Hotchkis Bars and H&R on a Mazda5

Captain KRM P5

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2002 BJFW, 2007 BK3P, 1979 SA22C, 2005 BK3P
So I've had the H&R springs on my 5 for a while now and the drivability has gotten worse ever so slightly since then, being that I had not done an alignment. I got a set of the Hotchkis bars for a Mazda3/Mazdaspeed3 in stock and decided to fit them to the 5 to see how well it worked out.

Attached are pics of the sway bars installed as well as my before and after alignment specs. You can see that lowering the 5 without an alignment is obviously a poor choice, as it tends to be on most cars. To assist with the alignment I threw on a set of Mazdaspeed camber links designed for the 3/MS3.

The clearances are tight on these new bars. With car in the air and the suspension fully traveled downward, the bars have a razor blade worth of clearance between themselves and the crossmembers. The tech set the rear bar to the 'stiffest' setting on the sway link tabs. Once the car was on the ground and driving, the difference was noticable at low and high speed turns as well as lane changes. The car feels very solid and much improved. The alignment didn't hurt either :D
 

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Say is that a big fat sway-bar in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? Damn you Captain, now I have to have a set of the Hotchkis bars. How involved is the removal of the front bar? I don't want to have to remove the lower control arms if it can be avoided ( one car on jackstands in my garage is enough thanks) Lastly, do you think adding only the rear bar would have an adverse affect on handling ie, introduce oversteer?
 
Say is that a big fat sway-bar in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? Damn you Captain, now I have to have a set of the Hotchkis bars. How involved is the removal of the front bar? I don't want to have to remove the lower control arms if it can be avoided ( one car on jackstands in my garage is enough thanks) Lastly, do you think adding only the rear bar would have an adverse affect on handling ie, introduce oversteer?


i don't think it would have an adverse effect however hotchkis does not sell the bars alone. a progress bar or cobb bar would work (mazda3) though. the front bar is a two hour job by book time. it could be done on stands.
 
they offer one pair of mazda5 specific springs, so thats what i went with. they are the only spring i know of outside of autoexe that are not adapted from a mazda3. riding on stock shocks for now.
 
Thanks Capt.! I think I'll go with the more adjustable of the two rear bars. I'm guessing that to get the front bar changed you have to remove the strut from the lower control arm. Is this correct, and do you know of a DIY on the job? Sorry for all the questions but I got "sucker punched" doing a "simple" suspension change on my VW a couple of years ago and don't want to repeat that situation. Have you had any bottoming with the stock struts with the H&R springs? I had the sport springs on my Jetta and they were awesome!
 
Just ordered the Progress rear bar from you guys! Also read the pdf install instructions on the front bar. I think I will wait and see how the 5 handles with just the rear before I dive into that. I wonder if KYB offers the AGX adjustable strut for the 3/5 yet? If they do thenm maybe I'll put H&Rs and struts on this spring also. There I go down the slippery slope again dammit!
 
I'm looking to lower mine too, but can't seem to find a set of matched springs and dampers. I think if I used the mazdaspeed springs, I could get away with the stock dampers as the drop is slight, but I would like drop the car about 1.5". Do you have any suggestions captain?

I thought about the rear bar too, but the car already rotates pretty well. It's fairly neutral for a family hauler. Thanks
 
if you drop the car 1.5 inches you will probably want to replace the struts or they will wear down at an exponentially increased rate.
 
Installed the Progress 22mm bar this morning, which took about 35 minutes. Makes a noticeable difference in body motion at all speeds. Especially in a snap lane change there is NO delay in transition at all. Now I need some much grippier tires! I highly recommend this mod to anyone who likes to carve corners in their 5.
 
My problem now is the realization that the stock Kumhos are C R A P! I need better tires immediately if not sooner. Oh and then the front bar, and then the coil-overs, and maybe then some......(self control dammit!!) LOL
 
Well I can only comment on the rear bar but I would say do it! There are no negatives to installing a more aggresive rear bar on this car, just nice flat high speed cornering ( and hopefully accelerated wear on the crummy Kumho tires)
 
the hotchkis bars make the car handle on rails, however there is fitment issues on the front bar. apparantly hotchkis is developing sway bar links to address this, but on hard slow speed turns and harsh bumps i get a thunk noise from the front end. not really desirable but the car handles great. i would recommend the cobb rear bar, the progress rear bar or the eibach stuff.
 
Thanks for the information... do you guys carry the H&R Sway bars? Can you put together a H&R Handling kit special for us?
 
i do carry H&R products of all types. i could put a handling kit together - camber links, H&R springs and sways and maybe a GT Spec front bar. would this interest alot of people?
 
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