salvadorsantana

This, IMHO I would install one if I plan to autocross the car or something like that, for daily driving I don't see the need of it.

HyperS4

To play devils advocate, you don't need an audi for just daily driving either, a Honda would have sufficed.

Edit: I just saw you have the trans mount and lowering springs already. Why bother if you aren't autox'ing?

salvadorsantana

The trans mount to feel less the gears, the springs to get rid of the gap. None were put on thinking about performance. Basically comfort and looks.

HyperS4

Also noticed you are in Miami. My best friends live down there. No need for the strut brace for you, there really arent any twisty roads there.

bob m

[QUOTE=VipinLJ;24929208]I didn't feel like creating a new thread so here goes.

I installed the 034Motorsport front brace and honestly, installing it was easy. I did face a few problems though. One is that I'm short and had to stretch a bit to comfortably reach the two bolts under the plastic since the hood is pretty long. Another problem is that the plastic trim doesn't come off completely and it can be difficult to unscrew and screw the bolt.
Other than that, it is an easy install and it literally took like 10 minutes at most. I was shocked at how easy it was to remove the bolts (I expected it to be bolted on very tight). I didn't even have to use the PDF guide. It was straight forward. I took HyperS4's advice and didn't tighten all the bolts (it doesn't align correctly if you tighten all the two bolts and two screws.

Anyways. Long story short. The strut brace works.

Pros:

1. Flex - My driveway is angled and whenever I back out or get into my driveway, I could feel the car flex and creak a bit. It never bothered me though since nothing is perfect.
But post install, I backed out and drove back on a few times and the flex was non-existent. No creaks due to flex either. It also felt stiffer compared to before.

2. There's a nice round about like thing in my community which I use to test the road holding capability of my car (don't worry. It's a dead end and no one lives there/no chances for me running over people). It is a tight turn. With the stock brace, I could only do like 20MPH before I thought the car would ever off course. With the new brace, I did 25MPH easily and could have done more. Car felt perfectly stable.

3. Turns are negotiated better. There are lots of turns in the community I live in. I found out that I can carry a higher speed into the turn compared to stock.

4. The biggest positive is none of those though. I basically live in the middle of nowhere and there are long, unending roads where basically, if you want, you can max out your car. There are empty fields on either side and plus, this being IL, winds are pretty strong. Earlier, I had to wrestle with the steering wheel to keep the car going straight when there were crosswinds. It felt as though the winds would carry my car away. I went on a very long drive today on the same roads and I was amazed to find that there was zero instability. I could hear the wind howling but I didn't have to wrestle with the steering at all. I wasn't expecting that but yes. It seems to have made the car stable (don't ask me how that happened. I don't know the physics behind that). That alone, for me, makes it a worthwhile addition.

5. It makes the engine bay look beautiful. I mean. Yes. It really does. Just one of the metal bars weighs as much as both the bars that came stock with the car. Audi definitely skimped with the stock brace. It felt extremely cheap in the presence of the 034Motorsport brace. The 034 brace is solid aluminium whereas the stock one is hollow and light. I'm surprised it did anything at all. And the clear anodized finish on the 034 brace looks really good.

Cons:

1. It isn't a con as far as I am concerned but it could be, to some people. You definitely feel the road a lot more now. I could feel almost every imperfection harder compared to before. It definitely isn't bone jarring but it isn't soft anymore. I like it though since it feels like the road is communicating with me. People who want pure comfort and nothing else might find it to be a turn off.

2. You can install only one bar in the engine bay

A few cellphone photos for now since I was raring to go for the drive. Will take better photos after I clean up the engine bay a bit and give the car a wash which should be soon.




Ok, mine is on the way, but I'm wondering about the sportier feel vs the very nice and quiet ride. I know everything is kind of a trade off. I would welcome the tighter feel, but I'd hate to feel every road imperfection - and there are plenty in my neck of the woods, making the ride jarring. I never liked that all too cushy lack of road feel from my Lexus 350, but I would hate feel that I'm feeling every lump and bump in the road. Well, I'll soon find out - and the worst that happens is I reinstall the original struts and sell the 034's.

HyperS4

Ok, I understand your concern. Its not necessarily a punishing sporty feel like a track car, its a more direct communication feel. The car is still extremely smooth, it just feels more planted now. Its nothing that you will complain about. @VipinLJ and I just are trying to explain everything as much as possible. Honestly, some people might not even notice the difference in sensitivity.

EDIT: I just noticed you are in Glen Ridge. If you ever want to meet up and drive my car let me know.

bob m

Aha, thanks and getting a better sense of it now. PM sent. Also going to have the transmission mount put in too, along with some updated interior LED's.

VipinLJ

Okay. I might have exaggerated a bit but I didn't want people to flame me after buying it reading my reviews and then blame me saying they feel everything on the road.
It makes the car stiffer. (Car definitely feels sporty and stable. I can assure you of that. I did illegal speeds on a closed road here with unbelievable crosswinds and the car was rock stable. Like really. I've done similar speeds before and I had my heart in my mouth and had to wrestle with the steering wheel. But today. Nothing. I could only hear the wind but couldn't feel it much.)
Now. Coming to the road feeling I was talking about. You can feel potholes or, in my case, railway tracks, a bit more. But it is NOTHING like say what you would feel in a rally car, if that is what you are worried about. Maybe you got worried reading my review but don't. The car still is comfortable BUT. If you are looking ONLY for comfort and nothing else, you might as well not go for the upgrade. I was willing to trade in maybe 5-10% comfort for a sporty feeling and I'm not disappointed. In fact, yesterday, I had four people in my car and no one complained about the ride quality changing. They knew I had installed the brace and I told them comfort might reduce but they said they couldn't notice a difference.

savi01

I appreciate Hyper and Vipin providing their feedback and being the testers for us, I'm definitely interested in the brace.

However, I do have to ask for clarification though regarding the added stability at highway+ speeds; is this piece really making that much of a difference? I definitely don't understand the full mechanics of a car, but I'm assuming it takes a lot more than just a brace to really solidify and add stability to a car at higher speeds, right? It makes sense the brace helps with corners and such, but Vipin mentioned the cars behavior in crosswinds post-install as being greatly improved. Is that so, or also a bit of an exaggeration?

HyperS4

Nope, not an exaggeration. I mentioned it briefly as well in my original post. I really felt there was something wrong with my car as it would track all over the road when there was a heavy crosswind. Even sometimes when I was behind a semi, the airwash would make my car sway all over. I was at the point where I was going to check the lugnuts to make sure they were all completely tight.

This strut bar completely gets rid of that fear and totally makes the car so much more stable at higher speeds. It just feels incredibly planted. Going near triple digits is much easier and less terrifying.