Improving Handling.

[Thug541]

ALright everybody. This summer i'm planning on improving my handlingon my car. I have a 2002 protege es. I have new tires, so thats nothing to worry about. But what do you guys suggest in terms of sway bars and springs? Keep in mind I have no clue how to do mechanical stuff on my car, and i also still have a warrenty on my car so i'm not sure if anything would void it. But if you guys could just give me some advice on a beginners setup that would improve handling that would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

[I_Vtec]

Tein SS coilovers

 

[NRRfrogmanP5]

definatly wanna lower it...all the springs are much the same just depeneds how low u wanna go...and racing beat makes good rear sway and front strut braces..i reccoment tein springs ..just cause i got em and love en ..goodluck

 

[NRRfrogmanP5]

Tein SS coilovers

awsome choice but if u dont wanna spend 1200 go with justthe springs lol(cool)

 

[Thug541]

Hmm alright. Anyone know a nice website that sells these parts? Cause i think mazdagarage.com shut down.

 

[Pretzellogic]

Tokico HPs
Eibach Prokit (Tein's are good, but slightly less than the Eibachs for handling)
Upgraded rear sway bar (either Racing Beat or AWR)

 

[vaMP5er]

I just put Mazdaspeed (Racing Beat) springs on my p5 (got them used for $50) with Tokico HPs (just over $300 on ebay) and it handles great. Just add an AWR rear sway bar and you'll be good to go.

 

[toucci]

Tokico HPs
Eibach Prokit (Tein's are good, but slightly less than the Eibachs for handling)
Upgraded rear sway bar (either Racing Beat or AWR)

this is what I am going to do in the near future. seems like the best setup for the street.

 

[smithers_0990]

What kind of tires do you have now?

I would recommend not cheaping out by just getting springs. Get struts, springs, and the AWR 21.5mm Rear Sway Bar to start with.

If you have any leftover money send it to me.

(hippy)

 

[Pretzellogic]

What kind of tires do you have now?

I would recommend not cheaping out by just getting springs. Get struts, springs, and the AWR 21.5mm Rear Sway Bar to start with.

If you have any leftover money send it to me.

(hippy)

I would reccomend the 19mm bar over the 21mm. I have the 21, and it can be rude at times. Remember, it will replace comfortable understeer with oversteer.

 

[Thug541]

Hm, so i think i'm gonna go with the eibach pro kit, which is a 1.8 drop in the back and a 1.4 in the front. And i'm looking for a site where i can get the 19mm sway bar. WIll i need a strut brace too?

 

[Pretzellogic]

Hm, so i think i'm gonna go with the eibach pro kit, which is a 1.8 drop in the back and a 1.4 in the front. And i'm looking for a site where i can get the 19mm sway bar. WIll i need a strut brace too?

A strut bar would be good. There is always someone who is selling their stock p5 or MSP bar. Look around.

I would also reccomend upgrading your struts, as the stock ones with wear out eventually with new springs.

 

[Thug541]

Hmm, what struts do you guys suggest?

 

[Pretzellogic]

Tokico HPs

 

[Thug541]

Added it up, didn't really look for the best deal yet, but we are lookign at $978 before installation. woooo.....i hope i can feel the difference. haha. So the line up is going to be.
Eibach prokit
Tokico HP struts
AWR aluminum strut brace
AWR 19mm. fully adjustable sway bar

If anyone has any other suggestions let me know. ALso, if anyone in the NY area could help me install these, that would def. save me money on the installtion of all of this. Thanks all.

 

[FunkyBuddha]

I personally prefer H&R springs. Your setup looks good too. Any of the above products you put on the car, it'll void your warranty already. Just like putting lowering springs on stock struts.
this is my setup
H&R springs 1.3 all around
Illumina adjustable struts
racing beat rear sway bar
awr adjustable endlinks (don't forget these in your purchase)

 

[Thug541]

Well i mean it'll only void the warrenty on anything that goes wrong in that department. Like if my wipers or dome light stopped working they would still have to fix it right? And yea, the AWR's I priced out came with endlinks.

 

[KpaBap]

Get decent tires, a good alignment, and get yourself some driving school. You'd be surprised.

 

[Thug541]

haha well i think i have good tires. THe dealer agreed to throw in new tires when i bought the car. They are GT Radial Champiro Hi-Pref. THey grip great in dry weather and haven't experienced to many slips in the rain. And i'm a pretty good driver for a 20 year old i think, no accidents yet (knock on wood) while half of my friends have been in 2 or more.

 

[KpaBap]

gee if you think those are good tires, I can only imagine the look on your face if you got some Azenis or even Eagle F1s or Toyo T1S-es

if you think the dealer got you some nice tires, then you're in for a disappointment, I can assure you they found the first cheapest set of tires they could and threw them on there to get you out the door,

I'm sure they go great with the cheap snake oil they sold you as well