For an L27 car, it'* more for bling than anything. The SSE will never see any track conditions, or real spirited driving for that matter. Though I DID put the poly endlinks on the front bar, and do plan on the poly bushings in the next few weeks.

I do see the point of flexing the aluminum under heavy cornering. I woould think this is of little consequence if driven normally, and if the rest of the suspension has been updated (poly links and bushings), flex, I would think, should minimal if nonexistant. I've ran this bar for a month now and I have not noticed a difference, good or bad. That may change over the long-term, and I am keeping a close eye on it for stress cracks.

It'* just a little something to toy with to see IF it works

I don't think the steel is that heavy. The weight savings will most likely be offset by poor performance.

While it looks nice..that'* not what matters in this case. GM designed the bar for normal driving..not track conditions.

I gaurantee that aluminum bar has already affeccted your everyday driving and cornering. In addition, the bolts will start wearing on it soon. It may also flex and start wearing on your hood insulator.

I've flexed my steel bar far enough to do that.

Another thing about aluminum it that it doesn't have a fatigue limit. That'* why planes and such have to be put out of commission after a certain amount of hours.
Steel does have a fatigue limit and can be designed so that it will never fail under normal load cycles.

The elders have spoken it seems.

I'll switch it back this week sometime. As I said, it'* an experiment that I hoped would have worked AND looked good at the same time. I'll use the barstock in some other project on down the road.

Thanks for the input guys. I knew going into this there would be pros and cons. In this instance, the cons outweigh the pros for good reasons.

Yeah but you never know until you try.... Right.

A little late joining in (of course). I gotta say it does look damned good. But I would be a bit nervous as well about replacing that particular part. Anxious to try it for sure, but considering all that the STB does, I hate even touching it...

Yeah, it'* a good idea, just not the best material to make it from. (Kinda why you don't often see cars with tube aluminium chassis...the constant flexing weakens the aluminium until it fails.)

If it'* bling ya want, fabricate the STB out of steel tube and have it either plated or powder coated. You could do one of those double spars with a web plate between them

My 05 Grand Prix GXP has an all-aluminum front crade/subframe. But it'* like 6 times thicker than the old steels ones. :P You wonder how much is really gained there...

This is why steel wheels are stronger and weigh less, and are preferred for slicks.