What do you guys think of this Xbrace? The rigidity it offers brings the Z06 almost up to Z07 levels AND it works for any C8 Corvette performance trim! SAVE 10% by using code HPO10 when get your C8 Corvette X-Brace here:bit.ly/49jjsQ0 👍👍
I have both the wind deflector and the red carbon x-brace from them. I love how it looks, I am not a technical enough driver and never track my car to know how the difference feels, but I know it is great looking and easy to install. 🥰🥰🥰🥰
Hi Justin, my wife Linda says, "we need that!" We do however need to get a C8 first. For how trick this item looks and what it does the price is definitely in the ballpark of what we expected. Plus I see they also offer it in 4 colors.
Justin, The Speedway Composites XBrace is 🔥 man! Definitely an excellent performance mod to have for those coupes! Where's my HTC version 🖤 179 👍 Currently -Shane
That Dave guy's gauge maxed out mid-ramp up yielding no valid z-direction measurement (he said x but meant z) which is why he hesitated at the end. And he did no follow-up video qualifying the x-direction (I looked for it). His 8% figure probably comes from his model simulation and I'm sure it does something over stock and better than the GM accessory but no real world measurement as of yet. TL;DR of my essay below: Speedway offers more rigidity and handling performance over GM at the expense of less comfort from increased NVH, less structural crash safety, and increased risk of loss of control from snap oversteer. Compromise: Comfort vs Performance What may be a benefit in performance may also be a detriment to comfort. GM can't implement both without compromise in one to gain in the other. This could be one of those cases and GM chose some comfort over rigidity. Speedway's design of bolting up directly to the shock towers could increase NVH transmitted from said shock towers to the firewall and into the cabin. Whereas the GM's design bolts up just short of the towers so less NVH transfers into the cabin. Crash Safety In a rear collision, energy received at the towers could transfer more directly to the firewall via the brace instead of crumpling just short of the GM cross brace which isn't connected from the towers. That means any impact to the shock towers don't have a direct path transmit that impact to the firewall and cabin on the GM brace. Whereas the Speedway brace creates a more direct path of impact transmission to the cabin. The bowed shape of the GM cross brace (unlike the Speedway's straight flat design) may be a crumple mechanism in itself by design. Snap Oversteer Stiffening the rear end can make a car more prone to twitchy oversteer or create a narrower transition window from full traction and control to significantly less traction and loss of control, resulting in a narrower window for corrective countersteer aka "snap oversteer." A mid-engine layout's lower polar moment of inertia is more prone to snap oversteer. We saw this with Paul Walker's death in the mid-engine Carrera GT spinning out of control from snap oversteer. Talks of litigation against Porsche followed. Mass produced mid-engine cars must approach the safety vs performance compromise more conservatively. Toyota learned this the hard way during initial years of its MkII MR2 which was notorious for snap oversteer as owners were wrecking MR2s at alarming rates which led to litigation against Toyota. Similar happened with the front mid-engine AP1 Honda S2000. Understeer had to be dialed into subsequent model years of the MkII MR2 and S2000. GM is likewise pulling its punches on C8 handling performance by dialing sub-max rigidity into its cross brace to mitigate snap oversteer. The result is more benign but manageable handling than, say, Speedway's solution.
Very interesting indeed. I appreciate the professional and knowledgeable approach to this. I have included Dave in on this and he will be replying as soon as he gets a chance so we can continue the conversation. Again, great information here!
Hi, Dave from Speedway Composites here. You are correct on Z axis. And yes that dial indicator ran out of travel, so I did not learn the total flex. Shortly after that video I decide to take the testing to an F1/Indy car test facility with a 7 post testing rig (ARC in Indianapolis). That testing gave me a more accurate before and after assessment of rigidity with the brace. That rig was used to determine the 8+% rigidity improvement. There is no change in NVH that I or other drivers have noted. On the track the cars are more controlled and "settled" with this brace, without any reports of oversteer after hundreds of track days, including with Z07s at highly competitive lap times. I won't speculate on relative crash benefit between brace designs, though it makes sense all provide improvement.
Looks great! How much clearance is there between the brace and the intake manifold? May just be the camera angle, but it looks very tight! Hopefully no interference when the engine is revving.
Sorry if I missed it, but why did you loosen the screw on the left rear mount where the brace does not attach? Just checking to see if that is a required step. Thx.
You are so right, as you know I had to buy the AG Motorsport X-Brace for my Stingray after I saw yours. I also have GM’s Jake X-Brace on my Z06 and I love them both!
What do you guys think of this Xbrace? The rigidity it offers brings the Z06 almost up to Z07 levels AND it works for any C8 Corvette performance trim! SAVE 10% by using code HPO10 when get your C8 Corvette X-Brace here:bit.ly/49jjsQ0 👍👍
Looks great 😊
All C-8 owners needs one
Thanks Justin, hope you are feeling better today
I am feeling better. Still not 100% but better.
I’ve seen these in person. Looks great!
They do look awesome and they are functional! Can't beat it!
Wow it looks great on your C8-Z06, thank you for sharing 👍
Thanks for watching!
I have one and autocross and occasionally track my cars. It does make a differance. Was gald to meet dave he is a stand up guy.
He really is! I met him at Carlisle. He really knows his stuff.
I have both the wind deflector and the red carbon x-brace from them. I love how it looks, I am not a technical enough driver and never track my car to know how the difference feels, but I know it is great looking and easy to install. 🥰🥰🥰🥰
It’s always great when a product can look good, and also provide benefits! I noticed the difference almost immediately when driving my car.
Hi Justin, my wife Linda says, "we need that!" We do however need to get a C8 first. For how trick this item looks and what it does the price is definitely in the ballpark of what we expected. Plus I see they also offer it in 4 colors.
You definitely should have it! The fact that it’s functional just adds to the cool factor!
Justin,
The Speedway Composites XBrace is 🔥 man! Definitely an excellent performance mod to have for those coupes! Where's my HTC version 🖤
179 👍 Currently
-Shane
Maybe coming soon from what I heard!
X-brace looks awesome and very functional! Thanks for sharing!
You’re very welcome!
Looks great Justin and it will definitely offer more stiffness than some of the other ones on the market. AG Motorsports has a very nice Brace as well
Right on! They do have a great brace but at 3.4% stiffness it's not quite as functional as this one.
Does that brace fit on a HTC?
Unfortunately, it does not. I was just informed it interferes with the heat shielding on the convertible.
Justin and your adding options to your ZO6 at a fraction of what it would costs a fully loaded ZO7 ZO6.
100% agree! It's the way to do it if you ask me!
I like your sound effects when you turn the wheel "weowww!"
lol thanks! I try to have fun.
I'm adding a rear sway bar to my non-Z51 Stingray. I see at least one spare screw. Can't you add the strut tower covers over the X brace?
Unfortunately, no.
That Dave guy's gauge maxed out mid-ramp up yielding no valid z-direction measurement (he said x but meant z) which is why he hesitated at the end. And he did no follow-up video qualifying the x-direction (I looked for it). His 8% figure probably comes from his model simulation and I'm sure it does something over stock and better than the GM accessory but no real world measurement as of yet.
TL;DR of my essay below: Speedway offers more rigidity and handling performance over GM at the expense of less comfort from increased NVH, less structural crash safety, and increased risk of loss of control from snap oversteer.
Compromise: Comfort vs Performance
What may be a benefit in performance may also be a detriment to comfort. GM can't implement both without compromise in one to gain in the other. This could be one of those cases and GM chose some comfort over rigidity. Speedway's design of bolting up directly to the shock towers could increase NVH transmitted from said shock towers to the firewall and into the cabin. Whereas the GM's design bolts up just short of the towers so less NVH transfers into the cabin.
Crash Safety
In a rear collision, energy received at the towers could transfer more directly to the firewall via the brace instead of crumpling just short of the GM cross brace which isn't connected from the towers. That means any impact to the shock towers don't have a direct path transmit that impact to the firewall and cabin on the GM brace. Whereas the Speedway brace creates a more direct path of impact transmission to the cabin. The bowed shape of the GM cross brace (unlike the Speedway's straight flat design) may be a crumple mechanism in itself by design.
Snap Oversteer
Stiffening the rear end can make a car more prone to twitchy oversteer or create a narrower transition window from full traction and control to significantly less traction and loss of control, resulting in a narrower window for corrective countersteer aka "snap oversteer." A mid-engine layout's lower polar moment of inertia is more prone to snap oversteer. We saw this with Paul Walker's death in the mid-engine Carrera GT spinning out of control from snap oversteer. Talks of litigation against Porsche followed. Mass produced mid-engine cars must approach the safety vs performance compromise more conservatively. Toyota learned this the hard way during initial years of its MkII MR2 which was notorious for snap oversteer as owners were wrecking MR2s at alarming rates which led to litigation against Toyota. Similar happened with the front mid-engine AP1 Honda S2000. Understeer had to be dialed into subsequent model years of the MkII MR2 and S2000. GM is likewise pulling its punches on C8 handling performance by dialing sub-max rigidity into its cross brace to mitigate snap oversteer. The result is more benign but manageable handling than, say, Speedway's solution.
Very interesting.
Very interesting indeed. I appreciate the professional and knowledgeable approach to this. I have included Dave in on this and he will be replying as soon as he gets a chance so we can continue the conversation. Again, great information here!
Hi, Dave from Speedway Composites here. You are correct on Z axis. And yes that dial indicator ran out of travel, so I did not learn the total flex. Shortly after that video I decide to take the testing to an F1/Indy car test facility with a 7 post testing rig (ARC in Indianapolis). That testing gave me a more accurate before and after assessment of rigidity with the brace. That rig was used to determine the 8+% rigidity improvement.
There is no change in NVH that I or other drivers have noted. On the track the cars are more controlled and "settled" with this brace, without any reports of oversteer after hundreds of track days, including with Z07s at highly competitive lap times. I won't speculate on relative crash benefit between brace designs, though it makes sense all provide improvement.
*GM’s Jake X-Brace
*GM’s Mirror Caps
*3 piece Lower dash trim
*Driver Mode Selector trim
*Transmission Selector Trim
*3 piece Engine Surround
*Upper waterfall trim piece
Is that GM Carbon appearance package the same as comes with the Z51 ??
Yes it is.
Great look, does it work on HTC
Unfortunately, it does not. I was just informed it interferes with the heat shielding on the convertible.
Pretty cool piece
Indeed it is!
Looks great! How much clearance is there between the brace and the intake manifold? May just be the camera angle, but it looks very tight! Hopefully no interference when the engine is revving.
There is a lot more room than it looks on video. Maybe 2 inches of clearance? I've never had any issues with anything touching.
Ok cool. Good to know, thank you, sir!
wonder if they will make one that fits htc.
They don't yet, but may in the future.
Awesome looking functional part. Would have been nice to see an actual postmod measurement.
That's why I included the manufacturer video showing the measurements.
@@HorsePowerObsessed yes only the before measurements unless I missed something.
I happen to have an extra Brand New Jake Xbrace from GM among a number of other various Carbon Fiber pieces for Sale $$$ ✌🏼
Oh? What other carbon pieces?
@@HorsePowerObsessed lower dash trim kit, Mode selector, Gear selector, GM‘s carbon fiber mirror caps, and the Jake X-Brace.
I could be interested in those parts also..
I'm thinking your Jake X-Brace isn't for. 22 C8 Stingray?
Sorry if I missed it, but why did you loosen the screw on the left rear mount where the brace does not attach? Just checking to see if that is a required step. Thx.
It was not required. I actually didn’t realize I did that until just now. Good catch.
I really think the C8 needs an X-Brace no matter who makes it.
Agreed.
You are so right, as you know I had to buy the AG Motorsport X-Brace for my Stingray after I saw yours. I also have GM’s Jake X-Brace on my Z06 and I love them both!
Looks good
And functional, too!
Called premium air filter and may make one where you have a plastic frame.
10% is a lot, and will affect handling.
100%. You can feel it on the street as well.
Tighten up these screws😅😅😅
lol you know it!