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9-5 strut brace should I and which one??

31K views 62 replies 24 participants last post by  Rogozhin 
#1 ·
I have a 2002 9.5 Aero with a Nordic stage 2, How do you guys feel about the strut braces and which one seems to be liked the most?
Thanks Guys
 
#2 ·
I cant think of s single member here who has a strut brace fitted to thier facelift 9-5...........thats gotta tell you summit ;)
 
#3 · (Edited)
I would rather go for a antirollbar upgrade.

But if U want one, its gone cost u,




This one is from S_P_E_E_D_P_A_R_T_S


price is 1450NKr in Norway thats about 230 -240Us dollar.
 
#4 ·
I would rather go for a antirollbar upgrade.
Shocks and Springs first I'd say........

And if its a manual and traction is your concern then you need a LSD!
 
#15 ·
not sure how effective a brace is hanging off the tiny bolts that hold the strut mount in place, apart from the obvious pointed out already, that the struts are close to the firewall.
Useful for decal display.
It is true that the car's structure starts wearing out the moment you drive it off the lot, but I am not a fan of strut bars given the way this car is built... and the method of attachment.
 
#18 ·
BRACE YOURSELF, or at least your 9-5.

The following is a review I sent to State of Nine after installing their strut brace:

Hi Dan.

I am so very impressed by you taking on the task of designing, fabricating, prototyping, testing, and putting into production this brace.

It does, in fact, improve my 9-5's handling. With the oversize SAS sway bars front (25mm) & rear (22mm), heavy duty sway bar endlinks, Koni FSD shocks, new Aero springs, and a Quaife LSD--I was not sure what to expect when adding the brace.

That said, the result is not subtle and brings a sharpness and directness to the steering. Body roll is reduced in slalom like turns and there is significantly improved road holding in high speed sweeping curves. I do not notice any negative side effects, but was prepared for a potentially more jarring ride--which did not happen.

I am very pleased with the performance of the strut brace.

As for the install: I was concerned about repositioning the hood release switch, but this, too, turned out to be a non-issue. I was able to gently twist the metal holder for the switch and position it closer to the rear of the engine bay. And I will glue in a piece of mass loaded vinyl to cover the area where the latch striker was located.

Thank you "Dan and clan" for stepping up to the plate on this one. I sincerely hope all 9-5 owners interested in experiencing the handling potential of their car will be contacting you for this brace.

Kind regards,

Steven N.
Denver, CO
 
#22 ·
The following is a review I sent to State of Nine after installing their strut brace:

Hi Dan.

I am so very impressed by you taking on the task of designing, fabricating, prototyping, testing, and putting into production this brace.

It does, in fact, improve my 9-5's handling. With the oversize SAS sway bars front (25mm) & rear (22mm), heavy duty sway bar endlinks, Koni FSD shocks, new Aero springs, and a Quaife LSD--I was not sure what to expect when adding the brace.

That said, the result is not subtle and brings a sharpness and directness to the steering. Body roll is reduced in slalom like turns and there is significantly improved road holding in high speed sweeping curves. I do not notice any negative side effects, but was prepared for a potentially more jarring ride--which did not happen.

I am very pleased with the performance of the strut brace.

As for the install: I was concerned about repositioning the hood release switch, but this, too, turned out to be a non-issue. I was able to gently twist the metal holder for the switch and position it closer to the rear of the engine bay. And I will glue in a piece of mass loaded vinyl to cover the area where the latch striker was located.

Thank you "Dan and clan" for stepping up to the plate on this one. I sincerely hope all 9-5 owners interested in experiencing the handling potential of their car will be contacting you for this brace.

Kind regards,

Steven N.
Denver, CO
The SoN / Krona Performance strut bar is quite nice; just too bad SoN is the sole distributor since that makes it more expensive than it can be.
 
#19 ·
In the Netherlands we did a group buy for the strut brace from speedparts.


It was installed on all three generation of 9-5s and with great succes. The body roll is noticeably less and on older cars it even fixed noisy dashboards.

Install is very easy and the bolts hold the brace very well. The fitting is near perfect, sometimes the cap on the hood for the alarm switch is touching the brace. This can eaily be solved by slightly twisting the cap or file a small portion of the brace.
 
#52 ·
In the Netherlands we did a group buy for the strut brace from .


It was installed on all three generation of 9-5s and with great succes. The body roll is noticeably less and on older cars it even fixed noisy dashboards.

Install is very easy and the bolts hold the brace very well. The fitting is near perfect, sometimes the cap on the hood for the alarm switch is touching the brace. This can eaily be solved by slightly twisting the cap or file a small portion of the brace.
that thing looks solid. I saw that a while back, pretty expensive especially the shipping. Wonder if we could get a group by going on this product and get a discount.
 
#20 ·
Gentlemen, not once did anyone mention the HP increase from the bar, 10hp, for painted (add cool stickers, and who knows what!), 30hp for chrome.

All kidding aside I got the ebay (Malaysia) one and on a 208k wagon it did tighten things up a bit. But a pia to change the plugs. Overall I'm happy with it for the price. Too much $ for their anti roll bars though.
 
#24 ·
Probably an exclusive distributor arrangement; such is business! I have seen the bar itself; its quite a nice piece, very well designed.

You can always do what I did and grab a Weichers (same as Spd Prts I believe) strut bar in Germany and bring it back over to the states in your snowboard bag with your snowboard. Heh.
 
#33 ·
Improved handling for the money is far more efficiently produced with SAS bars and poly bushings. The strut brace is just like going with poly radiator hoses. They may work better, they may not. Someone will swear, under oath, to both sides of the story. The only guarantee we have is that it creates a more provocative bit of car porn under the bonnet with those nice bits in there, and we all know how much we love a beautiful bit of work under the bonnet.
 
#37 ·
#46 ·
The BSR, MapTun & Ray/Simons exhaust is the same.

Yea, Cosmic Blue is a nice color.
 
#51 ·
Installed on 2002 9-5 sedan. 16in wheels. Stage 2 tune. But my 180k wagon feels more stable than the sedan, except the sedan corners high speeds way easier and flat.

When I slam on the breaks in the wagon. It slides. When I do it with the sedan the front keeps grip and stears right on through
 
#59 ·
The whole deal on strut bars is interesting. Bolted joints are weak anyway. Strut tower close to Firewall is ideal for structure. Strut brace bolted by 8 mm fine thread bolts self tapped into a weak strut mount? Sad deal. And " wow car handles so much better with the strut tower brace" Really?
 
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