Following is a review of the "OffTheLine Motorsports" lower tiebars made by MazdaRacer. He offers both a front and rear bar which can be bought seperate or as a package.
The Bars will fit the following vehicles:
90-94 Mazda Protege LX/DX/SE/GT/GTX
90-94 Mazda 323/GTX/GTR Hatchback (95 in Canada)
91-96 Ford Escort SE/LX/GTWagon
91-96 Mercury Tracer LTS
92-96 Mazda MX3 (The front bar will not fit the MX3, But the rear will fit fine.)
97+ Ford Escort/ZX2
Pricing is as follows:
Front = $135 Shipped in the USA
Paypal orders plese add $5
Rear = $110 shipped in the USA
Paypal orders please add $5
Kit (Both) = $215 Shipped in the USA
Paypal orders please add $5
Currently they are only avaliable for purchase through group buys, so you will have to wait for the next batch to get in on these. Additional information can be found here.
Pictures of the bars installed on my car:
Front bar:
Rear bar:
General Information:
The bars come powdercoated, they look rather beautiful. I never took any pre-installation pictures for some reason, so I have none to offer up. Build quality is flawless. All welds look very professional and well done. All in all the bars are very well made.
Installation was pretty straight forward if you follow the how-to on Darryl's site. I ran into no problems doing the installation myself.
When installed on my car the front bar hovers at around 2 1/2" from the pavement. I am sitting on Sprint 2" springs, ZX2 S/R struts, and 205/45/16 tires. On the OEM struts and 205/40/16 seeries tires the bar sat only 2" from the pavement. I do occasionally scrape the pavement if I hit big dips or holes in the road. Speedbumps have never been a problem if i take it slow. Unless it's one of those speedbumps from hell. LOL Just use caution to avoid large holes, dips, and other road hazards - as you should be doing anyways. It's not THAT big of a problem, but with the lower Sprint springs, it's more of a problem than others will experience.
Impressions:
Let me first list all of the suspension modifications I have installed besides the tiebars.
Sprint 2" Springs
Tokico ZX2 S/R Struts
JDM GTR Front Strut Brace
Mazdaspeed Rear Strut Brace
Your car may handle slightly different than mine based on the setup you have. So for all intents and purposes of this review, all opinions are based on this setup and my personal impressions of how my car handles.
After installing the bars, the car now feels more responsive and solid. Cornering is tight and to me the car feels very neutral. I can't detect any over/understeer. The lower tiebars accent the upper strut braces very well. They are a great combo. I love how solid and tight the car feels now. A friend of mine, who owns a DX protege and a Del Sol, drove my car and the first words that came out of his mouth were; "Wow, your car feels ALOT more solid than mine". So yes, you CAN feel a difference. I was very impressed at how much of a difference the bars made and I highly reccomend them to everyone!
The Bars will fit the following vehicles:
90-94 Mazda Protege LX/DX/SE/GT/GTX
90-94 Mazda 323/GTX/GTR Hatchback (95 in Canada)
91-96 Ford Escort SE/LX/GTWagon
91-96 Mercury Tracer LTS
92-96 Mazda MX3 (The front bar will not fit the MX3, But the rear will fit fine.)
97+ Ford Escort/ZX2
Pricing is as follows:
Front = $135 Shipped in the USA
Paypal orders plese add $5
Rear = $110 shipped in the USA
Paypal orders please add $5
Kit (Both) = $215 Shipped in the USA
Paypal orders please add $5
Currently they are only avaliable for purchase through group buys, so you will have to wait for the next batch to get in on these. Additional information can be found here.
Pictures of the bars installed on my car:
Front bar:
Rear bar:
General Information:
The bars come powdercoated, they look rather beautiful. I never took any pre-installation pictures for some reason, so I have none to offer up. Build quality is flawless. All welds look very professional and well done. All in all the bars are very well made.
Installation was pretty straight forward if you follow the how-to on Darryl's site. I ran into no problems doing the installation myself.
When installed on my car the front bar hovers at around 2 1/2" from the pavement. I am sitting on Sprint 2" springs, ZX2 S/R struts, and 205/45/16 tires. On the OEM struts and 205/40/16 seeries tires the bar sat only 2" from the pavement. I do occasionally scrape the pavement if I hit big dips or holes in the road. Speedbumps have never been a problem if i take it slow. Unless it's one of those speedbumps from hell. LOL Just use caution to avoid large holes, dips, and other road hazards - as you should be doing anyways. It's not THAT big of a problem, but with the lower Sprint springs, it's more of a problem than others will experience.
Impressions:
Let me first list all of the suspension modifications I have installed besides the tiebars.
Sprint 2" Springs
Tokico ZX2 S/R Struts
JDM GTR Front Strut Brace
Mazdaspeed Rear Strut Brace
Your car may handle slightly different than mine based on the setup you have. So for all intents and purposes of this review, all opinions are based on this setup and my personal impressions of how my car handles.
After installing the bars, the car now feels more responsive and solid. Cornering is tight and to me the car feels very neutral. I can't detect any over/understeer. The lower tiebars accent the upper strut braces very well. They are a great combo. I love how solid and tight the car feels now. A friend of mine, who owns a DX protege and a Del Sol, drove my car and the first words that came out of his mouth were; "Wow, your car feels ALOT more solid than mine". So yes, you CAN feel a difference. I was very impressed at how much of a difference the bars made and I highly reccomend them to everyone!
BUY THEM OR DIE
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