The Suspension Thread.

[Benn]

Hello all,
First thing first… flame suit on…

Now I know this thread probably will end up with the usual “do a search” or the oh so funny “here is a link to an ebay set” but I will endeavour to do something which I hope will help all ‘noobs’ like myself or guys who are just genuinely curious .
I have been considering lowering my Mx5, Now I having done searches and I have found so much information that it is almost useless, as everyone has a good/bad thing to say on the same product.

So here is the idea, I am throwing out the question:
‘What is your Suspension set up? Not what you have read but what you are using.
This question is simple as it on your car, but wait that’s not all. I suggest adding a grading scheme, say 1-10

So for the categories:

What is it: name of coilover or shock-spring combo
Handeling Impovement: 1 = OEM/stock, -> 10 = drives like it’s on rails
How much lower: 1 = OEM/stock, -> 10 = sump scrapes on ground
Stiffness : 1 = driving on a cloud, -> 10 = that leaf I just drove over broke my spine
Ease of fitting: 1 = anyone with tools can fit part, -> 10: F1 engineering team would have difficulty
Cost: simply how much you paid

Now I know what some of you are thinking that this is way too subjective and what are people comparing it too…. Yata yata..
But the good thing is that more than one person will have each type/brand so hopefully we will see some sort of average and get a better idea of what is out there and how people find it performs.
And what are we comparing it too …. Well a bob stock Mx-5 which I am sure we have all dríven at some stage.

If anyone has something to add or can see I have left something important out please add. After all we all share the same passion.

Cheers Ben.

[Magpie]

What is it: BC Racing ER (8kg front, 6 kg rear). Damper settings 20 clicks from soft front, rear 25 clicks from soft rear, Rebound 10 clicks from soft front, rear 15.
Handeling Impovement: 8 just because there is a huge amount of settings available. Plus 24mm sway front, 12mm rear.
How much lower: at 100mm at the pinch welds it is way too low for me. I raised it to 115 front and 125 at the rear (at the pinch welds) this has made the splitter at about 90mm.
Stiffness : 10 if I leave track setting on the road, however I normally dial the damper down by 10 clicks (but never less than the rebound).
Ease of fitting: 0 I have MX5 Plus do it.
Cost: $1,700 (excluding fitting)
Notes: As the ER's have an external reservoir this needs to be loosened before any adjustments are made. Also they like 3mm of preload and this is easy to set (I will be updating my garage thread with the how very soon). The BC ER's move about 2mm per turn of the upper locking ring and adjust corner weights by about 2kg per full turn.

[Benn]

Thanks Magpie. This is the kind of post i was hoping for.

Keep them coming guys

Ben

[mazmad]

No flame suit needed on my account. ;)

You need to state the intended use. Track and street are very different obviously, and what feels super hard on the road can feel soft on the track (and other factors come into play such as sway bars, and even wheel widths and tyres).

So having said that:
For track use.
What is it: Bilstein PSS9s coilovers
Handling: Surprisingly good given they are not strictly a track coilover. Need to be set very hard, I have them typically 1 front (hardest) and 2 rear. Otherwise they are hitting the bump stops.
How much lower: a lot. 100mm clearance.
Stiffness : teeth rattling. But very very easy to adjust so for street use, easily backed off to say 6 and 9. Have performed surprisingly well given the spring rates are softer (430lb) than they should be for an nb for track (460lb)
Ease of fitting: not easy.
Other: waiting for them to fail given the punishment they cop but so far they have held up solidly.
Cost: 1700

[Benn]

Good point Mazmad.
I guess if people just say what their use is ie: 'track', 'street', 'track/street'

I guess the point of this thread was to find out what people are using and how they rate it. Kinda like the various "show off your wheel" threads.
That way it will help the guys that are looking for a track set up as well as those who are looking for a nice street one.

Ben

[hks_kansei]

What is it: Mazdaspeed/Eibach springs - OEM shocks (~135,000km old) - OEM swaybars.

Handling Impovement: 2 - Feels quite similar to stock, but gets noticably stiffer under compression (progressive rate springs) 90% of the time it's anly mildly stiffer than a stock car.

How much lower: 30mm lower

Stiffness : 3 - can't remember rates, but it was ~30% higher than the OEM ones - as above, only a little more than a stock car (just pump a factory car's tyres up to 45psi and it's like that)

Ease of fitting: 5 - It's difficult if you've never swapped shocks before, and involves using spring compressors. If you don't have stuck bolts/nuts you can do each corner in about 30mins (most of that is slowly winding the compressors in evenly to not bend the shock piston)

Cost: $250 posted from Yahoo.jp




Overall, it's perfect for what I wanted, I was happy with the ride/handling of the factory car, and just wanted a bit lower. This did that.

Normal road use, did a season of motorkhana (mix of bitumen and off road)

[project.r.racing]

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=42522&hilit=ysr+coilovers

This thread has done what you are suggesting. Lots of real world applications and comparisons already done.

[Benn]

project.r.racing ; i did see this one but as the title suggests there is a lot of info on the yellows and bits on others, after going through the many pages and sifting through posts i think what i am trying to do here is a lot different. The reason i made this thread was for guys to post up what they were running and what they thought.

It takes all the "i heard this" and "my mate said that", and it will give the new guys a good place to be sent (or to find when they "do a search) where the information is just there, not 15 pages about one shock and having 30 people saying multiple things whilst never actually having had the particular part as well as talking about there dinner and various activities.

I understand that a lot of you have probably said what you are running before or that people already know that 'XYZ coilover' is great, but honestly it will take a second to type up, plus its your car so you know from first hand experience what its like and the info could help someone.

anyway, thanks to the few that have started and hope to hear a little more from the other guys on this forum.

Ben

[PaulF]

Use: Daily dríven. Not used on track, yet.
What is it: GAZ Gold Pro coilovers
Handling Impovement: Car feels great, especially with corner weighting and a good wheel alignment. No real numbers to prove it though.
How much lower: Low enough to be illegal (<100mm off the ground). No height adjustment independent of preload though, so probably not ideal for the stance enthusiast.
Stiffness : The ride is quite comfortable. Passed the girlfriend test.
Ease of fitting: The biggest downside with these is that at some point just after fitting - probably during initial setup - there's been some damage to the collars. The collars sit very close to the control arms. Ideally I think they need longer springs or helper springs. Mine work fine, but now I'm pretty much stuck with the existing height setting due to the damage.
Cost: Cheap. I bought them second hand, but they're £595.00 direct from the UK and each shock comes with its own shock dyno printout. I have no idea what a shock dyno printout should look like, but that's gotta be a good thing right?

[NitroDann]

Change stiffness to comfort.

Dann

[StuwieP]

Change stiffness to comfort.

Dann

maybe if your main use is track, leave it, if it's road, go for comfort?

[NitroDann]

No, the point I was making is that stiffness is not the same as comfort.

A stiff car can be extremely comfortable.

Therefore you should rate its stiffness if you want to know how liveable it is on the street day to day, rather its comfort.

Dann

[Benn]

Thats actually a good point Dan,

so it will now be:

What is it: name of coilover or shock-spring combo
Handeling Impovement: 1 = OEM/stock, -> 10 = drives like it’s on rails
How much lower: 1 = OEM/stock, -> 10 = sump scrapes on ground
Comfort: 1 = driving on a cloud, -> 10 = that leaf I just drove over broke my spine
Ease of fitting: 1 = anyone with tools can fit part, -> 10: F1 engineering team would have difficulty
Cost: simply how much you paid

Ben

[mrschlim]

Use:Street & Track

What is it: Ohlins DFV

Handling Improvement: It's about as much as I could reasonably expect for shocks/springs at the price, so 8? Could handle large, mid-corner bumps a little better... which is a moot point on the track. Not so great on the bumpy back-roads like Kangaroo Valley Rd though.

How much lower: Set at OEM height

Comfort: 4

Ease of fitting: 4

Cost: $2200 + shipping

[SlugRacer]

Would be good if people could please add spring rates F+R as some coilovers can be ordered with custom spring rates