Hi,

I have the AWR 19mm rear bar on the car, set to full hard. With the non-reenforced rear sway bar strut tabs, I expected I was on borrowed time. That time ran out over the weekend :-(

The right rear tab broke, so i'm looking for replacement struts that might hold up better... Keep in mind that this is a daily driver/kid mover that ocassionally sees an autocross, and possibly a track day.

The options that I've found:

KYB GR-2 - probably pretty soft and I don't know if their rear tab is any beefier than the stock ones. Cheap, though at $50.

MP3 struts - whole kit is about 450-500, I believe. Maybe cheaper from Mazda Motorsports (if I send in results from last year).

Mazdaspeed struts. ~ 170 each - a bit much for a daily driver :-)

Are there any other options? MSP struts, maybe?

Thanks!

Kevin McCormick
'00 Protege ES
'88 Civic - STS

 

Hmm, that's odd...I had the AWR 21.5mm bar on my car w/ my stock struts for ~10 months and nothing broke, even w/ 4 autocrosses and counting on them.

Anyway, I have the Tokico Blues and couldn't be happier...the car handles freaking awesome (also have the Racing Beat springs)

 

I've had it set on the stiff setting for probably about 30k miles, and two autox's. Of course, I don't drive lightly on the street, so it'd gotten stressed every day :-)

I'd made my own end links with high-misalignment heim joints, so that _could_ have added to this.

Of course, the poly bushings that frequently got a squirt of lubricant might make matters worse when they get dry.

I'd prefer to only replace the rears right now - I'll have to register with Mazdaspeed with my two events from last year and see what I can get...

Thanks!

Kevin

 

Front shocks don't matter much for Autocross. All you need are the rears.

 

Thanks Jason,

The car's primary duty is to move me to work, kids to school, etc... while still getting over 25mpg no matter how hard I stress the 1.8 litre hamster. So... ultimate performance at an autox isn't necessary. I'm alos too cheap to want to buy all four shocks for a daily driver.

As I expected, there aren't too many choices of shocks with beefed up mounting tabs. I'd hate to go back to the wimpy stock rear bar :-)

Anyone know if the perch height on the MP3 or MSP struts is lower than the other trim level struts?

Kevin

 

Here are a couple of updates for you because some of your shock knowledge seems a little outdated...

1) The MP3 accessory strut kit has been superceded by a new MSP strut kit, which is identical but with slightly stiffer valving, and is still quite cheap (slightly over $400 with the team support discount).

2) You cannot get the MP3 kit anymore unless you can find a dealer with backstock. You can still buy the MP3 struts individually out of the regular parts catalog, but the price is simply ridiculous- the front struts are ~$190 EACH, and that's WITH the team support discount!

3) The Mazdaspeed adjustables are no longer available. They have been discontinued and all common parts suppliers are out of them.

4) Tokico Blues and Illuminas will supposedly be available any second now, and they WILL have the reinforced endlink tabs, but God only knows when they'll actually be available to the general public given Tokico's past record of releasing new parts.

The perch height of all commonly available Protege rear struts is identical (excluding coilover kits of course). FWIW I would order the MSP kit if I were you.

 

Thanks Chris,

I talked to Mazda Motorsports this morning after faxing in my results.

I only asked about the rear MSP struts, but they were 115 each. It turns out they are showing that the MSP strut kit ($405 at racer net) is not available currently - all out of stock.

Thanks for the info on the MazdaSpeed struts - Mazda said the same - not available anymore...

So, it sounds like a waiting game - wait for the MSP kit to become available, or the Tokico to come out with theirs. I'll check again with Mazda to see if they have an ETA on the kit.

I'm bummed that Koni never released the Sport in the US. In the meantime, no rear bar... Suprisingly not so bad - just lots of wheelspin.

Thanks again!

Kevin

 

Well that sucks. I want them too.

I actually talked to someone at Koni about this in some detail, and they will probably NEVER release a strut kit for the G3 Protege- weld-in inserts maybe, but no strut housings. The reason is that no other European shock maker has expressed any interest in building Protege struts, so Koni cannot divide the costs of making the housings with another company. I'm quite disappointed because I would rather use Konis than Tokicos. Bummer.

 

A little while back (like 2-3 months ago), I spoke with the guys at Tri-Point Engineering (a north american Koni dealer). I believe they said there was a Koni strut insert available for the European model Protege.
Which is interesting becasue I have seen these Euro-spec shocks for sale at places like Corksport (cheap too). However it does require some machine work to get the inserts in a stock body. I wonder if the euro spec strut has a larger diameter body or something!?!?
Has anyone else heard about this Euro-Koni shock?

 

2) You cannot get the MP3 kit anymore unless you can find a dealer with backstock. You can still buy the MP3 struts individually out of the regular parts catalog, but the price is simply ridiculous- the front struts are ~$190 EACH, and that's WITH the team support discount!





Update for ya. I called Village Mazda in Duncanville today and the MP3 struts are $134.77 each. That is with no dicounts. Im going to order mine in the morning. Not in stock but he can get them. Call Micheal in parts at 972-298-0333........Duncan