Pierce Bracing

[johnny5]

Has anyone done an A to B comparison with and without the pierce bracing? Was looking at their 6-pt front brace, strut tower brace, trunk brace and rear torsion bar.

Any feedback on their build quality or issues with installation?

 

[M-Sport fan]

Unless someone has actually done REAL live strain gauge measurements, any "improvements" are merely 'butt-dyno' conjecture, or speculation based on unibody structure.

 

[D1JL]

Unless someone has actually done REAL live strain gauge measurements, any "improvements" are merely 'butt-dyno' conjecture, or speculation based on unibody structure.

Might I remind you that I have a very accurate Butt-Dyno.
Although I have never put a gauge on it, I have strained that Butt many times.
I am also a very educated Speculator.



Dave

 

[jeff]

Has anyone done an A to B comparison with and without the pierce bracing? Was looking at their 6-pt front brace, strut tower brace, trunk brace and rear torsion bar.

Any feedback on their build quality or issues with installation?

I have done detailed reviews on all four parts, search my threads/posts and you'll find them.

Meh, gauges or not I am an adult with no desire to sell anyone's products nor to look or appear cool or whatever, and I say what I mean it it means something, I believe butt dynos from reliable sources are reliable, gauges or not. I've put lots of parts on my car, drove it hard, felt they did nothing and then sold them to the next sucker. Intakes, exhausts, bars and braces. Nothing to gain here by embellishing or misleading anyone.

In short:

6 point brace
10/10
Improves turning, traction, steering feel, suspension feel, a must-have, install isn't too bad if you follow my notes (again, search, it's all there) and get the car on 4 jack stands, 45 minutes with 2 people...

Strut tower brace
2/10
Looks cool, does nothing, no noticed improve in feel at all, maybe would be felt without 6 point or on the track, but meh, install is cake, uninstalled and sold...

Trunk brace
2/10
You install it and wonder why you did. Maybe would make a marginal difference on the track, meh, I would have sold it but decided it wasn't worth removing and shipping...

Rear torsion bar
6/10
5 minute super easy install, it's 2 bolts, noticeable difference on turns, car hugs you more

All are top quality.

In short as others have said, I believe after putting many parts on this car and removing and swapping that the true improvement gained from bracing/bars on a Fiesta ST comes with stuff you do down low, not up top.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Might I remind you that I have a very accurate Butt-Dyno.
Although I have never put a gauge on it, I have strained that Butt many times.
I am also a very educated Speculator.



Dave

SORRY, I forgot! LOL

 

[johnny5]

Thanks for the feedback. The car will be used for track days and time attack in the summer so was looking to increase the chassis rigidity. On the previous car we ran you could feel the car flex when hitting the curbing at a couple of the tracks.

 

[M-Sport fan]

Unless this car MUST BE run extensively on the street, at all, you would be better off spending that coin, and weight on a fully tied-in, triangulated, cage, as that has been PROVEN TO increase the solidity/rigidity of the uni-body 10 FOLD over any mere 'braces' (as well as the safety benefits at speed).

 

[alexrex20]

The goal isn't just to stiffen the unibody. The goal is to stiffen the subframe and the strut towers. You can't do that with a roll cage, you can only do that with a brace. I tend to agree with Jeff about the braces in the review. The six-point makes a huge difference. The strut bar did not have an appreciable difference in feel, but I left it on simply because it all but eliminated the creaks and rattles and vibrations in my dashboard. I added the trunk brace and the rear torsion bar at the same time so I can't really comment on the trunk bar, but the rear torsion bar certainly did improve body roll resistance and turn in. It does slightly favor oversteer though.

I have every single brace from Pierce and I don't regret any of them.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[D1JL]

The front subframe brace and rear torsion bar will provide the MOST control enhancement as they restrict things that move constantly.

However, another factor that most forget, is that when driven hard a unit-body car tends to change over time because of stress.
Most of these braces are designed to prevent this from happening in the first place.
So as you won't feel any great change to the car when you first add them, that's really the point, you won't feel any great change.

I too have every single brace from Pierce, in fact I helped design as well as test them and I don't regret any of them.
Additionally I have one brace set that was not continued into production because "plug-n-play" install issues, that I believe should be added.



Dave

 

[jeffreylyon]

Unless this car MUST BE run extensively on the street, at all, you would be better off spending that coin, and weight on a fully tied-in, triangulated, cage, as that has been PROVEN TO increase the solidity/rigidity of the uni-body 10 FOLD over any mere 'braces' (as well as the safety benefits at speed).

If this car is going to be used on the street at all then this is an awful idea. Roll cages are horribly unsafe on the street unless the driver and all passengers are prepared to helmet up for every grocery run.

 

[jeffreylyon]

Additionally I have one brace set that was not continued into production because "plug-n-play" install issues, that I believe should be added.

Wait.., what? Are you talking about the "mid-ship brace" you've listed in your mods list?

 

[D1JL]

Wait.., what? Are you talking about the "mid-ship brace" you've listed in your mods list?

To be more accurate there two additional braces.

LongitudinalBrace

RearStressBar


Dave

 

[alexrex20]

Links don't work.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[D1JL]

Links don't work.

Yes they do.

Just tested on three computers and my phone.


Dave

 

[Alkoran]

I also found those bracing while searching the web. Does anybody tried them? There are 1 or 2 models that no other companies sell.

http://eng.ultraracing.me/Ultra-Rac...wer-Bar-for-Ford-Fiesta-MK7-1.6-Code-SD6-1096

http://eng.ultraracing.me/Ultra-Rac...r-Brace-for-Ford-Fiesta-MK7-1.6-Code-FD3-1456

 

[Dpro]

I also found those bracing while searching the web. Does anybody tried them? There are 1 or 2 models that no other companies sell.

http://eng.ultraracing.me/Ultra-Rac...wer-Bar-for-Ford-Fiesta-MK7-1.6-Code-SD6-1096

http://eng.ultraracing.me/Ultra-Rac...r-Brace-for-Ford-Fiesta-MK7-1.6-Code-FD3-1456

I honestly can tell you a fender brace on our cars is not needed IMO. Ultra racing started making braces for Nissan S chassis drift cars that have long fromt noses compared to the short front our cars have.

 

[Alkoran]

It might, it might not. I know they are popular on miatas (NA and NB) and they don't have a long front nose. But they are older car made with old tech assembly and steel. The Fist might be rigid enough from the start in that area to not need those, who knows?

 

[alexrex20]

Well it certainly can't hurt.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

 

[TDavis]

Isn't ground clearance, depending on your ride height, an issue with the 6-point? Also, didn't it have hole alignment issues?

 

[jeff]

Isn't ground clearance, depending on your ride height, an issue with the 6-point? Also, didn't it have hole alignment issues?

I'm lowered on Mountune springs, I've had the 6 point nearly a year and I've never had issues. I am careful though. When I'm under there tinkering I can see a few scrapes on the bar but I've never had any loud clangs or anything serious while driving..