i feel like an idiot asking this but what does this do?

 

It looks like some sort of anti-sway bar. Has to do something with getting better handling... I think....

 

that's a strut brace. it decreases body flex in hard cornering. imo, you wouldn't want one of those w/o first stiffening up the rear. stock an a4 has a little bit of understeer. stiffening up the front only will increase understeer (not good). sway bars are also a better idea, because you already have more body roll than body flex (sway bars help with body roll)

edit: sway bars are underneath your car. strut bars/braces are inside you car, and connect to the top of your strut towers (if you didn't already figure that out)

 

strut bar, upper tower bar, its looks nice but the sport B5 A4 has a dinky strut bar

 

so even though it looks like it would help i should still get the rear sway bar?

 

imo, the rear sway bar should be first on your list. if you're getting too much oversteer after you install the rear, you can get the front sway bar also. strut bars become more functional when you have a performance suspension or major mods that put alot of strain on your chassis. like i said, sway bars reduce body roll. strut bars reduce body flex. most likely, you have experienced a good amount of body roll. but i doubt you've felt your body flex at all.

 

get em both more the marrier

 

if u really look at theres no point bc the reason people make these is to connect the 'towers' together which is what ur fire wall does in the first place and that thing goes down deep then if u have a sport then u have another stock one. its just for all looks man. i was gonna get one but there is really no point unless the mod bug is gettin at ya and u have everything else. go with the sways first. rear then front. if ur still un happy then by the strut bar

 

Umm, that post above mine, is wrong. The firewall doesnt offer nearly the support a strut tower would. Our cars are flexy noodles, which is why I would put the sway bar on the top of the list. On certain cars though, strut tower braces make a world of difference. VR6 converted golfs should have them, my buddy has a 95 Firebird Formula, with well over 400 hp, and he used a 3 point strut tower, and it made a world of difference! But like somebody said before, until you mod your car in other ways ie) suspension/lots of power, you wont need the tower brace.

Just my opinion.

That is my buddies car in the backround, behind mine -- his was faster :P

[IMG]local://upfiles/3695/46C400F61ABE4048821F32A6C8A13C50.jpg[/IMG]

 

audihere, on some cars that is the case, but very few. almost any car's handling can be improved at least a little by a strut brace. audis can definitely use some help (esp if you have the non-sport suspension). but sway bars will be much more useful and give a more noticeable change to your ride.