P5 rear strut tower bar?

[MP5Raycer]

... starting to feel better LOL

 

[Dimitrios]

Well, I have to state that I haven't really USED an APC part. But one simple matter that they are "AMERICAN" Products Company, yet manufacturer most of their products in China, Taiwan, or Hong Kong doesn't do much for me. Country of Origin means a lot to me (which is part of the reason I bought the 5 instead of a Mexican assembled Focus, Golf/Jetta - GTI being Brazilian - or Spec V).

MP5Raycer, you really need to chill out on the rant - with all due respect to your critisms of our own critisisms

When speaking of quality, especially in metal forming and fabrication, there are reams of differences in what's "acceptable" and what is "good enough". Granted, it is not a complicated component and I'm sure the 5 monkeys running engineering over at APC might even have a difficult time messing the design up, but if "good enough" was deemed the status quo, then we'd never have any progress in society. Granted, they produce TONS of stuff (I'm surprised they don't have 1st Generation Civic "Altezza"-style taillamps available), but what good is extraordinary mediocrity?

I could very well make one on my own; however, the support of a company that takes the time in R&D to produce a product means that THAT company will continue to produce products for the same [vehicle] because they see a market share and can profit from it. Why should I support APC when they can profit from the Honduh owners? I would rather support Spool or Racing Beat or whomever else decides that it is worthwhile to support Mazda (or whatever company it is).

 

[dmitrik4]

yes they do make a rear upper strut bar. I believe what Rishie is talking about is the rear upper strut bar from Autoexe. You lucky Wagon owners get the opportunity to own a one..It wont fit on the sedan, because the struts are crammed into the rear dash. However, I haven't had much luck with doing business with R&D but maybe it's because I was ordering OEM??? Anyway, Good luck.

plus the fact that the design of the sedan eliminates the need for a rear strut tower brace. even if you could fit one on there, it wouldn't make any difference.

 

[Dimitrios]

Do you really feel that the rear deck offers enough structural rigidity?

Also, where are the Autoexe/Familia323 parts available from?

 

[Familia323]

plus the fact that the design of the sedan eliminates the need for a rear strut tower brace. even if you could fit one on there, it wouldn't make any difference.

I'd have to disagree with you on that... My friends 240SX has a rear deck just like we do and companies still offer rear strut tower braces. Not without out modification to the deck however. It does make a difference, maybe not as significant as if the struts werent buried, but it still makes a difference.


Dimitrios: huh?

 

[MP5Raycer]

LET ME RAIN IN ON THIS PARADE AND SHOW YOU WAHT CAN BE DONE HEHEHE

HERE IS MY NEW SET UP AS OF TONIGHT .. THIS IS A PROTOTYPE AND WILL BE SLIGHTLY ALTERED ..THESE ARENT THE SHOW BARS BUT YOU GET THE IDEA

 

[MP5Raycer]

now I will tell you that I tested the car b4 and after ..and using the same off ramp shaped just like the number 6 on dry pavement I was breaking loose after 40-41 mph .. adn after the cage install i hit it again on wet (rained alittle) and i was accelorating in it also through it and out of it passed 62 MPH !!!!!!!! this sucker is soo friggen stought it is unbelievable ..

 

[Familia323]

I like it... and I have to say that its definately not APC...

 

[MP5Raycer]

I like it... and I have to say that its definately not APC...

LMAO ROFLMAO that was ******* perfect LOL (rofl) (lol)

 

[dmitrik4]

I'd have to disagree with you on that... My friends 240SX has a rear deck just like we do and companies still offer rear strut tower braces. Not without out modification to the deck however. It does make a difference, maybe not as significant as if the struts werent buried, but it still makes a difference.


Dimitrios: huh?

ok. although we're not talking about a 240SX , and i'd tend to believe that the Protege's body structure (to which the tops of the struts are mounted in the sedan) will offer more solidity than a piece of metal that's not even triangulated. but to each his own, i guess.

 

[Familia323]

ok. although we're not talking about a 240SX , and i'd tend to believe that the Protege's body structure (to which the tops of the struts are mounted in the sedan) will offer more solidity than a piece of metal that's not even triangulated. but to each his own, i guess.

i know we arent talking about 240's i was just using it to compare..... but lets think about this logically here... im talking about ADDING another piece of support to the car and you are telling me its not gonna make a difference? Thats kind of rediculous dont you think? It's common sense. Along with the rear deck, there is a piece of metal/carbon fibre/Ti/whatever across the tops of the struts to support it. ......
.........Whatever, I really dont care what you think..... in my opinion it makes a difference and thats all that really matter because its my car... the difference may or may not be significant enough for most, but again its not their car so what the hell does it matter.......

 

[dmitrik4]

dude, calm down. geez.

what i should have said was that in a Protege sedan, it's probably not going to make enough of a difference for you to notice.

it will mostly be for show...but it's your car, as you said. if you believe it's worth the $$ and tearing apart your interior, go for it. but don't portray it as some super-effective mod, b/c it's simply not. if you want it, go for it.

 

[PatrickP5]

Heh... this reminds me of a problem they had back in the early days of flight. There was plane back in the early 1900's, I believe it was the Fokker (don't hold me to that), that had problems with its wings not holding up and basically ripping off. They tried to fix the problem by adding extra support down the axis of the wing, but it actually made it worse! It had to do with some more complicated aeroelastic loads that they hadn't figured out yet which made the wing structure incredibly unstable due to the added mass and location of the extra support.

Yeah, so this really doesn't apply to the Protege sedan, but it did remind me and I thought I'd share it with you all. It's pretty cool stuff if you can get into the crazy math/physics of aerospace. More isn't always... well... more.


Patrick

 

[Familia323]

dude, calm down. geez.

what i should have said was that in a Protege sedan, it's probably not going to make enough of a difference for you to notice.

it will mostly be for show...but it's your car, as you said. if you believe it's worth the $$ and tearing apart your interior, go for it. but don't portray it as some super-effective mod, b/c it's simply not. if you want it, go for it.

dude, I'm fine. It just sounded angry, but I'm not. And no I'm not trying to make it sound GODLY or anything. You were making it sound like the strut wouldn't do anything at all.. which is what I was trying to disprove.