MX5 Owners in here....bring your curling tongs

[scaza]

Brilliant, as long as its normal. It really does handle great along with the cobalt ARB's, Its actually to sort of car id like to take to a couple of track days or somewhere where it can be driven at the edge to find its limits. Like an airfield.

Are the Konis adjustable while on the car at all? As they were second hand I never thought to ask and there's so many different ways to adjust different Koni models

Have already scraped the exhaust on a rather spirited drive.

 

[wesimmo]

Had my supercharger pulley fixed and 4 wheel alignment done for the 4th time, including raising the coilovers a bit.

It finally drives like it should, and that bit of arch gap versus where the Meister Rs are set out the box makes all the difference on B roads, I can finally attack them without wincing at every depression when it bottoms out.

 

[KingDazza]

Hi, after some advice on an aftermarket exhaust for my 2.0l ND.

Will one invalidate my manufacturers warranty?
Will I need to be careful of damaging the engine, i.e will it be effected negatively?
Will anyone fit it and order it for me?
Should I use a Mazda specialist, if so is there one near Basingstoke?

As for the specific exhaust I'm drawn to a Goodwin solution. Mazda do offer a £650 sports exhaust but feedback isnt great and it requires alteration of the mid section, which doesnt appeal.

Any other advice/thoughts welcome

Cheers.

 

[Frozennova]

Hi, after some advice on an aftermarket exhaust for my 2.0l ND.

Will one invalidate my manufacturers warranty?
Will I need to be careful of damaging the engine, i.e will it be effected negatively?
Will anyone fit it and order it for me?
Should I use a Mazda specialist, if so is there one near Basingstoke?

As for the specific exhaust I'm drawn to a Goodwin solution. Mazda do offer a £650 sports exhaust but feedback isnt great and it requires alteration of the mid section, which doesnt appeal.

Any other advice/thoughts welcome

Cheers.

Speak to BBR, they're the front runner in the after market scene for the ND

 

[scaza]

Anybody here going to the mx5oc trackday at the lotus test track beginning of August?

£90 for 5 hours of open pitlane seems a bargain.

 

[Frozennova]

Anybody here going to the mx5oc trackday at the lotus test track beginning of August?

£90 for 5 hours of open pitlane seems a bargain.

What dates and where abouts in the country?

 

[scaza]

Saturday 6th August in Norfolk. Looks like you have to pay to be a part of the owners club, but the events seem to be well discounted on there to be honest compared to other open pitlanes. Just going through joining up so I can go.


http://www.mx5oc.co.uk/forum/yaf_po...-LOTUS-TEST-TRACK-FOR-MEMBERS-ONLY--PS89.aspx

 

[KingDazza]

Speak to BBR, they're the front runner in the after market scene for the ND

Thanks, tried but couldn't get hold of anyone. I then tried a Goodwin option but they take a month to get from the states. So decided to go with the more conservative, but decent nonetheless Bastuk. Will be fitted on the 29th so will let you know if any good as there seems to be very little info out there at this time. Assuming anyone's interested of course

 

[scaza]

Considering buying some used RX8 calipers, giving them a clean up and returning the seals and piston and seeing how they do on the MX5. Apparently they have all the same mounting points and enable the running of the larger discs.

We shall see.

 

[Will]

Considering buying some used RX8 calipers, giving them a clean up and returning the seals and piston and seeing how they do on the MX5. Apparently they have all the same mounting points and enable the running of the larger discs.

We shall see.

It can be done but....why? The stock brakes are fantastic with a good pad compound and decent fluid, none of the UK spec race series run anything other than the OEM setup with uprated pads/fluid/lines.

I've been a passenger in a Max5 race car with a 335bhp BBR turbo engine in it, driven by Paul Roddison (who races the things), with uprated pads and good fluid it was good for lap after lap around Donington even being absolutely thrashed, I think changing the brakes for the RX8 parts is massive overkill personally, and adds a fair bit of unsprung weight so the handling will be worse too.

 

[scaza]

I was actually going to do it as a bit of a laugh just to have something to tinker with in the garage and see how it goes (I know, how sad).

But I didn't actually know just how highly rated the standard brakes were. It's going to be in need of new discs and pads soon, there's not much meat left on the inside pad and the insides of the discs seem very pitted, I was hoping they'd clean up when I bought the car but it's not brilliant, so I might just look towards uprated pads then.

 

[Will]

If its a fun DIY project then why not, its a cheaper option than any big brake kit and has only been done a couple of times in the UK, so the results would be interesting...

But check the caranddriver.com (US motoring magazine) 70-0mph braking performance stats they measured and you'll see why there's very little that needs doing to a mk3s brakes...these are the top 10 best performing (braking) cars they'd ever recorded up until 2008, the stopping distance is the number in feet....

1.) Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1
142
2.) Nissan GT-R
145
3.) Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR
149
4.) Katech Chevrolet Corvette Z06
151
5.) (tie) Honda S2000 CR
153
Subaru Impreza WRX STI
153
7.) Porsche 911 Turbo
154
8.) Cadillac CTS DI
155
9.) (tie) BMW 135i
157
Infiniti G35 Sport
157
Lotus Elise SC
157
Maserati GranTurismo
157
Mazda MX5 NC
157ft

Yes it only just gets into the top 10, but look at the company its compared with. Light weight does wonders for braking performance.

Articles here explaining the testing methods and result:

http://www.caranddriver.com/feature...-car-and-driver-testing-short-stoppers-page-4

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/mazda-mx-5-road-test-driving-impression-page-2

 

[scaza]

Never mind the only just getting into the top ten, Christ that's impressive. To brake as well as some of those cars, renowned for track ability and handling is a huge achievement.

I had no idea. Like you mentioned begs the question if there is any point, but I'll see how much time I've got over the summer. I'll aim for second hand or refurbished parts, then If it ruins the feel ill just swap straight back and sell the bits on! It's a relatively simple project I suppose.

 

[sandys]

The race teams don't do brake upgrades because the regs don't allow it, whilst stock set up is great if they could change them I would imagine they would fit lighter discs and more efficient calipers in a heartbeat.

You can loose over 2kg per corner with some nice 4 pot calipers and lightweight bells etc and enjoy the benefits from that type of set up.

 

[Scurra]

A quick question for all you MX-5 owners that have had suspension upgrades.

In about a month's time I'm booked in with Wheels In Motion to have my '09 2.0 Sport Mk3 put onto the Eibach 30mm lowering springs and I'm having a full geometry done as well.

Over the last few years, I've had some on and off MOT advisories about mistings of oil on the rear shock absorbers (although interestingly none this past MOT). With that in mind I thought about swapping out the shocks at the same time as having this done as WIM have advised it wouldn't cost me any extra for them to fit the new parts if I can supply them.

Obviously my first port of call was my local Mazda dealer to find out how much a pair of OEM Bilstein rear shocks would be. I was quoted an insane price and that has lead me to looking into aftermarket alternatives.

Does anyone here have any experience of running the Eibach lowering springs with Bilstein B8 shocks? And if so what does the combo do to the ride quality in the MX-5?

I should probably add that I'm only having the car lowered for aesthetic reasons (although I've heard good things about the handling post lowering too), I have no plans to track it so coilovers are I suspect overkill and an expense that I don't need. However I am slightly worried that I might make the car uncomfortably harsh to drive, this is a fairly important consideration as it is my daily driver.

Any thoughts would be most welcome.

 

[scaza]

I run unrated shocks and springs in the form of koni adjustables and bbr springs, but the guy who I got my ARB's from ran B8's and progress springs and loved the setup.

Unfortunately I have no experience with that combination but someone on the owners club if not here will habe I'm sure.

 

[DereksDontRun]

aren't the stock springs in a mx5 nc (and possibly the others?) coilovers anyway?

Lowering springs will probably make it stiffer, so why not just get some coilovers which allow ride height adjustment and have an all-in-one solution? Personally (on my nc2), I went from the Sport Tech Bilstein shocks to MeisterR Zeta-S (and I think I got some discount, 10% possibly, from MX5Nutz forum) and found it a massive improvement to stability with only a slight increase to ride harshness. I know people praise the Ohlins over MeisterR, but I was happy with the more affordable option...

 

[Scurra]

aren't the stock springs in a mx5 nc (and possibly the others?) coilovers anyway?

Lowering springs will probably make it stiffer, so why not just get some coilovers which allow ride height adjustment and have an all-in-one solution? Personally (on my nc2), I went from the Sport Tech Bilstein shocks to MeisterR Zeta-S (and I think I got some discount, 10% possibly, from MX5Nutz forum) and found it a massive improvement to stability with only a slight increase to ride harshness. I know people praise the Ohlins over MeisterR, but I was happy with the more affordable option...

Nope no coilovers as stock on the NC MX5's as far as I'm aware, the stock shocks on my sport model are Bilsteins modified by Mazda expressly for the MX5.

The general consensus seems to be that unless you're willing to pay stupid money for high end coilovers you're better off with a quality shock/spring set up.

I was recommended away from the Koni shocks Scaza mentioned because they're very high pressure and can give an exceptionally harsh ride on rubbish road surfaces.

 

[Will]

aren't the stock springs in a mx5 nc (and possibly the others?) coilovers anyway?

Lowering springs will probably make it stiffer, so why not just get some coilovers which allow ride height adjustment and have an all-in-one solution? Personally (on my nc2), I went from the Sport Tech Bilstein shocks to MeisterR Zeta-S (and I think I got some discount, 10% possibly, from MX5Nutz forum) and found it a massive improvement to stability with only a slight increase to ride harshness. I know people praise the Ohlins over MeisterR, but I was happy with the more affordable option...

The problem with height adjustable coilovers is almost always ride quality.

The factory setup on almost all road cars uses a progressive spring (meaning its stiffness increases, the more you compress it), and a rubber insulated top mount.

Almost all of the height adjustable coilover setups use a linear spring (constant spring rate) and a solid top mount of some kind.

The result is almost always better handling and more body control, but the trade off is a crashy low speed ride, and less compliance for the road.

If you are going to do track days - coilovers are great.

If you are doing to do 99% of your driving on the road, they get pretty wearing after a while.

I changed from Meister R Zeta S, to the BBR lowering spring and matched Koni damper setup, for road use it is a far more pleasant proposition and the extra compliance means the car no longer skips over bumps or broken road surfaces. I'd venture as much to say I have the confidence to go much quicker on the road with this setup than I did with the coilovers, just because its more compliant. The improved ride comfort (vs the coilovers) is nice as well.

Now you can get some very good, very expensive coilovers (the likes of Ohlins Road&Track, or KW Variant 3s) which have good enough damping to still keep good ride quality, but in my experience all sub £800-1000 coilovers will ride worse than a lowering spring/matched damper combination, and be less suited to road driving. You need to spend more and get the Ohlins or similar if you still want that good ride quality as well.

 

[Scurra]

SNIP!

Thanks Will, you've basically reinforced all the points I've already come across in my research so far. What you say seems to make a lot of sense.

With that in mind after a bit more digging I discovered that Bilstein sell a B12 kit for the MX-5 which comprises of the B8 shocks and the Eibach lowering springs that WIM are going to supply to me.

That would indicate to me that the B8 shocks would be a good match for the springs. But I'm not much of a mechanic so could anyone confirm/deny if that is in fact the case?