02.5 Protege ES, Does MP3 Strut Tower Bar make noticable difference
 

I just picked up a 02.5 Protege ES (loaded) auto-manual mainly for my wife to commute with. I'm very picky, but actually like this car a lot. Especailly the ES interior, we both love it. We got a great deal and were able to dump the Civic Ex we had put 50k miles on it 1.5 years for almost the same payment. We rolled the amount that we where in the hole on the Civic (we owed $9400 on it and got $9000, 99 Civic with 65k miles), and didn't put a cent down and we still under $300 a month (bought it on S-plan). So it was win-win for us, got a new car that we like much more with not cent down and the payments only increased $20 per month.

I'm supprised it doesn't have a strut tower bar on it. Was thinking of putting the one in the accessory catalog (its $133 list, so I'm assuming the dealer will come down to ~$100) on it. Is this the best choice or are there better or cheaper aftermarket units. Are they only in yellow?, I'm not really into the "rice" stuff. Is there a noticable, worthwhile difference? I don't plan on doing anyting else, other than maybe a K&N drop-in filter.

Welcome, and congrats on the new purchase :)

I have the strut tower bar (from the accessory catalog) on my 2000 ES. And there is definitely a difference in terms of driving characteristic. Steering feels sharper and more precise, and stability at highway speed definitely has improved.

But, if you want even more significant improvement in handling characteristic, I would suggest installing a thicker rear sway bar in addition to the strut tower bar. If not, a strut tower bar by itself IMO is a very good inexpensive upgrade for the Protege sedan :)

Its a commuter car, so I don't think I'm going to go farther than the Strut Tower bar. Thanks for the info, I think I'll pick up one. I may repaint it black or silver though.

Hey I noticed this topic right after I just posted the same thing on another topic. I purchased a Ractive strut bar. It is stiffer than the mp3 bar, uses all 4 bolts on each strut tower and fits perfect. It comes in a bunch of colours including silver. It cost me $60 Canadian. I highly reccomend it.

Did you buy online, link?

No I bought mine at Avonte Mazda in Canada. Their Parts guy is a member of Toprotege so he started up a performance parts section in his dealer. But I have seen lots of sup up shops with Ractive stuff so it souldnt be a problem to get it.

I noticed on your website you installed the 20mm rear bar. Did you have any problems with that (as I've read on Racing Beat that the MP3's frame had to be modified slightly to fit the 20mm bar).

Yes and No. I got the MP3 20mm rear sway bar from biknman on this forum. Install was relatively straightfoward. Everything bolts on where it's suppose to be, except I had to trim the rubber bushing that holds the bar to the rear crossmember, so the 20mm bar would fit.

BUT, there is some issues with the trimmed rubber bushing. It is NOT the best solution to fit the bar into it, so I am planning to order some Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings to replace the stock rubber bushings, that should make a lot of difference.

and yes, the rear crossmember of the MP3 is different from the stock Protege. The mounting points and the bushing brackets are totally different, that's why I can't simply order the MP3 bushings and expect it to fit. Have to go custom and order universal 20mm polyurethane bushings to fit into the stock bushing bracket.

Yeah, that would be great if off-the-shelf Energy Suspension bushing will work with that ... keep me posted. I also found another string that went into more detail about the other aftermarket bars available which was helpful.

I've been test-driving 2002 ES's (with the 0% financing offer) and was looking to see if the MP3 suspension parts drop right in (all but the rear bar).

I drove my cousin's MP3 and was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by the handling on that thing! (And I've test-driven RSXs, SE-Rs, VR6s, et. al.) The ES is no slouch but the MP3 does not handle like you think a 4-door upright sedan would.

I definitely see a modded ES (or rare MP3) in my future! Or maybe the new Mazdaspeed model (do you get a discount with the nuclear pumpkin one?). :p