Mazda5 Sway Bar Upgrade Questions

[LittleTaxi5]

Hi Everyone,

I was encouraged to post this question here by a redditor I asked it on the 5 sub over there but they said its better asked here because this a more enthusiast focused forum. My question is below:

Hi 5 community. I just became the 2nd owner of a 2013 6mt with 72k miles on the clock and I am stoked on it! It is in need of new suspension and I am going to put Napa/OEM replacement parts on it as I dont want to drop the car. I want to take this opportunity to upgrade the sway bars to make the car more engaging in corners.

I am coming out of a 2011 Mazda2 with the ford fiesta upgraded sport springs and struts (not ST version) plus a rear corksport trans-beam brace.

With my new 5 I think it would be financially smart to put on a used front and rear sway bar and brackets from like year speed 3. My main question is if I upgrade both the front and rear bar will I end up with stock like handling, just nippier? I liked the way the back end of the 2 would come around more with lift off oversteer after I added the corksport brace. So, should I put a front speed 3 bar on and something like a James Barone racing rear bar (bigger than speed 3) to make the rear end of the car come around quicker? Will I be happy enough with the speed 3 front and rear bars? Should I just do a speed 3 rear brace?

Thanks for your insights!

Sincerely,
-J

 

[forky]

I tossed the whiteline rear sway bar on my 5 a while back. I also did the poly control arm bushes/alk. I haven't REALLY noticed lift off os, but I don't REALLY push the car that hard. noticeably less "push" or "plowing" through corners, read: roundabouts haha. The front subframe has to get dropped to do the front, I don't know if that will sway your opinion about which to do.

 

[MarkVII88]

Some years ago, I bought an adjustable, performance rear sway bar from James Barone Racing for my 2012 Mazda5. I paired this with a set of Moog rear sway bar end links. I found that the end links did not hold up to this sway bar, becoming loose and rattling after not too long. Even after re-tightening, with blue locktite, and making sure they were greased, these end links just were not that great. The finish on the JBR rear sway bar broke down easily and rather quickly (New England Winters) and they got very rusty within a year.

Ultimately this sway bar did not last more than 18 months. I ended up buying a rear sway bar and end links from a Gen2 Mazdaspeed 3 to replace it, and found that to be quite superior to the aftermarket JBR sway bar setup. Still running strong today after at least 7-8 years.