Strut Bars: Make Your Car More Fun to Drive Without Voiding Your Warranty

This is a sponsored product post. But the review is my personal opinion.

If you’re driving a budget car like a Perodua Myvi, you’re either:  

1. Somewhat practical with your money, or
2. That’s all that you can afford at this point of time

For me, who’s kidding who, I can’t afford anything better than a Myvi at this point of my life 🙈

Sometimes, when I’m in the mood to be a boy racer but the Myvi couldn’t deliver, I really want to trade the car in for something sportier.

Until I met one of my blog readers, Azan, and he suggested installing the strut & anti-roll bars on my car to significantly improve its ride & handling.

For a measly investment of around RM200, it eliminated my constant itch to upgrade to a better, more expensive car that will definitely ruin my monthly cashflow. 

Here’s my experience:

What are the Strut & Anti-Roll Bars?

Strut & Anti-Roll bars are bolt on metal bars to stiffen your car’s frame, so it flexes less, resulting in instant sharper handling & a more refined ride over bumpy roads.

There are many types of bars that you can install on your car: front, back, side, undercarriage & roll-cage.

But unless you’re driving a race car, installing too many bars will make your car too stiff and uncomfortable for daily use.

The advice that I got for normal passenger cars, is to install the bars in 2 stages:

STAGE 1: Front Strut Bar
STAGE 2: Rear Anti-Roll Bar (optional)

Valid Concern: Does It Void My Car’s Warranty?

My Myvi is still under warranty. I’ve checked with my Perodua service center, and they’ve told me that as long as I don’t touch the engine, the warranty should still be valid.

WARNING: Although this was the response I got, I strongly encourage you to do your own research at your service center.

The Installation Process on My Myvi

STAGE 1: Your heavy engine is bolted on to the front frame of your car. The front Strut Bar is designed to firm up the front frame, so it wobbles less during cornering and when going over bumps.

Installation took about 15 mins. Pretty easy, non-intrusive, bolt-on job. Here’s the before and after:

Here’s how the front Strut Bar is bolted on top of the front suspension:

After the Front Strut bars are installed, I drove my car around as usual (going to work, run errands, etc.) for about a month.

STAGE 2: Installing Rear Anti-Roll Bars. These bars are designed to reduce body roll during cornering, making the car more predictable.

This will be fitted to my car later. I’ll update this post once I have it installed.

Before & After Difference as a Normal Driver

I have to be honest, I was skeptical that these bars would make any difference at all.

But because the Myvi is a budget car that was never engineered to be fun to drive in the first place, the Strut bars significantly improved its driving character.

So much so, that spending RM 200+ on these bars, reduced my constant urge to upgrade to a more expensive car for a couple more years.

I Can Take Corners Faster:

The main selling point: The car feels more predictable, planted & I can drive through corners faster with confidence.

Before this, I didn’t dare to take corners more than 100 km/h, but after installation, I can head into corners at 120 km/h+ with confidence.

I don’t condone fast driving, but I tested it out on a clear highway when no one’s around to prove my point.

More Refined Over Bumpy Roads:

I don’t think the bar is designed to improve a car’s ride comfort, but I do feel like the Myvi’s body is stiffer when going through bumpy roads.

The suspension don’t crash as much, and my dashboard rattles and squeaks less, resulting in a more refined ride. 

Disadvantages of Installing the Bars

The only downside of installing the Strut and Anti-Roll Bars is the added weight. But since the bars only weigh around 3 kg each, I see no difference in real-world fuel economy.

[Is it Worth it?]: Recommended

If you like driving but don’t want the financial commitment of upgrading to a better and more expensive car, why not upgrade what you currently have?

I’d highly recommend these bars installed in stages. It helped me to get rid of my constant ‘itch.’

Click on the link below to purchase on Shopee and use my promo code: TEMPURBH to get a 10% discount: