Rear Strut Brace in 172 Cup

[Tripps]

Just thought I'd mention that I picked up a rear strut brace for the 172 a few weeks back from Strutbracer a fews back, and despite was might be said on Cliosport.net it has transormed the handling, the car is really tail-happy now and feels very much on edge, so much so that until I adjusted the suspension firmness at a recent airfield day I was spinning every time on one corner! All in all a very worthwhile addition for just £40 and I see it being useful for hanging Chinese or kebabs off too

Normally you'd just unscrew the suspension posts, fit the strut and re-screw (have someone else to hand as you'll need the weight of two people!), mimy suspension was around 2mm wider in diameter though so I had to get a local garage to drill it out before it would fit.

[Baldylocks]

Sounds like an interesting mod for not much outlay. Even more tail happy? mines pretty lively as standard!

I know a guy who has installed a rear anti roll bar on his track toy Cup which really transformed the handling.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I've heard differing opinions on these.

General consensus is that the strut does not actually do that much, as it does not connect to strut tops like it does in the front of the car.

[Baldylocks]

Well thats not what Tripps has found to be the case by the looks of things

I'm just storing this in my memory bank for when/if I finally get round to looking at handling tweaks for my car one day.

[Tripps]

Ralph Wiggum said:

General consensus is that the strut does not actually do that much, as it does not connect to strut tops like it does in the front of the car.

I'd seen the same by some so-called experts, but sat back and thought it thru, as I needed some justification to get a new toy

It bolds around the top bolts of the two suspension struts, thus keeping that equi-distant at all times and then keeping the two posts from flexing closer together, which when you see how flimsy the rear bench is, has got to be a good thing. It's not bolted onto the car as in the front, but it certainly keeps the top-end of the suspension in place.

[Tripps]

Baldylocks said:

Well thats not what Tripps has found to be the case by the looks of things

Oh yes, given that I could out-spin the Loti at a recent airfield playday, where before I struggled to, it was a lot of a change.

Everyone who's passengered since the mods has noticed the difference, around corners and roundabouts it almost feedls RWD in a way, you can get the back-end into play even more easily, alas wagging the tail is less of an option now, I guess that was a side-effect of flimsy bodywork though.

I'm still trying to get the suspension setting right for it, as to be honest it's a little OTT now, fine for when having fun, but given it's my sensible car I don't like to think of doing a night drive home in the rain after a long day.