That is a pretty good report, from both of you.
However what I need to know is as follows.
Body lean, how much less?.
At high speeds on a straight line, how much more of a solid feel the car has?.
On bank curves at high speed, does the car still behaves as though you were driving at a lower speed?.
In other words, now that I have the suspension and the car body locked into one, the tires have become the Achilles heel, yes?.
The above assumes a very good driver.
Ok, I'll try...
With the suspension mods I've done, there is almost no body lean on extreme turns. I have a u-turn that I do every day on my way home from work, It's basically like making a u-turn from one lane to the one next to you, the Sky is one of the few cars that has a turning radius tight enough to make it without going into the opposite lane. For example, my truck not only goes into the other lane, it goes right up against the curb on the other side of the street. Ok, so in the Sky I can go up to the turnaround at about 30mph, push in the clutch, whip the steering wheel full lock and make the turn. After about 3/4 of the way through the turn I let out the clutch and start to get on it in 2nd gear.
So with the addition of the LV brace, body roll may be a little less, and the frame stiffness does feel slightly tighter. What I mean by that is on a stock Kappa, the same turn at the same speed with roll more, squeak the tires (stock tires will scream) and just not whip around it with as much force. If you've driven like that enough, it's more of just a "feel", you can feel if the tires are folding under or holding camber straight even with heavy loads. You can "feel" frame flex, and you can tell when you're driving a car with a lot or very little. I grew up driving '60's muscle cars, I had a '67 Mercury Cougar that I used to jump on this one road near my house. (yep, all four wheels off the ground!) The jump wasn't straight, so when you lifted off and landed you could literally feel the car twisting. After a few dozen times doing that, you could stand behind the car and look at the trunk and the hood and see the car was actually permanently twisted. (oops.) That car didn't have a frame, and was EXTREMELY "loose" as far as cars now are. So when you'd transition from one turn to the next, the body would have to "unwind" from one direction to the other. The tighter you get the frame and suspension, the quicker the car can recover from one turn and be ready for the next.
I think I'm getting a little off of your actual question here LV, but I have another analogy about frame and suspension stiffness... I've raced dirt bikes since I was a kid, frame and suspension stiffness is HUGE on dirt bikes, and motorcycles in general. Picture hitting a deep rut and an angle while going very fast on a bike. The force of hitting the rut wants to push the wheels sideways, but not evenly because you're not hitting the rut straight on. On a bike with a weak frame and suspension, the bike will absorb all that force in the frame, forks, wheels, etc. After you're through the rut, all that stored up energy is released and the frame, forks, wheels, etc will bend back the other direction. I've landed a big jump successfully only to have the rebound of all that energy be too much to handle and end up crashing 50 feet from the landing. Now take that same rut with a stiff frame and suspension, and all the energy is absorbed in the suspension, transmitting almost none into the frame because it's strong enough to hold the suspension mount points solid.
Soooo, back to the u-turn... I would say there IS less twist felt with the LV brace on, it just changes direction in a more planted, solid manner. As far as the tire question, if you have crappy tires (stock Goodyears suck) yes, they will end up being the weak link because they can't take the increased loads. Just like the bike analogy, if the frame is stronger, all that energy has to go somewhere, so yes, the suspension and tires are taking more of that load. If you have good tires, they'll just work a little better with suspension that holds angles like it's supposed to.
On your high speed stability questions, again, this isn't so much about your brace specifically but here's my thoughts...
So the question about a "solid feel" at high speeds, yes and no. Back to the loose, flexy car and bike analogies, yes, a stiffer frame and suspension will feel more "solid" at high speeds, but might also feel a little more "lively" too. Meaning the "tighter" you get a car to handle, the faster it can make those direction changes. Hit a pothole, or something like my bike crossing a rut at an angle, and having a tighter, quicker moving car can be a handful. In a big Cadillac you'll sway back and forth a little, but you're probably not going to feel it in the steering. Hit that rut in a tightened up Kappa, and if you're not holding on to that wheel tight, you might be in for a surprise. I've done some high speed, left, right, up, down, another quick left then off camber back to the right, quick transitions in the Sky and let me tell you, it can be a handful. It's awesome to have a car that responds to the slightest steering and braking inputs, but you need to be really quick to be able to recover if it gets away from you. With a stock suspension, things happen a little slower so you have more time to adjust, but at that point you might not have enough suspension and brakes to save it either.
Short answer- after putting all the suspension and frame bracing that's out there for the Kappa's on your car, it will "feel" more "solid", but it might make it a little less forgiving at higher speeds.
Last question about high speed curves...
Yes, the brace will make high speed curves feel like you're at a slower speed. Ever notice how riding in a "loose" car or truck (or even worse, in the back of a bus) on a twisty road makes you sick? Ride the same road in the passenger seat of a Vette or something else like that and you don't get sick, even at twice the speeds. Stiffer suspension, frames, tires, body, all that definitely make high speed turns feel like you're going through them at a lower speed. When I went from my old "bike hauler" truck (an older full size Chevy with good power but old, soft suspension) to my '08 GMC Sierra V-Max, that has huge sway bars, overbuilt suspension and brakes, super strong frame and excellent tires, my riding buddy and I noticed something really weird after driving it on a few trips. We noticed that all the sudden going to the same places we've gone to for years seems to (and actually does) take less time to get there and back. Same roads, better, tighter frame and suspension.
Holy cr#p, can you tell I'm just sitting around with nothing to do but ramble on in a forum this evening? I know I was a little off track with my blabbering, but hopefully I came close to answering your questions! As I said before, the brace does help tighten the car up. Coming up with an exact before and after assessment I believe is extremely hard on stuff like this. I can't tell you that before on my u-turn test that I had .91g's and after putting your brace on it went to .93, I don't have the time, equipment, team of experts and resources to eliminate all the variables to come up with an accurate assessment. I do know when a car "feels" and works well, and your brace can't hurt in getting the Kappa's towards that goal. Like I also said before, I believe this kind of thing is a "cumulative" type of thing, I've had guys that work on Kappa's everyday drive my car and are blown away by the handling. Obviously all the mods added up to a car that is VERY different, and for ME and how I drive, better than a stock Kappa.
