Strut Tower Braces

Has anyone installed front strut tower braces on a 99-01 996. If yes, did you see the benefit and what kind did you install.

From what I have read and come to understand... between the welded fire wall and the factory brace, there is no benefit to an aftermarket unit on the 996... other than a weight savings perhaps.

I've heard that before, then the 02 comes out that is supposed to be 30% stiffer then the early 996's. Where did they stiffen up the 996. FDR

I spoke to the Racers Group today and they also said that the 996 does not need strut tower braces and their race cars do not have them. FDR

While I don't know how true this is, when you are tracking the car, the strut brace counts as 1 point towards mods, or against you because they consider that it actually does something. I believe that it is more befitting a 993 than 996 but they still count it. I just randomly read that in the tech. articles.

Hi I think strut tower brace is a very important and helpful mod. Especially car like 996 carries majority of its weight on the rear half of the car. I had used tower brace on my other cars, you can feel the difference easily, especially if you are planning to take your car to track. Take a look at this one.... <a href="http://www.type-911.co.uk/images/performance/strut996.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.type-911.co.uk/images/performance/strut996.jpg</a> Bill Karan

[quote]Originally posted by BKaran: <strong>I think strut tower brace is a very important and helpful mod. Especially car like 996 carries majority of its weight on the rear half of the car. I had used tower brace on my other cars, you can feel the difference easily, especially if you are planning to take your car to track.</strong><hr></blockquote> Bill, Like the others said, the 996 and the 986 do NOT need a strut tower brace as the towers are already joined by the firewall. A brace will do absolutely nothing to these cars. Now, if you want it there for looks, that's another story...

Bottom line if a GT3 Cup doesn't use it why would a regular 996 need one?

[quote]Originally posted by JC in NY: <strong>Bottom line if a GT3 Cup doesn't use it why would a regular 996 need one?</strong><hr></blockquote> Exactly!

I never have seen any proof that a front strut brace on a Boxster serves any purpose, but some people love them. See less of a reason for one on a 996 coupe. Hope my pictures so up. The first is the 996 oem braces from the towers to the fire wall. The second is the same car with a Das-Sport brace which has a design different then the rest, and I cannot see what benefit it has over the oem. Jeff

[quote]Originally posted by JC in NY: <strong>Bottom line if a GT3 Cup doesn't use it why would a regular 996 need one?</strong><hr></blockquote> Just to throw something extra in on that note... the TT's, GT3's, and C4's all include extra reinforcement in the front.

JC Tower Brace, installed between the strut towers increase the steering "feel" and sensitivity by minimizing the flex between the strut towers and the natural flex of the rubber bushings at the top of the strut towers. I think you shouldn't compare regular 996 with GT3 which is a totally different animal... I raced 4 years for Marloboro group N, I know what I am talking about. If you do not have strong firewall support you will use 3 way tower brace(tower-firewall-tower), you can see them in bigger race cars with lot of body move(mostly not legal in according to racing regulations). Also in this type of cars you have to tie the rear towers too. If you have strong firewall support you will use 2 way tie bar. Like I said earlier if you are not racing with your car you really don't need it. (I don't race my 996 cab, but I use strut brace, since we all know the cabrio is not as stiff as coupe and it needs extra support) ---------- Viken When we discuss about car racing I really don't know how much other people know about the issue but I know one thing "stiffer is better" for any car on the race track and I know tower brace gives extra strenght to the front. Especially older model Porsche. If you believe it doesn't, you are doing the right thing with not using it. Regards Bill Karan

Isn't most of the movement at the top of the strut in the rubber mount? A strut brace does nothing for this, if you want the struts to stay in place under load then monoballs would seem like the way to go.

John The bolts are located on the top part of the strut will go inside the rubber part(has steel housings) than to the strut location, so when you tie them with brace you are eliminating the movement of the rubber part. I hope this will clarify. Bill Karan

Hi Bill, That is not the case for strut braces on any car I have seen (including my own). The brace attaches to the bodyshell, usually (although not always) using the same fixing points as the strut itself. It has no effect on the isolation provided by the strut's rubber top mounting, nor does it connect the rubber-isolated parts of the struts together (fortunately, as such a coupling would have some very strange and unwanted effects).

Enjoy the 996s with or without the brace

John, I guess you are only looking at the stock so called tower brace or the Das sport made pictured earlier under this topic. None of the braces tie the shock towers, they basically use the support from the firewall. For this raeson especially if you have a cabrio or using your car at the track it is a good idea to tie the upper strut towers to gain stiffer ride, belive me after I install the tower brace on my car (cabrio) it rides with much less rattle,... you can feel the difference. At the same time I never take my car to track, I don't think cabrio and the track is a good combination anyway. Regards, Bill Karan

[quote]Originally posted by BKaran: <strong>When we discuss about car racing I really don't know how much other people know about the issue but I know one thing "stiffer is better" for any car on the race track and I know tower brace gives extra strenght to the front. Especially older model Porsche. If you believe it doesn't, you are doing the right thing with not using it.</strong><hr></blockquote> Please stick to the subject. I have a 993 which, DOES have a factory strut tower brace I added myself. It made quite a difference. Here, we are talking of the 996 which, does NOT benefit from an additional brace. If you have one on yours and it makes you feel good about the money you wasted on it, good for you. But, don't try to justify it to us.

Hello again Bill, I guess I wasn't clear in my post. I was not looking at or talking about the DAS sport brace or any particular 996 brace, I was trying to correct your statement that a strut brace "eliminates the movement of the rubber part". The strut towers are part of the bodyshell, on most cars strut braces attach to the shell at the points the struts attach, i.e. at the top of the towers. What they do not do is make any connection to the strut itself or bypass in any way the rubber isolation between the strut and its mounting bracket. A brace can certainly help stiffen the shell (of course how much it helps depends on how stiff the shell is to begin with, which in the case of the 996 is much stiffer than previous models). This stiffening is a good thing, but it does nothing to remove the movement that occurs at the top of the strut as the rubber compresses, so however rigid your strut brace there will remain a lot of movement of the strut under load unless/until you fit monoball top mounts. No offence intended by any of this, just wanting to correct that point.

Sloth, any details ont he differences? IS it all in the tub or is it bolt on parts? I know the cage in my car, which bolt to the rear struts as well as the four front through chassis points made a huge difference in stiffness on my 2003 (new stiffer body). I wonder if a front strut brace or K bracke might not hurt?

[quote]Originally posted by Ed Newman: <strong>Sloth, any details ont he differences? IS it all in the tub or is it bolt on parts? I know the cage in my car, which bolt to the rear struts as well as the four front through chassis points made a huge difference in stiffness on my 2003 (new stiffer body). I wonder if a front strut brace or K bracke might not hurt?</strong><hr></blockquote> The extra reinforcement in the C4's and turbo is to support the front differential, the extra support in the GT3 is to strengthen the front end for race purposes. From what I understand it is in the tub, though I am ot 100% on that point. There was an article a few months back in Excellence, Panorama, or Christophorous that spoke of the differences between the cars. Perhaps someone recalls the article and could verify or scan.

Once in a while professional race teams make the car less stiff to attain better lap time under certain conditions. I'm not sure stiffness is always the best attribute for faster lap time. My stock 2000 996 with US M030 ran fine on the track and I don't need a brace. As a matter of fact I don't need any thing other than race pads and tires and am extremely happy with the car. I'm the fastest guy out there but faster enough for me to have fun. However, if you want to get the best lap time you can manage out of the car, brace it, do some objective measures and see if it make any difference. Take it out if it does not make you and your car go faster because it add weight. Let us know the differences.

Viken First of all I didn't waste my money, if I wanted to waste it it is my business and I really don't need your input. Second I am happy with tower brace, it works to damn good since my car is a cabrio (can be less on coupe). Third I believe it is better to try and see if the mod works on the car than reach a decision. I don't think we can reach a point that everyone going to be agree, but my first-hand experience with the brace was a good one and recommend to the other list members(especially cabrio owners) Nothing further.. Regards, Bill Karan

[quote]Originally posted by Viken: <strong>Here, we are talking of the 996 which, does NOT benefit from an additional brace. </strong><hr></blockquote> Please note as per Jeff's picture above, that all 996's including the TT, GT2, and GT3 have a factory installed struct brace, so the PAG engineers must see some benefit to having one. In fact, all models use the same exact bars, part # 996-504-233-00 and 234-00. The DAS-Sport bar is beefier than the OEM and it is of one piece construction so the two strut towers are tied together through the bar. The OEM bars are two separate pieces that tie only into the firewall but make no connection between the two towers. Not sure how important this is but thought it was worth the clarification. Karl