Been driving the Eos a lot more recently as the weather has finally warmed up here is Nor Cal. The Eos is reasonably stiff for a drop top, but wondering if I can tighten up some of the cowl shake with a strut tie bar. So I went a-googling and I can not find anyone who sells one. I know the Eos is based on a lot of Passat architecture, but what are the chances a Passat strut tie bar would fit? Anyone have any thoughts or ideas?

Been driving the Eos a lot more recently as the weather has finally warmed up here is Nor Cal. The Eos is reasonably stiff for a drop top, but wondering if I can tighten up some of the cowl shake with a strut tie bar. So I went a-googling and I can not find anyone who sells one. I know the Eos is based on a lot of Passat architecture, but what are the chances a Passat strut tie bar would fit? Anyone have any thoughts or ideas?


From my experience, the only successful solution to increasing the rigidity of a convertible is to use a cruciform ["X"] brace underneath the floor of the passenger compartment. This brace acts in the same way as the roof structure in a conventional car to increase rigidity. If you can get the opportunity to look underneath a Rolls-Royce Corniche convertible, you will see a typical example.

A tie bar between the suspension towers only stiffens the body structure to stop the wheel alignment changing during hard cornering and altering the handling characteristics when you least want this to happen. I doubt if it would stop scuttle shake.

I hear that when a strut brace is fitted to the BMW series 3 convertible,the car feels stiffer generally with less scuttle shake.

I hear that when a strut brace is fitted to the BMW series 3 convertible,the car feels stiffer generally with less scuttle shake.


Why would you waste the time and money???? There are better things you can do with your money than buying a BMW in the first place :p:p:p.

Not expecting miracles here, but just a bit of reinforcement. I would not expect to completely remove cowl and steering wheel shake with a strut tie bar, but I had one on a '95 VR6 Jetta III (Bora for you Brits) and that made a great handling improvement. I figure it can't hurt structurally and it certainly can help the handling.

So anyone know of an Eos fitment for a strut tie bar, tower brace, or however you care to describe it?

Thanks....

A good welder should be able to fashion one for you, using mild steel.

There doesn't seem to be much out there in the way of front strut bars for the MKV Golf/Jetta, from which the Eos has its front suspension. The rear suspension is Passat-based. If you look in the engine bay, the strut towers are pretty darned close to the firewall. I would think a strut bar would be of limited utility for our cars. A strut bar did wonders for my old CRX, but its front end was a bit more flimsy.

To me the Eos has very minor cowl shake compared to other convertibles, so I'm happy with it in that respect.

[QUOTE=Lucid Nonsense;31597To me the Eos has very minor cowl shake compared to other convertibles, so I'm happy with it in that respect.[/QUOTE]

You are absolutely correct, plus, the Eos cannot be considered a performance car in any way, shape or form.

Just a very nice Sport Convertibe, a pleasure to drive, with a good amount of acceleration and great gas mileage.