Strut Brace

I

n conjunction with Kermit’s Ford Racing Suspension upgrade, we’ve bought him a second hand strut brace. Strut braces are designed to stiffen the suspension by stopping the chassis from flexing. However, they are reputed to be of very limited use unless the car has a stiffly set up suspension system – at least that’s what other websites will tell you.

I’ve driven Kas with and without a strut brace, with and without the Ford Racing Suspension. I’ve driven the standard machine to one with both upgrades. And I can report that it’s a worthwhile upgrade even if you’re running on standard suspension.

I’ve found it easier to break the differences down into three categories: ride, low speed handling and high speed handling.

Ride

On either suspension set up there’s no change to the ride for almost all of the time. You simply cannot tell that he car has a brace when driving along the motorway.

However, on certain uneven road surfaces and when using the standard suspension, there is a noticeably stronger “patter” from the front. It’s most obvious when accelerating out of a corner on a rough and uneven road surface and is caused by the bumps being transmitted to the other side.

Curiously enough, with the Ford Racing suspension fitted the effects are lessened.

Low Speed Handling

If you’re using standard suspension, the first difference that you feel is when you enter a corner reasonably briskly is that the initial turn in is sharper. However, once you are in the corner there is more body roll for a given speed. This is because there is much less body flex and the suspension is having to cope with the additional stress.

Despite there being more body roll if you push harder, you’ll find that there’s better grip. There’s more grip because the wheels are better aligned with the road, because the chassis isn’t flexing. The effects are more obvious if you corner hard at low speed either off the power or whilst braking. Of course, one should not be doing this! There is noticeably more grip from the front end.

There is one disadvantage. The car has less traction on a bumpy and uneven road and you’ll find it keener to wheelspin the inside front wheel if you try too hard.

With the Ford Racing suspension the brace has a similar effect as it has with the standard settings. Turn in is even quicker still and the suspension is better able to cope with the body roll. As for grip? There’s more still. One major improvement over the standard suspension is that there’s more traction when accelerating out of a corner – probably because there’s less body roll.

High Speed Handling

At higher speeds and using the standard suspension, again you have the sharper turn in and more body roll. If you snap off the power, you have more front end grip, which causes the back to step out rather sooner than it did. Keep it nailed, however, and there’s certainly more grip.

With the Ford Racing suspension the Ka’s higher speed handling gambit is raised a couple of notches. You’re able to take advantage of the quick turn in and at most speeds the Ka has a useful reserve of grip. If you overcook it, the car’s reactions are quicker so most of the time it helps you recover, unless you properly screw up in which case I suspect you’ll spin or crash. On a dry road, even with good quality 185/60 tyres on a 13” wheel (that offer theoretically less grip than good quality 195/45 tyres on a 15” rim), the limits of adhesion are certainly high enough.

Summary

In summary, the brace has done what I expected it to do. Kermit is now less forgiving of driver errors if you’re being proper stupid, but driven at the same pace as before his adhesion limits are much, much higher.

In my opinion the strut brace is a worthwhile upgrade.

Wet Weather Understeer

Something that I have encountered in the past is a front wheel drive car developing excessive understeer under load and after fitting a front strut brace. I did notice this with Kermit but then he was wearing Wynstar front tyres, and could probably understeer at a walking pace. I will continue to monitor!