runs and are halfway through a third, I'd say there are quite a few out there.

The first R56 brace prototype is in the jig right now...

We test a lot of high-end suspension parts, and I can honestly say that I won't take mine off regardless of what suspension is on the car.

I have an '06 cabrio and I installed the X-brace in June of this year (about 14k on the odometer.) It made a very noticeable difference in the feel of the car while turning corners and changing lanes at speed. I don't know the proper technical terms to describe what I feel, so I offer this: 1.) much less perceived flex or tilt going around corners, and 2.) quick lane changes feel just as when the car was new. I was very surprised these particular sensations had changed so much without me noticing in only 14k miles. Of all my mods, adding the X-brace ranks as the mod with the third most impact to the feel of the car, behind the 15% pulley mod, and the RMW ecu tune. I recommend it. :thumbsup:

If one were to add a roll bar to the car (one that's welded in), would that make the x-brace unnecessary?

mb

It would probably make it a lot less necessary. But they do stiffen different part of the chasis...

As someone with both....

The roll bar stiffened up the rear of the car nicely. Adding the X Brace bought the entire package together.

Now that is the Mini community at work!Thanks all for some good input.I'm ready to get one now.:thumbsup:

-great analysis...exactly the kind of results I'm looking for.:nod:

I've got a first gen chromoly one for sale since I'm parting out my car. Excellent product no matter whom you buy from.

Wow, why? New one?

What's the weight of the V2?

It's only 11 pounds.

And, since it's on the bottom of the car, it lowers your CG... :lol: (in theory, yes, but not a whole lot!)

Have one on my '05 cabrio. I note much less vibration in my rear view mirror. At time that has a small vibration where as the ones on the door's image is rock steady. Hence I assume it's stuffening things up since I have less movement in the free standing windshield... Butt dyno thinks I feel a improvement, even more stable in curves with bumps. But hard to quantify. Still it just seems to make sense. I did have someone who followed me on a run comment that my car seems to have a noticeably low amount of body roll. Don't know if the brace contributed to that or just my astonishingly smooth style. :)

Stock suspension otherwise except for much lighter wheels and better than OEM tires, non run flat...

Other plus, no issue with my Magnaflow cat back.

Don't you mean center of mass?

^Center of Gravity would be the same place. Simply the point which all forces act on the car. In airplanes we use CG...engineering standpoint probably say CM

All my physics professors in college always told me center of gravity is hard to define. I suppose if the object is small enough then it can be used but center of mass just makes more sense to me.

You are probably right...I didn't have too many physics courses. I just know that with aircraft we have to determine the "CG" and how it changes based on passenger/fuel/cargo load. Making sure it is within limits all the time since everything is quite finely balanced. In a/c it is the point which all forces act on the a/c.

Like I said from an engineering standpoint they probably use CM...CG might be something totally different that is being misused by everybody else :lol:

oh boy another thread with physics. The X Brace is only 11 pounds that is at or near the lowest point of your MINI, call it CG or CM it's still only 11 pounds and near the lowest point and almost centered under your MINI. :grin:

The terms "center of mass" and "center of gravity" are used synonymously in a uniform gravity field to represent the unique point in an object or system which can be used to describe the system's response to external forces and torques. The concept of the center of mass is that of an average of the masses factored by their distances from a reference point. In one plane, that is like the balancing of a seesaw about a pivot point with respect to the torques produced.