Strut tower braces

[Protegeguy78]

Are they really worth it? I have some extra money right now and I'm gathering up ideas on what I should buy for my car first. I have an '03 Protege, in case anyone wonders. So what would my money be better spent on, a strut tower brace, a straight through exhaust, or something else relatively inexpensive?

Does transmission type matter when it comes to getting these braces? Any help/info/input would be appreciated.

 

[dmitrik4]

what will you be doing with the car? what are you looking for? autoX? daily driving? something else?

IMO, a strut tower brace isn't going to give you the bang for the buck of a lot of other things. i'd start with a rear swaybar...a used MSP bar or the AWR 19mm bar is your best bet.

 

[BlueWolfCry]

how much do you have? what ever it is, strutbar is not worth it unless you have alot and $100 is change to you...unless maybe if you autox

 

[alprotege]

i paid about 100.00 for mine and worth every penny. handling is much better in cornering and the even came with the brackets to relocate my cruise control module which you will have to do if yours has cruise. mazdasouth has them

 

[p5sundevil]

yeah i would say mine was definately worth it, got it off a forum member here and it is the CP racing 3point bar and you can definately feel a difference in turn in. The only thing I wish is that I had done the front STb and a rear sway att eh same time cause I can feel the rear end sway more now that the front is stiffened in turns...so yah a used RB or MSP bar or maybe the AWR bar.....hell if I come into some cash I might try out the intrax front and rear set.

 

[Protegeguy78]

I have up to $500 to spend on whatever I want. So...does this change suggestions?

 

[Mike R]

AWR 21.5mm rear bar, springs or some tires

 

[BlueWolfCry]

i'd say lower the car with struts and springs

I have up to $500 to spend on whatever I want. So...does this change suggestions?

 

[Protegeguy78]

I'm looking to either improve handling or to gain some additional horses. I'm considering dropping it at a later date in time, but that is an option too.

 

[shinzen]

Well, depends on how cheap you wanna go- for about $20 off of ebay shipped you can get a strut tower brace that will fit with a couple of minor cuts to your cruise control, ebay cai for about $60, springs from spd racing (chris on the boards) for under $150, and a magnaflow exhaust from ptuning.com(once again off the boards) for $330 shipped. So for right around 500 or less with a SRI instead of CAI, you have started to hook up your car..

 

[p5sundevil]

Id say with that money and what you want to start, especially handling get a STB, a sway bar and you can get a SRI like AEM or Ractive with the leftover money oif you shop well. ytou can swap springs in for one of the bars if you like in that combo.

 

[starflare21]

think of a strut bar as icing on the cake. you won't reap the full benefits until you've combined it with other things. do like some others have said and use it for either sway bars, spring/strut combo or a good set of tires. these three things can help out a lot in terms of handling.

if anything does the '03 pro sedans have a stock strutbar? if not, just find an mp3, p5 or msp stock one for CHEAP if you really want one.

 

[Protegeguy78]

think of a strut bar as icing on the cake. you won't reap the full benefits until you've combined it with other things. do like some others have said and use it for either sway bars, spring/strut combo or a good set of tires. these three things can help out a lot in terms of handling.

if anything does the '03 pro sedans have a stock strutbar? if not, just find an mp3, p5 or msp stock one for CHEAP if you really want one.

Good point. Any other suggestions anyone?

 

[Natey]

My AWR 21.5mm rear sway bar made a nice difference. Bang-for-the-buck, it's a great upgrade. (thumb)
I have a CP Racing Strut tower brace like p5sundevil, and it also made a noticeable improvement in turn in and straight line tracking. It was a b**** to install, but once I got it in place, it really makes a nice improvement.

Here's a pic of the STB.

 

[BlueWolfCry]

Natey, how did you deal with the cruise control? If you place it some where else, will there be any affect on it? Thanks

My AWR 21.5mm rear sway bar made a nice difference. Bang-for-the-buck, it's a great upgrade. (thumb)
I have a CP Racing Strut tower brace like p5sundevil, and it also made a noticeable improvement in turn in and straight line tracking. It was a b**** to install, but once I got it in place, it really makes a nice improvement.

Here's a pic of the STB.

 

[Natey]

Sorry for the delay.
I bought my STB from Essentialspeed. lol, After about three months, I got lucky and they sent me my order. Kevin at E/S will make you a bracket to relocate the CC unit so it's outta the way and still works fine. It was confusing as hell with no instructions, but I wrote a how-to for the install, so it shouldn't be too much hassle to get that puppy installed. I really felt a signifigant difference when I put mine in.