Visually only, from an engineering point of view, the VP braces look far superior because they tie more of the undercarriage together. I honestly don't see any benefit with the other kit's separated rear bars. They provide some front to back stiffening, but I would imagine their side to side stabilizing to be minimal.
The Strut Bar knocks the SSD bar for six with its sexy looks, but where's the adjustability? Doesn't appear to have any.
In the Soul Club of Ontario most of us have SSD strut bars, so we've tested their function every day we drive our cars. We were only discussing this on Sunday and in all cases those of us who dialled in a bit of preload when adjusting the strut length find we have tighter, more predictable handling than when the bar is looser and the spherical joints and bar can be easily be rotated by hand. With a non-adjustable strut bar you can't pre-load the strut towers in this way.
The biggest difference in our 2 kits is the rear brace setup. My rear brace connects the suspension to the body more solidly to help control flex and sway, while theirs ties the floor to the frame rail, something that is already done pretty solidly, and does nothing to help the suspension.
Both front bar styles do the same thing, they just look differently. We actually passed on the front design they used when we made ours.
Another difference is material used. I'm not 100% sure on theirs, but we only use chromoly steel so our braces are super strong and really light. A complete underside kit POWDERCOATED weighs in at only 19lbs when ready to ship.
We are planning on creating another underside brace this fall, as well as our own STB that will weigh around half of those already on the market, and be just as strong, if not stronger.
Do any of these braces affect the comfort of the ride, or do they just improve the cornering/handling? I just put on some new Michelin Defenders (along with the SSD strut brace), and the ride is 100% better. I would hate to degrade it.
I know that my braces won't affect your ride quality until you start pushing the car. The way the braces are designed, they support the systems already in place and help them work better, so unless you're working the suspension you won't notice them.
I did notice a few weeks ago as I was traveling back from atlanta to chattanooga I was running around 90 mph that I was fighting it alot, my car seemed to want to swerve and I would have to correct it often.