C-ONE Front Strut Tower Bar - Installed & Impressions (Pics to Come)

[bigsky2]

Product: C-ONE Front Strut Tower Bar
Source: C2 AUTO

I just finished installing a C-ONE Front Strut Tower Bar this past weekend and wanted to share my experience.

Installation
Took about 20 minutes from start to finish. About 25-30 minutes with the cigarettes going.

After taking a look at Chris07LB's Tanabe install, and visually inspecting the fender area and the strut towers, I thought I would be able to get away with installing the mounting hardware without removing the front tires. It can be done, with a little patience and persistance.

I jacked up the front of the vehicle and placed it on jack stands for stablility and safety.

The C-ONE Strut bar comes with different mounting hardware than that of the Tanabe. A small mounting plate goes under the strut tower, and the bolts fasten into the mounting plate from the top of the strut tower.

It was a pain in the ass to get the mounting plate in place because there's very little space for your hands to maneuver when you reach into the underside of the strut tower. You have to navigate your hands around the springs which also get in the way.

Once the mounting plate is in place on the bottom, I screwed in the bolts on top of the strut tower. Tightening the bolts took a while because the limited space only allows small turns with the allan key.

After the mounting hardware is in place, connect the strut bar and tighten it accordingly.

Note for those with grounding kits (battery post connection): You might have to reposition your negative battery terminal as it might make contact with the strut bar, making the strut bar "rest" unevenly. You don't want anything pushing or stressing the strut bar in any direction.

Impressions
A quick spin later, and I noticed the following:

- Steering wheel feels "tighter" now
- Steering reaction is much more responsive now during turns and moderate cornering
- During some moderate cornering, the front end of the Yaris doesn't feel as if it's going in a straight line anymore, as it follows the corner better than before

Overall I am pleased with the results. There's less understeer now and the cornering feels more balanced

Now it's time to consider rear and lower chassis reinforcements..