Phase X - No Flex Allowed

When it comes to the business of strut bars there are select few companies to choose from that are worth a damn. Since the JIC coilovers have been doing us well so far we decided to use another suspension weapon from the JIC war dept. They gave up two offerings one of trick carbon fiber and the other in classic polished aluminum. Polished aluminum it had to be as the carbon bars weren’t available yet, and the cost to function ratio favored the aluminum overall. It was about this time that the D1 GP was happening at Irwindale in Cali. The Vivid team already had plans to go check out the event and the JIC crew would be there in support of there drift cars in the competition. Like a covert mission I was to intercept my contact and receive the package under the disguise of a Vendor VIP, with out getting caught of course.

Days later back at the shop I gained consciousness with a pair of strut bars in my hands. It must have been a long weekend judging from the pounding in my head. Despite the pain I must do my duty and install these strut bars. Luckily I knew that there wouldn’t be much involved to complete the install. With my basic set of tools I tackled the job in a little over and hour. The front is usually the easier of the two to install so to full fill the instant gratification the front was to go on first.

The stock front strut bar is decent enough in that it does its job effectively for street applications with the stock suspension set up. With our coilover set up giving us a more firm ride the need for an upgraded strut bar is obvious. The removal of the stock bar is very easy; I’d give it a monkey’s thumbs up! Five bolts per side hold the stock bar in place. The first two on either side will release the strut bar itself from the body leaving behind a horse shoe shaped ring on both mounting points. The three remaining nuts per side will remove these and bare the top of the strut housing. Use a rag and wipe away any dirt around the coilover studs. The JIC front strut bar goes on only one way, Logo facing up, then slide the mounting ring over the studs and through the pre dilled holes and she fits into place nice and snug. I also loosened the two Allen bolts on either end of the bar to allow more freedom of movement of the mounting rings similar to a door hinge. I reused the three nuts per side that used to hold down the horse shoe mounting plate. Once the bar was mounted into place I checked it for any stray movement. Our clock said we spent a total of 15min on the front.

The rears would prove to be a bit more time consuming by at least another 30 min or so due to the removal, cutting and reinstallation of trunk liners. By now I was a pro at removing the inner panels of the trunk and was able to peel back sections at a time and expose the areas around the strut housing with out removing the whole lining assembly. The car doesn’t come with a rear strut bar so were thinking that the largest improvement would come from the feel of the rear with the JIC strut bar. As it should be like the front the rear was simple enough to install as well. Two mounting nuts are reused from the stock set up. Nothing needs to be removed (unless you have the optional spare tire kit). Since space is a premium in the trunk areas of these cars it was easiest to remove the two end pieces of the strut bar and install them fist. This allowed for a better alignment of the stud holes as well. Once the end pieces were secure the middle bar section was reinstalled with the two longer Allen head bolts and their appropriate washers and everything was then torque to spec. The bar is designed to attach at the base of the strut tower and hugs the floor of the trunk with a ¾ inch gap to spare. This proved to be an added function latter on as a grocery bag divider. Again I checked to make sure the unit was solid by pretending that I was the hulk and couldn’t get the bar to budge.

With the grunt work done it was time to change gears and tools and move to the aesthetic appeal of the phase. With some measuring and a few skillful cuts into the plastic, the panels were placed back into position and the cutouts went around the bar very nicely. By now my back was hurting from contorting my body in and out of the trunk so I decided to take a break and sit down…in the driver’s seat…we know where this is going.

Wow! What a difference a set of strut bars make. The car has a lot more crispness with driver input. Initial turn in under braking feels more secure. Accelerating around corners, I can actually feel the transfer of weight from the inside front tire to the out side rear, but it feels more balanced and overall predictability is almost telepathic. I think my confidence level has just been raised a notch due to the more lively feel of the car’s handling. After an hour of "testing", it was time to head back to base. I needed a shower and more sleep. The vote was unanimous that we made the right choice and found a good balance of function and style. As the crazy bull fighter would say, "Viva la strut bar!"