I am picking up my '02 ES this weekend, and after reading the FAQ's, and looking at what has been posted in this forum, I think I am going to purchase the MP3 springs, shocks and sway bars for my new ES. From what I've read, this suspension is very nice, and still retains much of the civility that many aftermarket kits don't have enough of.

My real question is, can I put the stock suspension from my ES on my '00 LX, and will it be an upgrade. I believe the sway bars on the '02 ES are larger than what is on the LX, but are the shocks and springs an upgrade too? Will this raise my ride height on the LX, as it has the 1.6 liter engine? Are the springs different based on the weight of the car? I really don't drive the LX enough to warrant purchasing parts for it, but I figure if the ES parts will bolt right on, then I only have to pay for labor and an alignment. That I'm willing to do. I appreciate any help. Thanks.

 

i'm not sure, but i think your LX does not have a rear sway bar, so that would be an upgrade. as for the springs and shocks, the shocks might be an upgrade but the springs might raise the front end a little from the difference in engine wieghts.

 

Thanks for the reply. My LX does have a rear bar, but it doesn't appear to be too beefy.

Maybe just struts and the sway bars then?! Anybody else? Thanks.

 

Could you tell the difference between the LX and ES driving them? If so, I would say swap all the parts over. I don't think the difference in weight is significant enough to change the ride height of the car.

 

Thank you. That's the info I was looking for. Sounds to me like it won't be worth the trouble. Best bet maybe just to wait for the Tokico non adjustable struts to come out and install them in the LX model.

 

The 01 and 02 springs are also stiffer than the 99 and 00 cars.

Go for it.

 

id get the sway bars, but really id look at just upgrading your suspension with aftermarket products, itd be worth your money far more.

 

I think he's taking the parts off the new car (because he's getting the MP3 parts), and then putting them on the older car. The parts are free!!! Well worth the money

 

OK, so now I'm interested again, after all, no sense letting some perfectly good, almost new parts go to waste. Does anybody know what parts I'll need to make the rear sway bar work? The Man mentioned end links, brackets, and some others...were would a good source be to find out exactly what is needed, and where to get it. Thanks.

 

The 01+ springs are probably longer than the 99-00 springs. You might want to try cutting them a little bit so that they don't raise your LX's ride height. I would start by cutting 1/4 coil off each spring (use a cutting wheel, not a torch).

I would not screw around with replacing the front swaybar. You can't replace it without dropping the front subframe, which is a major PITA and kinda defeats the purpose of doing this as a cheap, easy project. The combination of the stock 99-00 front bar and the larger 01+ rear bar will make the car's handling more neutral, which is good Also, if you get the 01+ rear bar to fit, please post how you did it. Inquiring minds want to know

Also, Edwin, could you post those swaybar sizes? I've forgotten the exact diameters. TIA

 

If your going to be installing the Racing Beat/MP3 sway bars on the '02, your going to have to do the front bar installation anyway. It's not a lot of fun, but it can be done by the shadetree mechanic. I installed both Racing Beat bars on my '00
ES.
Chris, why wouldn't the '01+ rear sway bar be a direct fit on the '99-'00 Protege? Only the MP3 used a different crossmember and stabilizer bar bracket for the rear right? The bars didn't look much different other than the diameter. I think the stock sway bar diameters were 20mm and 16mm if I remember correctly?

 

I was talking about installing the stock ES front bar onto the LX. The 02 ES bar is a little bigger than the 00 LX bar, but the difference is so small (21mm vs. 19mm I think) that IMHO it doesn't warrant dropping the subframe, especially when the LX front bar/ ES rear bar combo should cause a slight decrease in understeer Yes, he will have to drop the subframe on the ES to install the MP3 bar, but why do it twice?

BTW Edwin has recently learned that Mazda changed the sway bars in 2001, but he hasn't updated the FAQ yet (*HINT*) The diameters changed (but not by much, and I don't remember what they were) and the shape of the rear bar was changed to accomodate the tweaked rear suspension geometery. The 99-00 AWR rear bar will hit the rear TTL links on a 01+ 2.0L, but I don't know if a stock 01+ rear bar will fit a 99-00.

 

It sounds like they increased the stiffness of everything slightly to compensate for the additional weight. Chris, I get it now. Changing the front bar is a LOT of work for that small of a change in sway bar diameter. I don't know if anyone else has done any of this, but I changed the rear crossmember, and both stabilizer bars on my '00 ES to the MP3/Racing Beat pieces. The rear crossmember does have an additional brace in the center, but from what I can tell, all it really does is add weight. I think it's meant to be additional support for the jacking point in the middle of the rear crossmember. I really couldn't tell much difference in the shape of the rear sway bars, but the brackets were revised, and were the main reason for the different crossmember. It really doesn't seem like a big difference, and I wonder whether it was really necessary. Changing the rear bar and the crossmember was a snap though, so it didn't matter to me. The front bar is no joke though. I did it, but I invented a few new bad words in the process. Not something I'd want to have to do much more than once. The AWR rear bar seemed to have problems with TTL clearance even on some of the '99-'00 Proteges. I guess I got lucky with mine. It wouldn't be very difficult to make some adjustable end links from Heim joints and a threaded rod though. I'm thinking about doing that for the Racing Beat bars anyway, since the stock end links are so flimsy.

 

It does. Have you seen it? It really looks like all it does is add some support above the point that you are supposed to jack the rear up from. My old crossmember didn't have it, and I've have it up in the air almost as much as I've had it on the ground. Never had any problems with flex or bending associated with lifting the car, so I took it off the new crossmember. Unnecessary weight IMHO.

 

Eric, how different was the MP3 rear bar's shape compared to the stock 00 rear bar?

I'm trying to figure out exactly what is different about the 01+ rear bar, and if the bars will interchange.