Take a picture of someone standing on it.

 

i think dc sport's front strut bar spoils the look of the engine bay.

it covers the vvti logo on the engine cover.

 

That's why I'm planning to follow it up with a carbon fiber engine cover.

 

I plan on going all TRD so TRD strut bar. I trust TRD.

 

I have the Hotchkis,, I believe the Dc sport would be the best as far a stability... then again.. how much of a diffrence could you actually notice from one to the other.. I didn't buy the Dc because it just looks obnoxious, it's too big.. the good thing about the Hochkis is: you can remove the bar in about two minutes incase you ever needed to acsess that area..

I'm happy with it: Hotchkis strut brace

 

Nice pic ! I think we should start a thread with all engine pics !

Also: I thought the Tanabe strut brace would be red like it showed in the pictures.. lol
*Can't any of these web sites hook us up with some accurate product pics .. WTF !

 

I have the Dc as well. And I noticed a very minimal difference. But like someone pointed out, How often are you running that close to the tC's handling edge?

Oh and DC sports needs a rear bar and lower bars as well to complete it all.

 

You have a point, but some people do AutoX their car, and these parts are vital to them... but your right, a lot of DD tC's like me, will not be pushing it.

 

Here's my DC bar. pic is an old one. i have a CF engine cover and Megan headers on now.

 

Am I too late with my TRD bar? OMG, I love this bar besides the point that I need springs and sway bars for this car. Why couldn't it be like my Mazda Protege5 where the strut bar comes factory?

 

so its ok to just get a STRUT bar if this is all i can afford at the moment?

I want a sway but does putting a strut bar help for a 'just for now' install?

 

Haha because it's a Toyota and is made better! That's why

 

so dc bar is nowt he strongest?

 

Jspec, how much of a difference did you feel when you drove w/ the strut bar and when you drove plain stock?

 

I am pretty sure strut bar doesnt really affect you that much on daily driving. Especially because you have to stop at each intersection before you turn. You really have to do fast sharp turn to really feel it.

 

anyone have a cusco bar? if so post a pic and does the dc sports strut bar dc sticker come off? i dont like the logo

 

Just for reference, tubes(strut bars) are much stronger in compression(pushing in from the ends) compaired to bending(standing on it). The loads applied by the struts are more of a compresison force then bending, hence the bar being able to support your weight doesn't prove anything besides basic statics.

 

I installed my Hotchkis bar yesterday, haven't really driven it enough, so i don't know one way or the other on rigidness... Install was pretty easy, sans the bolt on the driver's side that was difficult to remove with that metal piece in the way. Heh, i also thought i was gonna drop the bolt into the engine bay a couple times, but i lucked out.

 

What types of force do strut bars control? I was almost ready to order front and rear greddy bars. However if the pivot point AKA bolt weakens it like someone suggested then the greddy will not be a very good bar.

 

IMO, best bars would be Hotchkis, TRD (Hotchkis again), or DC Sports.

I'd prefer Hotchkis b/c it looks hawt. That and the rest of my suspension will eventually be Hotchkis.

As for the force... I think it's a cornering thing. It's supposed to prevent the front of the chassis from flexing, as it ties the two strut towers together - stiffens the front end.

Thing is when you install, you have to be sure you're installing it with the front end jacked up or you're wasting your time. That way there is no load on the bar when you install it.