Anyone lowered their MX-5 NC Limited Edition (LE) ?

dissin · Postby **dissin** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 6:57 pm

just wondering if anyone has lowered their NC Limited because most people have complained the suspension is softer than stock standard, and has more body roll as well

thanks in advance

AJ · Postby AJ » Fri Mar 03, 2006 8:01 pm

*spits bourbon all over the screen*............... :evil:

...........nah, shutup AJ :roll:

StanTheMan · Postby **StanTheMan** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 8:56 pm

go on AJ ....tell us what you think. Ready with Bourbon & popcorn for the next COW. :mrgreen:

JBT · Postby **JBT** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:41 pm

dissin wrote:just wondering if anyone has lowered their NC Limited because most people have complained the suspension is softer than stock standard, and has more body roll as well

thanks in advance

Whaaaat

How can the standard suspension be softer than stock standard and the car have more body roll :?:

I think I need a Bundy or three :roll:

.........or maybe I've had too many already :mrgreen:

You could see what Razor and Charlie Brown have done here.

AJ · Postby AJ » Fri Mar 03, 2006 10:04 pm

that bundy'll give ya some body roll JB :lol:

make ya soft around the middle as well :mrgreen:

dissin · Postby **dissin** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 12:14 am

i test drove a non LE, and was really happy with the drive.
ended up buying an LE thinking it would be better due to "sport suspension" bilsteins, but its a lot worse!

this is echoed on the mitaforum.com so im not the only one

example
http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=171432

StanTheMan · Postby **StanTheMan** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:51 am

dissin wrote:just wondering if anyone has lowered their NC Limited because most people have complained the suspension is softer than stock standard, and has more body roll as well

thanks in advance

they are comparing the suspension settings of two different cars. NB & NC. I read they are different animals.

can't comment as I've only ever sat in NC. only drive an NB when someone lets me & drive the NA to its limits on weekends.

Its kind of comparing the different species in evolution of the MX5.

pastapete · Postby **pastapete** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 7:50 am

Eibach springs arriving this week, can't wait to fit them!
Driving an NB on a regular basis, even with stock suspension, it has much more 'go kart chuckability' and stability than the LE.
In fast direction changes, the LE feels a little twitchy by comparison, and body roll is part of the problem. After the Eibachs, I'm looking at RX8 sway bars (can pick up a set for $80!) and that should complete the solution...

Bevan · Postby **Bevan** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:54 am

You'll enjoy it with the lower springs. Charlie Brown is running his NC with standard shocks and lowered springs and it has a very good stance on the road. Just ask his 1:15 PB at Wakefield! :shock:

I'd be careful about the sways though. If it ends up too stiff, you can't adjust the dampening of the shocks to counter it. You may end up with the NC being tail-happy or understeery.

Charlie Brown · Postby **Charlie Brown** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 1:49 pm

Bevan wrote:You'll enjoy it with the lower springs. Charlie Brown is running his NC with standard shocks and lowered springs and it has a very good stance on the road. Just ask his 1:15 PB at Wakefield!

I'd be careful about the sways though. If it ends up too stiff, you can't adjust the dampening of the shocks to counter it. You may end up with the NC being tail-happy or understeery.

I think your right on the money Bevan about the RX8 sways. Although they are a cheap option they are a lot stiffer than the Mazdaspeed/Eibach bars and the rear is not adjustable.
Word from the US is that the RX8 front sway induced heaps of understeer, something that I want to reduce.

Let me know how it goes pastapete and whether you are able to fabricate some sort of adjustable link in the rear.

ncmx5 · Postby **ncmx5** » Mon Mar 06, 2006 10:32 pm

i got kings springs on my nc. man its dumped. havent had a chance to test its worth tho. im happy with the looks tho.

dissin · Postby **dissin** » Sun Mar 12, 2006 5:10 pm

rso4x4 wrote:hi down there,
i lowered my le with the eibach springs and installed h&r wheel spacers... 25 mm in the front and 30 mm the rear (per wheel)... looks nice, handling will be tested in the alps when the weather gets better (it`s still winter in bavaria)

The stance is much better looking with the eibach springs !

Iliv45 · Postby **Iliv45** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 2:07 pm

OK a word of warning on adding stiffer sways, something to be mindfull of!

Last week two seperate NC's had bushing failures on track while using the Eibach sways. The initial finding was Eibach had supplied the wrong bushes and they have admitted that. On Thursday though after a failure we took one of the NC's to a suspension engineer who did a thorough going over of it. His opinion was yes the Bush is wrong but that is only half the problem. His fear is with the bilsteins & Eibach sways the car is over barred and under dampened meaning far to much effort is being forced onto the bar.

To test the theory we initially installed a couple front bushes from the RX8 (almost a perfect fit). Was able to get the car back on track that afternoon but after approx 10 laps the RX8 bushes failed.

On Friday we installed the full RX8 swaybars front & back on the NC and again was able to get some laps in on a different circuit. Again the Bushes failed after repeated laps. This time the rubber Bushes were mated perfectly with the bar but the failure still occurred.

It would appear under the stress of daily driving the eibach bar is fine but under track conditions the stresses can overcome the Bushes and cause failure. My ultimate fear is if Eibach supplies much stronger Bushes that can resist the stress as a replacement then that stress may be passed onto other components like the endlinks which is far more expensive if they fail!

At present the only NC's I know of that have run on the track with larger sways have also had coilovers added. They have not suffered any failures!

Remember his fear is just speculation currently by testing a few assorted parts. When the new bushes come in from Eibach the car will be back out there on track and we'll see what happens. One things for sure once this new bush goes in the car is really going to get a caining in the corners. If it survives this the parts should be fine. I do find it hard to believe both Mazda & Eibach (they worked on these parts together) would screw up so much as to over swaybar the car because remember these are sold as Mazdaspeed parts in the states via the Mazda dealers!

Will let everyone know how the new bushes go. Hopefully they should be fine!

Razor · Postby **Razor** » Tue Mar 14, 2006 7:07 pm

I am currently looking into a set of sways. Options are limited at the moment.

Of interest Auto Exe make an NC set
Front 22mm
Rear 14mm

Whiteline (for RX-8)
Front 27mm
Rear 18mm

Whiteline also make a spherical bearing (rose joint) link kit for the RX-8 not
sure if its 100% compatable with the NCs.

I've heard mixed reports of people running stock RX-8 bars.

Not sure on the Mazdaspeed NC items yet

But with the TEINs in I am riding fairly low and fairly stiff so I might wait
and see what Mazdaspeed or Whiteline offers for the NC.

dissin · Postby **dissin** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 12:45 am

good news... after over 1000km's the car has settled and feels much more stable than b4... i am assuming the tyres have worn in and have better grip, also the first service tightening up things... feels much better... still wheel arch gap, but feeling a lot better now !!