Well I have installed the GTSPEC 6-point front strut tower brace (awesome), Rear Lower Tie Brace, and Rear Lower Lateral Tie Brace. In addition I have installed Progress sways, Megan Racing Camber Kit, and Tanable Pro OC-S coilovers. This is all for

Now to the nitty gritty. I have to say I ran on Englishtown's Open Track last year and I thought my handling couldn't get any better...WRONG. The sways and 6-point front strut brace make the car rock solid for aggressive driving. The rear tie bracing has locked the rear and has eliminated a bit of wheel hop when launching.

All of these suspension mods have boosted my confidence in my car by a good amount.

NJMP Time Attack
I participated in the Test and Tune sessions at New Jersey Motorsports Park's Lighting course on Saturday. I was passing modded Evo's in my class (RWD) like it was a breeze. I am no pro driver by any means. But these mods and a SS Clutch Line...the car is completely smooth in power and grace in and out of turns.

Installation Notes
6-Point Front Strut Brace - Install the chassis pieces first, LOOSELY! Then loosely install the other pieces. That will save you lots of time and aggrivation.

Rear Lower Tie Bracing - You will most likely need an alignment after installing it (unless you can perfectly wrench the alignment lobs). These bars are very very tight fitting; and trust me its worth it.

Pics!

6 Point Strut Brace



Lower Rear Bracing




Tanabe Sustec Pro OC-S (full drop 2.5in)



I highly recommend the GTSPEC bracing. Next up on my list of bracing is the 6 Point Rear Strut Brace.

EDIT 6/11/10
I finally installed the Front Lower Tie bracing...and omg awesome. I attached pics of how the installation pieces are supposed to be setup. It took me 3 attempts to figure it all out. You need air tools install the 2 mounts in front of the oil pan.

 

nice!

 

Pretty sweet just watchout for speedbumps lol

 

You know its really not bad at all. I normally took speed bumps from side to side any way. The one thing is that the Rear Lateral Tie Brace does sit ~.5in lower than any other part on the car.

Its nothing of concern, unless your sitting really low in a very bumpy area. But those GTSPEC bars are crazy solid; they can take the abuse.

 

So you installed all that at the same time? Or just the bracing?

 

All within a one month period.

 

Bump!

Installed the Front lower tie bracing and updated first post.

When installing the Front lower tie bracing, you need air tools. The trick is to keep at it until your impact gun can't spin the top nut for at least 30 seconds. By that time the mounting piece has expanded and it solid in the mounting hole.

Even though it was a royal PIA to install...it was so f'ing worth it. I just wish i had installed this before the track.

 

nice they look pretty good and mesh well with a wb.

 

Glad you finally got it squared away, that underbody 6 point blows my mind on the improvement.

Enjoy it!

 

?? I did mine w/o air tools, using their little installation tool. It works just like an aircraft riv-nut: screw the threaded rod into the expanding nut from the bottom, slide the hex-piece over it, hold it in place, put one wrench on the hex to keep it from spinning, then draw down the stud with a washer and hex-nut and a second wrench. Kindof awkward, but def can be done without air.

 

I have these on my 8 loving it. Specially on track!

 

random question - what sort of lap times were you pulling at NJ motorsports park?? (lightning course)
And what tires were you running?

 

1'27"xxx's were my consistant best times w/o traffic on the course. I ran with low compression on my front rotor (~93psi) and OE pads n rotors. Yokohama S.Drives.

 

Cool.....was just curious. I'm trying to see how fast a N/A rx8 can go on that circuit. I was running just shocks/springs but damn good road tires (bridgestone potenza's) and I pulled some 1:22's. My engine was healthy tho ;-) I'm pretty sure the tires are a far more significant player than bracing or really anything else for that matter....you like the Yokohamas? I think chassis stiffening is cool but it seems way down the list for mods, to me at least. I hate to say it, but with a car with 190whp.....how much do they weigh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrRIVVAsL8w&hd=1

It's a really fun track, at the end of the long straight, the rx8's brakes really shine, I was going wayyyyy deeper than really anyone else there.

Have fun....

 

Yea low compression really f'ed with me in the straights. The S.Drives are nice...but not fully track worthy. Also, i need better brakes. By the 2nd 30min session...yea...those pads were roasting.

I weighed in at 2765lbs with my Greddy SP2...ive got the HKS hi-power now.

 

You got the car down to 2765 pounds?????? Howd you pull that off??? The progress bars alone weigh a billion pounds!

 

I have no idea. Thats what Red Line's scales said. The s.drive's are 24lbs a tire...mazdaspeed flywheel...no spare...no carpet...um. look @ my vgarage, i listed it all there. Link in my sig.

 

I believe the 3,000 lb is the weight of the GT, so add more for leather and sunroof etc. The base and sport models way less...