I have been shopping around for a strut brace and found the OEM Brace from Volvo of Houston for $156 + Shipping. Seems like a great deal. My question is - are apples apples or are some strut braces better than others? I have heard OMP makes one, as well as EA and other companies. are they all equal?

Steel is real, alloy's a toy. Look at the specs on 1" .028 aluminum verses the same size steel tubing.

what performance gains can be made out of the steel omp strut brace?

The point of a brace is to reinforce the front of the car so it flexes less. Steel is a lot more rigid then aluminum. Granted this can be compensated for with larger diameter tubing but all things being equal......

If I make one myself, should I make it to fit when the car is raised from the ground, or standing on the wheels?

Erlend

so which are the most rigid strut braces and where does the oem volvo one find itself with those steel rigid ones?

he suggests the OMP one in as many words

the BTCC cars used the volvo one AFAIK, and the OEM one is solidly built

plenty of road race bikes (pedal power) use aluminum or carbon fiber frames, yes they are wider than the steel or chrome moly bikes

point is a well made brace is a well-made brace.

momo makes one as well

the weakest (but still solid parts) are probably from the look of them the IPD brace.

the volvo oem one looks like it came with the car the OMP one is bright yellow (which might be cool if the car is yellow)

everyone I've seen post about the volvo one is happy, as is everyone else who's posted.

have you any idea how much the OMP brace is and how much it costs?

I used to be quite into bikes, and I am aware of all the frame options out there. But look at Cannondale for example. Their 2.5" tubing was not as rigid as a steel Merlin frame. As for braces I would just look for a steel brace with one joint not two. I believe that leaves you with Momo and OMP. Usually MOMO is junk on safety products but their brace is actually pretty good. I believe the Momo goes for 200 ish and the OMP for 130ish.

What's their new website?
--
1998 Nautic Blue C70 - minor mods here and there...and HID!!!

dunno. i got the info weeks ago. their # is, I THINK - 1-800-468-0041 . talk to Frank (i think that's his name) quoted me 156 + shipping

I fitted one of the Volvo srut braces a few weeks ago and found it to be well engineered and a perfect fit. Just make sure you have the torque wrench to tighten down the bolts to specs., it is a very simple job to fit, all of 30 mins from beginning to end. Your quoted price was very good, I paid $195 plus tax for mine.
John Scales (1996 850R)

It is about as good a deal as you will get anywhere, and it's a well-designed piece. Once you locate your tools, it will take about 15 minutes to do the whole thing, because the fit is perfect.

Is that the former Nils Sefeldt dealership? I ordered from them in the past and they had good prices. I like the look of the ipd/tme brace but don't know the back-to-back comparison.

Yes, that's the former Nils Sefeldt. I bought my Volvo strut tower brace from them about 3 1/2 years ago. It looks NICE, aluminum finish has "Volvo" and "Sweden" and a Volvo p.n. printed on it so your service manager doesn't get all upset if you're still under warranty. And it all fits.

-Phil Punxsutawney