[SpyderVR4]

Received my front and rear strut tower bar from Supermac last night, and right away installed the front bar.

The installation instructions was easy, even if I'd never installed strut bars before I'm sure I would have had no problem following it. It took me a little over 1 hour to install it, and 40mins of that is runing up and down the house trying to find my socket wrench (actually never found it, so that time included driving down to home depot and picking a new set).

The bars I bought were the double bars, they look really nice. I'll take a picture tomorrow and post it.

As expected, there's a noticeble improvement in handling/ride quality and cornering feel with the bar on. I haven't put the rear one on yet, but will do so this weekend.(At least now it's Spyder tested for the front...) The clearance is good and it holds down the battery nicely without a battery tie down.(Although for peace of mind, I'll probably fabric a new tie down myself so I don't have nightmares of the battery smashing around in my engine bay)

I don't think I have whatever sensor the 96+ has(people who followed the thread about the other strut bar knows what I'm talking about), but the bar rides high enough and is ridgid enough that nothing is touched or rubbed against while under hard driving.

GREAT JOB, Supermac!!! Here is his thread about his bars in the for sale section in case anyone is interested. http://www.3si.org/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=49969

disclaimer: Supermac did not solicit or pay for any of this, I paid full price for the bars just like everyone else. I just wanted to give him the credit he deserves...

 

[Liu Kang]

Dam, I am still waiting for mine. I am dying to put it on my drop top. It should really inmpove my handling. Will this rear bar even fit your rear? I didn't think that you could with a hard top and all. I don't even know if it will fit mine. Well, I guess I will let you all know.
Ahhhhhhh!! You should not have posted this, I can't wait anymore.

 

[SpyderVR4]

I'll find out about wether the rear bar will fit this weekend. Supermac has promised me to fix the bar to get it working or refund me if he can't, so I figured I had nothing to loose but to try.

I know the feeling about waiting, UPS delayed the shipping for an extra 3 days. I was looking at installing all this as my last weekend's project. Instead I rewaxed my car over the weekend.

 

[SpyderVR4]

Here are the pictures I promised...

Unfortunatly, I looked at the rear of the spyder and don't really see anyway the rear bar could fit. Just too much stuff there already, and if the bar needs to be raised for higher clearance it would interfere with the top. Sigh...

 

[supermac]

Hey man thanks a lot. i really appreciate the good feedback from a fellow 3si member. and im glad you're enjoying your bar. and if you ever want another one just let me know.

supermac

 

[PiNG]

Cool

 

[Gatecrasher]

So now would someone please tell me how that other guy justifies taking us for $300? That bar is half the price. Oooh, big deal, it isn't polished.

 

[SpyderVR4]

Personally, I like the unpolished look. Fits right in with the stock engine bay.

The quality of the bar is superb. I really like the feel of my car with the bar on, the car feels a lot more solid even when the roof is down.

I really recommend all Spyder owners to get a front strut bar, you'll notice a big difference, perhaps more so than non-Spyders.

 

[Player]

Do you think those rivets will hold up?

 

[SpyderVR4]

Absolutly. They are very strong and sturdy.

 

[Toni]

I'm just curious about what is needed in the design of these bars? Is it like just trying to make the bars fit under the hood? Or is there more testing like actualy strength and metal types and bending of the metal etc?

 

[supermac]

actually there is a lot of R & D that goes into making a strut bar. we took almost 1 month just trying out different types of designs that will fit under the hood. then it took another few weeks trying out different metals. stuff like that is whats involved in this stuff. and it is esspecially hard for us because we do all the work ourselves. so its a lot of in the shop time. its good though because it makes me money and makes more performance products that go under the hood.

thanks,
supermac