Cusco Braces Worth It? Yes/No

[un1coRn]

Looking to possibly add the following Cusco braces/suspension parts. Wanted to know if anybody had experience with them. Figured I could get more bang for my buck vs the Spoon Sports Stiff Plate

Parts I'm looking at adding:
-Cusco Seat Rail/Power Brace SKU#CUS-3C4-492-SP
-Cusco Front Sway Bar SKU#CUS-3C4-311-A30
-Cusco Rear Cross Member Power Brace SKU#CUS-3C4-492-RM
-Cusco Front Power Brace SKU#CUS-3C4-492-F
-Cusco 22mm Rear Sway Bar SKU#CUS-3C4-311-B22
-Cusco 4-Point Center Power Brace SKU#CUS-3C3-492-CLHD

Questions:
-Are they worth it?
-Which parts are useless?
-Which would you deem most important to add first?

Current Suspension Mods:
-Swift Spec-R Springs
-SPC rear camber arms
-Whiteline toe arms
-Cusco Strut Bar
-Spoon Rigid Collars F/R (not yet installed)

Thanks in advance! PFA

 

[TonyTheTiger57]

The seat / rail one looks like a joke. The others may be worth it though, especially the power brace.

 

[un1coRn]

BUMP

 

[MadMage]

So what's your use case?
Looks?
Street?
Canyon?
Track?
What are you wanting to improve?
Stiffness? Cornering? Rotation?

 

[bbeem]

I would do sway bars next before any chassis braces. FSB, RSB, and springs are the only thing I could tell an obvious difference with. I did every brace available and noticed only a little stiffer setup on si.

I used Cusco front brace, rear brace, center brace, and seat rail brace. Used dfferent brand strut brace and ultra 4 point trunk brace. The 6th chassis brace you're missing from your list for fk8 is the 2 point brace at the top of the back seats. Ultra makes it, I don't think Cusco offered it. Regardless I would do sway bars and end links first.

 

[imsaladman]

In this Episode of Hot Version (Japanese Car Show), they compare an FK8 equipped with the Spoon kit with one equipped with the Cusco kit (as of 2019) and one with the J's Racing kit. They mentioned that the Cusco kit made the car a bit to stiff/rough for driving. So it will definitely have an effect, but it may make the car too harsh.

 

[bbeem]

In this Episode of Hot Version (Japanese Car Show), they compare an FK8 equipped with the Spoon kit with one equipped with the Cusco kit (as of 2019) and one with the J's Racing kit. They mentioned that the Cusco kit made the car a bit to stiff/rough for driving. So it will definitely have an effect, but it may make the car too harsh.

What exactly was the take away though? Spoon and J's scored an an extra 1.4% and a half inch less?

 

[TonyTheTiger57]

I just did my strut brace for the looks.

 

[Sam3]

I installed the 3 Cusco Power braces (front, middle, and rear). The problem is, I also installed the Spoon front and rear Rigid Collars at the same time. So I'm not sure which of these two contributes more to my impressions after the install.

The two main impressions:

1. Steering response to any change to the steering wheel is immediate. There is almost zero latency between the time you turn the steering, even slightly, and the car changing direction. And it's also more refined (or higher resolution), in a sense that you can now fine tune how much your car is turning at high speed, and it stays and keeps the line. The outcome is that you have more control over what line your car plots.
2. The time between the car turning till the time it settles and sets within the turn becomes diminished. That fraction of a second between steering input and the car settling into the turn is gone.

Both of these provide more confidence in handling turns at high speeds and diving deeper into corners with higher carry speed.

The downside is comfortable street driving suffers. The hyper steering response can make the handling nervous. You really have to pay attention to what you're doing with the steering wheel. You'll get used to it. But till you do, you can end up running off the road easily if you take your eyes off of it, even slightly.

Therefore I only recommend these if you're tracking your car.

I also installed the Spoon Zero Bump Steering Kit afterwards. The impact is the car feels more settled in bumpy turns, and it lessens the harshness of the above changes.

Next up is RV6 Front Compliance Mount (anti lift kit) and some spherical bearings

 

[un1coRn]

I installed the 3 Cusco Power braces (front, middle, and rear). The problem is, I also installed the Spoon front and rear Rigid Collars at the same time. So I'm not sure which of these two contributes more to my impressions after the install.

The two main impressions:

1. Steering response to any change to the steering wheel is immediate. There is almost zero latency between the time you turn the steering, even slightly, and the car changing direction. And it's also more refined (or higher resolution), in a sense that you can now fine tune how much your car is turning at high speed, and it stays and keeps the line. The outcome is that you have more control over what line your car plots.
2. The time between the car turning till the time it settles and sets within the turn becomes diminished. That fraction of a second between steering input and the car settling into the turn is gone.

Both of these provide more confidence in handling turns at high speeds and diving deeper into corners with higher carry speed.

The downside is comfortable street driving suffers. The hyper steering response can make the handling nervous. You really have to pay attention to what you're doing with the steering wheel. You'll get used to it. But till you do, you can end up running off the road easily if you take your eyes off of it, even slightly.

Therefore I only recommend these if you're tracking your car.

I also installed the Spoon Zero Bump Steering Kit afterwards. The impact is the car feels more settled in bumpy turns, and it lessens the harshness of the above changes.

Next up is RV6 Front Compliance Mount (anti lift kit) and some spherical bearings

Thank you for the detailed feedback. I still need to install the Spoon rigid collars and just wanted to know what other braces I should add if any since the subframe needs to be dropped etc. I daily my car and its already pretty harsh on the Swifts tbh. Wondering if I should even add anything besides the collars at this point

 

[jconnway]

https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/cusco-chassis-stiffeners.65476/

 

[Sam3]

Thank you for the detailed feedback. I still need to install the Spoon rigid collars and just wanted to know what other braces I should add if any since the subframe needs to be dropped etc. I daily my car and its already pretty harsh on the Swifts tbh. Wondering if I should even add anything besides the collars at this point

The stock chassis and suspension is plenty stiff and capable for spirited street driving and canyon carving.

 

[Hondanickx]

What exactly was the take away though? Spoon and J's scored an an extra 1.4% and a half inch less?

The coilovers was the biggest difference here.Spoon uses KW 8K front and 8K rear coilovers.J's uses 10k front and 14k rear cusco uses 16k front and 14k rear.
That's why the ride was too bumpy .
I don't think the braces make that much difference if you're using a stiff coilover allready. It will make more difference if your using stock suspension or only lowering springs.

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