[wbwing]

So I received the UR Upper strut bar yesterday and installed it on my car. I like that the car does feel more taut, but I also noticed that there was more 'thud' when going over bumps. Nothing jarring, but the car seemed to absorb bumps better without the bar. I've only driven on it once so far, and haven't decided if that is something that is going to bother me, but living in pothole city (Metro Detroit), it is a concern.

At first I thought the extra jolt was just because the chassis is more rigid than before, but after rereading EagleCo's posts of the front strut bar I'm thinking it maybe just the design of this piece. My question is if you guys think the front lower chassis brace will give similar stiffness to the front of the chassis, without limiting the ability of the suspension to absorb bumps.

My overall goal is to make the car more composed and fun to drive, with a minimal sacrifice in overall ride quality. I plan on switching from the 16inch Firestones on my 2011 LT to 17 inch Nittos too. I'll be losing some ride quality there, so I don't want to add on to it too much with the chassis bars.

Thoughts?

 

[wbwing]

Thanks for the explanation, I had thought that the point of a front strut bar was to reinforce the two strut towers, not tie the actual struts together. So, a lower front chassis brace wouldn't offer as much stability improvement when cornering as the upper strut bar?

I should rephrase 'thud'. I wasn't driving over speed bumps fast. Just the usual minefield of potholes and crappy road on my way into work (Pontiac, Mi is probably the worst place for potholes). You felt each bump a bit more. It reminded a little bit of the driving experience of a Camaro SS or CTS V.

 

[wbwing]

Actually, that is the plan. I'm hesitant to cut even a little into my rear trunk space, so I'm ordering the rear sway first and then seeing if that is enough for me. I just wanted to mount each addition individually to see exactly how each changed the feel of the car.