pHEnomIC

iTrader: (14)

Well everyone knows that it is the consensus that sfcs are a great modification, they make a night and day difference you can feel "as soon as you leave the driveway".

I got some slp diamond style ones installed and I noticed nothing from them launch wise, handling wise, or anything. Considering i am running a cammed ls1 ttop car with full boltons and suspension i would expect to feel something. Heck, my stb makes more difference in handling. Yes i did do

My only reason for keeping them at this point is for frame reinforcement so i dont tweak it or anything.

Does anyone feel the same way?

My feeling is people claim a difference just to justify buying a set.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

The main thing I noticed "as soon as I left the driveway" was a much stiffer ride. But the reason I put them on was the creases I developed in my quarter panels. I had them taken out, and many launches later, they haven't returned.

NHRAMAN

iTrader: (1)

They work...your car will not rattle and shake and your tops will fit properly much further down the road....BTW....NOT having them creates the CREASES.

koolaid_kid

iTrader: (21)

I noticed the biggest difference when going over railroad tracks. It seems much stiffer. And it pointed out faults in my rear suspension; it now has wheel hop because the chassis no longer flexes. But that's just my car, your experience may vary.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

That's not true.... I've seen cars with SFC's develop the dimples after the SFC's were installed and there are cars w/o SFC's that don't have creases.

While I won't say anyone is lying (because some cars have issues that are helped by SFC's), I stand by my opinion, formed from talking to many hundreds of folks, and paying attention to other parts that those that have good shocks don't see as much of difference as those with crappy shocks. Keep the impacts out of the unibody in the first place.....

I sell SFC's. They are not in any way bad things. I just don't feel they are necessary like most others do. Then again, I have real dampers on my cars and always start there on customer's cars so it stands to reason I don't see as much change with them. BTW, I've had a few folks REMOVE them and see no change. But when they installed them they saw a huge help-the thing is in between they both went to Koni's from cheap shocks.

chupr0kabra

iTrader: (10)

I added SFC's last (after shocks, springs and swaybars) and noticed no difference. Mine are weld-in, so I'm not removing them, but I can't say it made a difference to me at all.


-Mike

Ralls

iTrader: (32)

It's true. They are a hoax. The only difference I notice is when I'm pulling out the driveway sideways and the car does not flex. They will help in the future though.

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

I think what you mean to say is when you added them to your car, you had less or no more rattles/shakes.

I have them in my car and I have lots of rattles. Saying two pieces of metal attached from one point of your chassis to the other will all of a sudden stop all of your car's rattles is insane. There's tons of things that can rattle in the car. How would the squeaks and rattles coming from the hatch get fixed by sfc's under the car?

Time2Kill

iTrader: (49)

I installed SFCs on my car around the 5,000 mile mark. It now has about ~45,000 miles and huge creases in the quarters. So SFCs will not always prevent them. But, I did notice a big difference with the SFCs. I have the original weld in BMRs that hang low. Definitely stiffened up the chassis. I live a mile down a dirt road, and can tell the car is much stiffer.

98_1LE

iTrader: (17)

SFC's were one of the early mods on my T/A, probably around 2,000 miles. Now at 44k miles with LOTS of hard driving (drag, autoX, track days etc.) the car is rattle free. It does not have the rippled rear 1/4's, but my old '98 1LE Z28, which did not have SFC's but was also driven hard, did have them.

I have never used a shock tower brace (STB), and see no advantage in them whatsoever.

mitchntx

iTrader: (14)

The biggest advantage for me by a competitor installing SFCs is they add a lot of weight.

radz282003

iTrader: (1)

I can say that I thought I felt a difference on my LT1 (at about 30K miles) right after installing KBDDs. I noticed less of a difference installing SLPs on my LS1 (less than 10K miles.) I can say that when I put my finger at the T-top joints and driving over the same irregularities in before and after the installs that there was definately less movement in the roof area. I would say the movement was lessened by double. Every car is different though. I don't regret getting them though.

Ironhead

I'm one of those few.

Yes, the SFCs made a WORLD of difference when they were welded onto my car 5 years ago. However, I still had the ridiculous factory shocks.

Now fast forward five years, 20K miles, maybe seventy-five 1/4 mile passes and a few hundred autocross runs. I decide to take the connectors off last winter to drop down a class and I find that the car is almost imperceptibly different to the driver. Believe me, I've owned this car for 11 years and 110K miles so my butt dyno is quite sensitive to changes.

Passengers (ie. other racers and my wife) can't tell a bit of difference. Yet the car remains waaaaay better than when the connectors were installed.

After all that abuse, the car squeaks, rattles and shakes LESS now with the SFCs off than it did before they were installed five years ago. Why? Did the car heal itself? What changed?

The shocks.

blue02formula

iTrader: (1)

I had good results with my BMR sfc's. I have less rattle in my t-tops.

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

I also wouldn't say that people lie about their SFC's. I didn't feel any severe handling differences after adding them. If someone thinks they felt a difference but there was none, then that's not really lying.

99zman

iTrader: (23)

i just had my sub frames welded in yesterday and i can deffinatly say that i noticed a difference, the cars feels much more solid and firmer. i wish i did this along time ago.

02TransAm/Batmobile

iTrader: (32)

Well, to me, it looks like a 50/50 shot.

dpw41285

iTrader: (26)

dont know what to think now! i have a convertible...it would have to help right?

zlightning

iTrader: (1)

Not sure I have ever seen this asked but what are the main causes of the rattles? Is it the t-tops? Cause I still get them when the t-tops are off.

RevGTO

iTrader: (12)

T-tops on or off have nothing to do with it ... there are a lot of causes of rattles but the main ones are the cheap, hard, plasticky interior pieces and lousy shocks.

Solutions: 1. Buy a good set of shocks and install them. 2. Go through your interior, isolate the rattles, and shim, brace, stick, and insulate the offending pieces.

Forget about SFC's. They made my ride so much harsher that after a week I wanted to pull them off. Unfortunately, they were welded on so well that that was near impossible. So I've learned to live with them.