[twiSTies]

I received mine today and decided to snap some pics of what a person will receive for their money. I'm also going to take pics of the install and post up final thoughts on this mod, but those won't come until tomorrow. For now, an introduction to the box and its contents:


Everything arrives wrapped up and taped together. Nothing can be moved around during delivery this way.


You will receive an envelope that contains a warranty card(!), 2 CL Development stickers, a killer instruction booklet, and a final addendum.


Here are the two rods, notice the ends of the one side are covered in a rubber boot that will be taken off prior to installation. Each rod has a part number ID sticker on it too.


Here are the strut top mounts. Notice that they're offset at an angle and have a hole in their structure for someone to run their coilover adjusters through.


Here is how they came packed. Individually wrapped in bubble wrap and taped to the box.


Here are the supplied bolts, nuts, and washers for the kit in their own baggy that was taped to the box.


Here is the center piece.


It has its own serial number for your warranty card.


Here are the welds. This picture is typical of the welding across the entire piece.


A shot of the inside of the instruction booklet. Very detailed and uses color pictures(!).

So there you have it. It's easy to see why the kit costs what it does--most wouldn't come with install instructions, warranty card, supplied hardware, stickers, an indepth instruction booklet, etc. So far I'm very impressed with the professional approach to everything and think its very worthy of the cost. Now on to the install and driving impressions.

[twiSTies]

Install was fairly easy although I hit some bumps along the way. First, the threads are backwards. You loosen to tighten. For quite awhile I thought my threads were stripped inside the base. Second, the passenger side strut top attachment didn't clear my BC coilover adjuster extender. I had to hit it with the dremel for a good bit until it got close enough. Meanwhile, the driver side strut top attachment cleared just fine. Not a fan of tolerances that loose on a piece of metal.

Here's the first step to putting the X-Brace in (well, after cleaning out the car)


Next:


Next:


Everything attached:


Strut top attachment with my coilover adjuster extender:


Notice the tight fit on the passenger side:


Installed!




Review/Driving Impressions:

Before I had an STi, I had a 2000 Mustang that I raced in autocross and at the drag strip pretty frequently. A common modification for those cars before the 2005 chassis came out, was to weld subframe connectors to the underbody to reduce chassis flex and strengthen the frame and torque boxes of the car. The difference was a lot of squeaks and rattles were gone, the ride quality improved, the steering improved, and the car even put power down to the ground better. Take this and apply the same things to how the X-Brace impacts the STi. The chassis is immediately noticeably stiffer even when I was just pulling out of my driveway to start the driving review. The rear package tray noises are gone. The clunking from my coilovers is gone. (I actually grabbed the brace after I had secured it and tugged on it pretty violently to try to find flex..the only sound I heard from the rear of the car was the coils on my coilover hitting.) This brace makes the rear of the car follow the steering wheel unlike any other brace I've done to the car yet. It makes the rear of the car so sound and tight, that the front of my car, even with fender braces, a 29mm swaybar, 443lbs coilovers and an h-brace feel very sloppy and loose. In turns, even bumps don't upset the rear of the car anymore. The forces that used to make the car jiggle now get sucked into the damper. You can feel the tires dance around and thats it.

Final Verdict:

This is a must buy chassis brace for anyone's STi.

[GoodTimes]

yea looks good were did you get it and how much if you dont mind me asking.

Matt C.

[arkleseizure]

HEY! I'm jealous...DHL hasn't delivered mine yet. I'll be very interested to hear your take on the install though.

[r12rex]

Item looks good, but the welds don't look so nice for a $400+ piece. Regardless, I'll be purchasing this as well... Anyway, lucky you...I wish I had mine already! Get it installed and give us a review!


Kind Regards,
Ryan

[4banger]

Oh man, not the welds again!

Twisties, hurry up and install that thing. These X braces make a huge difference.

[rasheedn]

edit:
just read the review

nice review but is it worth 400$??

[twiSTies]

Review posted.

[arkleseizure]

Thanks for the review and install pics...glad to hear you liked it. I'll probably have to do this install next weekend. Just curious, about how long did the install take?

[twiSTies]

Originally Posted by arkleseizure

Thanks for the review and install pics...glad to hear you liked it. I'll probably have to do this install next weekend. Just curious, about how long did the install take?

If it wasn't for the dremel time and the threads being opposite, I'd say less than 2 hours. I've taken out the backseat a few times before though, so there weren't any surprises there.

[redlin'r]

Vendor?

[twiSTies]

Originally Posted by redlin'r

Vendor?

I used SoJDM for this brace. They shipped the day after I ordered and used DHL. It took a week to get here. Any vendor that uses DHL needs to change to someone better. I could have driven the brace myself in faster time.

[twiSTies]

Originally Posted by rasheedn

nice review but is it worth 400$??

Nope. It's overpriced like most things in the STi aftermarket. Gotta bite the bullet or pray for a counterfeit chinese version that will fit in chromoly.(don't hold your breath)

I'll say this though--while the materials, packaging, etc. were top notch...the need to use a dremel and those welds kind of bum me out for paying the $489. If we're talking in terms of performance impact, the price becomes more justified.

[STI_818]

ive always wondered this, does the x-brace actually sit flush with the back of the seat? or does it angle out leaving some space between it and the seat towards the top?

[twiSTies]

Originally Posted by STI_818

ive always wondered this, does the x-brace actually sit flush with the back of the seat? or does it angle out leaving some space between it and the seat towards the top?

yup, sits flush at the same angle. you then put the sound deadening board back on and the package tray supports, put in the seat and you're golden.