i finnally fitted the underside rear braces yesterday.
i did not think they would make much difference!
I WAS WRONG.
They have made a Huge difference to the car.
firstly now that the body is properly rigid all of the suspention work is done by the suspention alone!
the shocks n springs are working much better now and the ride is noticable improved.
the crashieness over areas of potholing is compleatly gone.
under acceleration the back end just confidently lays the power down and gets the job done.
unlike before when the back end would sometimes feel like a snarling beast with all its movement and flexing especially on an uneven surface.
This next one, is an odd one, but extra rigidity makes the car feel, higher quality, more expensive, more confident.
its very hard to explain it but the car just feels better, even when sitting stationary!
so in short adding the rear braces is a very good idea and it might possibly be the first thing to do when looking at suspention and handleing changes.
so my advice to anyone with the sports suspention would be do braces first, then rollbars and that way you might not even need to change your shocks n springs!
anyway here is a pic of both the underside braces and the turret brace that goes in the boot (and you will need to do both for the full affect)
in technical terms, yes about 20mil
in real world usability NO.
basicallt because its so close to the rear wheels by the time the crest of a speed hump gets to that part of the underside the wheels will be climbing up the hump anyway
yes we did.
i wanted to leave them on but when we fitted it like that we found out that the original braces fouled the bolt heads.
so we took them off and it actually fitted better, stronger and more firmly when bolted directly to the body than it had when fitted to the braces.
it seemed to be more rigid when fixxed to the body.
if you want to keep the original braces then all you need to do it trim the end flange off of them.
i should point out what you are seeing in the picture is actually 2 braces that combine into 1.
and while i am linking here is the Top Turret brace for the boot
i should also add that once they come back in stock i will be replacing the OEM x brace with the il motor sport one
i dont think it will make any difference to the OEM one but if i change that il have to full rear set!
so im doing the X brace for the look of the thing really and because i already ordered and paid!
yeah they have been having issues with stocking the braces ever since they sold out on the black friday sale back in november.
they have had some in since but they never get enough of them in 1 go and so they go out of stick the moment the new stock arrives due to pre orders
the good news is they have the upper strut and mid lower in stock atm
so anyone wanting to do this can get those and fit them right away.
and add the X and bar in 3 to 4 weeks
Thank you for the feedback.
I have enjoyed the flex of the chassis at a local downhill roundabout, where lifting a wheel was fun; and I would never have thought that making the car more rigid would help make it more comfortable over uneven surfaces, so I had never considered braces…
basically stiffening the body is taking out all the extra bumps caused by the body flexing.
so before my shocks n springs were having to deal with and respond to both the road surface and body flex.
where as now it only has to deal with the road surface.
the back of the car nolonger quakes over areas of potholes.
its a very odd sensation and im hoping someone else who has done this will chip in to this thread and maybe explain what i can not.
but yeah its a huge improvment for only £355ish pounds in parts cost and its an easy fitting job which can be done in less than an hour by a garage mecanic so 25 labour cost!
I bought the Front Lower, Centre X, rear lower and diff braces and the full set will be fitted after undersealing by The MX5 Restorer. However, I was bored last weekend and fitted the X brace on it own. Like you, thought it wouldn’t make much difference, but how wrong I was.
what i can say is that some of the braces make a more noticable difference than others.
i will say that if you were to put the whole ultra racing kit on, then i am certain it would make a difference but what that difference would be like i can not say.
I had the full set fitted to my NC a few years ago and the difference was…massive!
I definitely agree and relate with the experience described here.
I would definitely recommend starting with under-chassis bracing before fiddling with the suspension.
It 's also quite cheap for the difference it makes.
My NC already had adjustable Ohlins before I fitted this, but the difference is such that I don’t think I would have needed the Ohlins for the “fast road” setup I need, had the under-chassis bracing been on to start with.
So in my case, the car’s handling just became out of this world. The only cars that can match it on British B-road handling-wise are Lotuses (and I have driven plenty of sports cars, including Porsches etc).
The remarks above about how the suspension no-longer needs to deal with the body flexing are totally true. Same for giving the car a sense of improved perceived quality. I remember how when I did it at the time, it suddenly made sense why some manufacturers go to the trouble of improving the rigidity of their sports cars year-on-year:
it gives the car a much more up-market feel, which makes it easier for those manufacturers to justify the prices increases!
Can anyone say if there are any issues, i.e. catching speed bumps with a full bracing kit and MeisterR ZetaCRD coilovers? I understand they sit lower than standard shocks? I have an 1.8 NC2 PRHT which i am fitting the full bracing kit and really fancy the CRDs🙄
I have both the full bracekit and the meisterR Zeta CRD coil overs on my 2.0L sport tech.
I have NOT had any grounding issues.
HOWEVER, when I fitted my coil overs I went with a very conservative drop of 15 and 20mil. which put the car on a flat plane. no 5 mil difference between front and rear heights (no rake)
the coil overs are fully height adjustable and so you can set them at the same ride height as a stock suspension setup! or an even higher ride height if you so wish.
most people set them at a lower height tho.
the average drop is about 30mil but you can go lower if you wish.
you can also if you wish set it so you have a pronounced ride rake with the back being lower than the front or vice versa!
I too didn’t go mad with the CRD’s when fitting them. I had been running -30 Eibach springs and had hit far too many ramps etc. So I’d say I too am at about 20mm or slightly more of a drop and having the X brace on for a week now, am happy to say no ramp interface so far.
Here’s the car, pic taken last week which should show how it sits.
The kit has arrived and one thing I have discovered is that at some point the OEM upper brace had been removed, which might go someway to explaining why, 2 days after jacking up the offside front wheel, I discovered a crack in the nearside lower corner of the windscreen, which gradually, in the course of 2 hours driving spread up the windscreen! I was on my way to North Devon for my first holiday in 2 years, so was even more peeved!
Heart says buy the CRD’s, brain and wallet says wait! I’ll keep you posted
Thibor; very pleased to hear that this brace has appreciably enhanced the enjoyment of your MK3. The MK3, unlike the MK1 - MK2.5 appears to need to be setup correctly with tyres and suspension to avoid significant driver disappointment. The MK1 - MK2.5 can be fitted with any old rubbish, slung together and still a great driver experience.
Has anyone ever found any of the engine braces, rear cabin braces or underbody braces have made any difference other than cosmetic to MK1 - MK2.5 handing?
thank you very much,
I used to have a mark 2.5 and I have to say that it was nowhere near as flexible as my mark 3.
but then again you don’t realize just how flexible the mark 3 is until after you’ve taken the flex out!
so it is possible you might get the same thing with the earlier marks!
