to be honest,i think people inadvisadley expect to transform the handling of thier car by adding the strutbrace.
i would think fiat looked long and hard when the chassis was first designed,and did many many tests.
imo i would think that in normal road use the brace won't give outstanding gains.
the benefits should be apparent through track use and under extreme loads.this is afterall a performance mod and any such gains would only be achieved through perfomance usage.
must admit though they do look

Fitting a strut brace on a 20vt stops that annoying steering wheel wobble up and down over bumps. If you have uprated suspension this gets worse, and a strut brace is a must.

The brace should be tight on its mounts - if it can move laterally it's hardly going to do it's job is it?

so whats the final analysis on it all then?

Makes a hell of a difference, makes no difference, only makes a difference on a track,fit it under tension, fit it under compression, fit it under no load.

You're never short of opinions on this forum, take your pick!!

That's the beauty of it. No matter what you think - someone's going to tell you you're spot on.

In fact it's going to be really difficult to do something with the strutt brace that somebody hasn't recommended.

LOL
lets do it all then

no i think you all have got it wrong,suba shaun and me,we all have told you the same,lock it in place

I just have one more comment on the whole strut brace tightening in, out or whatever.

If it is not supposed to be either in compression or tension, why does a 20vt strut brace have an adjuster? It's quite clearly designed for the coop only so if it only needs to be bolted on, why bother with allowing adjustment?

Production line assembly process tolerances?

The adjustment on the brace is at least 30mm !! I sincerely hope the tolerances are better than that

at the end of the day, Fiat looked at the coupe and decided to put the strut brace on for a reason, they MUST of thought it needed it, not just for when a customer decided to track there car or because it looks nice PMSL !!!

It must do something even if you don't feel like it is, some people seem to think that it makes the world of difference and others don't.
It is a forum after all, people will always have different opinions.

personally i believe that once fitted, it should be adjusted to suit the width and be there as a support, and as a support only. surely its the same as most "screw" type applications.
Don't overtighten and obviously not to loose.

As previous statements, trying to "bend" the chassis / struts / suspension is only ever going to have a negitive effect.