Cusco Center Power Brace Group Buy?

[venom700]

Is anyone interested in putting together a group buy for these? I found a company that is going to be putting in an order to Cusco coming up & their list price is $164, which is considerably cheaper than what Sigma Auto. is asking for. I believe this will be the 4-point brace (but we will need to confirm that) and it should really help the handling of the car.

Cusco Center Power Frame Braces from HorsepowerFreaks

[FireEngineer]

The center brace would replace the existing body center brace and additionally has trailing legs which attach toward the rear (last picture on the Sigma web site). The existing center brace is not exactly the same as the flimsy stamped sheet metal from the Gen II but the Cusco does look much better. Are we talking about a discount at all for this group buy?

Wayne

[venom700]

A discount would be the goal. It will take 6-8 weeks to get them in (they only place orders to Cusco once a month so we'd have a few weeks to round up as many people as possible). I am simply throwing this out there to gauge interest.

[shawnb2]

I will certainly be interested in this if Tanabe doesn't come through. Or better yet the person in front of me for the R&D session decides to actually make it. I am praying whomever it is that they don't make it, but only time will tell. Keep me up to date on what you find out.

[Rokeby]

The Cusco site says:

"This Product Comes in the Following Variations
(09 and up) Toyota Prius ZVW30"

Aren't the '09 Gen II and ZVW30 Gen III are completely different cars?

Does "09 and up" mean earlier model years of the Gen II?

I don't get it.

[Boo]

Originally Posted by FireEngineer

The center brace would replace the existing body center brace and additionally has trailing legs which attach toward the rear (last picture on the Sigma web site). The existing center brace is not exactly the same as the flimsy stamped sheet metal from the Gen II but the Cusco does look much better. Are we talking about a discount at all for this group buy?

Wayne

Here are the pictures from the Sigma site. The Center Brace is the last one on the bottom:



Curious, do people think the Center Brace (bottom photo) will improve the Gen III's handling more than the Strut Tower Brace (top photo)?

Just wondering what people think would be the brace to get if you could only afford one.

[Boo]

Originally Posted by Rokeby

The Costco site says:

"This Product Comes in the Following Variations
(09 and up) Toyota Prius ZVW30"

Aren't the '09 Gen II and ZVW30 Gen III are completely different cars?

Does "09 and up" mean earlier model years of the Gen II?

I don't get it.

Maybe Cusco/Japan follows the practice of using the calendar year released as the model year.

[venom700]

In Japan the 2009 Prius is the 3rd generation correct? I believe that is what they are referencing.

Also the strut tower brace would be much more labor intensive to install. Have you ever looked at the factory brace? A lot of things would have to be taken out to get to that.

[Boo]

Originally Posted by venom700

Also the strut tower brace would be much more labor intensive to install. Have you ever looked at the factory brace? A lot of things would have to be taken out to get to that.

I installed a strut tower brace on my Gen II. Took me about an hour. But I had detailed step-by-step instructions from BT Tech and great photos from GadgetDad for each step. However, I have no idea what extent, if any, that the Gen III is different.

[dogllama]

Would installing something like this center brace really improve the handling of the car in normal day to day operation?

Or would you need to be out on the twisties to really notice a difference over stock?