I came across the ET 'Beach Cruiser' concept and was interested to see that there is a strut tower brace on it which would increase the rigidity and/or stability of the vehicle during cornering. Especially in conjunction with the front and rear stabilizer bars. Does anyone know if this product (from DC Sports) is actually available and would it void the warranty if it were to be installed?

Check link for further details on the concept I was referring to above: http://www.topspeed.com/cars/hyundai/2008-hyundai-elantra-touring-beach-cruiser-ar46076.html

 

I don't know about the DC Sports brace, but some of the Korean import vendors online have braces for the i30 which is identical to the i30 estate (a.k.a. Elantra Touring) under the hood. Take a look at the links below.

http://kspec.com/list.php?ac_id=191&ai_id=2057
http://sharkracing.com/acecart/bin/s...cate=011900000

I can't see how a strut bar would affect the warranty of your Touring. I already have it on my mod list for when I get one. Go ahead and get one so I can know how it works out.

 

I checked both of those links out. The kspec page has a little disclaimer at the bottom that says the korean bar may not fit a car fitted with cruise control...any thoughts?

Also, the sharkracing pick is a little more pricey with regards to their brace.

Has anyone actually put a strut tower brace on their cars and noticed the difference. I wonder if polyurethane engine mounts would make a difference as well...

 

I'm not sure about the cruise control issue, but I think they put that disclaimer on there for every strut bar for sale on their site so who knows. The canned response I always hear for the benefits of a strut brace on a modern car is that you will only see minimal benefits because the strut towers are already so close to the firewall which provides more than enough structural stiffness up front.

I don't know if that explanation holds any water, but that's the word on the street. I plan on getting one still at least for the aesthetics. Can't really comment on the engine mounts other than I know with the rx-8 i used to own people would get polyurethane to reduce the "hop" when they launched. Don't know how much "hop" a 138hp hatch would have though.

 

I can confim your findings. I put a front strut tower bar on my 2004 Tiburon GT V6 and saw very little if any improvement. Now, my 2006 Tucson V6 came with a factory front strut tower bar. I've since found out that 4-cylinder Tucsons do not have this factory-installed strut tower bar.

That leads me to believe that the extra weight of the V6 may require the bar, at least for the Tucson. But that wasn't the case for the smaller Tiburon. Neither the 4-cyl or V6 came with a factory-installed strut tower bar (in the US. A factory strut tower bar is available in some other countries).

So my guess is the 4-cyl only Turing probably won't see much improvement from a strut tower bar since it's smaller and lighter than a Tucson and Hyundai sees no need for a strut tower bar on a 4-cyl Tucson.

Now, it won't hurt performance if you want one for aesthetic reasons but how often do you show off your engine compartment?

As far as the cruise control goes, my DC Sports bar made the same claim. The CC control unit for the Tiburon is located on the passenger side strut tower. It was held on by a bracket that was slightly in the way of the strut tower bar. The strut tower bar did fit, I just had to very slightly modify the CC mounting bracket. My guess is the Touring CC unit is also mounted off the passenger side strut tower.

Lastly, poly engine mounts do help with front wheel hop on acceleration but not as much as solid mounts. People with powerful engines skip poly and go right to solid because the poly don't help traction enough. Poly mounts will send more engine noise and vibrations into the passenger compartment but solid mounts send even more.

Will you see an improvement from poly? Probabaly not from a stock Touring. Do you get a lot of wheel hop now? If so, then try poly bushings. They will help with only some additional engine noise and vibrations. If you don't have any wheel hop on acceleration, you will get no benefit but all the engine noise and vibrations.

 

Thank you both for your opinions.

On my drive back home today, I crossed through 7000 miles after only 7 weeks. And the thought that crossed my mind was that I don't really need to change anything on this car. I drive on the twisty roads of sunny California all the time and when I'm in the middle of long sweeper and I get off the gas, the car drifts ever so slightly due to the lift-throttle-oversteer that accompanies this set up (with ESC off).

The car's power is adequate and any changes that I may make could affect the balance of the car. For the short term, I'm going to hold off of any modifications that will tighten the structural stiffness and leave it to the cosmetics -- tinting the back windows is a necessity.

Also, a less needed item but one that I want to do is to get an overtint for the rear brake lights. It's way too red and far too many people think it is a wagon, not the hatchback that it is...just a pet peeve...plus the current configuration gets it mixed up with the Volvo S40 wagon.


It's not like this ride is something I see on every street corner. I've only seen one other ET in San Francisco, both that driver and I did double takes at each other's cars..but I think the smoked out rear lenses would add some more character to my automobile. Any thoughts on the legality of such a thing?

 

Not to pic nits but the Touring is actually more of a wagon. The Touring is based off the wagon version of the European i30. The i30 is a hatchback while the US Elantra Touring (European i30cw) is more of a wagon:

i30:


Elantra Touring:


----------

i30:


Elantra Touring:


Not that that's a a bad thing. Lot's of people love the Dodge Magnum wagon.

 

Fairly true. However in terms of capacity, with the seats up, the Elantra is a little shy of true wagon capacity. I'm only nitpicking here. Though in comparison with the i30, the i30 CW is indeed a little longer - with more capacity...one for the ages I suppose. More like, I don't want it to be known as a wah-gon!

Do you have any thoughts on what changes are deemed legal vs illegal when it comes to either performance or cosmetic changes and the Hyundai warranty? Perhaps a list of changes that can be made that do not void the warranty?