Does a strut bar with 2 mounting holes per strut tower worth it?

[inquirer]

@researcher

I had the chance to drive the car on different kind of roads, including mountain roads.
Definitely, the car is more stable at mid and high speed curves when I push it to its limits. In tighter corners, especially at hairpins, I think understeering has increased a little.
The most pronounced effect is the level of comfort though. There is a big difference when driving over bumps or potholes. The car feels way more smooth and also quieter.

I'm not sure if I will add spacers at this point for several reasons:

1. I asked Ultra Racing's opinion and they said there is no need, the bar's performance is not affected by the gap.
2. I also asked the opinion of 2 different car mechanics who pretty much said the same thing.
3. AEM's strut bar for the Lancer comes with washers and that reduces the contact area significantly, as it lifts the end plates all the way around. The same is true for Hard Race's hinged strut bar for the Lancer. It also has flat end plates and they give washers for the installation. I'm not sure why no one follows the OEM design for the end plates! Maybe there is really no significant loss of performance.
4. As I said, I can feel a small curve on the upper side of the end plates with my finger over the point where the strut towers bumps are. I'm not sure if that will disappear when I will loosen the nuts or if that shape has now become permanent. Ideally, spacers should be installed before the bar's first installation to avoid any deformation of the end plates.

 

[researcher]

@researcher

I had the chance to drive the car on different kind of roads, including mountain roads.
Definitely, the car is more stable at mid and high speed curves when I push it to its limits. In tighter corners, especially at hairpins, I think understeering has increased a little.
The most pronounced effect is the level of comfort though. There is a big difference when driving over bumps or potholes. The car feels way more smooth and also quieter.

I'm not sure if I will add spacers at this point for several reasons:

1. I asked Ultra Racing's opinion and they said there is no need, the bar's performance is not affected by the gap.
2. I also asked the opinion of 2 different car mechanics who pretty much said the same thing.
3. AEM's strut bar for the Lancer comes with washers and that reduces the contact area significantly, as it lifts the end plates all the way around. The same is true for Hard Race's hinged strut bar for the Lancer. It also has flat end plates and they give washers for the installation. I'm not sure why no one follows the OEM design for the end plates! Maybe there is really no significant loss of performance.
4. As I said, I can feel a small curve on the upper side of the end plates with my finger over the point where the strut towers bumps are. I'm not sure if that will disappear when I will loosen the nuts or if that shape has now become permanent. Ideally, spacers should be installed before the bar's first installation to avoid any deformation of the end plates.

I can understand your car is more comfortable now.. Makes sense, if the chassis/platform is more rigid/stiff then the suspension is able to do more of it's job instead of dealing with flexing/twisting. I can apply your words to how the strut tower bar stabilized my two vehicles. It definitely smoothed out the driving experience, calmed down the subtle vibrations and movements. More composed would be the word to describe how it helped mine.

I think the reason the aftermarket companies have said not to use a spacer is because they've calculated that most of the strut tie bar's performance is good enough without them. That saves them money for a small percentage of improvement that may never be truly noticed. The oem knew to install a bar that had 100% mating surfaces matching. In my opinion, if you wanted it exactly like OEM then design a spacer, but in reality I bet you'll be fine the way the aftermarket designed it.

Glad you can enjoy your car now that you installed it! awesome!

 

[inquirer]

The OEM bar's end plates match perfectly the strut towers' surface, but they are way thinner than the ones of the Ultra Racing bar. Also the welding spots of the OEM bar are considerably smaller than the welding of the Ultra Racing Bar. Ultra Racing is welded perimetrically.

Obviously, the contact area of the AEM and Hard Race bars (the first one is welded and the second one is hinged) is very small. These two bars sit on washers and perhaps they also make contact with the 3 small bumps of the strut towers, if the washers don't raise the plates high enough. The same is true for the hinged Cusco bar for the Evo X. It also sits on washers that are the only contact point of the bar with the tower.

In the end, I guess if the small surface area of the washers is good enough for these bars two perform adequately and not loose substantial performance, I guess that the much larger contact area of the Ultra Racing bar with the towers is more than enough and adding spacers would make a negligible difference.