for autocrossing and road racing... is it necessary to keep the lower arm braces? do they really make a difference or is it just a bling factor?

 

Its there for a reason. Leave it alone.

 

Are we talking about the factory braces or ones like the Cusco braces? Any way I'm pretty sure Mitsu didn't put tar covered crushed tubular "bling" under the car. So, I'd leave the stock one and not waste my money on the fancy aftermarket ones.

 

Do you mean the tie bars? If so I had to space mine out with washers for the exhaust to fit. Even after they were tight I could flex the bar with my hand. I took them both off and have noticed no difference.

 

you don't drive hard enough

They are there for a reason, the only time you should take them off is to replace them with stiffer ones. They keep unwanted chassis flex and keep the tire angle from changing too much around a turn.

 

Thats where we differ. Tar + crush tube = maximum blingage.

 

 

You are a funny guy! My car is a track ****.

I would have left them on if they fit with the exhaust and didn't need spacers. Once you space them out the bars become flimsy little sticks.

 

There is a reason for those braces. I spaced mine out for my exhaust, and one of the 10.9 grade bolts backed out. I checked it the other day and the damn thing was bent at a good 30 degree angle. Those braces do something for the car for sure, keep them in.

 

I don't think that's a correct assessment. As far as I can see the tiebars aren't there to prevent side-to-side motion, they exist to prevent the chassis from sagging, and they can do that with or without spacers.

I.e., they are to help prevent your chassis going from |---| to /---\ and maybe a little bit against going to \---/

but they're not going to do much for |---| to /---/ or \---\

I would recommend a single, solid metal spacer over stacking a bunch of washers. I liked the solid rectangular spacers Vishnu used to send with their exhausts. It would be interesting to see if the car is less likely to tripod w/out the tiebars, though, since that should allow more flex in the chassis.

l8r)

 

I agree they probably do something. The one thing I did notice when pulling the front three point bar off was motor vibrations at idle.
Though I highly doubt the forces placed on that bar are enough to bend high grade bolts. I'm not saying take them off. I'm just saying I had mine off and noticed no difference. I wouldn't take them off if they fit. Cheers!