Does anyone know the length and width of the centre chassis brace ?
(Using stock photo from net)
Just thinking £100 approx for uprated alternative,
or
8mm aluminium plate and fabricating myself , probably half the cost.
Thanks in advance
It really doesn’t brace anything, took it off first time I worked on the car and never put back on. Save yourself some effort and leave it off. Just my 2 pence.
I thought as much mate , just looking into winter months spent in the shed tinkering.
I Was going to fab a aluminum one, but opted for the mxparts red one, I feel it does make a difference
I am sorry to be blunt, but I totally disagree. This brace, with others, closes the bottom of the drive-shaft tunnel and forms it into a tube, which is the major stiffness element between the front and rear sub-frames. Increasing the stiffness of this element alone would not make a big difference to overall stiffness but fabricating your own sounds like a fun idea.
Yes there are many braces that give stiffness, but this thin aluminum one is not one of them.
Surely its not about the stiffness of the brace but the way it redistributes excess loads around the chassis.
Think about the cross bracing in your loft on the roof trusses. They are no more than bits of firewood you can break over your knee but can stop tons of roof structure twisting out of shape.
What you are forgetting is that everyone on here is in the top 0.1% of drivers that can feel every nuance of their cars set up and can decern the smallest of changes to any of these settings!!!
They’re to stop NVH and scuttle shake etc to give the feel of a more solid and expensive car.
They do not have any performance advantage whatsoever so are a complete and utter waste of money.
It is comparable to the steel of the driveshaft tunnel so quite enough to work to close the tube.
This particular brace is not like the engine bay ones. It has a real purpose to stiffen the car. Open top sports cars do not have the roof to give stiffness so depend on making stiff structures through the lower parts of the structure. It is the difference between a length of gutter and a length of pipe.
The makings of an interesting debate guys
This cross section through the NC at the lower seat belt mounting points show how the brace turns the tunnel into a tube. The sill tubes add some rigidity but that tunnel tube is c. 4 times as stiff as the sills put together.
I’ve got the lot for sale
Perhaps, but then for what actual outcome that the original doesn’t do? If you think something is needed to go faster then walk around the paddock at an MX5 race meeting. You won’t see any of these additional braces under any winning cars.
Mazda did lots of little mods which people incorrectly assume were for performance and handling. They weren’t. They’re to give a more luxurious feel and they work. Get out of a basic 2006 NC and then into a late model and the difference is quite noticeable to how solid and quiet the cars feel. Put them both on track and there will be zero difference in lap times.
Many decades ago when cars were designed on paper car bodyshells did have a degree of flex in them, some more than others. I used to work on certain famous WRC cars (mainly road going versions) and it was common to see what they called ‘stress cracks’ in the body shells they flexed so much.
We’ve moved on a long way from those days, yet (as proven by the term ‘wing mirror’) the motorist hasn’t.
Cars have been designed by computer for a long time, they can simulate all the stresses and strains on a bodyshell, but NVH is difficult to model. Experience and the human are needed here to help.
You’ll never stop older people bolting pointless items on their cars, but it is a lot less popular these days. The younger generation are less likely to do it.
Sorry, I wasn’t suggesting that an after-market brace was necessary. The standard kit looks entirely adequate, but is still significant in the twist stiffness of the chassis, as highlighted in the Mazda technical papers. My own structural design experience is somewhat more hefty (Wind turbines).
As you say, a lot is about the feel of the vehicle and for road use, the main effect of a stiffer chassis is reducing undamped oscillations over rough roads. From what you said, I would love to try a latter NC as mine is a bog standard 06.
Whizz, pop, bang?
Have to agree with DuratecNC.
No performance advantage at all but on mine it has made for a much plusher / solid ride by reducing scuttle shake which on the state of our roads was well worth the relatively small outlay.
Hi, Swayne, I presume you are referring to the engine bay brace?
An interesting geeky test would be to loosen the bolts off the braces a little so they can slide.
Put something around them, plasticine maybe? Then go for a drive, come back and see how much movement there is, if any and which way.
