Mazda Talk Forums

i see that racing beat sways are now available... i was wondering if anyone knew the rates for both the settings on the rear bar and all 3 settings on the front bar?

no one? i can't justify buying these without have at least an estimation of what setting these bars have.

Those estimates you seek....are not very helpful. If you ask Jim Meader at Racing Beat what you will get is that the estimates of stiffness increase that many competitors put out....are a total joke. When Hotchkis says the bar is 595% stiffer.... that is meaningless without knowing how they get that number, what assumptions are made, what translates through the bushing, the mount, the endlink, etc. For this reason you will see estimates in other applications that vary massively from brand to brand for bars that are the same spec....because each maker is making different assumptions.

Thus, Racing Beat simply gives you the comparison of spec versus stock, the Racing Beat Tubular MX-5 Front Sway Bar, weighing only 7.5 lbs, is manufactured using 1" OD (25mm) x 3/16-inch wall DOM tubular steel, as compared to the .82" OD (21mm) Mazda stock sway bar.

brian, with the rb sways being your bars of choice (per your store) maybe you can provide the feedback i'm looking for. i like the fact that the ms sways supposedly use multiples of the rates seen in the stock bars. however, i want something a bit more adjustable... hence the reason i'm looking at the rb bars.

the rb bars have the same front thickness as the ms (eibach) bars but the back bar is a good bit thicker... i was wondering if in all settings the rb bars are going to provide move oversteer then stock or if it can be dialed back some.

We have found the balance of the RB bars very good....with three holes per bar end front, and two per bar end rear, everybody seems to find the balance they want.

brian, out of curiousity what holes are you running on the rb sways?

i got a pretty through reply from rb on their rates and i'm going to fiddle around with the numbers for a while to see if tey are what i'm searching for.

thanks.

I built my NCs long before the RB sways for MX5 were available. And, I am running much more bar than most folks will want....because I am running much more grip. Thus, our supercharged 2007 has a Racing Beat bar....but it is the RX8 32mm front, and that is matched with the massive Hotchkis rear bar.

However, have used the new Racing Beat MX5 sways on several customer cars and tried them for autocross and track and for those running more reasonable levels of grip (like STR levels of grip for example, typically 17x8 to 17x9 with 235 to 255mm wide tire sizes), they work great. Most are starting with the center hole and I tried the center hole front and the tighter inner hole rear and I liked that balance on the STR car I tried. Bottom line is that NOBODY can tell you the "right" holes to use because balance is a personal preference issue. Some like a "pointy" car, that rotates on lift (that's how I set mine up), but others prefer a light understeer at the limit. Other variables include what spring package you are running, what shocks, the tires, the alignment, etc. The best I can suggest is that you experiment with the settings to find what YOU like.

Do people tend to run a rear swaybar, and if so, are they going aftermarket or staying stock? This question is more directed to those that run STR or grippy r-comps in autocross situations.

That depends....

That depends on the balance YOU like, and how lowered the car is. The more lowered, the more oversteer is added as a side effect of the lowering and the less rear bar needed. Also, some prefer the light understeer of not having the rear bar because it is easier to drive in slalom sections, etc.

I prefer a pointy car that I can throttle rotate. Thus, I like a rear aftermarket bar.

Hi Brian,

I have gotten the RB sways from you after your recommendation if you still remembered, the cornering of the car is much better than before but I do notice that attics in the US is very different from here in Singapore.

I love to have that kind of pointy car that you suggest, but was wondering how to go about acheiving this. Can you help describe how or what exactly is throttle rotate, so that I can be sure we are talking about the same thing and perhaps advise if my settings seems ok to you to get that pointy feel.

Current set up
Ohlins DFV
RB Sway F-center hole R-stiffest hole, 2nd hole if counting from the end
Tires - 205 to 215/45-17

Thank you very much!