mcs22004,

As stated in my reply far above, I suggest you carry out a test of your own. Then, you'll know what to do with your $200. I for one do not wish to pay double or triple for a strut bar due to some pedantic numbers hunt.

The numbers are meaningless unless the entire unibody and suspension picture are anaylized. Do you think roll center migration is affected by a stiffer body? I thinks so. Asking a vender for that information is expecting an awful lot. As far as I'm concerend, unless that information along with a hole bunch of other crap is part of the analysis, it's meaningless. Faith and past experience work here.

If you want numbers for IC efficiency, I'm right with you; the testing is more straightforward, far less costly, and, meaningful. A strut bar's intrinsic value is easy to see but hard to measure and an IC's intrinsic value is hard to see but easier to measure, in my opinion.

I have an H-Sport SB in my garage, you can have it for shipping costs.

 

Never said that either. I simply asked for data on MINI strut tower movement and received a lot of opinionated text instead of even a straightforward "no"--which at least would have been appreciated as an honest response.
As is the case with any experiment. But a good starting point is always appreciated.
Your speculation is in error and exemplifies the kind of misrepresentation of my posts by users that keeps me replying.
I didn't ask for volumes of subjective experience, so I have been ignoring either those whole posts or the portions of those posts that contain the subjective experience because they don't contain the info for which I asked. My replies have been largely to the continued misrepresentations of what I have stated that have been posted by other users.
For the record, they are not being used together within the context of this discussion because the data has not been provided, save the post from another site, which was at least some help.
More like ignoring it (which I've already stated) because anyone who has ever read posts on this site will see a barrage of praise for just about every product by every vendor. We all know that people love their STBs. Not interested. I just asked for data on MINI strut tower movement.
Incorrect. All the posts by other users misrepresenting what I have posted have prolonged the topic. There is no real "argument" here: I asked for data, received opinion, and recognize that there will probably not be any data.
Correction. I have not been provided with the data for which I asked, and I have not been provided with a straight answer regarding such data, as I posted earlier.
I have accepted that we will probably never see any data and am just here to answer the continued practice by users of contriving opinions that have nothing to do with what I have posted and attributing them to me.

 

msc22004,

Here goes; fashion a set of plates on top of each of your strut towers. To these plates, fashion two tubes that are joined at the center of the car with one male end and one female end - kind of like a floating strut bar. On the male end, attach a zip tie flush against the female face - mark this location as well. Then go out for a ripping ride. Check to see if the zip tie moved after your ripping ride. If it did, you have your answer. If it didn't, we all wasted our money.

That's about the extent of experimentation I personally expect for this product.

 

If there were any statistically significant numbers (or even insignificant numbers for that matter) on this subject they would have been posted by page 2 As with most mods you aren't going to find a complete data set that will clearly indicate a "buy" or "don't buy". It usually comes down to reviewing a lot of subjective information, occasionally you will get some numbers (like Dr O and others provided on the intercooler threads) you make your best guess as to what will fit your needs, you buy it and try it and if you don't get the results you were looking for you try soomething else modify it to fit your needs or get rid of it....

People will give you whatever information they have usefull or not It's nothing personal, it's just people trying to help. Even if it doesn't help you directly or isn't providing you with the numbers you are looking for why not suggest some reasonable protocol that might give you the numbers you're looking for instead of getting personal? I think the zip tie idea is a step in the right direction. easy and inexpensive experiment that has the potential to clearly define movement between two points. Thinking about a solution or experimental design would be a better way to direct you energy rather than picking apart eachother's posts

 

Hey, thanks everyone for keeping it civil. I think that those of us who both like the STB and those who question its efficiency are firm in their convictions.





Oh, and I'm sorry to thread crash, but on an entirely unrelated note -- is there an "ignore user" functionality on NAM?

 

Pretty much...

Click on a username on the page somewhere and a pop-up menu will appear. Select "view public profile". There's a link on that page that says "Add [user] to your ignore list".

The fact that the user posted something will still be visible, but you'll have to click a link to actually see the post.

 

Here's a direct link to your buddy/ignore list

 

Ok, I'll take your word for that. However, recognize that when you your first post to a thread is something like this...
... others are likely to presume that you are simply here to argue. It is certainly a strange way to "ask for data".

 

could someone tell me exactly why the M7 strut brace doesn't fit in a non-s cooper (2006)?

and assuming if i did get a new battery cover is there some other reason why the strut brace kit still would not work?

and installing the m7 strut brace is as simply as unscrewing the six bolts and then when the strut brace is attached, screwing everything back right? e.g. i don't need to raise the car or disassemble something else and the only tools i need is a socket wrench assuming if the battery cover has already been replaced right?

can someone please give me a detailed answer on this?

thanks for the time


_

 

Because the "tuners" hate the Cooper.

I think it's because the hood of the S has more underhood clearance than the hood of the Cooper. Some strut braces will work on the Cooper if you do something about the battery box lid (remove it or slot it). Others will not because not only is the battery box lid in the way, but the lower hood of the Cooper will interfere with the brace.

At least, that's how I understand it. I haven't measured things under the hoods to see and provide numbers.

 

is there a strut brace kit that you would recommend for a non-s cooper 2006?

and would it protect me from muchrooming strut towers?

and for installation all i need to do is to unscrew everything while the car is on the ground right? i don't need to raise the car or need jacks right?


thanks again


_

 

Would you please state, and be specific, just what data you require? After you do that, please tell us what tests you would conduct to reliably provide that data. It seems to me that a basic problem here is that you are asking for scientific proof of something that is not readily provable or disprovable in real world conditions.

 

Die thread die! I'm buying one next week...

 

I bought my H-Sport FSB from Alex @ TireRack for $117 shipped. $150 off retail. I was really apprehensive on having to drill the strut tower for this. Once you set the bar on the other bolts, It is almost straight. Job came out perfect and had no problems. I did have to jack up the car to thread the nut down though. You should get the bar from the guy that posted above that said you can have it for Shipping costs.!

I got my Pilo RSB for $88 shipped. $50 off retail from Pilo. 5 minute install since I have no interior. Anyways, what I'm getting at is both these bars lock down the frame tremendously. Where I used to loose grip, now I don't. I love my mods and have had these on other cars and they DO provide results. You can ALWAYS improve on chassis stiffness. Good luck!

 

This guy did a quick analytical review of M7 strut brace and M7 understrut system. Check it out at:
pg 2 of Mini selection at

dpcars.net

Says he noted 1/16" movement of without strut brace, and noted sensation of some improved front stiffness with understrut system

I trust his comments. He posts on Roadfly

 

Just got back from the Dragon and trying to catch up on al the fun.
We had a Cooper owner install on of our braces on his COOPER with good results. The bar bolts up no problem but he had a gap at the back as do some of the " S" cars due to contact with the hood liner. The gap was about 3/8 of a inch as I recall but he had not tried any of the wet and compress or cut away the liner tricks for minimizing it. In his opinion the benefit out weighed the small misfit at the rear of the hood.
As for install is it very easy. You can do it wit the car flat on the ground. It takes a 13mm socket and about 10 min tops. There is not problem clearing the battery box. For added value you can jack up one side of the car and the slotted area which the allen screws bolt to can be used to pre load the bar to some degree. As usual if you have any questions regarding any of this before or during the install feel free to give us a call.

Randy
M7 Tuning

 

as I said in post #102 of this thread:

 

Back at post #38, I reported that I bought a Forge Motorsport strut bar off eBay. It finally arrived after it was lost in shipping for several weeks. The final verdict: it doesn't fit on my 2006 MCC.

I first mounted the end plates without the bar, and found that the hood wouldn't close. It wouldn't latch even with a good slam. I could see from the indentations in the liner that it was hitting the brackets that hold the bar. I removed the brackets from the end plates, and the hood closed fine. That's when I saw the dents in the hood .

They are on both left and right sides, and the brackets had done this even with the hood liner in place! I hope it can be fixed with paintless dent repair. As you can see, the brackets are positioned right under a low point on the hood, beneath the valley crease.

I took a chance on the Forge Motorsport bar because it was reported to be effective by a respected vendor, it looks great (probably the highest bling factor of available strut bars, even has an engraved MINI logo on the bar), and last but not least the eBay opportunity came up. However, it is only specified for S fitment. I contacted Forge and they said it should fit a non-S Cooper with a low-profile battery cover (which I have). This is the picture from their website:


So the strut brace possibilities for non-S Cooper continues to narrow. A couple of posts earlier, Randy of M7 reported a successful fitting with their bar, but a 3/8" gap at the rear of the hood sounds huge.

 

I had a forge bar way back in the day and it is a really nice piece of hardware. It was one of the 4 that I have used that do work for me .They were trying to get rid of them in a hurry back then as you noted they have a very nice Mini logo on the bar but they did not have the license to do so. Mini was not happy. I am sorry to hear that it did not fit for you . When I stated that our bar raises the back of the hood 3/8 of a inch I was giving the worst case picture as the one we installed was less than that and none of the liner tricks had been performed . I never realized that the back of my hood has been up at least 1/4 of a inch from my BMP bar until people started talking about the " gap " issue on here . It really wasn't anything that bothered me when compared to the performance benefit that I enjoy. In any event you should be able to sell that bar as it is a beauty.

Randy
m7 Tuning