I have ordered the Cp Racing triangular front tower strut brace and the rear lower tie bar. Should be great for Auto-X'ing. Will let everyone know when I get them, install them and test them!!!CP Racing (http://www.cpracing.ca/) :D

KK,

Let us know how it goes ...

Tell those guys that our cars are 2004 year models, not 2003. :)

I ordered mine 2 weeks ago and have e-mailed and phoned for an expected ship date with no answer! I do expect them soon, as I thought they were a stock item. Chris are you listening?

Ah Ha WHealey, you already have their front strut tower bar!!!!!!!! You sneaky Devil! ¥ I think they are aware that it's at typo, but all 8 owners know they mean 2004.

Originally posted by Sea Ray
I ordered mine 2 weeks ago and have e-mailed and phoned for an expected ship date with no answer! I do expect them soon, as I thought they were a stock item. Chris are you listening?

SeaRay,

Yep. I had the same problem. Only a little worse. My guess is that they are not stocked at all but made based off your payment. Also, I thought i was supposed to receive additional hardare, but has never shown up. I ordered mine back in Dec. Been waiting to see what other's expereinces are before I generalize a one-off bad expereience.

Originally posted by Killerking1964
Ah Ha WHealey, you already have their front strut tower bar!!!!!!!! You sneaky Devil! ¥ I think they are aware that it's at typo, but all 8 owners know they mean 2004.

Killerking1964,

Not trying to upstage you. Just curious about your service expereince.

I'm guessing they come in different colors ?
I wonder if that rear tie bar does that much ..

the triangulated strut bar tower brace comes in red or blue. The lower tie bar I think just comes in blue and tightens the rear end up which is great for Auto X'ing.
Often they have the strut tower braces on EBAY, just do a search for them. They have 94.9% positive feedback.

Their service has in the past stunk..but their products are great...just going off word of mouth though..i haven't ordered from them...

I received an email today from Chris at CP Racing and he said he will call me tomorrow, so so far I am happy!!!!!!!

I also received a e-mail today and my strut bar was indeed shipped out Monday and has just passed thru customs today. With any luck next week I will get it AND stage1 :)

Bad news is I am going on a week long vaction week after next so I will not be able to play with the new toys until end of the month. Such problems to have, he he he.

I ordered my strut tower bar from them a while ago. Around when they first showed up on Ebay. It took them about 3 weeks for it to finally show up they even emailed me 2 weeks into it saying that UPS dropped their whole shipment crushing my strut tower bar. (what are the chances of that???) All i can say is that i hope everyone is really patience because your going to learn to be after this experience of no emails, not being able to get through etc... Customer service stunk, but their product is pretty nice. If you don't mind the whole rattle canned backyard paint job. I got the red one maybe the blue is a little better??? I'm going to get it glasses beaded and powder coated since i can't stand the shitty paint on it. I'll have some pics up if you guys want. This is just my experience with them so maybe yours will be better.

Yes - I agree that their customer service could use some improvement once I received their trianulated front strut bar (mine was red and I was happy with paint job) it was very obvious to me that the bar did tighten up the front suspension - I could feel the difference even while driving straight ! I would highly recommend this bar.

Originally posted by Efini888
If you don't mind the whole rattle canned backyard paint job. I got the red one maybe the blue is a little better??? I'm going to get it glasses beaded and powder coated since i can't stand the shitty paint on it.

Efini888,

Same paint job here on the blue. Glad RX8FOREAL got a good one. But I'm holding you personally responsible for the fact that i am now considering chroming mine. :) I was perfectly happy until you mentinoed powder coating ... :D

How do the welds look on this bar, are they pretty clean?

Is the brace pretty beefy compared to the stock brace which looks fairly weak or compared to some other front braces (MS, JIC, Tanabe)

Highly considering getting this bar since the US MS bar seems to just be straight across and non 4 point :(

-Chris

Whealy,

How is your CP strut-bar? Feel and like that? I'm really interested in this item (paint job aside). After driving it for a while what are your impressions? Anyone else who has this part please chime in as well!!

Visually the bar looks very professional. The welds look very clean and like I said before my paint job looked fine.
From an engineering view point, it is stronger than most others I have seen since all the joints are welded, no bolt attachments and it is also anchored to the firewall.
I felt an immediate improvement in chasis rigidity.

RX8foreal,

Thanks for the input. This is exactly the sort of feedback I'm looking for on this. Sounds very convincing as well as an excellent looking piece.

Originally posted by synthtk


Highly considering getting this bar since the US MS bar seems to just be straight across and non 4 point :(

-Chris

the Japanese MS front strut tower brace is thick, all aluminum and 4 point. The only downside is that the engine cover won't fit on top of it. you can get it at japan parts, canzoomer, jtimports, etc. it's about $475-500

mine is in route from Canada as we speak. Can't wait!! I'll be able to post about it's performance (along w/ the lower tie bar) and also on the Racing Beat front and rear swaybars and endlinks after I enter another Autocross on April 4th.

I like mine. Although I must admitt I showed it to a guy that installed a rollbar for me in a previous car. I've known this guy for a long time. He is one of the last to rag on someone elses's work. But he said in his opinion the bars had not been properly fitted requiring additional welds. He said the appearance could be better, but thought it was probably solid all the same.

The weird thing for me is that mine came with no attitional hardware. When I sent an email on it, they said it would be forthcoming. Never has. As much effort as it took just to get the bar, I figured it wasn't work it. I just tied it into the connectinos off the firewall that were existing. I assume there are better or more enhaced wasys of doing this.

Originally posted by WHealy
I like mine. Although I must admitt I showed it to a guy that installed a rollbar for me in a previous car. I've known this guy for a long time. He is one of the last to rag on someone elses's work. But he said in his opinion the bars had not been properly fitted requiring additional welds. He said the appearance could be better, but thought it was probably solid all the same.


Would your guy be interested in making a better version of their basic design? :D

Originally posted by blksf8
the Japanese MS front strut tower brace is thick, all aluminum and 4 point. The only downside is that the engine cover won't fit on top of it. you can get it at japan parts, canzoomer, jtimports, etc. it's about $475-500

Yah, I was hoping the US would be the same one and was very excited when it was listed for only $250 but its just a thick CF 2point, i just cant justify spending that much (~$500) on a strut tower bar....


-Chris

I am in the middle of installing my front cp strut bar and am having some issues.

1) The flanges that mount to the top of the struts are too big and I had to cut down the top corner so it would fit into the recess. The factory edges are very rough and could have used a lot of smoothing up.

2) When installing, the drivers side is putting majpr pressure on the break lines coming out of the ABS (?) box. I am not happy about that at all. Maybe not a big deal but rubbing like that cannot be good in the long run.

3) IF and when I would tighten the strut bolts, the firewall brace is fairly low on the firewall. This will make it very hard to bolt on the drivers side since the wiper motor is right in the way.

4) Overall asthetics it looks bad. Welds are rough, mounting plate was cut with ??? And the paint does not match even close, rattle can I agree.

Overall I can live with the apperance, welds, paint, etc. But I don't think the fit is at all good enough, break lines, firewall attachment.

Can anyone tell me their experiences installing it and if and what you did about these issues.

Thanks,
Dean

Sea Ray,

I took a closer look at mine it is resting on those same lines. I don't see any wear as of yet. I know when I put mine on it was an of so tight fit, but I don't recall putting any undo preasure on these lines to get it secured.

What about attaching it to the front, which actually is not the firewall. If it is too low it hits the wiper motor, any problems there?

I finally got to see this piece in person during an install out at sea ray's and i have to say that in my opinion not a very good design. i think the brace was designed for looks because the functionality of the piece is not any better than the factory, yes it may be triangulated but the rear portion is bolting to a thin piece of sheet metal and it is not the actual firewall. The cowl channel is there just to enclose the wiper linkage and motor and to secure the cowl cover to which with this piece is going to be seeing alot of flexing and i think it will eventually warp the cowl causing the cover to not line up properly with its attachments. And if the brace was designed for looks why does it look like it was spray painted?? and like sea ray said the pressure on the brake lines is unacceptable and the fact that it had to be ground down to fit on the driverside(ouch there goes the beautiful paint job!!!).

in the past when i have installed strut braces they have always been mounted to a firm sturdy fixture.

im not trying to offend anybody that has this piece but realize its overall function is not much if any better than the stock brace. if you are buying it for looks the only suggestion i have is have it powdercoated the color you like(ofcourse after you grind it down to fit!!)

happy rotoring,

shawn

I thought i would post some additional pics. Again, I didn't get any instructions or additinatl hardware with my product. These are the pieces I removed. I assue the C-braces pictured here are supposed to be removed.

Driver side

passenger side

Can you take a picture of where they attach to the 'firewall'? On the drivers side mine would have to bolt at or below the wiper motor making it impoosible to get a bolt thru.

I had to remove quite a bit of material to get mine to sit flat around the bolts. I'll take a picture tomorrow and send it in.

Thanks for the help Whealy,
Dean

Thanks for the pics. At least your was the right shad of blue!! I am having to repaint mine because it came in this aweful shade of dark weird blue that was metallic!!!!!!!!!! Donna

More pics by request.

and ...

Apparently there is some confusion regarding the RX8 brace. All the braces are painted in a production spray booth with a paint gun...no paint cans. Welds in production assembly are not to be ground, this is the norm as grinding welds will simply increase the size of the final weld area and look terrible. On our website www.cpracing.ca in the support section all our manuals are found, each bar sent out includes a label directing purchasers to the site for the manual. The pictures of the strut bar in this thread has been incorrectly installed. The stud on the driver side is to be cut off and hole drilled in its place, the hole on the passenger side is to be enlarged, otherwise the provided hardware is of no use. In the event someone did not get their hardware, please contact us directly and I will see to it you get your pieces. The reason for the low mounting positon is because the material is strongest near the lower portion of the firewall, once the holes are drilled and the hardware, large washers and nuts and bolts tightened into place there is no movement or flexing present. The bar may contact lines on the firewall, if it does this is of little importance as neither piece moves so there is no chance of chaffing or rubbing through any lines. When installed correctly the bar yields excellent results. If you have any questions or concerns contact us directly at info@cpracing.ca
Best regards,

CP

As I stated before - many people who have posted have been way too critical. I have had a CP strut bar for about 3 months and after the intial installation I was very aware that the bar stiffened up the front end and have been very happy with the apperance.

this question is for whomever installed the rear tie. do you think that the rear tie is a better install to make than a rear sway? speak from your experience that's all. let me know, cause i'm between the two.

I will give you my impressions and the order of installation-

1. Had RB front and rear sway bars installed- could not push car because it was winter in NJ and had Blizzaks on - but generally seemed to improve cornering
2. Installed CP Racing front strut bar - I don't think it was my imagination - I felt a definite improvement in front chassis stiffness.
3. Added RB lowering springs which lowered the car about 1/2" and firmed up suspension but did not make the ride harsh
4. Installed JIC rear strut bar - This addition although not as noticable improved cornering.
5. The last change has been to get rid of the terrible stock tires (whcih did not hold the road as well as the Blizzaks) and got
245 X 40 X 18 Goodyear F1's.
After this addition the suspension and ride has been primo - I can't wait to get in my car every day and challenge the car.
It is too bad there is no easy mods to improve the low end- You can't have everything.

Originally posted by rx8miami
this question is for whomever installed the rear tie. do you think that the rear tie is a better install to make than a rear sway? speak from your experience that's all. let me know, cause i'm between the two.

HELL NOOOOOO! The RB rear and front combo is the best $$ I have spent yet. Major difference in handling as in cornering and autoXing.

CP strut bar better then MS strut bar? 2pt? how much? plz PM ME THIS INFO :D

IMHO, no.

anyone have pixs of the red strut
i most likely would have it powdercoated though
and any one else having issues ?
how long is the shipping wait to the states?
thankyou