S3 Strut Brace

[Wizza]

Currently I have a Neuspeed one fitted and even though it looks the part in the engine bay after pricing up an S3 struct brace last week I was far gutted due to the price difference.

At only (about) £77.09 I am quite interested in selling on the Neuspeed brace and getting myself an S3 brace which by my reckoning look smarter.

The Nuespeed brace is just fitted into place by bolting through the strut top - is this the same for the S3 brace?

Cheers.

P.S. Part number if anyone is interested is U8L9 805 629 A according to the information I have in front of me.

 

[superkarl]

Looking at yours the other night, the little. Mounts on the strut tops were different to the s3. Mine has about 4 or 5 bolts going all the way round, whereas yours had 3 bolts at the front if I remember rightly. We could have swapped that night, you should have said, only takes a min to get off.

 

[Endacy]

Yeah drill three holes in the top of the suspension turret and bolt through it. For extra fancy-ness use smart nuts and covers or something. I got mine for about £30 off ebay, painted it satin black and used flanged nuts and black nut covers (which I glued on because I bought the wrong size as the flanged nuts I used had a 12mm hexagon, not 13mm like a normal nut). It blends right into the engine bay. I had to re-route a few pipes at the back of the bay, it involved bending a couple of steel ones attached to the bulkhead and shortening the rubber hoses attached to them, these were near the coolant expansion tank. It was no bit deal and looks OEM. I'll take a pic at some point if you want.

 

[Wizza]

Looking at yours the other night, the little. Mounts on the strut tops were different to the s3. Mine has about 4 or 5 bolts going all the way round, whereas yours had 3 bolts at the front if I remember rightly. We could have swapped that night, you should have said, only takes a min to get off.

There was two bolts on each end of the Neuspeed strut brace and as Endacy mentioned above I think you have 3 around each side whih would mean more holes to be drilled *d'oh* (main reason I wish i had just gone for the S3 Brace now). I'm gonn ahave to have a proper look at an S3 brace on Sunday.

Yeah drill three holes in the top of the suspension turret and bolt through it. For extra fancy-ness use smart nuts and covers or something. I got mine for about £30 off ebay, painted it satin black and used flanged nuts and black nut covers (which I glued on because I bought the wrong size as the flanged nuts I used had a 12mm hexagon, not 13mm like a normal nut). It blends right into the engine bay. I had to re-route a few pipes at the back of the bay, it involved bending a couple of steel ones attached to the bulkhead and shortening the rubber hoses attached to them, these were near the coolant expansion tank. It was no bit deal and looks OEM. I'll take a pic at some point if you want.

A picture would be fantastic mate much appreciated!

 

[A3 liam]

So will a s3/tt strut brace bolt straight on to a a3 or do you have to drill the mounts?

 

[jojo]

So will a s3/tt strut brace bolt straight on to a a3 or do you have to drill the mounts?

You will need to drill holes into your strut tops. S3's that have strut braces as standard have studs on the strut tops for it to bolt onto.

 

[A3 liam]

Cheers jojo, so the ones on ebay that say they will fit a3 will bolt on or again drill as I would rather not drill my strut tops?

 

[jojo]

Cheers jojo, so the ones on ebay that say they will fit a3 will bolt on or again drill as I would rather not drill my strut tops?

All strut braces need the strut tops drilled, unless your strut tops have studs on them, how else will it bolt onto your struts?

 

[Endacy]

Sorry for the delay - pics as promised:

Engine bay:

Nearside:

Offside:

The pipe I moved was the one that runs along the bulkead and into a rubber hose that connects to the expansion tank. I removed the rubber pipe, bent the steel black pipe away from the bulkhead towards the tank, then cut one of the bends off the rubber pipe to make it fit back on properly. In my opinion, you'd never know!

Edit: Leave the clips that hold the steel pipe to the bulkhead alone, they are fragile and break easily, and are a pain to get from the dealers. I have one spare if you break one, but it might be a passenger side not drivers. Also I may have moved another pipe but can't remember, it was not hard stuff to move about, just place the brace and see what it touches, each model seems to be different so you might not even need to move any.

 

[ANDYMC_TQS]

I'm liking this a lot gona fit mine by the weekend. Was given it for nothin from my mate who has a crashed s3 so a great bargain for me and it's even easier for me to fit now thanks to this

 

[Endacy]

Excellent! Use M8 bolts and flanged nuts to fit.

 

[Wizza]

Only just seen the pics Endacy - nice one

 

[Prawn]

why would you want to fit a strut brace though? it's only going to induce more understeer!

 

[Endacy]

Because it makes us feel better!

I combined mine with a 1mm larger rear ARB which negates understeer and promotes a neutral / sometimes overtseer type drive.

 

[Wizza]

Not had any problems with my Neuspeed one regarding understeer.

 

[Jason.s]

Fit a rear to balance it out again.