Skyfire

I have a 2000 2.8, does the car come with it? I heard it makes the front end more ridgid, and along with a strut tower brace it makes the chassis flex less and make turn-ins more crisp. My question is, is all this even noticable on a street car that's rarely pushed to the limits?

JWG

Question #1: No, the B5 A4 does not come with it; that's why the aftermarket tuners created it.

Question #2: Yes, you will notice it on a street car, but likely only during spirited driving or if you have a lowered/sport suspension. I would guess that the subframe gets pushed to the limits on the streets more than just about anywhere else, if for no other reason than the streets tend to be far rougher than any track. Rough roads send tremendous forces through the subframe; the more rigid the subframe, the better handling you will get on rough surfaces.

I have a Neuspeed lower tie bar, and I will add a strut tower brace in the future: either the four-post Racetek or a modified A6 cross brace (requires slight modification of one of the two A6 tower connectors and drilling new holes into the cross-tower bar to accomodate narrower A4 wheel track; otherwise a far cheaper alternative that fits A4 almost perfectly).

My $0.02!

AndyA6

1. The subframe brace ties the subframe left and right of the gearbox together and does not tie in the gearbox.
2. The driveline stabilizer ties in the motormounts, gearbox.

3. Subframe brace makes a difference, no doubt. The car is stiffer up front, steering is more precise, in some cases and in cars say older than a year or 2 some of the mysterious creaks go away.

4. Compared to the driveline stabilizer the brace has 2 major advantages: a) $$$ and b) no additional vibrations in the cabin. And it is available for Tiptronics as well. Disadvantage: The Tips will loose a bit of groundclearance (approx. 1 1/4") since the tip gearboxes are WAY larger than the 5-speeds.

I made approx. 100 of them for both 5-speeds and Tips, nothing but good reviews sofar.

Later,
Andy

Skyfire

I see an oem bar that goes front the left to the right subframe, tying them together, at approximatly the same place where the DTS should go. Is this the OEM subframe brace? It looks like it's made of stamped hollow steel tube.

Also, which one should I upgrade first? I take it a stiffer subframe brace will give me the most ban for the buck?

AndyA6

and 59 shipped.

RAD69

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