got a rear strut bar installed

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » September 15th, 2005, 1:06 am

Ok got it off ebay..around 30 dllrs shipped. Installed looks nice...we shall see tomorrow how well it works. Looks funky since I have no rear seat. Ive noiticed alot of us remove that annoying rear seat

its quite heavy (recliner)

Mazderati · Post by **Mazderati** » September 15th, 2005, 2:29 pm

Not quite as major of a difference as adding the front one is, but it is still a worthwhile addition. You'll have to mod the plastic covers to make the bar fit.

Enjoy your new addition on some good tight corners.

hgallegos915 · Post by **hgallegos915** » September 15th, 2005, 8:21 pm

yeah I didnt feel that much of a difference but i did take some pretty good corners.

hppwdn · Post by **hppwdn** » September 16th, 2005, 3:41 pm

How come everyone with an MX3 seems to think the front strut bar makes more difference than the back. The rear has always been ten times more noticable in every car I've had. On my probe I took off the front one and there wasn't even a noticable difference. I had to take the front one off of my MX3 recently and I noticed no difference there either.

ovendenk · Post by **ovendenk** » September 16th, 2005, 3:52 pm

i can't say for sure, but it's probably because people start with the front and it makes a HUGE difference from having nothing, then they add the rear and the body has already been stiffened so it makes marginal improvements. i'm pretty sure that if you start with the rear THEN do the front, people would say that the front doesn't do much. you can only stiffen the body/chassis so much. correct me if i'm wrong.

hppwdn · Post by **hppwdn** » September 18th, 2005, 8:31 am

The purpose of the strut tower bar is to increase the rigidity of the frame. It does that by essentially connecting both sides of the car together.

In the front there is already an engine there connected to the frame by engine mounts etc. That's a pretty solid item compared to the rear which has nothing holding it together. That's why the rear makes more difference.

I'd like to put my front one back on, but I had to replace me driver's motor mount and the auto mount sits the battery higher than the manual one. I can't hardly find a V6 manual MX3 in the junkyard. We had to customize the front one to get it to clear the millenia IM to begin with.

I think the reason everyone thinks the front makes more difference is you can't find rear ones on ebay. If you go to Nopionline you can get front and rear for about $70 shipped.

Nd4SpdSe · Post by **Nd4SpdSe** » September 18th, 2005, 12:43 pm

hppwdn wrote:I think the reason everyone thinks the front makes more difference is you can't find rear ones on ebay. If you go to Nopionline you can get front and rear for about $70 shipped.

I ran with a combination of both and I'll vouch for the front making a huge difference, the rear barely made any difference.

Basically:
-Installed the front right away, easy install, 15min max. Ran with only the front
-Ran with only the front for a fw weeks since the rear needed some modifications to the sealbelt bracket and the interior panneling to fit
-Ran with both for a few months
-Ran with only the rear after swapping the KLZE, front wouldn't fit with the Millenia IM
-Modifed the front a few months later to be able to install it.

I tell ya, I missed the front one after the ZE swap, it coudn't be any more frustrating having more power but taking corners slower...

Hoodzy · Post by **Hoodzy** » September 18th, 2005, 6:54 pm

haah id unno if this is an insanely dumb idea

i'm not toos ure on the subject but the reason u cant have a strut bar on a ZE is because it sits higher up leaving no room for it correct??

would it be possible to fasion a bar to bend in that section where the engine sits up too high to go around the high section??

mitmaks · Post by **mitmaks** » September 18th, 2005, 9:06 pm

if you want to make difference go and have some custom subframe connectors made. thatll stiffen up mx3 enough to pull 2G in corners and no twists

hppwdn · Post by **hppwdn** » September 18th, 2005, 10:08 pm

So if everyone thinks the front makes more difference someone explain why on most other cars the rear one makes the most difference.

What makes the MX3 so different that the front makes a bigger difference than the rear?

I have both so I'm not trying to argue one over the other, I just still don't see where/why it makes more difference.

neutral · Post by **neutral** » September 19th, 2005, 5:44 pm

Depends on the car body design. MX-3's and other hatchbacks should benefit with a more noticeable handling improvement when adding a rear strut bar compared to non-hatchback designs. The hatch design is very flexy compared to a car constructed with a closed trunk design so the rear strut bar helps to stiffen that flexiness. I've added strut braces (front & rear) to a '90 MX-6 (not a hatchback), a '96 626 (not a hatchback), a 95 Yota Camry (also not a hatchback), and the MX-3. The rear brace improved handling and stiffened the (rear) body against flexing/body roll in all cases but most noticeably on the hatchback MX-3.

On the other hand, adding the front strut brace gave the most noticeable improvement in all those cars, including the MX-3. I figured it was cuz the FWD cars (MX-3 included) have ~65% of the weight in the front end. True, the engine/tranny has engine mounts bolted to the unibody frame but remember, those mounts are somewhat flexible too. Regardless, the higher front weight distribution means cornering forces are much greater into turns at the front half of the MX-3 and that's why the front strut brace gives the most noticeable improvement. My .02 and worth every penny...

hppwdn · Post by **hppwdn** » September 19th, 2005, 6:28 pm

I'll buy that. I guess since I filled all my mounts in they aren't as flexible as most people.

Still doesn't explain why the rear did more on my hatchback probe with all stocks mounts. On the probe it was a HUGE difference. On the MX3 it does seem to be less of a difference between rear and front than on the probe.