Question on tanabe front tower strut bar

I have it installed in mine.

You can not access the fuse box.

 

Doesn't the newer designed Cusco strut tower brace allow access to the fuse box?

SCH-I535

 

It's supposed to. I ordered one a couple of months ago, but it's been back ordered .

 

You better realize that the Cusco "front" strut bar comes I two flavors.

There is a RHD and a LHD version.

I don't know which one you ordered.

From a logical standpoint, I can't recommend and will not install a front strut bar on my car, since instead of steading or stiffening the strut suspension, it actually changes the dynamics of the way the suspension moves and the alignment of the car. Since that discussion is not the purpose of this thread, I will not elaborate.

 

I installed mine last night and I am extremely disappointed at the installation and fit. I think it was really stupid of tanabe of designing a product like this. As you can see the fuse box is blocked. The first fuse that pops this part will be removed and thrown away!

 

Something I realized is its a ultimate sacrifice because of the design. Put it in, and forget the fuse box <cough>, until you need to get in there.

If I were doing this again I would look into the cusco brace.

 

I got my Cusco STB from JuicedHybrid and installed it about one year ago. It completely clears everything under the hood. There's a thread I wrote, with pictures - search by my e-name and "Cusco".

 

I am really surprised any of this bracing stuff really helps. I mean a Prius is so slo to begin with it just doesnt seem like this would do anything worth while.

 

There's a large difference in increasing performance by, for example, increasing power, or alternately by increasing handling. Of course, it's best to get them both, but...

 

After testing mine I can truly say it does help and I noticed a big difference at both parking lot 5-10 mph, dips u-turns and highway speeds, braking and acceleration also feels symmetric due to suspension work applied to the shocks instead of the chassis/subframe.

The Tanabe Brace does work, however it obstructs the fusebox and coolant reservoir.

 

Sounds like you got your money's worth. Although I believe it is geometrically impossible for this to have any influence over braking or acceleration. What tire/wheel do you run?

 

Tires and wheels are the original. The effect I am talking about is difficult to describe, I do not get the bendy droop and lift when I accelerate and brake anymore; not geometry, just physics, and possible; see attach.

 

I would bet money that it does not in any way that people could tell reliably if asked to drive the same car back to back without knowing whether it was installed or not. On a car like the Prius there are so many soft, flexible rubber bushings in the suspension that a minute change in front end stiffness is not going to make any noticeable change. If you are going to install a brace, it should be the LAST thing you spend money on, after every other suspension part has been maximized. It should be one piece with no pivot points, and it would be far better still if it was triangulated to the firewall.

Pieces like this make for some nice jewelry, but that's about it.

 

This bar is completely incapable of controlling movement indicated in your drawing as the red arrows pointing up. This bar has rod ends. Also in a car with as little power as a Prius, there is going to be very little if any load differential on acceleration and none unless hard braking since the wheel braking is not in play.

 

As per your own picture, a brace here will merely tie one weak point to another piece that is weak in exactly the same way. If you were getting 'bendy droop' under acceleration and braking, you get exactly the same bendy droop after tying these two points together as you haven't braced against any part that is not also deforming under the same load.

Mike, I don't need to try it on this car because I've used them on other cars, understand the capabilities of such systems and know that it's a complete waste of money until the other issues that absolutely dwarf the shortcomings that a properly designed strut brace could possibly rectify have been fully addressed.

These issues have been discussed, even tested in depth many years ago in forums where the level of technical expertise on chassis design and setup is orders of magnitude greater than that available here. The answer those tests have come to have long been the same. A two point bar, especially one with pivots, does little to nothing. And that's typically on cars in which all those rubber bits in the way are long gone.

The supposed 'shortcomings' that the Prius suffers from that these braces will rectify are not new. All that's new is that there is a new car and new customers with money to spend on parts that look good whether they do anything or not.

 

I understand that the Prius is not a sports car and I purchased the prius for a certain reason that I don't need to get into here. I have had over 20 other Toyota's.

I do drive southern CA roads @ highway speeds and they are windy and bumpy and I have to deal with other drivers and I notice certain characteristics my prius has to deal with and to comfortably deal with them you have to drive the car slower than others on the road.

When I installed the Prius plus rear bar it handled much and I gained some steering. Then I installed Rude person's braces and it improved the handling. I installed the poorly constructed and not recommended Tanabe Brace and gained something else I can't properly explain.

All I can say is all the mods do benefit in some way. I cannot say you will lose MPG but just tire pressure, a lost hubcap, bad shock, alignment, or even having your windows rolled down will make you lose MPG.