Good afternoon!

I am looking into upgrading my suspensions. I drive a 2011 MZ3 S. What upgrades would you recommend for sway and strut bars? Please list all and how was your experience with the upgrade (pros & cons)? Also state the date the upgrades were installed.

I appreciate all your help!

 

Have you upgraded your wheels and tires yet? If you haven't, then it would be a waste of money to do suspension work as the factory rubber is notoriously lame.

FWIW, I put a set of 205/50 R17 Michelin Pilot Sport A/Ss on my Mazda3 a couple of weeks after I bought it and the difference in directional control and handling was astounding. The roads here in southern New Hampshire wind around over hill and dale, and I've occasionally thought about a sway bar upgrade, but given that I already need to be twenty to thirty miles per hour over the speed limit before I approach the limits of my car, I'm thinking the suspension work would be either a waste of money, or an invitation to a few speeding tickets.

 

Nope, thanks for tip! Are you using the same rims?

 

Yes, the 17" alloy wheels that came on my car, while not my favorite look, are just about the perfect size to provide exceptional handling and still keep unsprung weight and rotational mass as low as possible. If your factory wheels are 17" (or even slightly less optimal 18" units), you're good to go in the wheel department, just upgrade the skins you'll be amazed at the improvement in the handling and directional control (assuming you get a good set).

Were I in your shoes I'd spend some time over on the TireRack.com web site and do some tire shopping. Make sure you look at both the test results they provide for most of their tires (some new tires don't have any test yet), and then read some of the anecdotal reports from folks running any given tire.

When I replaced my factory tires there really was only one game in town for a good performing all-season tire (I live in New Hampshire and need to be able to drive the car in snow), namely the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S. Now that I've put about 45,000 miles on the Michelins they're definitely showing their age and most likely won't see 50,000 miles; as such, I'm tire shopping once again. Currently my short list includes a second set of Pilot Sports as well as a relative new-comer to the game, the Continental ExtremeContactDWS. The Continentals cost a bit less and have a bit more tread life, but their handling isn't rated as good as the Michelins. Ohhh decisions.

 

Agreed. A good set of tires will make a huge difference.
What came on your car from the factory? Are they still installing Bad-Years?

For sway bars, there are many out there for first gens, and if not yet there will be for the 2nd gens too.
I have run the Progress bar, and it was a nice first step but I wanted more so I went w/THE BIG BAR. The 27mm Racing Beat. But you must upgrade the rear links for this upgrade as well because the factory links are too weak to handle the extra load. $150 for the bar and another $115 for AWR adjustable links.

Strut bars will do little, IMO. The chassis is already quite stiff and if you look under the hood, the strut towers are already quite close to the firewall, or first bulkhead. How much stiffer will a bar make it for the street?
If you plan to race the car then I would say by all means, get or build a triangulated strut bar. But if this is your DD, and like most of us you are on a limited budget, this would not be my first thought for modding.

 

I think they are the stock 17" alloys with Yokohama P205/50R17 all-season radial tires. I am not sure if they are the cheapos but I will research further. I checked out the Michelin tires and that's an expensive upgrade compared to the sway bars. I bet it's worth it though.

This is my everyday car and I do not intend racing but I like cruising around the different routes in the Malibu Canyons in California. Some of the turns are quite sharp and I do not want anything going wrong. I will check out the racing beat sway bars.

Btw, Which brand came with yours Shipo?

Thanks for the tips!

 

My car came with Goodyear Eagle RS-As, a tire which Goodyear has positioned as a high performance All-Season. Unless I miss my guess, your car came with Yokohama AVID S34Ds; a tire that has reviews which are pretty much lousy, just about like the Eagles that came on my car. Said another way, it sounds like your car would benefit greatly from a new set of skins.

A quick short list of 205/50 R17 tires on my radar:

• $131.00 per tire -- Continental ExtremeContactDWS
• $179.00 per tire -- Michelin Pilot Sport A/S
• $117.00 per tire -- Yokohama AVID ENVigor (H&V)
• $119.00 per tire -- Pirelli P6 Four Seasons Plus

Granted the Michelin's are way more expensive than any other in the list, and for that matter, way more expensive than the set I have on my car now (I paid $124 per tire in November of 2008). The thing is, they've performed so well on my car I'm really going to have to do some soul searching to justify buying something else; even a tire as well thought of as the Continentals.

 

I am running the Continentals and love them. Granted, they are not a racing tire, but so far they are wearing very well, AND have a pretty good ride, but in fairness I do run them high (38F/35R), and the best part... (drum roll please...) I DON'T SLIP!!! They have great traction in the dry, rain and snow!! Well, better than average traction in snow. It's not like they are a true winter tire.

Mine also came with the Bad Year's and they were pure unadulterated JUNK!!! This is the thrid set of Bad Year's I have been very disappointed in. It will be a cold day in hell before I buy anything with a Good Year lasbel on it.

I replaced those w/a set of Falken 512's. They were OK for a while, but wore quickly, got very noisy, and began to get squirrelly in anything but dry conditions, so I don't recommend them either.
Third set were Kumho ASX's. These weren't great from the start either. Forward traction in wet conditions was terrible!! Ironically, they were fine in the turns I just couldn't get going. These began to scare me very shortly after they were installed. And they wore out quickly too.
So the Conti's are the best set of 4 I have had on my 3, and I do recommend them. We actually put a set on my wife's Vibe first and I couldn't wait to try them on the 3. I haven't been disappointed in over a year/10,000+ miles.

 

Awesome information! I really appreciate it this. I need to start saving for wheels and Christmas! :X... Thank you shipo and virgin1

 

Hello!

A friend also suggested these... Pirelli PZero Nero. Any thoughts?