When is a strut brace not a strut brace?
 

http://www.streetneeds.com/uploads/e...rutbrace11.jpg I’m looking at the OEM strut brace, and the top of the strut. There are 3 bolts that connect the strut to the engine bay sheet metal. The OEM strut brace is near the top of the strut, but does not use any of the 3 strut bolts. If fact, the OEM strut brace looks like an engine bay brace to me, not a functional strut brace.

I ask because I’m shopping for a aftermarket upper plenum, and the OEM brace may not fit. The top of the strut looks secure to me without the brace. I see little point in replacing the brace. What function does it serve? Thanks.

So take it off and see if you feel any difference in the steering or front-end stability.

I had a similar factory setup in a '95 Mustang GT, except it was a triangulated brace that went from the shock towers to the firewall, and like the Z, was not bolted or connected in any way to the top of the front struts. I took it off one time to get it powdercoated and while it was off, the car drove like the front was disconnected from the rest of the car. Once the brace was reinstalled the car rode and steered much better. Some of the "feeling" might have come from just knowing the brace was not there, but it sure felt better once it was reinstalled.

any time you drive and turn and experience an acceleration, your car will flex in a direction. since the engine bay is basically hollow there is little to brace one side of the car to the other. i imagine the brace would not be there unless it actually made some sort of extra rigidity. if not...it seems nissan wasted time and money to make them.

it is called a strut tower brace, and the factory brace clearly spans across the strut towers.