My BT Tech Strut Tower Brace is on the car now.

[NoMoShocks]

I got home from work a little late this evening, and there it was, about three days earlier than expected from the tracking number.

Thank you Brian. Tis truely a thing of beauty. And within 1.5 hours, it was on the car. Only problem I ran into was dropping one of the bolts that held my smaller relay box to the cowl pan thingy.

[Bill Merchant]

Fantastic, Larry! I can hardly wait for your report on how it affects driving. Please plan now to come to the May meetup!

[Sheepdog]

what exactly was it engineered to do?

[Boo]

Hi Sheepdog,

Are you still looking to spend the wife's bonus?

Anyways, here's the write-up by Brian of BT Tech:

"BT Tech is proud to offer our newest Strut Tower Brace for the 2004-2008 Prius’. This part mounts to the top of the each strut tower located under the hood in the engine compartment and its purpose is to increase chassis rigidity, decrease under-steer, and provide improved steering response when turning.

This part installed along with our BT Tech stiffening plate literally transforms the Prius and makes it a much more enjoyable car to drive due to the increased chassis rigidity and promotes significant improvements in handling and high speed stability.

Our Strut Tower Brace is fabricated with 6061-T6 aluminum and is tig-welded for high strength. The brace is pressed high tensile steel with CAD engineered bends for the ultimate strength. Both the bar and bracket supports are powder coated for a long lasting finish and good looks.

This product [is] availble in the Prius Chat online store."

[Sheepdog]

thanks Boo. If it is so necessary why didnt Toyota put it in the car? or is it like a mod that isnt really needed but nice to have like better tires or shocks?

Im not very car performance savvy, and yes I still havent spent her bonus. She gets it in the end of month check.

[Boo]

It's not necessary. It's a performance item.

But for me, the biggest issue I've had with the Prius is that IMO the handling is subpar. I'm not looking to turn the Prius into a sports car (which the BT Tech Strut Tower Brace and rear Stiffening Plate will not do). But I'd like its handling to be at least average (and preferably, above average) for a car of its size.

[mhawker]

Think of a strut bar as the "top" of a box. If you look at car from the front and picture it as a box, you have the suspension arms as the bottom and shocks/ struts as the sides of the box, but there is really no top. (The hood does not count because it isn't attached to the suspension).

A strut bar, which attaches to the struts/ shocks, completes the box and adds rigidity. i.e. the sides of a box would easily fold in with no top.

[qbee42]

Nice looking piece of work.

I'd love to see someone put some strain gauges on one of these, and also on the BT Brace. It would be good to see some real numbers to support the conjecture. I would do it, but I don't have either on my Prius.

Tom

[BT Tech]

Larry, your install looks GREAT!! Thanks for your patience and understanding about the delays in getting this to you.

[Gadgetdad]

Looking good, Larry! Did you do the install in the rain?

Lee