1st and 2nd Gen MS3s have pretty good suspension from the factory, but let's face it. There's always room for improvement, especially in a FWD car. That being said, I was looking for the biggest bang for my buck and I'm pretty sure I've found it with the Progress Rear Sway Bar exclusively from RaceRoots.
Price: $185 USD
Manufacturer: Progress
Specs:
- Bar Size: 32mm
- Bar type: Tubular Bar
- 2 Way adjustable
- Polyurethane bushings
- Reinforced mounting plate!
STOCK: 25mm Solid non-adj 862.12 lbs/in
2 settings of stiffness:
(soft) 56% stiffer than the stock sway bar with a rate of 1342.89 lbs/in
(firm) 79% stiffer than the stock sway bar with a rate of 1542.27 lbs/in
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First impression:
Opening the box I see this monster sway bar and I start to smile. I'm used to 25-27mm sway bars on some of my other vehicles, but this thing is gigantic at 32mm. The machining is very precise and the welds very clean, a trademark of Progress products.
The powdercoat gray is a nice touch and doesn't stick out on the undercarriage. I was afraid of it being too obvious since I drive a Black Mica but it blends in pretty well.
I compared the stock bar to the Progress and let me just say it was like a toothpick next to a crowbar. You can feel the difference just by holding the two. I'm not going to lie, but I thought the production quality of the Progress was superior to that of stock.
Install:
Now, I'm fortunate enough to have lift access and air tools so my install was a bit quicker. The instructions suggest you remove the rear tires. Don't bother, trust me it's not needed. I undid the endlinks thent he bushing brackets and the old RSB was off in 5 minutes.
Progress includes grease for the bushings (MAKE SURE TO USE IT!!). I put the bushings on, then the brackets and bolted in without torquing so I could get the endlinks back on. I started off with the soft setting (outer hole) to get a feel for things, but after my test drive I switched to the stiff setting (inner hole). Make sure that you torque to spec on everything and USE LOCTITE on the endlinks. They tend to come lose after a while. After everything was torqued down, it was time for a drive.
Drive/Testing:
I first started off with the soft setting just to get a baseline. I took a few corners at 30-40mph with little body roll and a slight reduction in understeer. I went about 5 miles through a closed area and really got on it, it was noticeable but not to my liking.
So I put it back up on the rack and went to the stiff setting. I took it out on the streets and my face lit up like a Cheshire cat! My first turn was a 90 degree at about 45mph I was white knuckling it because I didn't know if I was going to throw my car into a median and crash but the rear-end of the car whipped around and I literally got a little sideways. This was incredible.
Next I took some less sharp, albeit longer turns at high speed. Hitting some freeway ramps at 70mph+ that had some hard banking, the car kept flat and the rear end of the car wanted to swing around.
I then went to our private parking lot and mimicked an Auto-X run. I was whipping around turns effortless and the car just felt "flat" body roll was about 80% gone, understeer tremendously reduced, and oversteer introduced.
Needless to say the stiff setting really did the trick and changed the entire dynamics of the car.
Summary:
I've been shopping between the Progress, Autoexe, and Hotchkis bars. Although I've used Hotchkis on a couple of my cars, I could not justify the bloated price point. Progress offers a solid product at a fraction of the price of the competitors.
I'm one of the first 2010 MS3s to install the RSB so it should also be known that I have zero suspension mods on my car besides the RSB.
Between quality, fitment, and price I highly recommend this mod to any 1st or 2nd gen MS3 driver.
I guarantee you'll love it!!!
-NyNHeX
Price: $185 USD
Manufacturer: Progress
Specs:
- Bar Size: 32mm
- Bar type: Tubular Bar
- 2 Way adjustable
- Polyurethane bushings
- Reinforced mounting plate!
STOCK: 25mm Solid non-adj 862.12 lbs/in
2 settings of stiffness:
(soft) 56% stiffer than the stock sway bar with a rate of 1342.89 lbs/in
(firm) 79% stiffer than the stock sway bar with a rate of 1542.27 lbs/in
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
First impression:
Opening the box I see this monster sway bar and I start to smile. I'm used to 25-27mm sway bars on some of my other vehicles, but this thing is gigantic at 32mm. The machining is very precise and the welds very clean, a trademark of Progress products.
The powdercoat gray is a nice touch and doesn't stick out on the undercarriage. I was afraid of it being too obvious since I drive a Black Mica but it blends in pretty well.
I compared the stock bar to the Progress and let me just say it was like a toothpick next to a crowbar. You can feel the difference just by holding the two. I'm not going to lie, but I thought the production quality of the Progress was superior to that of stock.
Install:
Now, I'm fortunate enough to have lift access and air tools so my install was a bit quicker. The instructions suggest you remove the rear tires. Don't bother, trust me it's not needed. I undid the endlinks thent he bushing brackets and the old RSB was off in 5 minutes.
Progress includes grease for the bushings (MAKE SURE TO USE IT!!). I put the bushings on, then the brackets and bolted in without torquing so I could get the endlinks back on. I started off with the soft setting (outer hole) to get a feel for things, but after my test drive I switched to the stiff setting (inner hole). Make sure that you torque to spec on everything and USE LOCTITE on the endlinks. They tend to come lose after a while. After everything was torqued down, it was time for a drive.
Drive/Testing:
I first started off with the soft setting just to get a baseline. I took a few corners at 30-40mph with little body roll and a slight reduction in understeer. I went about 5 miles through a closed area and really got on it, it was noticeable but not to my liking.
So I put it back up on the rack and went to the stiff setting. I took it out on the streets and my face lit up like a Cheshire cat! My first turn was a 90 degree at about 45mph I was white knuckling it because I didn't know if I was going to throw my car into a median and crash but the rear-end of the car whipped around and I literally got a little sideways. This was incredible.
Next I took some less sharp, albeit longer turns at high speed. Hitting some freeway ramps at 70mph+ that had some hard banking, the car kept flat and the rear end of the car wanted to swing around.
I then went to our private parking lot and mimicked an Auto-X run. I was whipping around turns effortless and the car just felt "flat" body roll was about 80% gone, understeer tremendously reduced, and oversteer introduced.
Needless to say the stiff setting really did the trick and changed the entire dynamics of the car.
Summary:
I've been shopping between the Progress, Autoexe, and Hotchkis bars. Although I've used Hotchkis on a couple of my cars, I could not justify the bloated price point. Progress offers a solid product at a fraction of the price of the competitors.
I'm one of the first 2010 MS3s to install the RSB so it should also be known that I have zero suspension mods on my car besides the RSB.
Between quality, fitment, and price I highly recommend this mod to any 1st or 2nd gen MS3 driver.
I guarantee you'll love it!!!
-NyNHeX
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