I was looking for a rear sway bar for my car and was having a hard time deciding. I did not want to introduce any more oversteer, but I also wanted to help with body roll. I know Mazda engineered body roll into the ND chassis as part of the driving experience. I don’t prefer it. I prefer a car that is much flatter in the corners. Now I do enjoy how a stock Miata drives, of all generations but if I have my choice, I’ll always choose flatter.
I didn’t want to go too aggressive, just a slight increase in size. Luckily since the Fiat 124 Abarth shares the same chassis, the sway bar is a direct fit. It’s only a small increase in size but should provide a little more stiffness in the rear. I measured the stock ND diameter at 11.1mm and the Abarth one at 13.3mm. So an increase of 2.2mm and oem quality and fitment. I’ll take that. I was going to do a write-up on the install but the process took all of 10 minutes. Not too exciting. The rear bar is extremely easy to get to, you can change it without even jacking the car up. Two nuts, one on each endlink, and two brackets and it’s down.
As far as my front sway bar, that was originally going to be a JBR adjustable but plans changed. I placed the order and then a week later I still had not heard anything on it. A week isn’t super long but since I had not received a shipping confirmation or anything yet beyond the confirmation that I placed the order, it seemed a bit odd. It turns out that the bar is on indefinite back order so they gave me the option of a refund or to wait. I chose the former and took the refund.
That was disappointing since the price of the JBR is great, but I went on another search to try and find one that would still fit within my budget and a day later, eBay came to the rescue. I found a Roadstersport front sway bar for $90 shipped from a wrecker. That was a no-brainer. Order placed and the item arrived very quickly. It came with the bar, the poly bushings and brackets. All in good condition. I cleaned everything up, gave the bar a fresh coat of red paint, the brackets a coat of black, and it all looks brand new again.
Not my initial plan but it worked out cheaper and now I have everything I need, suspension-wise, for Miata’s at the Gap in August.
Supergoat Garage 