Cusco® 697 540 A - Type OS Strut Tower Brace

The bar looks awesome and the machine work is perfect. It's the best looking part of my engine bay. I bought a Cusco for the front as well. They allow me to corner better, which really means that my old chassis was flexing so much that my suspension wasn't getting a chance to work. I would buy it again in a heartbeat. Note that the bar does interfere with the compartment lid closing and needed some encouragement. If you're doing this upgrade then fixing this is easy.

When looking for a front strut bar brace that could fit my MR2 couldn't find many out there. I noticed CARID had them listed as out of stock and requested to be notified when available. Their notification came in within hours they had one available, ordered and within a day I was installing it, kudos to the carID team! The product is excellent, well finished and very easy to install (my 12 year old did most of the install). I thought these gadgets were a gimmick, I was proven wrong, noticed the difference in handling right away!

Sturdy, high quality part, but Cusco really went above and beyond with the instructions. Without the instruction I don't think I ever could have installed it on my own, but the color pictures and good descriptions made it simple, although the instructions refer to 3 bolts to remove the wiper motor, but there are only two (as shown in the picture).

Took no time to install, fits perfectly on my 2008 Lexus IS350. Looks great, I decided to keep the plastic cover on the engine and it is still able to fit underneath without issues.

The brace is amazing quality that has a very nice metallic blue color that looks clean in the engine bay. Installation was very simple, just twist the bar until it fits over your strut tower bolts and begin to loosen and remove the bolts. Check your specific vehicle torque specs before you hand tighten and torque down your bolts. I actually snapped my bolts with just 14.5 pounds of torque. Replacing the mounts was an experience. The brace comes with a Cusco sticker and a plastic spiral piece that's used to wrap around and protect any lines that could potentially interfere with the brace although I didn't have to use it. All the instructions are in Japanese but you honestly don't need them. The product was back ordered a few times which was frustrating but CARiD customer support team is gracious and compensated. The driving experience of the car definitely feels more tight and handles very well around bends and corners. Quite the difference with the amount of reduced body roll. My only complaint is the Cusco rear strut tower brace is more money than the front one although the rear brace is a more simple design. Conclusion, if you want a strut tower brave to reduce body roll and improve handling, this is worth your money.