Technical front engine strut

[seboni121]

Hi,although I love the smoothness of the stilo on the open road,its a bit bouncy on the bends,so I had a thought would a front shock strut help with thisI am not very technical so any ideas and anyone done this,were can I get one and finally cost n fitting

 

[Yellow Peril]

A bouncy ride is often indicative of dampers that need changing. How many miles have you done? To be honest though, the Stilo is a bit 'bouncy' on standard shock absorbers, which is why some on here have upgrded to makes like Koni or Bilstein. Not cheap, but make a huge difference to the ride and handling.

By the way...always change dampers in pairs, not individually. As far as cost of fitting is concerned, shop around and get a few quotes.

 

[ABZSTILO]

Sound advice there
I'd look at an Eibach set up (I'm biased) and see how you get on with that before fitting a strut brace. That said, the front strut brace has made a significant improvement to the handling on my car Front tyre wear is much reduced.

 

[volxstu]

I cant say that i noticed a vast improvement by adding a strut brace but i only paid £50 so it was worth the small difference it did make. Also the car doesnt have so much of a tendency to try and go the opposite way when accelerating from standing round a corner so i think i just contradicted my opinion there lol.

Decent coilovers will cost a fair whack, but would be worth it if you have the £ burning a hole in your pocket.

 

[Yellow Peril]

I cant say that i noticed a vast improvement by adding a strut brace but i only paid £50 so it was worth the small difference it did make. Also the car doesnt have so much of a tendency to try and go the opposite way when accelerating from standing round a corner so i think i just contradicted my opinion there lol.

Decent coilovers will cost a fair whack, but would be worth it if you have the £ burning a hole in your pocket.

I suspect you are right. An upper front strut brace on its own probably won't make a huge difference. To really tighthen things up, you need to think about lower braces (front and rear) too:

http://www.ultraracing.com.my/Catalog.asp?Brand=Fiat&Model=Stilo MS 2.4&pageno=1

 

[volxstu]

Oh yes i would like to do all that too if it all works. I will get an upper rear strut made as soon as i find out what space i have to play with.

 

[PNL]

I suspect you are right. An upper front strut brace on its own probably won't make a huge difference. To really tighthen things up, you need to think about lower braces (front and rear) too:

http://www.ultraracing.com.my/Catalog.asp?Brand=Fiat&Model=Stilo MS 2.4&pageno=1

Nice link.. peeps will get the message one day..if you run the car for track use it should do the trick ..bet you will get a right sore bum tho on the roads of the UK..
@ Volksy your car should have manual box [shoowee ]..shouldnt have any problem with a brace .its the silly speed guys that got the head ache with this one..

Another linky to show what a brace is meant to do..Enjoy..and feel free to add to your fav's..

http://www.jdm-option.com/eng/pr_CUSCO/towerbar.html

 

[volxstu]

I meant the rear upper strut is a problem because of the boot build geting in the way. :bang: I havnt managed to get hold of one to see if it is a problem as its close as to weather the amp board gets in the way.

Im considering taking the one off the 1.6 too put in Schumi, well see how much the car sells for as i have put it in the description.

 

[Yellow Peril]

UR make one for the new Bravo which should fit the Stilo:

http://www.ultraracing.com.my/Bars.asp?ID=3626

and OMP do one as well:

http://www.strutbracer.co.uk/page1.php?sitepage=3&manuf=26&modelid=276&tab=3

 

[Yellow Peril]

..bet you will get a right sore bum tho on the roads of the UK..

So Phil, in your experience, do strut and chassis braces make for a harder ride? I guess they will, though one would also assume the suspension will be working much more as the designers intended, rather than being corrupted by body flex...

 

[PNL]

So Phil, in your experience, do strut and chassis braces make for a harder ride? I guess they will, though one would also assume the suspension will be working much more as the designers intended, rather than being corrupted by body flex...

Upper braces shouldn't affect the ride but in Greg's case he has those bloomin great wheels which run on rubber bands..and if its lowered then that will also degrade the general ride quality of his 5 dr.. when the wife had her 3dr I noticed a big difference in the two cars [both on standard suspension set ups] the 3dr obviously has a sportier set up compared with the grand-dad comfort of the 5dr..anything to do with chassis stiffening will affect ride comfort..but improve drive-ability and general handling which is what you chaps and chapesses are looking at..just remember I put a disclaimer in here in case you end up with a duff spine like moi in years to come..

 

[Davren]

though one would also assume the suspension will be working much more as the designers intended, rather than being corrupted by body flex...

Think I'd prefer to assume that the designers design the suspension to work in conjunction with the car as it is. Surely if it makes such an improvement, the manufacturers would fit them as standard.

Buying or manufacturing them on a production scale would bring the cost down to next to nothing and the mounting points would be built into the bodyshell rather than having to aftermarket fit them with self taping screws.

 

[Yellow Peril]

Surely if it makes such an improvement, the manufacturers would fit them as standard.

Actually some do. Look under the bonnet of several upmarket manufacturers (Aston Martin for one) and you will notice huge tie bars across the engine compartment...

 

[PNL]

Actually some do. Look under the bonnet of several upmarket manufacturers (Aston Martin for one) and you will notice huge tie bars across the engine compartment...

Also have a look at Proton gen 2 ..suspension built by Lotus.. its a good car ..and just like the stilo takes quite a knocking ..glad to say much of the hype about the new updated car is so unfounded..

 

[volxstu]

UR make one for the new Bravo which should fit the Stilo:

http://www.ultraracing.com.my/Bars.asp?ID=3626

and OMP do one as well:

http://www.strutbracer.co.uk/page1.php?sitepage=3&manuf=26&modelid=276&tab=3

OMP make a rear strut for the stilo, i meant i havnt met anybody with one that i can remove to offer it up to the boot.
Unfortunately i dont have a pic to illustrate the problem.

 

[Greggers]

OMP make a rear strut for the stilo, i meant i havnt met anybody with one that i can remove to offer it up to the boot.
Unfortunately i dont have a pic to illustrate the problem.

I've got a pic of mine in the members motors section that shows how I fitted mine but I'm on the mobile so can't link to it. Have a search for it

 

[volxstu]

Cool I'll have a look

 

[Greggers]

Here's the thread to save you searching. There's a couple of pics of my rear strut brace and how I fitted it

https://www.fiatforum.com/members-motors/203658-my-stilo-abarth-5-door.html

 

[volxstu]

There is no chance that i will be able to fit it if it sits that close to the seats on a 3 door
Is it me or is the boot a fair bit smaller on the 5 door?

 

[muppet42]

See that Ultra Racing stuff, seen the link a few times now and they look like decent products but wondering what price they actually are and where I can get them in the UK. The link only shows pics of what looks like a promotion at Brands Hatch without any distributor details

Had a quick look on Google and nearest I found was Automac.co.uk but no listing for the Stilo... http://www.automac.co.uk/page/386710219

Just I'm rather interested in anything that can improve the handling of my 1.2 as obviously there's not a whole lot more I can do on the performance side