Got myself a front strut bar

[MMamdouh]

i have got a front strut bar for the woo... actually it was a gift from my very good friend Ehab BOB (thank you very much Ehab for the great gift )

i have done the installation myself and it is easy as hell but that is not the important part.... the important part is the contribution of that this simple bar to the handling of the car







at the very first turn i have noticed that their is less body roll and that gave me the courage to push it hard on the next corners to see how well is this thing... the body roll was some 50% less than before... also the car felt like it is more ridged and "one piece" if you know what i mean. this gave me the confidence to push the car harder into corners and it seems the car does like that now... in the old days if i want hard in a corner i got horrible wheel squealing sounds and the passenger would end up on my lap (or me in his lap of it was a left corner).. now all that is gone

i still haven't done a really satisfactory test for this upgrade as i have on course in mind that will test the cornering performance indeed... it is a 2.5 down hill road full of tricky curves and represents the ultimate handling tester for us here.

i also felt it is going better over bumps in straight lines which seemed strange to me but after reading more about strut bars i realized it adds to the spring rates and thus gives the feel of stiffer suspension... also stability under straight line braking improved which was a bit strange for me too as i was under the impression that the strut brace will add to cornering performance only

actually i was a bit worried as the level of improvement this thing added to the car's handling made me think i got something wrong with the car and the strut bar cured it but from previous feedback i found on the internet i can see that this is almost the same experience every one else had with the strut brace... even Zorex my personal test driver was impressed with the handling performance of the Woo after the installation of the brace... he was giving me hard time because of the amount of body roll i have - he got a BMW E36 with adjustable Koni suspension and 225/40/17 tires so anything else rolls for him - but after a test drive in my car he was impressed with the improvement made by the bar.

in my opinion this thing should be an OEM part on all cars as it really adds to the handling of the car and i don't think it is too expensive to have so why not have it as standard???... since it is not a standard part then by all means i strongly recommends this upgrade for anyone seeping handling performance

one last thing: i was stupid enough to install the bar backwards... yes the lanos bar is directional so that it clears the coolant reservoir... the coolant reservoir part of the bar is actually bent twice so their is two little angles to make the inclination of the bar a bit smooth at the reservoir area and make sufficient clearance around the reservoir.

when i had the bar the wrong way i was going "oh shit... this is going to be super tight fitment" and i actually had to tilt the coolant hose clamp to clear the bar... but yesterday i was looking at the bar and noticed the two bends on the opposite side - again i thought the bar was defective or so - but then realized the reason behind the two bends.

here are the pics for the "before" and "after":





MMamdouh

[Daniel]

Thanks for this input MM,

I'll give a try some day on my Nubira.

[daewoomofo]

that looks to be the Sharkraceing strut bar, same that i have. it does make a huge differance. imo its well worth instalation!

[WOLFMAN AK907]

Looks good man, you're air intake is ghetto though That's ok, mine on my jetta out of flexible home A/C ducting haha. Well, it was now it's made out of PVC pipe.

[MMamdouh]

Thanks for this input MM,

I'll give a try some day on my Nubira.

the Egyptian 2.0 nubira got one as well... unfortunately it was not specifically made for the nubira... as far as i remember it was for a Mitsubishi or so but it only needed re drilling some holes in the brace and it fitted the nubi perfictly



MMamdouh

[MMamdouh]

that looks to be the Sharkraceing strut bar, same that i have. it does make a huge differance. imo its well worth instalation!

i was going to ask you guys to tell me if you recognize the manufacturer of this strut bar as i see no stickers or engraving that identifies the make of it

thank you man for the info

MMamdouh

[MMamdouh]

Looks good man, you're air intake is ghetto though That's ok, mine on my jetta out of flexible home A/C ducting haha. Well, it was now it's made out of PVC pipe.

this is PVC as well but it is a bit old and the seal i used is pealing off... i used PVC as it was way cheaper than the stainless steel piping found here in car shops so i went for the next efficient option that is 1/10 the cost

i don't care much how it looks as long as it performs well

MMamdouh

[WOLFMAN AK907]

I hear you there.

[MMamdouh]

i did the test drive that i was seeking... and again traffic

it was not as horrible as last time so i got to do it faster... the car is very well composed on the road and it actually goes where you want without wandering around or rolling its body as if you are in a boat... i am very happy with my new gift

MMamdouh

[armykyle1]

Anyone know where I can find a strut bar for a 00 nubira?

[wolfsreign]

nice MM. ive been thinking about making my own, just like your mitsubishi conversion with the adjustableness, just got not metal or degrees of the bends to go with yet. i was also gonna do the same in the back, a straight pipe.

and about the OEM thing, its the cost of metal. as you dont NEED the bar, thus why install it. and if i remember correctly, the strut bars are still a theroy.
~wolf

[MMamdouh]

you are right about the cost... it is them small bits and pieces that add up to the cost of the car were manufacturers choose to ignore for keeping an edge over te competition price wise

as for the theory part... i was under the impression that it is just a theory... after the installation i am 100% positive that i does work

MMamdouh

[2woo4you0]

Glad to see a nice review. I have the same bar but installed it before I ever drove the car! Lol I didn't even test drove it before buying it. Bought it at my house, had the girl park it in my garage, and started throwing some bits on it.

One mod that I've always done ASAP that has helped with handling so much for so little is a bar on the floor of my car that runs from one side to the other. On my nicer cars I build and bolt it under the car and it make a huge dfiference and can cost as little as $25.

[MMamdouh]

i am planning on doing a custom one... do you have any recommendations on the material to use and how strong should the bar be??

MMamdouh

[pedronicus]

I orderd my front strut bar from Shark racing today... looking forward to getting it in the next couple weeks.... happy days... oh and i put new front pads in the breaks today as well, adjusted the handbreak cable.. and got some new whiper blades double cause were are going into wet season here...