GTSPEC Bars fit on Sedan

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Old Apr 11, 2006 | 12:24 PM
  #211  
SixFive's Avatar
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From: Philly
I love the sound of the coupe middy too much to change back and hate the weight that suitcase thing adds. I'm soundproofing the trunk and back seat this weekend in order to hide the drone that can be slightly annoying as I love the pipe so much at most rpm levels (not crack pipe). It drones under load at <2000 rpm - i even like the drone but it's bad in the back when we sit with our daughter.

Back in topic. I may get a new middy if I can get the clearance resolved with the hanger as I have a mental thing now with the theoretical loss of power from the reshaping.

It may be that the 4 point brace does more than that lower later bar does. I guess I should order one now. I was thinking that they do 2 very different things. Rather than being attached to the frame, the lower lateral bar is attached to the subframe containing the aluminum suspension pieces and maintaining suspension symmetry during hard cornering. I believe the 4 point brace is for overall structural or tortional rigidity.

I want it all...hope that answers your question.
 

Last edited by SixFive; Apr 11, 2006 at 12:26 PM.
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Old Apr 11, 2006 | 12:42 PM
  #212  
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Originally Posted by SixFive
I want it all...hope that answers your question.
So do I........ I sure do wish you had added the lower braces separately from the lateral bar to note the improvement or lack of it with the lateral bar. I'm glad you did the test fit but am very sorry to hear it doesn't fit properly. Looking at the coupe mid vs the sedan mid, one would not think they hang all that differently. We are talking about 1/2 inch clearance, arn't we?
 
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Old Apr 11, 2006 | 01:53 PM
  #213  
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From: Philly
Yes 1 inch or so is the issue here. The coupe pipe bend downward more naturally (maybe developed first) and the suitcase keeps the pipe more parallel to the ground and tucked up higher. Once they developed the coupe exhaust - they probably determined that sedan buyers would freak out at all the awful sound - ala droning I like but still have to fix.
 
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Old Apr 12, 2006 | 09:14 AM
  #214  
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Will the lateral bar fit with a Borla exhaust system on a sedan??
 
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Old Apr 12, 2006 | 09:35 AM
  #215  
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You will need to ask Ken at GTSPEC. It fits the STOCK sedan exhaust.
 
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Old Apr 12, 2006 | 12:11 PM
  #216  
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they actually designed the sedan first..then coupe
 
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Old Apr 16, 2006 | 10:05 AM
  #217  
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UPDATE:

I went to Midas close to my home and for $20 they heated up the pipe, fore and aft of the resonator-pre muffler and he also twisted the pipe at the hanger. Now I have a good 3/4" to 1" of clearance where I had less than a 1/4 inch before. It works, there is no more contact with the lower lateral brace and the pipe is solid. I wish it weren't misshaped from the prior work but that's the price of being the guinea pig. All is well.

Now for the driving part. I was driving home from Midas and got agressive going into an uphill stretch that has a bit of a dip. Never been a problem before but this time I heard a nice bang and sure enough theres a decent sized gash on the lower lateral bar. It bottomed out but fortunately, there was no bolt damage - and those are spec alignment bolts.

Other notes..the car feels different overall. The everyday around town bumps, and we have tons here in suburban Philly, are much more absorbed with the frame of the car and the tortional rigidity is noticably improved. This is a good plus and a welcome mod for these reasons alone.

The bad: The car seems to have given up some of the indepdence in it's independent suspension. The rear tires are squealing like little pigs under the slightest pressure - they are 30K old turanza's but they are much noisier now that the bars are there.

When returning from a home depot shopping trip where I fit 4 bags, each with 2 cubic feet of planting soil, at least 150 pounds overall and I did some hard sweeping corners at the edge of adhesion and there was a lot of axle hopping. I want to take it out now that the giant soil bags are removed and try again in the same corner.

Unfortunately, after all the work to get the lateral lower brace to fit, I may have to remove it and try to correct the handling. The flaws in the suspension may be enahnced now that things are tightened up. Perhaps my sway bar is too tight now that there are new structural pieces that would naturally minimize sway and enhance traction. The balance is probably more oversteer, but with 4 bags of soil, i was not breaking loose...we'll see today what happens sans soil.
 
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Old Apr 16, 2006 | 11:26 AM
  #218  
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Does anyone know if the lower brace will fit with Stillen dual exhaust?
 
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Old Apr 16, 2006 | 12:39 PM
  #219  
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I also need to know this. Gen 1 exhaust if both these items will clear.
 
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Old May 12, 2006 | 12:47 PM
  #220  
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Cato-

Did you ever get that 4-point brace? Or are you waiting to install it with your Unlimited Tuning front grill?
 
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Old May 12, 2006 | 12:52 PM
  #221  
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Yeah Cato, any update on the 4-point brace? Thanks.
 
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Old May 12, 2006 | 01:50 PM
  #222  
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Originally Posted by G35_TX
I also need to know this. Gen 1 exhaust if both these items will clear.
Hey, you should confirm with Ken from GTSPEC, however, from what I see, they should definitely fit; since the Stillen doesn't hang as low as that of coupe middy
 
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Old May 12, 2006 | 02:31 PM
  #223  
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Originally Posted by godmans
Hey, you should confirm with Ken from GTSPEC, however, from what I see, they should definitely fit; since the Stillen doesn't hang as low as that of coupe middy
I'll be installing mine when they get in on Tuesday. I'll let you know if there are any problems with the Stillen Gen1, but I highly doubt it.
 
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Old May 15, 2006 | 08:12 AM
  #224  
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subscribing - waiting to find out about clearance for the Stillen exhaust as well.
 
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Old May 15, 2006 | 10:38 AM
  #225  
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Originally Posted by SixFive
UPDATE:

I went to Midas close to my home and for $20 they heated up the pipe, fore and aft of the resonator-pre muffler and he also twisted the pipe at the hanger. Now I have a good 3/4" to 1" of clearance where I had less than a 1/4 inch before. It works, there is no more contact with the lower lateral brace and the pipe is solid. I wish it weren't misshaped from the prior work but that's the price of being the guinea pig. All is well.

Now for the driving part. I was driving home from Midas and got agressive going into an uphill stretch that has a bit of a dip. Never been a problem before but this time I heard a nice bang and sure enough theres a decent sized gash on the lower lateral bar. It bottomed out but fortunately, there was no bolt damage - and those are spec alignment bolts.

Other notes..the car feels different overall. The everyday around town bumps, and we have tons here in suburban Philly, are much more absorbed with the frame of the car and the tortional rigidity is noticably improved. This is a good plus and a welcome mod for these reasons alone.

The bad: The car seems to have given up some of the indepdence in it's independent suspension. The rear tires are squealing like little pigs under the slightest pressure - they are 30K old turanza's but they are much noisier now that the bars are there.

When returning from a home depot shopping trip where I fit 4 bags, each with 2 cubic feet of planting soil, at least 150 pounds overall and I did some hard sweeping corners at the edge of adhesion and there was a lot of axle hopping. I want to take it out now that the giant soil bags are removed and try again in the same corner.

Unfortunately, after all the work to get the lateral lower brace to fit, I may have to remove it and try to correct the handling. The flaws in the suspension may be enahnced now that things are tightened up. Perhaps my sway bar is too tight now that there are new structural pieces that would naturally minimize sway and enhance traction. The balance is probably more oversteer, but with 4 bags of soil, i was not breaking loose...we'll see today what happens sans soil.
I'm glad I wasn't the only on who experienced the handling issues. I installed everything but the lateral brace and discovered the wierd handling. I had to set my Stillen sways down one setting to get the car to behave. Movement on one side of the car would updet the entire car causeing me to wobble left and right. Now that I kicked them down a notch, the wheel hop went away and the car isn't twitchy anymore.
 
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