Anyone ever heard of Frame locks before?

Supposedly they increase handling and front end stiffness/stability, reducing understeer.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by cruzersi00 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Anyone ever heard of Frame locks before?

Supposedly they increase handling and front end stiffness/stability, reducing understeer.</TD></TR></TABLE>

any more info?

I have no idea what you are even talkin about?

 

Are those like the fender braces made by Z10 or whoever it is?

 

probably something simliar to those jdm fender things

 

these thing? ???

 

Korbach Performance.

http://korbachperformance.com/

http://korbachperformance.com/framelocks.htm

 

Meh. Probably do as much as the JDM fender braces.

But at least they come with stickers

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The harsh ride you get from lowering your car and stiffening your springs will disappear </TD></TR></TABLE>

I seriously doubt that.

 

No personal experience here, but plenty of skepticism. They're claiming a hell of a lot of improvements:

"Lateral stiffness is increased
Understeer is virtually eliminated; you’ll feel as if you’ve achieved a 50/50 balance between your car’s front and back end
Turning is responsive and precise
Onramp cornering is improved
A more unified structure will eliminate excess front-end vibration
A sturdier structure will reduce the effects of engine shake
High speed driving feels smoother and more in-control
Potholes will lose their unexpected jolt
The harsh ride you get from lowering your car and stiffening your springs will disappear"

Seems like if it was that easy to solve that many problems, maybe the Honda engineers would've stumbled across it

 

I just don't see how those are going to do anything except add weight and maybe make the car more dangerous in an accident.

 

exactly-

I wonder if any of the auto-x or road racers have seen or have experience with these. You would think such an easy mod would have been thought of before.

 

I remeber on clubsi.com they had a free "trial" where they were doing like 15 free install's of their product as a promotion. I seemed skeptical, and they were only taking a certain model of the civic. I cant remeber if it was the same company, but it was local to me in San Francisco and I was somewhat interested.

Besides the far fetched claims it might be a decent new technology.

 

The guys that invented this work, or have worked for OEM manufacturers, and have done a lot of analysis on this product, last I checked they didn't have it available for the DC2 chassis. I met with them when they were still in the BETA testing stages, and we found that they would have to produce a new SKU for the DC2 chassis, so we did not do any testing on my car.

There will be a couple page article in the September issue of HondaTuning.

Austin

 

If it was that easy to stiffen the frame by more securely mounting the bumper to the subframe horns, why not just weld the bumper on? I highly doubt that this company could produce any QUANTITATIVE torsional stiffness or chassis rigidity data for this product.

 

isnt that a torsion bar?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Dogginator &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If it was that easy to stiffen the frame by more securely mounting the bumper to the subframe horns, why not just weld the bumper on? I highly doubt that this company could produce any QUANTITATIVE torsional stiffness or chassis rigidity data for this product.</TD></TR></TABLE>

It works on the resonate frequency of the vehicle, and with the modification it is supposed to make quite a difference. They're the automotive engineers that have done similar testing for the big 4, so I think that they know what they're doing.

Austin

 

i wonder how much they cost.

i dont mind trying it out. see if there's any diff

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Austin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

It works on the resonate frequency of the vehicle, and with the modification it is supposed to make quite a difference. They're the automotive engineers that have done similar testing for the big 4, so I think that they know what they're doing.

Austin</TD></TR></TABLE>

You sound like the Quaife rep trying to explain that their product is superior to the ITR LSD without providing an any factual evidence. Do you know of any examples (just one) of this type of device being implemented in one of the big 4 (BTW: who is the fourth?) production vehicles? If something that cheap is going to make your car that much superior, why not use it to outclass your competitors?

Any company that makes the claim "Onramp cornering is improved" has zero credibility. Their remainder of their list of claims is just as outrageous. Perhaps they just needed to tighten the bumper bolts on their test car.

It's your money; have at it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Austin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

It works on the resonate frequency of the vehicle, and with the modification it is supposed to make quite a difference. They're the automotive engineers that have done similar testing for the big 4, so I think that they know what they're doing.

Austin</TD></TR></TABLE>

Or more likely they know just what kind of suckers tuners are for well marketed add-ons. Afterall the aftermarket is anenormous business filled with lots of promises and few results.

I just don't understand how stiffening the front of the chassis will reduce understeer - quite the opposite in fact. If you want to reduce understeer, play with tire pressures or spring rates. And how you can eliminate a harsh ride due to stiff springs with this gizmo seems far fetched. Lots of claims as to how it "feels" but no quantifiable proof that it works.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Austin &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It works on the resonate frequency of the vehicle, and with the modification it is supposed to make quite a difference. They're the automotive engineers that have done similar testing for the big 4, so I think that they know what they're doing.</TD></TR></TABLE>

'splain to me how something installed 18" in front of the shock towers is beneficial for handling? If it were a racecar, that whole area would probably be bent or crumpled up anyways.



I could be wrong, but I just dont see it working.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> the körbach promise

We firmly believe that the ride and handling improvements you’ll experience upon installing our product will change the way you feel about your car. However, if for any reason you are not satisfied with your FRAME LOCKS, you can return them within 45 days and receive your money back.

Honda Civic (1996-2000) FRAME LOCKS will be
available for purchase after August 14, 2004.
Register now for special promotional price of $195 (list price is $245).
</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

yeah just fill out this form...and this one too...and these 3 others. Pay for shipping, fill out tax return forms for the product and federal classification codes.

 

Almost reminds me of subframe connectors...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by IrishStyler &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Almost reminds me of subframe connectors...</TD></TR></TABLE>

?

 

Lateral stiffness is increased= Perhaps

Understeer is virtually eliminated; you’ll feel as if you’ve achieved a 50/50 balance between your car’s front and back end= Yeah right, understeer is not due to a "soft" front end, and who said 50/50 is desirable in a FWD car?

Turning is responsive and precise= This is the only claim I would even consider to be beneficial.

Onramp cornering is improved= Don't even get me started.

A more unified structure will eliminate excess front-end vibration= Last time I checked, the stiffer you make anyhting the easier it transmits vibrations.

A sturdier structure will reduce the effects of engine shake= same as above

High speed driving feels smoother and more in-control= Doubtful

Potholes will lose their unexpected jolt= Again, a stiffer car (supposedly) would have stiffer bumps.

The harsh ride you get from lowering your car and stiffening your springs will disappear= Same as above.

I don't care who designed these but their claims are down right retarded and they couldn't have been designed for competition use because they aren't legal under the more popular competition rule sets.

Their web designer also needs a spell check.