mitchman

So these part numbers are for the Racing Beat FRONT bar....correct?

Do you have Mazda part numbers for the P5 REAR sway bar end links?

Thanks a lot!

Mazdacub

No this is all the numbers for the rear of the car. I recommend not replacing the front with a Racing Beat bar. This will increase the understeer of the car and will drive you nuts. The car handles like a dream with the Racing Beat rear setup.

mitchman

Ohhhh........Bummer...... I can't make ANY changes to the rear suspension (springs, sway bar, linkage, etc...) I thought I was clear on that.

I've heard from some top national level drivers, that stiffen the front swaybar DOES work to help REDUCE understeer. I've had the same experiece with my '99 Miata. The stiffer front bar reduces roll stiffness which keeps the tire flatter to the ground.....more rubber on the road.

I wanna give it a try....especially since I can't make ANY changes to the rear....legally.

So I wonder if Racing Beat sells just the FRONT bar? Or if anyone has one they'd like to sell?

Do you still think I need shorter rear links for the rear swaybar to work with the Mazdaspeed yellow adjustable shocks?

Roddimus Prime

the MSP suspension isin fact a factory option you can purchase from any dealer and have installed at the time of purchase or afterwards....it's like choosing stock wheels or sport wheels...

mitchman

I understand. You have to buy the whole car (Mazdaspeed Protege) which comes with the upgraded suspension.
But because the SCCA rules say that I'm free to do what ever I want with my front sway bar, I'd like to try upgrading to a stiffer one. Racing Beat is the only company that makes them. And oddly enough, they don't sell the sway bars on their website. So I guess I'll have to order one from Mazda? Or maybe Mazdaspeed motorsports? Hmmmmm.......

Mazdaspeed17

hey man whats goin on? i autocrossed both an ES and DX model and honestly the only difference that i noticed was the power...

Shocks- go for the ones one racingbeat...
Springs- stay stock...bc the protege does not have a chance in FSP or STS... its a competitive car in HS... Well its kinda win with those damn Minis... I have been autocrossing for 7 years...
TIRES- Easy choice- Falken Azenis... get em at tires.com... When i ran my ES i used the DX tire size..the 14s...no one ever protested...
I also had my front end toed-in...
Exhaust- for for the Racing Beat one...
invest in a TACH... I use to bounce of the rev limiter all the time.. and then with 5k miles my DX was burning oil... OPPPS

Now i have a Mazdaspeed protege as my autocrosser and a S2000 as my track car... I would rather race my Protege... if u have any other questions... Let me know

Mazdaspeed17

by the way, YES you are allowed to do whatever you want to the front sway bars... u jsut cant touch the rear... GO crazy... CHEAT... hell people buy em and spray paint em black.. well not me, but i see people who do that

macdaddyslomo

there is NO difference in power in an '03 DX or ES

tonkabui

i notice you are looking for the mazdaspeed adjustable shocks. i don't know if anyone even carries them anymore. their design is far superior to the illuminas, especially in the sedan's case. i bid you good luck. everything you are doing seems right on from my standpoint. perhaps running a little negative toe will help with turn in (but will also give you a real twitchy ride on the street).

here's an idea, instead of dumping money into the protege all at once before the season starts, why not go out to the first race completely stock, even down to the wheels and tires. see how the car does that way, then slowly add mods as the season goes on, adding one or two components that keeps you within HS per month. that way, you can really dial in the car. it's a fwd car and is vastly different than your miata, so that's my suggestion. tis' all!

tonkabui

oh yeah, try www.mazdastuff.com for the front and rear sway bar. if you can't get just the front, then i say go to your local dealer and order it from them.

mitchman

Mazdaspeed17-
Shocks: I want ADJUSTABLE shocks. The Racing Beat shocks aren't adjustable.
Springs: Yeah, I agree. I'm just going to leave the stock one (so I can stay in stock class)
Tires: Sorry, but I'm not going to race in the STREET TIRE class. I'm going to race in H-Stock. So I can us RACE TIRES. I'm just going to use the wheels/tires from my Miata. Kumho V710's...MUCH better than Azenis.
Racing Beat: Too heavy (not much lighter than stock!) I'm going with a straight pipe.
Tach: Yeah, I've been thinking the same thing. But I just might be careful with it for now (I'm running Mobil One and Redline MT-90)

Tonkabul- THE VOICE OF REASON! Thanks!
ES vs DX: Good to know. I was a little worried when I read that!
Shocks: I've found two places that have one set left. And one place has them on special. I think I'm going to go with them. I'm glad to hear that you think they are better (no one has provided any advice on this except you)

Setup: A person I know that is currently autocrossing a 2003 Protege DX (just like mine) has worried about rolling the car. He said it's a good idea to always run the front swaybar and good shocks. So I want to AT LEAST get the shocks. Maybe a Racing Beat bar down the road.

Racing Beat Sway Bar: Do you know how much thicker/stiffer it is than the stock bar? A lot or a little?

DX/LS/ES Front Sway Bars: Rumor has it that each car had a progressivly stiffer front bar. Anyone know if this is true?

Thanks for EVERYONE's help on this. I'm getting close to getting this thing setup! The only think I have left to do is find longer wheel studs so I can mount my race wheels. Anyone have a source for this? I'm going to check my local tire stores.

tonkabui

the mazdaspeeds are a better design just cause you can adjust the settings via a dial on the outside of the strut (on the back at least) instead of having to rip open your interior every time you want to adjust as in the case of the illuminas.

ok, did some digging around and found that all non mazdaspeed proteges had a 23mm front sway bar. if no one verifies this for you, i'll do it when i'm under my car when i get it back. the mazdaspeed (racing beat) sway bar is 25mm. there were reports of the early msp's getting a 27mm front bar, but i don't think you can get that size even from the dealer anymore.

as for rear sway bar, if the dx has it, it's probably about 16mm. yep, pencil thin. as for tires, i'd stick to the kumhos. the azenis are known to get greasy at temp. they have new azenis coming out with a redesigned treadpattern and compound that isn't supposed to grease up, so we'll see how those guys do running them. good luck on your quest to protege dominance!

oo, just another idea that popped into my head. since you can tweak with the front suspension so much, why not go to adjustable endlinks? you can then play with the angle of the front sway bar to either push or pull the car, which would be neat to figure out with JUST the front bar. go here for front endlinks:

http://www.awrracing.com/pages/store.html

it's under the protege suspension section. they run $65 a pair.

mitchman

Thanks! I'm going to order the shocks today.

I REALLY appreciate the info on the front sway bar. I wasn't able to find out anything my self. Sounds like the Racing Beat 25mmis the way to go.

I'll definatly purchase the AWR end links. I think they are the same thing Cork Sport sells (I've been looking at them)

The next hurtel is alignment. How do you adjust negative camber in the front? I assume you push down and twist the shock mount in the wheel well? (not an easy thing to do...)

Also, longer wheels studs....and I think I'll be all set!

Thanks again for the advice (sure wish I could get your email address....PM me?)

tonkabui

i don't know too much about alignments other than the stock setup doesn't allow for much camber adjustments at all. i say go with some eibach camber bolts that allows for up to -1 degree camber from the stock's maximum. you just gotta make sure the toe stays within reason. the top mount has a pinkish dot that can be rotated, but that doesn't give you much at all. the other problem with alignments is you gotta find a shop will do it for you. most shops won't fudge with alignment specs outside what they are supposed to be from factory. who knows why.

check your PM, i sent you my email addy.

kargoboy

If you are going to cheat, what's the point of having rules? I know there are people who will do this, but cheating just shows how much disrepect people have for whatever game or sport they play.