Whos using a front sway bar on their mazdaspeed3?

[racekar]

Im talking with progress suspension, Im going to be a test car for their rear sway bar.

I notice that progress doesnt make a lot of rear sway bars. Ive only ran rear sway bars in my past cars and that seemed fine. Anyone running both front and rear and how does it compare on hpde /courses in terms of handling.

 

[SwampAss]

you know we have two right? A front and a rear.

 

[racekar]

yeah i know we have 2 but ive always upgraded my rear and never touched my front on m past cars, integra, prelude, civic, accord wrx. etc...

 

[racekar]

anyone see any major gains during hpde events with the front sway bar added.

 

[fourthmeal]

Thing is, with swaybars you'd want to replace both of them MOST of the time, unless the stockers are capable of keeping up. An upgraded front swaybar will simply cause the car to push, and an upgraded rear swaybar will cause the car to rotate off throttle more. A properly designed PAIR of bars will give the car a lot more balance, which is ideal, IMO.

The stock swaybars aren't dinky, though. They are pretty good to start with. If you are going to get bars installed, I highly recommend both, and make sure they are designed to work with each other! Otherwise, you can easily disrupt the car's balance and it might surprise you.

 

[jaydubz]

Thing is, with swaybars you'd want to replace both of them MOST of the time, unless the stockers are capable of keeping up. An upgraded front swaybar will simply cause the car to push, and an upgraded rear swaybar will cause the car to rotate off throttle more. A properly designed PAIR of bars will give the car a lot more balance, which is ideal, IMO.

The stock swaybars aren't dinky, though. They are pretty good to start with. If you are going to get bars installed, I highly recommend both, and make sure they are designed to work with each other! Otherwise, you can easily disrupt the car's balance and it might surprise you.

Quite well put, I made the mistake of doing that on my mkv and found that the rear would rotate a bit more than I wanted it to. Find the set up works perfectly for the height of your skill level.

 

[racekar]

well ive had progress bars and they are adjustable on 4 cars now. on hondas most people dont bother with upgrading the front sway bars.

i know on wrx they did both becuase of their wacked suspension geometry etc..

i think ill just go with the progress and see what happens. they havent failed me yet. and ive been doing hpde events for 7 plus years. but with honda/acuras. so im not used to mazdas

 

[Haltech]

Its always a good rule to follow to buy the swaybars in a kit. Thats how they were designed. Ive seen people add a rear swaybar and complete screw the geometry up on the cars handling, sometimes making it unpredictable. Replacing the front sway on the MS3 can be a real PITA since the front subframe has to be removed. Something i wouldnt want to do with jackstands and limited space.

 

[Biggie]

Replacing the front sway on the MS3 can be a real PITA since the front subframe has to be removed. Something i wouldnt want to do with jackstands and limited space.

It's not as bad as you might think...

COBB Swaybar installation instructions.

 

[chacon101]

Didn't Rutus just recently post how he did it in his driveway? From what the pics show, yeah, it looked pretty advanced.

.. to the original poster, how were you able to become a test mule for this swaybar?

 

[MS3_Wild_Thang]

i have F&R hotchkis bars, they work wonders its more balanced when u have both. i've always installed F&R. if u like auto cross then yes just install the rear and might even remove the front. but if you want to enhance the stock setup then change both. lets just say with the front and F&R sways installed i can do 90mph turns with 2 fingers, and no shake on the steering wheel smooth feels like i can take it even harder. fastest i've taken it on a turn was 115mph and it was so smooth still. too much adjustable s*** is not good because i am going to bet money that not everyone is a pro suspension tuner there for u might be actually downgrading in performance.

 

[cudaman]

i have F&R hotchkis bars, they work wonders its more balanced when u have both. i've always installed F&R. if u like auto cross then yes just install the rear and might even remove the front. but if you want to enhance the stock setup then change both. lets just say with the front and F&R sways installed i can do 90mph turns with 2 fingers, and no shake on the steering wheel smooth feels like i can take it even harder. fastest i've taken it on a turn was 115mph and it was so smooth still. too much adjustable s*** is not good because i am going to bet money that not everyone is a pro suspension tuner there for u might be actually downgrading in performance.

+1 for Hotckis sway bar set. Takes away bump-steer and takes away harshness as well due to poly sway bushings. Best bang-for-the-buck.