Thanks to this post I found mine cracked and replaced it before the firewall was totally trashed. The new bracket appeared to be about the same gauge steel and general construction. The big difference was the bushing at the base of the threaded stud that goes through the firewall. This appears to be much larger and likely distributes the load over a larger area of the bracket to minimize localized stresses leading to metal fatigue. Do get the backing plate and install this between the clutch master cylinder and firewall in the engine bay. Again, this reinforces the firewall if you have minor stress fractures - the dealers don't seem to know much about this piece.