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We tightened the firewall braces to give a slight amount of preload. By putting the braces in a little tension, they come into play with a smaller amount of chassis flex.
The drivers side mount for the strut tower brace has this extension that goes down by the master cylinder. At the end is an adjusting bolt that goes to the end of the master cylinder. The brace absorbs a lot of the force that would normally just flex the thin metal of the firewall when you push on the brakes. The brake pedal has a long lever arm for your leg to do this. The improvement to brake feel is immediately noticeable and frankly quite impressive. This contributes to the effectiveness of our StopTech Trophy brake kit giving our FR-S the best brake feel of anything in our entire fleet which includes some exotic iron.
For wheels we chose the lightweight Rays Gram Lights 57 Extreme SP wheel in 18×9.5 with a 30mm offset in the rear and 18×8.5 with a 33mm offset in the front.
The Gram Light 57 Extreme SP is different than the regular Extreme from these lightening cuts made by a 5 axis CNC machine. These are areas of low stress identified by Finite Element Analysis that can be safely removed without weakening the wheel.
Although the 57 Extreme is a cast wheel, the rim section is roll formed after casting which works the metal, refining the grain structure and strengthening it much like forging does. This allows for a lightweight and strong rim section much like the more expensive fully forged Volk wheels at a lower price.
Jeff messed up and didn’t capture it at the right angle but the Gram Light 57 Extreme SP also has a hub area that has been CNC machined out and lightened. A stiffening ring is pressed into place on the outside of the hub, restoring the strength lost when removing material. You can see the base of the ring here if you look on the inside edge of the hub. This is an innovative feature that uses Rays extensive FEA experience to develop light and strong wheels.
2 comments
I’m curious to hear your logic for going with the 18″ wheels instead of 17″. The 18’s definitely look better but I know looks alone aren’t enough for MotoIQ.
To fit over the brakes.