I'm thinking of adding a brace to crisp things up (although some people indicated that it's unnecessary on that car?)... but considering how cheap they are I may go for it anyway. Only question is: Is there any reason to spend the couple more bucks on the GTSpec brace vs the Cusco brace?

TIA
Sunil

 

I have the GT spec and the Alutec. Gotta agree with what you've heard--not necessary and may introduce problems with the install owing to the bolts.

 

How do you like the Alutec? I like the fact that's it's less common and seems to be well built.
I've got coilovers though so I guess you have to remove the bar to get to the coil damping adjusters? Not that big a deal since it's only 6 bolts on & off but takes away some of the convenience of having those simple coil adjusters
Is there any clearance issues that you've noticed? I have the simple Injen SRI so I don't anticipate there's be any issues there, but possibly the hood liner or engine cover?

 

I have the Cusco brace...love it. I heard the GTSpec may rub on the hood? Then again my Cusco rubs a tad bit as well

 

ive had all three. If you want adjustable then go Cusco, I think it looked better and was better built than the GT Spec. You will have slight rubbing with almost any bar. In my opinion, the Alutec/Circuit Sports bar is the best at doing the job though. A single bar as opposed to a bar with two joints will stiffen the struts a bit more. Probably more rubbing than the rest but if are wanting a strut bar for the purpose of stiffening up the front, a bar without joints will be better.

 

I will have to disagree on the Alutec. I do not think it is very stiff at all. With one end bolted down, you can actually move the other end a few millimeters to better line up the bolts. To me that says that it is not very stiff. That said, it is well made and for me, doesn't rub the hood liner at all although I do have to pad one of the coolant lines next to it on the drivers side. It is what I have on the car now but it blocks the adjusters on my Koni struts so I think the next time I want to play with the strut rebound, I will go without any bar to see if it is noticeable.

 

All depends on the batch with the alutec. There are numerous knock offs that have questionable fitment. Mine fit solid with no more play than the cusco or gtspec ones.

 

Kinda late to the party so how do you tell the difference between a knock off Alutec or Circuit Sports. Some have a label and some dont.