Ultra Racing Front Strut Bar

This is one of the upgrades that most people neglected. I guess too much emphasis were given to the power upgrades. When it comes to upgrades, power and chassis needs to be balance. With an increase of power the chassis needs to more rigid to prevent flexing. Of course I am not going all out with the chassis straightening upgrades. One of the most affective method on improving the car handling apart from aftermarket coilovers and harder bushings would be strut bar. What is a strut bar?

A strut bar or strut brace is a mostly aftermarket car suspension accessory used in conjunction with MacPherson struts on monocoque or unibody chassis to provide extra strength between the strut towers.With a MacPherson strut suspension system where the spring and shock absorber are combined in the one suspension unit, the entire vertical suspension load is transmitted to the top of the vehicle's strut tower, unlike a double wishbone suspension where the spring and shock absorber may share the load separately. In general terms, a strut tower in a monocoque chassis is a reinforced portion of the inner wheel well and is not necessarily directly connected to the main chassis rails. For this reason there is inherent flex within the strut towers relative to the chassis rails.A strut bar is designed to reduce this strut tower flex by tying two parallel strut towers together. This transmits the load of each strut tower during cornering via tension and compression of the strut bar which shares the load between both towers and reduces chassis flex.

Performance wise, resulting from the improved chassis rigidity (similar to that gained from a lower tie bar); may be improved steering precision under high load conditions (cornering and braking). Reduced understeer, tire wear and metal fatigue in the strut tower area may also be experienced.

Well, there are not many brands availble for my mini. Off course , the branded ones are not that cheap. So far I have seen 4 brands of strut bars - AC, JCW, UR and Racecraft.

AC - Price Unknown but I know for a fact that it's not going to be cheap
JCW - RM 1500 plus installation
Racecraft (CF) - RM6xx
UR - RM 260 plus installation

Since UR is the cheapest and the review I got from their products was pretty good. So I went for Ultra Racing. Results as shown below:

Front View: Before UR Strut Bar

Side View: Before UR Strut Bar

Front View: After UR Strut Bar

Side view: After UR Strut Bar

It looks like a normal strut bar. Nothing fancy about it. The only part that I find a bit disturbing is how the strut bar was designed. It's actually higher on one side. If you noticed from the picture. It's tilted on one side. Other than the bar looks good.

There were defnitely improvements in handling after installing the strut bar. Especially as I power out of the corner. More stable and less understeer.

Damaged:

1. Ultra Racing Front Strut Bar - RM260: Inclusive installation (Kaitenaz)