A review of the IE strut-top brace. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...hp?product=343

 

Just for yucks I took off the stress bar on my car before hitting the track last weekend. Lap times were were spot on the last trip there, feel was the same.

 

Very good review Rick Thanks for doing it and I look forward to any follow up reports you may have.

and the debate begins again.

 

Gnatster - NOW you tell us...

 

My feeling has been all along that the strut bar must do something. I just couldn't feel it. Now I know what the something is. It is a lightened wallet feeling.

Thanks Nate.

 

I have the IE fixed camber plates and the IE cat back exhaust. It would be nice to get this STB and add to my collection of IE parts, but alas, I already have had damage done to my towers, so it looks like the M7 bar is going to have to stay for a while. I really like the IE bar from what I can see and the review that was given. Thanks for the write up Old Rick. Glad you like the bar. I for one have been highly impressed by IE's products and their philosophy.

 

Some of the strut tower brace (STB) models should also help with the 'mushrooming' such as M7, Ireland Eng, and JCW. It does not appear that the GTT or OMP products would do much for that problem.

I'm trying to decide what to do for my car and after reading hundreds of comments, I believe the 'sandwich' fix is the way to go. You used that solution by installing the M7 STB and Ireland fixed camber plates. Please clarify the mushrooming on your car. Was that prior to the M7 and Ireland parts additions?

I'm doing occasional road circuit (track) events with my car on 7" x 17" wheels and stock sized tires (no run-flats).

 

Yes - the moderate mushrooming that I saw was prior to the IE camber plates. IMHO, any plate on top of the tower has minimal effect, as the issue is that the stock strut-top causes the problem when it bulges upward from the middle.
With the IE fixed camber plates I don't anticipate any further mushroom problems.

 

OldRick;

I appreciate all the information you have provided and the experiments you did, thank you. I'm a mechnical engineer and think the BMW engineers should be ashamed of their weak strut tower design. Anyway...

Still not sure if 'Fatherdeth' had more mushrooming trouble after he installed aftermarket peices. Shall see if we get anwser.

I have not bought any components yet but need to now.

I'm probably going with the Ireland adjustable camber plates and the JCW strut tower brace on top, for the sandwich solution. 'onasled' said I would definately need something on top because the IE adjustable camber plate will not absorb as much shock as the IE fixed plate, hence more shock to the strut tower. I chose the JCW STB because it has reasonable surface area coverage for the strut tower, it fits, and you can adjust the length. I understand your concern about curved bars being springs but not sure how much they 'give' when/if the towers really move side to side.

Comments Welcome.

 

We need Onasled to tell us which Adjustable IE plates he is using. There are two.

The full race


and the Street set


The Race set are NOT for street use. Given that his MINI is a full racer I bet it's the top set. The Street set do have have spherical bearings encased in urethane to offer some cushioning. The bearings are replaceable unlike other similar brands. These are for dual purpose car that are street driven but are also used for track days and autocross.

Just an FYI.

 

Why is adjusting the length of an STB important to you? Are you expecting it to change? If not, then the adjustment is just a weak point in the STB design.

Also, I'd think that almost any STB would provide the clamping action that you are looking for, but I'm not sure it is needed, as the mushrooming issue is caused by the remarkably flimsy OEM strut bushing carrier plate bulging upward from impacts.

I would not think that any of the IE plates would be prone to that, and I would expect that if the strut bushing carrier plate stays flat, you won't be seeing any mushrooming.

If the carrier stays flat, and an impact is still strong enough to make the strut tower top stretch upward, it would be likely to rip out the top of the tower anyway, and it wouldn't matter in the slightest what is clamping on the top of the sheet metal.

 

OldRick;

Length adjustment could make it easier to get it mounted depending on the car. Didn't you have to slot the holes in your IE STB to get it mounted? The OMP brand STB description claims that one must have preload in the bar to be effective, but the other brands don't mention that. I doubt that claim, since I have seen plenty of production based race cars with straight fixed length STB.

 

The only reason to pre-load a STB is because it is springy, and isn't stiff enough under initial load. Pre-loading in compression will also make it softer in the extension direction.

Yep, I ovaled the holes in the IE to fit my car. It took about ten minutes with a Dremel, and now it fits. Not a big deal. It might have fit your car perfectly without tweaking - these cars do have some variation, particularly after being driven for a while.

 

The R53 lower strut bar and that new IE bar both look like Mason bars to me. I know that Mini Madness and Ireland have sourced out to Mason on a number of thier strut items and it definitely would not surprise me in the least if Mason was the manufacturer