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hey everyone

i'm from wollongong and i went to pedders to get a quote for my car to get lowered.. it was called sports rydars suspension. for my NC model.. he quoted all up $736 including wheel alinment.. do you think this is worth it or not? it will drop the car about 30mm.

happy easter

more than $500 for JUST springs fitted with alignment is too much...

ok thanks for your input.. does anyone know of where a place i can get this done????.. i want it lower than 30 mm also.

Go directly to Mania, do not pass go, do not collect $200!

or go straight to top tune.
jason will look after you..

yep too much for just springs. Tops 300 fitted. Personally, go for Eibach, they're for suited for stock shocks. Im running Kings and they are brutally hard on the road (I feel) but great on track. I only hear good things about Eibach and so try mania for the Eibach package.

i'd consider the fact that pedder has quoted for a \"sports ryders suspension\" pack, it would involve more than just springs, if you want a professional job, go to a suspension specialist

i got the same quote from pedders in wollongong too. around 700+ for me too. i figure out mania was the cheapest, but i still haven't got it done yet. i think it was 430? from mania fitted.

I would avoid the sport ryder option all together. If it includes shocks it is likely they will be of lesser quality than the factory ones. I am not sure what everyone else on the forum thinks but I don't think much of pedders. I would be much happier sending my car to a real suspension specialist or somewhere like mania. If it is just for springs then you should be able to do better than $736

Good luck with it.

Spranga wrote:I am not sure what everyone else on the forum thinks but I don't think much of pedders. I would be much happier sending my car to a real suspension specialist or somewhere like mania

I'm sure Pedders can do a good job but my thinking is Mania race, eat and sleep MX-5's only so they're the experts in my book, Pedders would see every make and model so are not as in-tune as Mania are.

ncmx5 wrote:yep too much for just springs. Tops 300 fitted. Personally, go for Eibach, they're for suited for stock shocks. Im running Kings and they are brutally hard on the road (I feel) but great on track. I only hear good things about Eibach and so try mania for the Eibach package.

I don't believe it's possible to have new springs + fitting for $300 (mates rates excluded). Thats a bit too optimistic, particularly if you are talking about Eibach springs (~$500 parts). Installation is normally $150-250 (springs and/or shocks).

The OP lives in Wollongong. Thats a fairly long drive to get some springs fitted even if mania are the "best" (unless you are buying the gear from them). It's a potential DIY job (well NA's and NB's are) so any/most tire/suspension place can do the install. A decent alignment is a different story.

I'm surprise no-one has said:
"OMG don't lower your car on stock shocks......."

The suspension is probably the most important and rewarding mod you can do. Try not to skimp to much on the gear.

**** Side topic: Can Mania do wheel alignments? I have a service coming up.

drifter wrote:I'm surprise no-one has said:
"OMG don't lower your car on stock shocks......."

Considering it's an NC and the shocks are probably still good they can still be used, perhaps not optimal but Charlie Brown has on his NC and he's going great guns at Wakefield Park!

drifter wrote:**** Side topic: Can Mania do wheel alignments? I have a service coming up.

Not that I'm aware of, but just ask where they get the race cars done perhaps?

I can vouch for Pedders Wollongong. Mark and his team have been doing my suspension and alignment work for 15 years on my road cars and also on my race cars. I have trained them in all things MX5! But, remember they are a franchise and they are only trying to sell you what they sell. They have a brand new alignment machine too and it's accuracy is amazing. My suggestion would be to source eibachs yourself and then get them to fit and align your car.

Pedders down here in Hawthorn just did mine. Just got back from Easter on a club 3 day run and Im really impressed with the way the NC handles now. They used basically Charlie Browns settings, and sat two people in the car while they were setting it up. Very thorough. The car now seems to sit lower... on the original springs. No idea why but a couple of other club members commented on this. Maybe its the increased camber.
NOTE Major point made by the resident expert at Pedders was that this car does not need to be lowered, and that setting it up right does way more to improve on the factory settings. So try the alignment first before you toss out the springs. Cost 120 if you sit in the car yourself.
In degrees
BEFORE
Front
Camber L -0.24 R -0.12
Caster L +5.74 R +5.70
Toe L +0.39 R +0.37
Rear
Camber L -1.46 R -1.32
Toe L +0.11 R +0.03

AFTER
Front
Camber L -1.43 R -1.48
Caster L +6.49 R +6.40
Toe L +0.05 R +0.04
Rear
Camber L -2.37 R -2.35
Toe L +0.18 R +0.20

Thanks to Charlie Brown.

tommy06 wrote:ok thanks for your input.. does anyone know of where a place i can get this done????.. i want it lower than 30 mm also.

Tommy, Mania has the Eibach’s for $570 and fitting's $175.
If you ring Wholesale Suspension at Penrith they will give you the cost for Kings fitted.

Eibach’s lower the NC about 30mm. The Kings are supposed to be 35mm however mine are now 40 - 43mm lower than standard and this is too low for our “fantastic” public roads. Looks great but not practical as the rear shocks are too soft and clearance under the car with two people onboard is probably only about 70mm.

The Kings are the same rate as the Eibach’s, 28 - 30% firmer than standard. I don’t find the Kings hard as NCMX5 does. Don’t know why.

I have no idea what Pedder’s spring rates are compared to standard. Maybe you should ask and then do a double check that they are for the NC model and not the NB as I don’t know anyone with an NC and Peddar springs.

What can you do and what will it cost (parts only)?

Lowering springs - $500 to $600
Adjustable sways - $440
Adjustable Shocks - $900 to $1,200
Coil overs - $2,000 to $3,000

What would I do now that there are a lot of options available and if money wasn’t a problem? Buy a fully adjustable coil over set-up. Tein will set you back around $2,000 or go to http://www.good-win-racing.com/ and have a look at importing one of the set-ups that Brian has. This allows you to set the height and adjust the damping to suit the conditions.

Here’s a shot 35 mm lower front and back.



And lowered 40mm.