Better handling for the EX available now

[bttek]

With the forum's permission I am able to offer the members of this site our newest product for the EX-35. I have owned this vehicle since May of this year and though it has a lot going for it, I felt that the handling could be improved on without sacrificing ride quality.

We already make a similar product for the Prius (Google BT Tech Chassis stiffening plate) which has been very successful and well received since we released it in 2004. The EX uses a thin stamped steel brace that attaches to each side of the body on the underside on the vehicle. By replacing this piece with our stiffening plate we not only stiffen the structure, we also improve the handling dynamics of the car without having to resort to larger sway bars or lower aspect ratio tires.

With our brace in place, the EX has much improved turn-in response with less under steer. It also makes the car feel a lot more secure and stable on the highway at high speeds.

Our brace is completely CNC machined from billet 6061-T6 aluminum and hardcoat anodized in black. This product is machined in a state of the art shop using a 5 axis CNC and best of all it is made right here in the United States. We include 4 stainless steel M6 mounting bolts that fit flush with our plate so there is nothing hanging down on the underside of the vehicle.

Installation consists of removing the OEM brace and installing ours which is literally a 10 minute job. There is no drilling or other modifications necessary and the OEM plate can be put back on quickly and easily if desired.

I will post some pictures of how the plate looks on the car installed shortly. Greg from NICO has one of our plates and is going to do a complete write-up on it along with his impressions within the next week or so. He will be installing his on a G series work-up.

I have only made an initial 25 pieces to test out the waters and see how it goes. Introductory pricing is 199.99 each including shipping in the continental USA and these plates are now in stock and ready to ship via UPS.

Payment can be made via credit card or PayPal.

If anyone has any questions about our new part please feel free to contact me at my email or phone number listed below.

Thanks!!

BrianBT Tech305.652.3115email: [email protected]

[AWGD8]

That is cool! At least I`m seeing some movement for EX35 performance/handling upgrade.

My only concern is what is the weight difference between the stock and

this aluminum brace that you offer?

I have an AWD journey. The car is heavy enough to start with, will this

add more weight?

[bttek]

The stock plate weighs in at 1 lb 5.8 ozs and ours is 2 lbs 9 ounces. What is incredible is that ours is 1600x stiffer than the factory plate according to a FEA (finite element analysis)

In other words the extra pound goes a long way in chassis rigidity!!

That is cool! At least I`m seeing some movement for EX35 performance/handling upgrade.

My only concern is what is the weight difference between the stock and

this aluminum brace that you offer?

I have an AWD journey. The car is heavy enough to start with, will this

add more weight?

[uygarselman]

What are these exactly?Excuse my ignorance but could you post installed pictures of these and explain more so I can understand where it goes. Chasis rigidity is something needs to be improved for EX35, if these are what I think they are, people may be intereseted.

Rgards,

[louis1800]

Brian, please don’t take this the wrong way but I have a few questions/concerns over this stiffener. 1. By replacing this cross brace will the owner be voiding their factory warranty?2. Adding this multiple times stiffer cross brace will it link the part of the chassis to become fragile to the stress?

Once I have a better understanding on the feed back I would love to have one for my collection. Thank you.

[bttek]

These are good questions and vaild concerns. No, by installing our brace over the factory one will not void anyones warranty. If someone were really concerned they could always install the factory brace in less than 10 minutes.

Based on the other cars that we have manufactured similar items for, we have never had an issue.

The specific mounting point where our stiffening plate goes is an area which is most in need of additional re-inforcment. The same plate is going on a G series as they use basically idential chassis' and am awaiting the results from the NICO test car that they are installing it on.

I can tell you that on my EX, the difference the stiffening plate made is noticeable and would be appreciated by those that are "in tune" with the way their car feels.

Thanks!!

BrianBT Tech305.652.3115

[jmess]

Bracing won't give me the level/% of change I am looking for. The EX is screaming for some better/thicker/stiffer sway bars. It would be interesting to see if the European G37 has some stiffer bars.

[rubbersidedown]

Brian, I don't pretend to have expertise in these engineering matters, but to pick up on the email from jmess, it was my impression that stiffer sway bars were the generally- accepted way to address the problems to discuss with handling. Could shed some light as to why you chose to improve the brace over improving the sway bars? Thanks,

[bttek]

By adding larger (thicker) sway bars one does improve the handling of a vehicle but at the same time it usually results in a harsher more jarring ride.

What the stiffening plate does is actually improve upon the rigidity of the body and this has the effect of a more solid structure and improved handling as a result. There is no harshness to the ride as one would get if they simply installed larger swaybars.

Installation is also a lot easier with the stiffening plate as there is only 4 bolts involved. Changing out a sway bar is a lot more involved and time consuming.

The EX-35 is a vehicle that already exibits excellent road manners and a well controlled ride without undue harshness. Our stiffening plate simply improves upon this by adding more rigididty to the body and as a result more precise handling. It does not have the effect as one would get if they changed swaybars which usually results in a much more jarring ride.

Brian, I don't pretend to have expertise in these engineering matters, but to pick up on the email from jmess, it was my impression that stiffer sway bars were the generally- accepted way to address the problems to discuss with handling. Could shed some light as to why you chose to improve the brace over improving the sway bars? Thanks,

[jmess]

Properly engineered sway bars won't result in a jarring ride. Do a google on sway bar bump.

""For two wheel bumps, a sway bar's rate is always zero, which is why sway bars have minimal impact on ride quality.""

""A sway bar resists bump (ie suspension compression) on just one side of the car but because the sway bar is mounted on pivots, the suspension of both left and right wheels can compress together without additional spring resistance being imposed. Except over one-wheel bumps, this means that a stiffer sway bar will not cause a stiffer ride, unlike when higher rated springs are fitted. However, large sway bars cause an increase in NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) and over-barred cars tend to cause the body to jerk sideways while passing over one-wheel bumps.""

[louis1800]

Brian thanks for your feed back. Most of us guys will love a better performances vehicle over comforts. But one problem I have is the EX is my wife’s car; so I am wondering by installing your brace what are the changes to the current OEM stock? I hate to spend $200 to find out that I change something on her car and she hates it! Also, please email photos of the area of the brace located? Thank you.

[bttek]

Hello Louis,

The nice thing about our stiffening plate is that one does NOT have to give up the comfort that the EX already has. My goal was to increase the chassis rigidity which in turn improves the vehicles handling and overall feel of the car.

I will get the EX up on a lift this week and take some pictures to show how it looks with it installed.

Thanks!!

BrianBT Tech305.652.3115

Brian thanks for your feed back. Most of us guys will love a better performances vehicle over comforts. But one problem I have is the EX is my wife’s car; so I am wondering by installing your brace what are the changes to the current OEM stock? I hate to spend $200 to find out that I change something on her car and she hates it! Also, please email photos of the area of the brace located? Thank you.

[UnMaTcHeD]

I am interested in the installation pictures as well.

[AZhitman]

Bracing won't give me the level/% of change I am looking for. The EX is screaming for some better/thicker/stiffer sway bars. It would be interesting to see if the European G37 has some stiffer bars.

Far from true.

Bigger / thicker sway bars can actually negatively impact handling on a car with chassis flex.

I'm currently running OEM sway bars on my track car with every available chassis stiffening component I could find... The car is predictable and transitions beautifully.

Improperly-selected sway bars can result in loss of wheel travel, improper front / rear weight transfer, and generally unpredictable handling at the limits.

[jmess]

Far from true.

Bigger / thicker sway bars can actually negatively impact handling on a car with chassis flex.

I'm currently running OEM sway bars on my track car with every available chassis stiffening component I could find... The car is predictable and transitions beautifully.

Improperly-selected sway bars can result in loss of wheel travel, improper front / rear weight transfer, and generally unpredictable handling at the limits.

Exactly why I said properly engineer; engineered to work with the stock shocks and springs. The current bars rates are set so soccer moms won't scare themselves; understeer is their friend. Beefing up some stiffening plates won't solve the problem.

Going with a more handling calibrated set of springs would be a good step but the suspension travel and ride quality would suffer. A set of properly engineered bars would give me what I am looking for.

Race rubber and track suspension setups amplify any chassis flex you have. A properly engineered roll cage does wonders if your class rules allow tying in suspension mount points. If not you have to get creative. In one of the classes I raced in I was forced to use strut tire bars due to the roll cage design limits/rules.

[bttek]

A lot of you guys have asked me for pictures of our stiffening plate installed on the EX. As you can see in the pictures the plate is flush with the bottom of the vehicle and the stainless steel bolts are flush with the plate so there is nothing protruding outwards.

Installation is literally a 10 minute job and is easily reversible if one wanted to put back the stock plate.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to email or call me.

Thanks!!

BrianBT Tech305.652.3115email: [email protected]

[bttek]

We have 10 of our braces left for the EX-35. We have shipped out over 14 of our braces so hopefully those of you that have received and installed them will post their impressions here.

Thanks!!

BrianBT Tech305.652.3115email: [email protected]

[dividedhighw]

Hey Brian - a quick suggestion. Perhaps on your next batch, you could get your company name printed so that it's right-side-up when mounted.

Just a thought,David

[bttek]

Yup, the silkscreener reversed it so the next batch will be right side up...

Thanks!!

BrianBT Tech305.652.3115email: [email protected]

Hey Brian - a quick suggestion. Perhaps on your next batch, you could get your company name printed so that it's right-side-up when mounted.

Just a thought,David

[CaribMon71]

Has anyone had a chance to try these yet? Just wondering if the part provides a noticeable improvement in handling.

[Dr. Bombay]

I'd be interested too. Anyone have any feedback?

[Ken Stewart]

I am very happy with the way my EX drives but I thought that the handling could be improved upon. I saw this product and although I did not see any feedback I decided to take a chance with it. It arrived 3 days after I ordered it and it exceeded my expectations.

I have had it installed now for the past 2 weeks and although subtle the car feels better planted around turns and feels much more stable on the highway. I am happy.

Ken08 EX-35 Tech Package

[dividedhighw]

Welcome to NICO, Ken and thanks so much for your informative post!!

Cheers,David

[CaribMon71]

Hmmmm, I feel myself getting turned on. Might pick one of these up soon!

[RioD007]

If you need someone with some Experience with track testing id love to offer my talent and ex as guinea pig.

[rubbersidedown]

Any feedback from others who installed this?

[CaribMon71]

No one else has any feedback on this?

[EXceptional]

We're waiting for the free samples.

[AZhitman]

Almost done with it guys - Gimme a few more days!

[dividedhighw]

Well, if there are any freebies to be distributed, hopefully the resident dutiful moderator will get first dibs!!

Cheers,David