Strong-Strut "trilogy" customer reports on results of installing all three Strong-Strut bracing products.
Robert......Indiana
Dear Paul,
As you recommended, I first installed the butt brace with the rear of the
car supported with jack stands and ramps. The rear tires on ramps allowed
the suspension to achieve its near ground level attitude and gave me a
better feel for the butt strut/body brace fit for my particular 1999 M
Roadster. I used the 1/2" square spacers above and the 1/4" round
spacers below. There was plenty of clearance for the Eisenmann exhaust
system. I initially torqued the custom fastener to 30 ft/lbs, lowered the car, sat in the
driver's seat to fully settle the suspension (I'm 6'2" and 225lbs), and
finally torqued them to 75 ft/lbs (red Loctite used.) Next I elevated the
front of the car supporting it with jack stands and ramps and removed the
X-brace. Some of the bolts and frame threads needed freshening so I ran them
through my Matco tap and die routine. A .38cal brass bore brush was used to
remove the debris from the frame threads. Using my Dremel, I enlarged all
the holes in the X-brace as you suggested. Installation of the X-brace and
frame braces were a snap, and the fit was glove tight. My application did
not require any additional rear spacers on the butt strut. Next I dropped
the top and went for a drive along my favorite cross-country route (plenty
of twists, turns and rolling hills...well out in the country...plenty of
deer to watch out for but no "bears.") I had planned on a 30 minute run, but
returned 3 hrs later with a smile on my face (even after another $50 fill
up.) I know this is just one man's opinion, but I feel that your bracing
system is the most significant modification I have added to my Z3M,
"bar none." In fact "all of the other mods combined" do not add up to the
"fun factor" increase your brace system provides. My earlier mods include:
Pilot Sport 2 tires, Comforti CAI, Comforti Shark Injector, UUC EVO 3 SS
with shift link, UUC clutch arm bushings and clutch "big" stop, and
Eisenmann Racing catbacks. I rate your struts and braces at an 11 on a scale
of 10 for fit, finish, ease of install, and included instructions. I also
thank you for the time you spent on the phone and in emailing me, but
especially for your "WORLD CLASS" products. Bob Bean Newburgh, IN
Mike.....australia Hi Paul, Its all
installed, didn't take long and I found that I was missing one of the OEM
cross brace bolts, now ordered. I can't believe the difference it makes to
the car, the washy feeling at high speed, the feeling that the car wanders,
the back end boogy are now all gone. So is the body flex going in and out
of steep driveways. I find that I'm now going into corners much faster with
much less effort, the stock suspension is pretty amazing and I concur with
the other users that the car needs to be braced properly before you even
look at updating the suspension.
Once again Paul thank you for such a brilliant product. I've sent you some
before and after shots, the after shots were taken after all work
was completed and I re-jacked the car up. At no stage did I get under the
car to get the shots and it demonstrates the added rigidity the bracing
has added to the body.
Michael: In England
I promised Paul Ebeyer of Strong
Strut that I'd post my assessment of his strut brace kit. I've already posted an
earlier version, but Paul deserves all the publicity he can get for what he can
do for these cars. Having driven several Z3s, I'd never have bought one had I
not known about Strong Strut; I ordered a set before I'd taken delivery of the
car.
I've added reference to new suspension dampers as well to complete the picture.
Anybody with no Strong Struts should read this...
THE Z3 TRANSFORMED
(Modifications to a 1998 British Market Z3 1.9)
For a two-seat sports roadster, the Z3 is a softly-sprung and luxurious car that
has three characteristics that compromise its ride quality and limit its
cornering speed.
The first is the rear suspension linkages (lifted from the obsolete E30) which
seem to act as levers that tip the rear corners of the car as each wheel hits
bumps on rougher surfaces. The effect of these is that the back of the car can
‘waddle’ out of sync with the front and although excellent damping limits the
effect, it is de-stabilizing it makes the car feel as though it has a live-axle
rather than an independent suspension.
The second is the soft suspension of the car, which is damped for a very high
level of comfort but which is simply too soft for a sports car.
The third is the chassis, which is insufficiently torsionally rigid and combines
with the soft springing to reduce the feedback available to the driver through
the steering wheel, exaggerates the effects of suspension behaviour and makes
the car’s reactions unpredictable under hard cornering. Even in a straight line,
the car is liable to unpredictable reactions to surface irregularities and needs
continual, if miniscule, corrective steering inputs.
The car is very smooth and reasonably stable at higher speeds; the problems
become apparent at lower and intermediate speeds on rougher surfaces and on
sharper corners that require quicker steering and impose more sudden centrifugal
forces, and where unexpected corrective or evasive action may suddenly be
necessary and where predictability and grip are paramount.
STRONG STRUT BODY BRACE AND 'BUTT STRUT' COMBINATION
Paul Ebeyer’s longitudinal Body Brace and transverse rear strut brace (‘Butt
Strut’) assembly stiffens the chassis to the extent that the driver is able to
sense the grip of the big tyres and predict the effects of control inputs to a
degree that transforms the feel of the car. Potential cornering speeds are
increased, whereas driver workload is reduced, as tense anticipation on
challenging roads gives way to confident exhilaration. The idiosyncratic rear
suspension hammering away somewhere beneath the car as it fails to keep up with
the roughest road surfaces can be ignored once it no longer requires corrective
steering. And the improvement conferred by the kit is not simply of benefit to
sporting drivers; at whatever speed, driving is easier, less tiring and more
relaxed, and whatever margin of safety is allowed on corners, the kit increases
it hugely.
The reduced ground clearance imposed by the ‘Butt-Strut’ and body brace
combination (to around 10cm on my 1.9) prevents the use of after-market uprated
springs, which are always shorter than the standard ones and would lower the car
unacceptably, but even with the standard set up, the net benefit of the Strong
Strut kit is an enormous increase in the Z3’s controllability, and as driving
pleasure is directly proportional to the precision with which your car responds
to your intentions, the improvement equates to an immeasurable boost of
adrenaline.
ADDITION OF THE FRONT COMPETITION LIGHTWEIGHT ALLOY STRUT BRACE
Whilst the rear brace set neutralizes the Z3’s main handling problems, the
engine bay brace makes another big difference. It sharpens the steering so that
the car feels lighter and more instantly responsive to direction changes,
particularly during a fast switch from one hard turn to another in the opposite
direction. The standard car’s steering feels leaden and lumbering in comparison.
The front brace allows you to exploit the limits of the car’s performance in
more challenging conditions, such as in and out of sequential roundabouts and
complex intersections, and lets you feel the limits of grip more easily.
ADDITION OF SPAX ADJUSTABLE SUSPENSION DAMPERS
My benchmark for comparison when I bought the Z3 was a modified early MX5, and I
wanted to get the Z to match the handling of that much lighter car as far as
possible. With the Strong Strut kit, the remaining limitations were minimal and
were imposed by the additional weight of the Z3, together with its soft
suspension springing and damping , which reduced the grip and made the car drift
more readily than the MX. Larger and wider wheels than the MX also made the
steering heavier, and there was slightly more body roll, although the drift and
roll were controlled and predictable with the Strong Strut kit and provided an
element of historic racing car feel to the car.
I have now fitted (British) Spax ‘Krypton’ adjustable dampers, adjusted, after
some experimentation, to damping setting fifteen of the available 28. Even with
the standard springs, this has been another quantum leap; the steering has
quickened again and the car is even more agile and precise. I can now feel the
texture of the road through the seat and while the ride is firmer and choppier,
the grip has improved noticeably and I can commit the car to fast corners on
unknown roads with even more confidence. It is quite extraordinary how the
stiffer damping gives the impression that the steering is lighter, but that’s
what it’s like; the car no longer feels at all heavy, and it’s completely lost
the last vestige of that peculiar feeling that it was being born along on the
backs of galloping horses that stumbled and tripped over one another when the
road surface deteriorated.
CONCLUSION
It’s difficult to convey the extent to which the Strong Strut set and uprated
dampers transform the experience of driving the Z3. Mile after mile of sweeping
intermediate and fast bends, your arms tingle with adrenalin from the sheer
precision of the steering and the electric feedback from the feel of the tyres
on the road, day or night, in the dry or the wet; the blissful feeling of total
control, total confidence in the car. This at last is the sharp and agile sports
car BMW could so easily have made the Z3 but failed by so small a margin to
allow it to become. The standard car is like an under-developed prototype by
comparison.
(Sorry it goes on a bit...)
Roger: rogliu@sbcglobal.net Hi Paul, Just wanted to let you know that I got your package and installed the three tonight. Everything that everyone said was absolutely correct. Like some others, I am a reformed skeptic! Thank you
Roy: blue_mcoupe@hotmail.com Paul and Team, I recently helped my very good friend, Thom Morin, install the Strong Strut, Butt Strut and Body Brace on his 2000 BMW M Roadster. Before the install, he was considering selling the car due to its flex. No longer! I had only ridden in the car a few times before the install, but I could quickly tell a tremendous amount of difference. The car is much more solid and controllable. I’ve always liked the Roadster, but the chassis flex kept me away (so I bought an M Coupe instead!). The results of your struts and braces are amazing. Thom may not have told you directly, but he’s very happy with the result and is definitely keeping the car.
Having a 98 Z3 and going to a
Mercedes SLK the biggest difference is the rigidity of the chassis. The Mercedes
is so tight is makes a Z3 seem like a wet noodle. So I bought my newly acquired
98 M roadster, the feeling of a flexing chassis was remembered again. This time,
however, there is the Strong Strut Trio. I promptly purchased the three units
and installed them all at once. All I can say is WOW, what a difference. It
still in not a tight at the Mercedes but it is SIGNIFICANTLY stiffer.
It is amazing how I can really feel the road. The ride is a bit harder since the
bumps do not dissipate through the flexing body. Actually rides better IMHO.
Definitely a worthwhile purchase!
this is a new page under construction. more testimonials to follow. please refer to individual testimonials above.