I don't believe it but the xD strut bars are already available by Tanabe. I can't believe parts are available so sooner than the 2nd gen xB.

http://www.tanabe-usa.com/strutbars/strutbar_app.asp

 

it kind of looks photo shopped in there even thought its not

 

Nice peice. I like how it has the bolts so u can remove the bar n actually work on ur car.

 

What would the different be between TRD and Tanabe bars? Price? Craftsmanship?

[edit] Can't tell but that looks like my car, again, because of the lil yellow corner on the windshield (school parking pass). Dunno though.

 

Yeah...I was gonna say, ChelsDS...is that your car???? hehehe...

 

haha my car is known! :O *happy* Kidding...

but yea, what is the difference between the TRD strut bar(s) and the Tanabe strut bar(s)? I can see Tanabe is cheaper than TRD but what about the quality? Usually with car stuff I'm assuming you want to spend the money for the better quality stuff..

 

Well comareing the 2 the Tanabe u can unbolt the bar from the mounts, while the TRD is a solid peice, and the TRD will be more $$.

O and the other big difference is that u can't get the TRD anymore. Aparantly the salesman at my dealer had told me that the letter he got from Toyota said that they found the bar does absolutely nothing for the car. Also since someone had the bright idea to shove the shocktowers n batter under that cowling the bar will get in the way of removing/jumping the battery n other maintnance work. He was forced to send back afew bars that customers ordered because of this.... Sounds silly to me.

 

I'm guessing the rear bar would do more than the front one, so the rear would stiffer on corners.

Right?

 

Just throwing this out there .... would it have been too much to ask for longer battery cables and ... I unno ... just turn the battery around?

 

ChelsDS- The rear swaybar does make a drastic improvement. A guy I meet with the other week got the rear swaybar after the dealer had to send back the stb n said it does make a difference on the new xd.

azepolyn- That would be one logical solution. I dunno y Toyota couldn't have come up with that instead of just stop makeing the bar. But hey that's y there's aftermarket.

 

I contacted Sparks Toyota/Scion because their online accesories shop TRDsparks.com usually has the beat prices around (I had seen the xD's TRD STB sold on a site for $199). They told me that TRD stopped making them because it does nothing for the car's handling and those still selling them were only trying to clear they're stock. I won't spend $200+ on an engine dress-up item, so that was that. I appreciated they're honesty!

 

TRDSparks r good people. Toyota really should have done more research on this before releaseing the product, gettin people's interest in it, n then just pulling the product off the shelf. If it doesn't do anything than ya shouldn't even release anyting at all or even mention anything about it. O well Tanabe is going to have fill that void.

 

Tanabe strut bars are much cheaper... 98 bucks msrp so.. must be a lot cheaper at other vendors too.

 

Anyone have a Tanabe STB installed? I'd like to know if it makes a difference- I would be interested, especially at that price. The DC Sports STB($125) made a world of difference on my Matrix! One of the best mods I made- can't beleive they don't just come standard

 

i really wonder why the trd strut bar has no effect on handling performance..

 

if the trd bar doesn't add any performance benefit, and it's a solid piece of metal, i would wager a finger that the tanabe bar doesnt, either. i've yet to see an adjustable strut tower bar work even 1/2 as well as a comparable solid bar.

from the looks of the xd, the firewall pretty much acts like a giant strut tower bar. i doubt any aftermarket tower bar will be worth the money spent on this particular car.. doesn't seem like there would be enough contact space for it to work properly w/o some new holes drilled.

 

Can't wait to have an extra $100 to get the rear strut bar. Mmmm

 

im curious to know how well those help. the xds dont come with one at all, right? even with a torsion beam suspension, im sure using a sway bar has to have definite positive effects, right?

 

is it because possibily the front struts are tucked in under the windshield and stuff?

and yea.. the Tanabe strut bar is adjustable so it may have some effect.

 

my concern is the fact that there's one attachment bolt for the strut bars. that just can't be enough to transfer much more energy than the firewall is already doing.