GT-R R35 Plenum Test Fitment on my VQ37HR

Spikuh · 06-13-2013, 04:04 PM

About what I expected you would go for. Seeing it now, a thought just occurred to me. Since the whole brace wraps around the engine on both sides and will cause a bit more flex, could you put in vertical pieces between the brace segments to connect them and pull out some of that flex?

Something like this:

Gibby1113 · 06-13-2013, 04:29 PM

Sweet mother of God ME GUSTA. How much for one of these???

ChrisUR · 06-13-2013, 05:01 PM

@Spikuh

thats a good idea but I'm positive we wouldnt need extra braces when my design is finished. The angled braces left and right running towards the front will be doubled, means 80mm (3.149 inch) width and 20mm height and the horizontal brace will be 60mm (2.362inch) wide and 20mm height (0.787inch).

the material we use is a 2mm (0.78 inch) wall thick hollow square steel pipe.

The welding done by my professional welding friend (who also did the welding for the lower plenum adapter) assured me each welding point he makes between the new brace and the stock brace mounts can hold about 1 ton - we make 12 welding points on each strut tower.

I drove the car without any strut bar after the GTR plenum was in place. You felt a significant difference in driving especially as my car runs 3.5° negative front. Every wheel rut was very annoying.

Then for my last track day I cutted the stock brace horizontal and installed it only connecting the towers to the firewall. That made a tremendous difference and I couldnt feel any disadvantages on the race track - I even drove 2 seconds faster than a few months ago with the stock plenum and stock brace. Even though I had the impression that on a very bad road surface there was a negative effect not having the full brace.

In 2 weeks I'm on the race track again with the completed and fully installed new brace - you will get real world experience and honest reports as always.

Chris

Spikuh · 06-14-2013, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisUR

@Spikuh

thats a good idea but I'm positive we wouldnt need extra braces when my design is finished. The angled braces left and right running towards the front will be doubled, means 80mm (3.149 inch) width and 20mm height and the horizontal brace will be 60mm (2.362inch) wide and 20mm height (0.787inch).

the material we use is a 2mm (0.78 inch) wall thick hollow square steel pipe.

The welding done by my professional welding friend (who also did the welding for the lower plenum adapter) assured me each welding point he makes between the new brace and the stock brace mounts can hold about 1 ton - we make 12 welding points on each strut tower.

I drove the car without any strut bar after the GTR plenum was in place. You felt a significant difference in driving especially as my car runs 3.5° negative front. Every wheel rut was very annoying.

Then for my last track day I cutted the stock brace horizontal and installed it only connecting the towers to the firewall. That made a tremendous difference and I couldnt feel any disadvantages on the race track - I even drove 2 seconds faster than a few months ago with the stock plenum and stock brace. Even though I had the impression that on a very bad road surface there was a negative effect not having the full brace.

In 2 weeks I'm on the race track again with the completed and fully installed new brace - you will get real world experience and honest reports as always.

Chris

Alright, sounds pretty good. I only mention it as some others were also talking about how these angled braces could/should be a loss of stiffness.

Also, and this can go to anyone really, any idea why the brace mounts to the chasis and not the tops of the suspension towers? A friend of mine mentioned this to me while I was helping him install his 1.5 SC upgrade and I found it odd. I assume that mounting it to the chasis as opposed to the suspensions towers does not achieve the same result, or correct the same "problem", but could be incorrect.

Can't wait to see the new brace.

Chuck33079 · 06-14-2013, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spikuh

Also, and this can go to anyone really, any idea why the brace mounts to the chasis and not the tops of the suspension towers? A friend of mine mentioned this to me while I was helping him install his 1.5 SC upgrade and I found it odd. I assume that mounting it to the chasis as opposed to the suspensions towers does not achieve the same result, or correct the same "problem", but could be incorrect.

Just looking at the location of the top of the suspension towers, you would need some funky angles to get it up and around the motor.

Spikuh · 06-18-2013, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chuck33079

Just looking at the location of the top of the suspension towers, you would need some funky angles to get it up and around the motor.

Sorry for the super slow response. I agree that it would be super tricky to tie the tops of the towers together but I guess my real question is does bolting the brace down to the frame near the towers achieve more or less the same results?

And oddly enough, based on what Chris was saying how the car felt with the brace off as opposed to on....I guess that answers my question.

06-13-2013, 04:29 PM	#2 (permalink)
Gibby1113 Enthusiast Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: On open empty highways Posts: 366 Drives: 40th anniversary Rep Power: 14	Sweet mother of God ME GUSTA. How much for one of these??? __________________ 40th anniversary #450/1000 \| Takeda Attack CAI \| Ark DTS exhaust \| to be continued...

06-13-2013, 05:01 PM	#3 (permalink)
ChrisUR Base Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Germany Posts: 116 Drives: 370Z Black Edition Rep Power: 17	@Spikuh thats a good idea but I'm positive we wouldnt need extra braces when my design is finished. The angled braces left and right running towards the front will be doubled, means 80mm (3.149 inch) width and 20mm height and the horizontal brace will be 60mm (2.362inch) wide and 20mm height (0.787inch). the material we use is a 2mm (0.78 inch) wall thick hollow square steel pipe. The welding done by my professional welding friend (who also did the welding for the lower plenum adapter) assured me each welding point he makes between the new brace and the stock brace mounts can hold about 1 ton - we make 12 welding points on each strut tower. I drove the car without any strut bar after the GTR plenum was in place. You felt a significant difference in driving especially as my car runs 3.5° negative front. Every wheel rut was very annoying. Then for my last track day I cutted the stock brace horizontal and installed it only connecting the towers to the firewall. That made a tremendous difference and I couldnt feel any disadvantages on the race track - I even drove 2 seconds faster than a few months ago with the stock plenum and stock brace. Even though I had the impression that on a very bad road surface there was a negative effect not having the full brace. In 2 weeks I'm on the race track again with the completed and fully installed new brace - you will get real world experience and honest reports as always. Chris Reaper42, Spikuh, XwChriswX and 2 others like this. __________________ ProStreet N1 exhaust \| ProStreet N1 Y-Pipe \| STILLEN G3 Intake \| NST Pulley Kit EIBACH Pro-Springs \| EIBACH Pro-Spacers \| EIBACH Sway Bars \| SEIBON GT2 Rear Wing MOCAL Oil Cooler 25row\| STILLEN TransCooler \| STILLEN PS Cooler \| STILLEN Front Fascia

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