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10-12-2016, 11:15 PM | #1 |
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GB PENDING!: The ULTIMATE Strut Bar Solution: Mason Engineering - POSSIBLE GROUP BUY!
NOW PENDING! DETAILS ON PAGE 3, WILL START THREAD IN CLASSIFIEDS WHEN DETAILS SORTED!
GB CLOSED! SEE POST 55 ON PAGE 3 -> http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthre...1314022&page=3 I've been looking for a strut bar for my Z4M roadster for a while now. OEM is okay, but it has joints. Mechunik looks beefy, but has even more joints. Strong Strut seem to be the winner with no pivoting joints, however I don't much mind for the 'erector set' aesthetics, personally. Enter, Rogue "Racebrace" The Rogue Racebrace looked awesome! I remember when it was listed on their site, telling myself I would purchase one ASAP. I never got that chance, they discontinued the brace and took it off their site for the Z4 application. This was THE most beautiful strut tower bar for our cars and THE most functional, yet is no longer available. That is, until I discovered Mason Engineering. Exit Rogue, enter, Mason Engineering: You may notice this piece looks oddly familiar to the more well-known Rogue Racebrace. This style strut bar was originally designed and manufactured by Mason Engineering. Here are some photos of crfine88 's Racebrace as it gives an exact idea of what the Mason braces look like. If you haven't already, be sure to check out his AMAZING build thread here -> http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1303735 All credit goes to him on these pics! (Chris, please shoot me a PM if you'd rather I don't use your photos, I'll remove them immediately or can host elsewhere!) The BEST part? The Mason Engineering brace is STILL AVAILABLE! The downside? The price. Mason charges $455 for the steel version of this bar (and a whopping $510 for the aluminum version). A tad more than the Strong Strut, but not too far off really... This got me thinking - I know this is the strut bar I want to run and I'm sure other Z4M owners would see the benefit to this bar over the others. I contacted Mason engineering and as a starting point was able to secure a 10% discount if we can get together 5 more participants in the Group Buy (6 total, including me). Who knows, I may be able to chop that price down if we have enough participants. So, is anyone interested? This isn't yet an official group by but please only list interested if you realistically will put the cash up for this. I've run numerous successful group buys on other forums in the past but I know the Z4M market is relatively small and somewhat inactive. Still, I think there is a group of M owners who take pride in knowing they put high quality, highly functional parts on their car and this is the type of person I imagine would be interested in a group buy as such. THE GOOD STUFF:
*Note: I think Mason may request measurements/details of your strut towers to best ensure a proper fit. Still, single piece strut bars can be a little finicky to install. Please note this, professional install may be required. However, the payoff should be worth the effort! THE GB INTEREST LIST: 1. tiltmode43 - Alum or Steel 2. wss4 3. Vanne 4. crfine88 - Aluminum 5. rockstar93 6. Frank851 - Alum or Steel 7. SyruSur 8. GPower - Aluminum 9. djdcyphr - Aluminum 10. Ryan13 - Aluminum 11. Michael9218 - Alum or Steel 12. Shutterspeed - Alum or Steel
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Last edited by tiltmode43; 12-21-2016 at 12:09 AM.. |
10-12-2016, 11:35 PM | #2 |
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10-12-2016, 11:47 PM | #3 |
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I love the bar - engineering-wise, very functional. BUT I don't think I want to R&R it every 25K miles or so on every valve adjustments (snapping one of those nut/bolt won't be fun, especially those on the firewall).
I think there should be more research done on why Rogue discontinued it in the first place - just my 2 cents. Last edited by XMetal; 10-12-2016 at 11:53 PM.. Reason: Just re-read the installation note |
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10-13-2016, 05:15 AM | #4 |
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Love that bar, interested
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10-13-2016, 08:37 AM | #5 |
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Very cool, do they have approximate weight/weight savings for the aluminum compared to steel?
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LINK TO 07 IR PHOTO JOURNAL:http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1303735
LINK TO 06 IB MOD JOURNAL:http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=403119 |
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10-13-2016, 10:04 AM | #6 | |
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Possible interest in the aluminum bar depending on weight difference
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10-13-2016, 10:20 AM | #7 | |||
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Added to the serious interest list
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I agree Vanne! Added to the serious interest list Quote:
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Here is a link to the product page - can't believe I didn't include this -> http://www.masonengineering.net/Subpages/Z4.htm
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10-13-2016, 02:51 PM | #8 |
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Thanks for the update.
Edit: Possible Interested in Aluminum if GB goes ahead
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'21 M2C Hockenheim Silver
'18 718 Cayman S Lava Orange (sold) '13 E92 M3 Santorini Blue (sold) '07 Z4 M Coupe Alpine White (sold) Last edited by inTgr8r; 10-18-2016 at 12:15 PM.. |
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10-13-2016, 04:07 PM | #9 | |
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I rly don't wanna mess around too much too. If anyone has oem and wants to sell it to get this, hit me up!
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10-13-2016, 04:17 PM | #10 |
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FWIW, I have never had a problem with those bolts breaking using proper angle torque technique and NEW bolts.
...it is pretty scary cranking them up though. BTW, if this goes through I will be selling my StrongStrut
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10-14-2016, 03:10 PM | #12 |
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http://news.bimmerworld.com/is-a-strut-brace-worth-it/
A test measuring tower deflection with and without a front brace. |
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10-14-2016, 05:04 PM | #13 |
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Add me for Aluminum Interest please.
If this works out, I will have my steel rogue bar up for sale
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10-15-2016, 12:45 AM | #14 | |
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10-15-2016, 09:38 AM | #16 | |
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It would have been great to have done WITH a brace. But why choose a fully-caged race car? Why not take a street car and then do the testing. Whatever, wasn't my dime. After reading that article, I'm going to be devoting $400 to other areas most likely. |
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10-15-2016, 12:26 PM | #17 | |
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I'm sure some of the BMW chassis would benefit from adding a bar; just wondering if the Z4 coupe (already twice as torsionally stiff as the convertible) gains anything. Is a bar for that car benefit or just bling? |
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10-15-2016, 01:29 PM | #18 | |
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Based upon the article, if you're tracking the car, lots of track miles, then maybe some benefit. |
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10-15-2016, 06:45 PM | #19 | ||
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Mainly strut tower reinforcement. When pushing these cars to the limit & running stiffer spring rates, or strut towers are more susceptible to damage/cracking. The strut tower braces are a nice way to reinforce from the top without taking up space underneath.
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10-15-2016, 07:54 PM | #20 |
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^whs
one other consideration..... In those tables linked, while the limited tower movement shown does not impact performance, that movement can cause metal fatigue over time. Any product that potentially helps to alleviate that, ....I'm in!
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10-16-2016, 02:04 AM | #21 | |
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I never thought of getting one because I always thought the z4m lacks in roll compared to m3s. And making the car stiffer, with a sway bar + strut bar could give me mass understeer and lack of grip. I added hotchkis sway bar and I tried two options. First softest. Didn't feel a single difference from oem. Then I changed to medium, felt much much better. Definitely for me is a plus. A lot of people get the sway bar and says car feels sharper, which makes them conclude that sway bar is a good beneficial mod. Be careful with that conclusion. Sharper, more nimble, or stiffer, doesn't mean faster. Those things really really make you think you are driving faster and getting better laptimes, but they can be deceiving. for me a beneficial mod is something that helps me lower my laptime. When I had e92, I added front sway bar. Car felt so much better and so much easier to get the turn correct since car is sharper, but I felt the car lacked front grip in exchange to (damn my car turns so much better now!!). I then, removed my sway bar and went back to oem, and boom! Private best with oem. Car went back to being lazy, but had again more front grip to go faster on the turn. I took this advice once platteforme told me they don't run stiffer sway bar in their race cars. Therefore, took me a long time to get a front sway bar in my z4m because I had the same concept, but in the z4m, the sway bar was beneficial. It really helped me reduce my oversteer, thus making me push harder on fast corners, and mid corner understeer wasn't very noticeable, and my laptimes reduced. So like the article says, it all depends on the car and the driver I think. What worked for me might not work for you, and what's beneficial for you, might not be beneficial to me. What is beneficial to you? For some people, having car more nimble is already a plus mod. Others, can be laptimes and list goes on. My reasons to get. 1- reinforcement 2- front sway bar proved me wrong and it was a good mod in my car, so might as well try a strut bar too. 3- looks good haha. However, if I notice my laptimes are worsened, I will take it out. Sooooo, please don't take me as I am the boss and I know what's good or not. I am just someone who wants to share my track experience of what worked and what didn't, but what worked for me doesn't necessarily means it will work for you.
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10-16-2016, 10:09 AM | #22 |
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It's also not just /if/ the addition of the STB adds functionality, but I know for a fact that for me it adds confidence. And that confidence turns into a better, faster ride for me.
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