For a long time now, I have been putting off buying a front strut tower bar for my FD. I didn't want to buy a cheapo ebay bar. I also didn't want to shell out $200 for a used R1 bar on the forum ........ I don't really like the red anyway.

Recently, I found someone selling a 97 FD bar for less than the R1's, and it was black. I bought it and installed it. Wow. What a difference. I had no idea how much it would stabilize the front end of the car. It feels so much more solid when cornering. Better road feel. Better steering response.

If you don't have a front strut tower bar, you should get one. It doesn't matter which generation RX7 you have. Get a bar. Even the the cheapo ebay bar will make a significant difference.

Just don't get a red one ........ unless you have a red car

 

i agree. the front end of my fc felt very floaty until i put my cheapo bar from ebay on it. took care of that feeling right away.

 

hmmm...i guess i'm just not as sensitive to changes. i didn't really notice a difference.

 

My strut bar will no longer fit with my scoot hood. I wonder if it would be a good idea to cut into the scoot center scoop tunnel and make a grove so it would fit? Is that a good idea?

 

I didnt notice much of a difference either. My car was way stiff to begin with though so I dunno how much better it made it.

 

I would try making some adjustments on the bar, and mounts before changing your hood. I was able to lower my bar more than 1/4" by doing a couple of things:

1. My bar has 2 mounting points at the top of the strut tower. I put 3 washers under the outside mounting point on both sides of the car. This pivoted the bracket downward on the inside.

2. If you need more adjustment, you can slot the holes where the bar attaches to the brackets.

I don't know how much more clearance you need, but this may be enough.