Applicable to: '90 - '97 1.6 liter 1.8 liter
A very high quality, factory Mazdaspeed strut brace, all aluminum constrution that connects the front strut towers stiffening the engine compartment.
I found this brace on ebay from a seller in Japan, and was impressed with the beefiness of the the unit. I got it for $135 shipped EMS from Japan, and was even more impressed when I received it. This thing is more substancial then all the other strut braces I've seen, the unit is made of all alumnium, and the fit is perfect, as I expected it would be considering it is a factory Mazdaspeed piece. After installing it, it looked great, and then driving the car, I imediately noticed a differnce in the car. Cowl shake is totally gone, and the car feels much more solid, the 65mph shimmy is about 70percent gone too, still there but less perceveable. The car feels much more solid, even though this brace is not as critical as on a car with a strut front suspention, but it does make a noticeable differnce! What is even more dramatic is that my car is a garage queen, so I don't drive the car often and I could still notice a differnce, so if you drive your car da! ily you will definatly notice.
A great factory product that looks good and performs well too. If you see one of these on ebay snatch it up.
Under 30 minutes to remove completely
Applicable to '99 + 1.8 liter
Polished aluminum cross-brace with gold anodized mounting brackets.
Product came shipped with the brackets on the incorrect ends of bar. I could not merely reverse the bar. I had to remove the brackets and install on the other side of the vehicle.
A six-inch extension for your torque wrench is needed.
Under 30 minutes to remove completely
Polished aluminum cross-brace with gold anodized (?) mounting brackets. Small Mazdaspeed nameplate in center of cross-brace. Mounts by removing two nuts on each shock tower. A u-joint behind the socket, and a six-inch ratchet extender bar will aid in the installation. The nuts should be re-torqued to 22-26 ft.lbs.
Was a very simple installation. The Japanese instructions seemed to indicate that I should use the included wire tie to attach something in the engine compartment to the passenger-side mounting bracket, but I was not able to determine what their intent is. The unit is extremely lightweight but seems strong, and the polished aluminum is a beautiful addition to my engine compartment.
Among all the "strut braces" on the market, the angled-back brackets of the Mazdaspeed design allow the trouble-free installation of a large free-flow intake (ala Racing Beat). As I am running 16x7 alloys and 215/40R16 tires on my '99, I had hopes that this brace would help my heavy unsprung-weight control problem, but if it is helping, it is a quite subtle effect.
Under 30 minutes to remove completely
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