I noticed a difference when i put a strut bar on the rear. I always had one on the front so cant comment on that

 

what kind of difference did you notice though?

 

You probably don't have a very good sense of feeling if you think you don't notice a difference between having the bar or not.
I picked up my car without a front bar. I got a cusco bar shortly after owning it for a few months. The difference is very noticeable. Car is tighter, turn in is better, steering feel is better, hell everything is better with the bar.

Another noticeable difference is when you get rid of the twin turbos and all the plumbing for a single turbo setup. Car feels so much lighter. Everything gets better in terms of steering, reaction time, and the overall feel of the car.

 

the SAE paper on the FD body structure says the front strut bar is good for a 3% increase in rigidity, so effect is small, but it is there. windshield is 5%, and the front sway bar is -12%

 

mostly less axle tramp

 

yep the strut tower bar will make a difference because the FD body isn't the stiffest but pretty much only at the track or autox with stick tires. Otherwise you likely won't notice anything.

But it does look cool so worth the price of the extra weight for street use

 

thats mostly what I waslooking for if the extra stiffness was worth the extra weight haha . Thanks alot for that !

 

I DDed my car for a good couple of years before I installed the rear strut bar and i DID notice a difference on the street. Maybe its because I already knew the car so well before adding it that I was able to pick it up.

I had bad axle tramp during hard-ish launches, the rear strut bar basically got rid of it, believe it or not, but there is zero doubt in my mind. I drove the car for several years, everyday, and I sure as hell noticed it when I added it.

 

Same for me. Solidified the front and. Made the car more stable during "spirited" cornering. Easily noticeable on street tires.

I think all strut bars will perform the same, unless you buy one made of rubber

 

As the cars get older, wider/stickier tires or with stiffer suspension components, the difference might also become more apparent. But you have to move to the Mazdaspeed brace for the real hp gain.