Kenne Bell Supercharger in my 2013 ZL1

[The Baron]

Strut tower brace means nothing... my car has been going bottom 1.5s with no brace

[mmarx82]

Originally Posted by The Baron

Strut tower brace means nothing... my car has been going bottom 1.5s with no brace

I find it quite interesting that the brace seemingly does nothing. Anyone have any actual data to help back this up?

[ace32x]

Originally Posted by mmarx82

I find it quite interesting that the brace seemingly does nothing. Anyone have any actual data to help back this up?

im sure it helps in the corners when really pushing the car but daily driving or strip use you would never notice a difference with the strut brace off

[ZL1-V]

Originally Posted by mmarx82

I find it quite interesting that the brace seemingly does nothing. Anyone have any actual data to help back this up?

How about this thread?

http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=298274

[2010 SSRS]

looks great

[big dave]

Looks intimidating. I wonder what a setup like that would run? I, too, am curious what your trap speed was? What was your 60'?

[Craig B]

Originally Posted by ace32x

im sure it helps in the corners when really pushing the car but daily driving or strip use you would never notice a difference with the strut brace off

X2. For a drag car your can throw that thing and the front sway bar in the woods.

[jessrayo]

Originally Posted by mmarx82

I find it quite interesting that the brace seemingly does nothing. Anyone have any actual data to help back this up?

Wow, I cannot believe I'm even reading threads like this. This is like saying the front air ducts to the brakes do nothing to stopping distance. They do nothing until you push the car to its limits and if you do that the brake duct will raise the limitations of the braking system by increasing cooling. If you take the car to the racetrack (and I mean a road course not a drag strip) and see how fast you can possibly run the car through a corner I can guarantee you that the car will perform better with that strut tower brace increasing chassis rigidity. If you mount road race tires that increase the g-loads on the suspension way beyond stock, the brace will make a huge difference. GM knows this, that is why they put it on the car and frankly that is part of the reason why the ZL1 Camaro can run with the much lighter Boss Mustang. The underlined section in that fancy write-up says "no aftermarket brace" , this is not an aftermarket brace. It was built by GM because they were trying to improve the cornering in a specialty high performance car. If all you ever do is drive the car straight ahead or you never get close to the limitations of the tires in a corner then take the thing off. It is doing nothing for you. But just because you are not using the limitations of the car does not mean the performance parts are unnecessary.

[ModBargains.com]

I'd love to see videos of it in action if you have any!! Sweet set up! I loved my old KB twin screw!

[ZL1-V]

Originally Posted by jessrayo

Wow, I cannot believe I'm even reading threads like this. This is like saying the front air ducts to the brakes do nothing to stopping distance. They do nothing until you push the car to its limits and if you do that the brake duct will raise the limitations of the braking system by increasing cooling. If you take the car to the racetrack (and I mean a road course not a drag strip) and see how fast you can possibly run the car through a corner I can guarantee you that the car will perform better with that strut tower brace increasing chassis rigidity. If you mount road race tires that increase the g-loads on the suspension way beyond stock, the brace will make a huge difference. GM knows this, that is why they put it on the car and frankly that is part of the reason why the ZL1 Camaro can run with the much lighter Boss Mustang. The underlined section in that fancy write-up says "no aftermarket brace" , this is not an aftermarket brace. It was built by GM because they were trying to improve the cornering in a specialty high performance car. If all you ever do is drive the car straight ahead or you never get close to the limitations of the tires in a corner then take the thing off. It is doing nothing for you. But just because you are not using the limitations of the car does not mean the performance parts are unnecessary.

I agree that one has to "push their car" especially "on a road course" to understand the limits of it. Most of never will attain that level. The increase in roll stiffness comes from lower and stiffer springs and sway bars. I ran my 1996 Saleen Mustang Cobra with Griggs suspension with and without the cross brace bar and I'll leave it at that. That car was run on the track and in the Angeles National Forest here in So Cal. The Gen5 cars of today are much stiffer constructed vehicles than the older cars. It doesn't matter if it's an aftermarket or factory cross brace. They both are designed the same and fit in the factory mounts. It appears as if you're trying to use the "wording" to benefit your theory. Just to clarify you are stating for a fact that "Pete" from Pedders who deals with this stuff daily and has lap times to prove it is lying? I'm sure he'll love to hear that?

[jessrayo]

Originally Posted by ZL1-V

I agree that one has to "push their car" especially "on a road course" to understand the limits of it. Most of never will attain that level. The increase in roll stiffness comes from lower and stiffer springs and sway bars. I ran my 1996 Saleen Mustang Cobra with Griggs suspension with and without the cross brace bar and I'll leave it at that. That car was run on the track and in the Angeles National Forest here in So Cal. The Gen5 cars of today are much stiffer constructed vehicles than the older cars. It doesn't matter if it's an aftermarket or factory cross brace. They both are designed the same and fit in the factory mounts. It appears as if you're trying to use the "wording" to benefit your theory. Just to clarify you are stating for a fact that "Pete" from Pedders who deals with this stuff daily and has lap times to prove it is lying? I'm sure he'll love to hear that?

I don't know "Pete" from Peddlers at all and I have no idea what he said. If he said a strut tower brace "does not do anything" I guess I will say he is lying. I know it makes a car chassis stiffer by closing the top half of what would be a "u" shaped structure. I know cars continue to get stiffer and stiffer chassis. That is part of the reason why a lightweight Camaro still weighs 4000+ pounds. But adding that strut brace stiffens the structure just like adding a roof over the convertible. Does Pete say the roof does not do anything? I'm really not trying to get in a fight here. I have driven many cars with various levels of chassis stability and that brace is going to stiffen up the car under heavy corning loads. If you are good you can drive a convertible fast on the track but a good driver almost always laps faster with the hardtop than the vert because the chassis is stiffer. That generally makes the car more predictable and easier to drive fast at the performance edge. That is what that brace does. If a machine can't measure it then I say you need a better machine because you can feel it. I will not be taking my brace off.

[Dznts]

Very nice!

[Trackman]

Originally Posted by jessrayo

I don't know "Pete" from Peddlers at all and I have no idea what he said. If he said a strut tower brace "does not do anything" I guess I will say he is lying. I know it makes a car chassis stiffer by closing the top half of what would be a "u" shaped structure. I know cars continue to get stiffer and stiffer chassis. That is part of the reason why a lightweight Camaro still weighs 4000+ pounds. But adding that strut brace stiffens the structure just like adding a roof over the convertible. Does Pete say the roof does not do anything? I'm really not trying to get in a fight here. I have driven many cars with various levels of chassis stability and that brace is going to stiffen up the car under heavy corning loads. If you are good you can drive a convertible fast on the track but a good driver almost always laps faster with the hardtop than the vert because the chassis is stiffer. That generally makes the car more predictable and easier to drive fast at the performance edge. That is what that brace does. If a machine can't measure it then I say you need a better machine because you can feel it. I will not be taking my brace off.

If your love is road courses I do no think a Kenny Bell is the ticket. Drags they can probably made to work well.
....You may want to research who Pete is.

[jessrayo]

Originally Posted by Trackman

If your love is road courses I do no think a Kenny Bell is the ticket. Drags they can probably made to work well.
....You may want to research who Pete is.

My love is definitely road courses. To be honest nobody on a small budget runs forced induction at road courses because it is so hard to deal with the heat. Kenny Bell seems to be a little worse so not a consideration for me. I also like top speed runs and would love to do Bonneville. The silver state thing looks fun if you could qualify in a faster class than entry level. I tried to google Pete at Peddlers and got mostly stuff about bicycle racing.....lol. Any more hints if I should know who he is?