RoadsterSport ND Sway Bar Combo

Perfect suspension solution for what I was looking for. I wanted a to reduce body roll and be able to adjust the handling characteristics. I also wanted to retain stock ride height. I'm not planning auto crossing or track days, just wanted a sweet handling, competent everyday driver.

My impression of the stock suspension setup was excessive body roll, premature oversteer which was pretty twitchy at modest speeds. A local race shop which I can wholeheartedly recommend did the installation. The initial settings are soft rear, medium front. The stock ride wasn't noticeably affected, so it's still a comfortable daily driver. Body roll is now under control and the suspension remains compliant. Handling is all I could ask for in a street car. The car feels tighter overall and cornering is initially neutral, however adding power causes the rear end to step out very predictably. To me, the twitchiness is gone.

I'm sure this isn't for everyone. Many Miata owners would prefer suspension setups that are more race oriented, or hardcore. We all can find what we're looking for in these great cars.

-- Jack T., East Bay, NorCal ( MX5RF 2020 ) September 2021

The Rear Sway bar was easy to install, just jack the car up, plug and play. No need to remove the rear wheels.

The Front Sway bar was a bit more work, but after following a YouTube video, it wasn't difficult, you just gotta be patient.

During the installation of the front sway bar, if you need to steer the car to get the the old sway bar out, be careful not to push on the brake disc cover causing it to bend and touch the rotors. It happened to me which caused a screeching/scratching sound. It was an easy fix. I just bent it back, but be cognizant of that.

I also installed a Sway Bar Mount Bracket (pretty easy install) just incase. I recommend doing this at the same time you install the front sway bar so you don't have to do everything twice.

Used the middle setting for both front and rear, ride does feel stiffer but nothing too crazy.

-- Mx5 D. ( 2021 MX5 ) May 2021

I currently own my 2nd ND MX-5.....and I LOVE the car even as it comes from the factory. I upgraded to these sway bars, and with the front bar set as stiff as possible and the rear in the middle setting the car is significantly better. This upgrade is a "no brainer"..... very low cost to make the car handle the way that it should.

-- John M., Valparaiso IN ( 2020 MX-5 RF GT ) February 2021

These sway bars are awesome and flatten my car in the curves, like I hoped they would! I did the install on my own, in my garage, using jack stands, while following a competitor's video. (This competitor's video is the best one out there, IMO, and seems like it's the easiest way)
Something I learned along the way... the rear 10mm bolt that holds the coolant crossover pipe onto the subframe is a B@&$H! to get out and reinstalled and was the hardest part of the installation, for me. I did figure out a way to make that task much easier. Under the hood, on the passenger side of the engine compartment, there are two 10mm bolts holding the a/c hard lines in place. If you remove both of those bolts, if gives you enough room to move those lines just enough that it exposes that rear bolt and it's much easier to remove/reinstall. That should be the first thing you do before getting the car off the ground to do the underneath work. It will save you a bunch of cuts and scrapes on your arms (and a lot of cussing and throwing tools in the process)! I hope this helps!

-- Vincent O., West Virginia ( 2016 Ceramic Grand Touring MX-5 ST ) June 2020

Get flat and stay flat!!

So I drive very spirited and have several canyons to carve out here in the front range of Denver. With about 4500 miles on my new 2018 Miata I had a moment where I entered a slide hitting a corner a hair too hard and with the massive body lean (that even the club has) I pulled a newbie mistake and slightly over corrected causing a full 180 on a back road. This was all driver error.....

But I realized that with all the lean it was difficult for me personally to feel the breaking point of the vehicle, (also doesn't help I have stock S001s....)

I wanted to find a way to stay a bit more flat to help improve tire bite just a hair, and also make the car feel a bit more aggressive, but not jump to full autocross hard....

These bars were the perfect option for me.

Now install is a chore, anybody that says it's easy is lying, but it is possible to do in your garage, alone, with hand tools, IF you take your time. It took me about 4 hours, I snapped a few plastic push clips which I had extras for....

Tip.

Throw away the stock lube it's awful.

Wrap your bars (where you are mounting them, with 3 layers of tightly wrapped Teflon tape (use the mega stuff with PTFE (gray in color vs white).

Then use some decent grease, I do not recommend a standard lube though, try sil glyde. This combo for me on previous cars Never squeaked.

The above combo has allowed 3000 miles of squeak free driving, and I expect at least 40000 miles before I'll need to regrease.(if ever)

Love the Goodwin crew!

-- Ryan I., Denver ( 2018 MX-5 Cub Brembo ) June 2020

10/10 - Install was done at home with jacks and basic hand tools. No lift needed.

10/10 - Night and Day difference in handling. Took a local 270 degree on-ramp 10mph higher than stock. (Only for testing, zero traffic, no racing). Went from shotgun to rifle.

10/10 - Build quality is excellent, finish is superb.

10/10 - Adjustability on the fly. Inner holes tighten car so well, while outer holes provide smooth comfort while remaining stiff.

Unless you like body roll, I would highly recommend this upgrade ASAP.

-- Aveet C., Chino Hills, CA ( 2018 MX5 Clubsport ) April 2020

The bars change the car's ride drastically - there is virtually no body roll with the bars set in the middle position. I love that I can fly through the corners with more confidence now, but understand why Mazda left the factory set up with so much roll. On a day to day basis, it is more fun to flirt with the edge of the car's capabilities. With these bars, it is much less dramatic and the car feels instantly capable. Much more confidence inspiring, but at the expense of fun. It all depends on what you want!

I'll likely end up swapping to the end position to get some of that happy-go-lucky-ness back into my daily driver, and swap back to the middle position for more serious weekend canyon carving. Having this adjustability within reach (should only take ~20 minutes to get the car on ramps and swap front and rear positions) is priceless!

Now for my one complaint - the included lube is complete garbage. These bars squeak like crazy using it. Immediately when I got home I noticed it in my parking garage at ~5 mph. Any turn or slight bump makes them creak beyond belief. At first I questioned if I had left a nut or bolt undone until I read another reviewer's comments. Definitely find and use higher quality grease before installing!

I installed these at Gearheads in Oceanside, CA - the only DIY garage I could find in my area. I'd highly recommend getting the car up on a lift for the front sway bar installation. Can't imagine trying to do this on jack stands. There are excellent installation videos by a competitor (*cough, cough* Flyin Miata) on YouTube - their method does not require removing the battery tray and fan shroud, or dropping the front subframe. To get enough space/flexibility, they advise removing the lower and middle radiator mounts. This method worked for me! Be sure to have some soapy water on hand to help squeeze the bushings between the subframe and the body.

Overall very happy with this purchase, especially for the price!

-- Aaron M., San Diego, CA ( 2016 MX-5 Grand Touring ) April 2020

Installed using all of the lube provided. It was a creaking, squeaking mess when I was finished and went on the shakedown drive. Either GWR did not provide enough lube, it was poor quality, or a combination of the two. I ordered a small tub of SuperLube (with PTFE), pulled the bushings, filled them up, installed, and all is well now.

Wish I would have read other's issues prior to first install. I hate to do the same work twice! Head this warning: Lube, lube, lube. Below is a link to what I used:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I utilized a procedure I found on Miata.net that did not require dropping the subframe for the front sway bar. Take your time, and it will go well. Rear sway bar is a piece of cake.

-- Robert E., Madison, AL ( 2018 ND MX-5 GT ) March 2020

I installed the roadstersport sway bars myself. This did exactly what I hoped for, making the miata run much flatter in turns but still retained the great ride quality. Loving life with the new sway bars and super Q exhaust. Well done GWR and thank you Brian for the customer support on both installs. Awesome!

-- Martin P., clarksville tn ( 2019 Mx5 ND ) January 2020

These were not nearly as difficult to install as described and even if they were, the benefits are well worth the effort. These absolutely end the body roll without adding a harsher ride in the process. This is how the car should have been from the factory. If you only do one thing to improve your ND, this is a must.

-- Jeffrey H., The Low Country, SC ( 2018 Club ) December 2019

What a difference in the feel of the car! I always felt unsure going around corners with the extreme roll of the stock ND. Not anymore since I installed this RoadsterSport Sway Bar Combo set. I couldn't believe how much these sway bars transformed our car. Worth every penny and I don't know why Mazda didn't put these in to begin with. I installed myself on jacks in the driveway with hand tools. Perfect for daily driver that likes to have fun driving on the curvy roads of NC. I would give 6 stars for this if I could. Best bang for the buck on cornering stability!!

-- Scott M., Davidson, NC ( MX5 2016 ) January 2018