Chassis stiffening plate on '06?

I'll weigh each piece before installing.

I've found from prevoius vehicles that strut braces often help quite a bit. Most cars are shaped like big tubs. Just like Bill was discissing the inverted U shape of the tunnel underneath the car, the engine bay is a big U. THe strut bar helps to reinforce the U at the top. Also, it ties together the two critical points, the suspension attachment points, where most of the flex will originate. I have yet to see a car where a strut brace does absolutely nothing. Some benefit less, of course, due to stiffer structure, but most of those are true sprts cars. Even our Volvo XC90 came with a strut bar fromthe factory. It's a large tubular steel bar (well, oval really) that ties together the shock mounts.

As for the lower suspension brace, I haven't looked at the Prius suspension yet to make any sort of determination as to the effectiveness, but we'll never know if someone doesn't try!

 

Is it tricky installing those?

 

Where you really need Strut Braces is on a Convertible. On a sedan the roof ties the A pillars together and reduces the flex.

But yes, depending on the car it can help a lot, and on the Prius the A pillars are pretty long

 

I'm guessing that the extra-high-strength steel used for the passenger compartment adds a good bit of rigidity to the top of the car.

 

Absolutely, but I can think of very few cars that could not benefit from an extra bit of reinforcement at that spot.

 

I happen to agree with this statement but it should be noted that any improvement felt with an upper tower brace support is for cars that are usually driven in an aggressive manner.

In other words this product would be for those that like to take corners near the extreme limits of adhesion or close to. The Prius is not setup for this nor is it intended for this type of driving.

Having said this I am already in the process of designing a BT Tech tower strut brace that will be all CNC machined. This part will only be for those that want the extra rigidity while driving aggressively but for those that drive the car "normally" there would be little advantage in installing this part.


Thanks!!

Brian
BT Tech
305-652-3115

 

:lol:


Yes, you are certaily correct. Most cars will not have any noticable difference with the brace at "normal" driving.

That said... It all depends on what you consider normal!

I plan on finding out what this little mean green machine will do!