Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter
Eibach Anti-sway bars, no springs or shocks with installation; '91 Miata
I do not do much wrenching on my Miata but I wanted to start. What I found was this was a pretty easy installation. The product fits beautifully as a replacement. The directions are sketchy but do work. The maintenance manual said to take off the back wheels which was not necessary. I used car ramps which worked out just fine for both front and back. (Remember to chock the down side wheels if you do this.) I made the mistake of over-torquing one of the nuts and twisted off a welded machine screw. My advice is to follow torque spec's and use a torque wrench. Drilling out a broken machine screw is not fun.
The front sway bar has no adjustment, the rear sway bar has three choices, I went with the middle selection as it was roughly the same as the original. I just installed them and took the Miata out for a spin. The car handles predictably. Just the way I wanted it. I found no plowing, no extra sway, just a fun ride; especially around corners. I would whole heartedly recommend not only the Eibach anti-sway bars but also installing them yourself if you have the least mechanical ability.
Over 30 minutes to remove completely
Applicable to '90 - '97
front and rear sway bars
My stock '96 was very neutral handling in corners, but would sway a lot more than I thought it should. I got a set of Eibach sway bars and was impressed by how much flatter the car would go around a corner. However, the ride is MUCH harsher on bumpy back country roads (the best kind!) and the handling is no longer neutral. My Miata now plows like a John Deere. The front bar is MUCH larger than stock and the rear bar is BARELY bigger than the stock one. This contributes to the understeer problem.
The car will go around a corner 2-3 MPH faster than before, but the harsh ride and understeer tendencies are not worth it.
I would not recommend the Eibach bars and would go with a set where the front and rear bar diameters were more closely matched
Under 30 minutes to remove completely
After market sway bars to replace stock units and improve handling.
I had the bars put on when having other work done on the car (shocks/springs, 4 wheel alignment). Bars are significantly larger than stock units. I can't say what the bars would do by themselves, but with shock, springs and bars, the car corners like it was on rails. Body roll is about "0". Instruction supplied with the kit was in German with no English instructions available. This was not a problem as the installation is pretty straight forward, remove the stock units, install the new units. Car handles so good when coming around an off ramp expect an increase of 10-15 MPH over the stock units. It is a controlled experience.
My only complaint is that the bushing sent with the units tend to squeak when the bars work. I've removed them and used some never seize on them and reinstalled and it seem to help. When autocrossing you can expect to go flat out around the cones. From the driver's seat I experienced that the car will tend to slide out before you notice any significant body roll. I believe that these will work best if you go with the full suspension mod.