I was looking at getting one to improve handling a bit more. The ones in the engine bay are the most popular, but after doing a bit of reading some people have said that it doesn't add much.
Might be because the strut towers are so near the bulkhead which already does a similar thing to what the strut brace does in connecting the two together... although the strut brace will make it even stiffer.

Apparently the lower front strut brace that goes across the bottom under the sump has a more noticeable effect, but the only one I can find online for the mk6 is from Ultra Racing in Malaysia. Annoying, because the OMP one for the mk5 is only £35.
I guess the rear strut brace that goes in the boot is quite effective as there's not much structure connecting those strut towers, however it does take up quite a bit of boot space.

- Who's got the front strut brace and how big of a difference did it make?
- Does anyone have the lower front one? Opinions? Where did you get it from?
- How good is the rear one and does it compromise the boot space much?

Ive got front upper, i installed it at same time as coilovers so no idea if it improved handling or not.

Havent got rear strut brace but have got rear anti roll bar which is a nice improvement

granted, I only had a ZS, but once I installed my front upper strut brace, I noticed much better handling. Turn in was so sharp and direct. Definitely noticed a difference.

Lowered it later which made it better again

I've recently fitted a Sparco top strut brace. Think the car is sharper now. If you turn the wheels when driving straight forward you feel the whole car turning at once.
Also got a bit scared when getting in to a S turn over a little crest and the car turned sharply much more rapid than I expected. If you drive to fast through a roundabout the car can lift a bit in the front losing traction. So maybe mine is set a bit to rigid.

My suspension is Bilstein B12 kit with Eibach springs.

You've convinced me on the front upper one, so it's going to be my next mod.

i have both on mine, the front one as said above just gives better feel on turn in, the rear one i got as i had it stripped out, i felt it replaced the rigidity taking the seats out made it lose

I put a rear brace on my old MK5 Fiesta and to be fair it made not a lot of difference at all. Not sure about the seats being in adding structural rigidity though, they're split fold so aren't a solid beam across the back of the car.

On the MK5, the one that supposedly made a lot of difference was the front lower (under the sump) brace.

Rear seats are just gonna add rear weight, not rigidity........

Apparently, OMP don't make one for the mk6. Only one I found is in Malaysia.. if that's even the right one.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/221459571185
So I've inquired about having one fabricated instead.

when your flat out round corners at 70-80mph you can notice it, i had it wedged in at 1st then on track it fell out, but with the seats in it never fell out

Fitted the under-bonnet one at the weekend, was surprised that it actually touches the brake fluid reservoir.

I felt a definite improvement (not sure how much is a placebo effect though ).
As you've said, the turn in feels better - more immediate, as though it's taken out some of the flex that happens when you first turn the wheel. Also feels more controlled in the corners.