I got a little more bottom end torque in my old VT with a manifold insulator but minimal, that was also with the custom twin TB plenum. I did notice it kept th plenum a little cooler which is its main job. As for the strut brace, they have a tendency to keep your car drivable after hitting a gutter at 70km/h coming out of a small roundabout. My passenger strut tower would have been leaning on the headers if I didn't have the brace to brace them. All I got was a little clack in that rubber joint seal stuff.