Ground Control Suspension Systems

ForceMajeure · Postby **ForceMajeure** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 10:25 pm

Has anybody used these guys and their ground control kit?

http://www.ground-control-store.com/products/description.php/II=44/CA=23

I'm a little confused as to the springs as it says they are ERS (Ebach race springs) which Ebach says is a double spring system but all the photos of the kit I've seen just have one set of springs.

I'm looking to team these up with yellow Konis with the non adjustable ride height as on an NB, but im also not sure exactly whether the 2.5 inch will actually get you low enough.

zossy1 · Postby **zossy1** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:50 am

M.net might be a better place to search or ask this question. There are a lot of yanks using this setup if i am not mistaken.

ForceMajeure · Postby **ForceMajeure** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 11:40 am

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction, a lot of info on there although its very hard to determine if people are talking about NA or NB which is a big difference given NB have non adjustable ride height on Koni shocks.

What im gathering is that you get shorter springs 6' at the front and 7' at the back, though im still not 100% sure even 7' will give you enough low in the back, although im more interested in getting my ride height even rather than slamming the back.

So i need to determine how high my koni springs are which will give me a better idea of what im working with. It appears you also need a stiffer spring rate to compensate for a shorter spring, probably shorter bumpstops may be needed as well.

I will keep researching.

hks_kansei · Postby **hks_kansei** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:05 pm

I presume you just want the car lower and to lower the rear more to even out the guard to tyre gap?

the Tein S-Tech springs lower the car by 20mm at the front, and 33mm at the rear (for NB)

do measure the car first to make sure it's going to be legal height still (if you care)
mine would have been too low on the Teins, but my exhaust hangs a bit lower than stock.

ForceMajeure · Postby **ForceMajeure** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 12:35 pm

The actual ride height is not the main issue, it is secondary to the issue of my passenger rear side sitting 2/2.5 centimeters higher than the drivers side rear and hence upsetting the total equilibrium of the car in general.

This means i cannot get an equal ride height unless i either get coilovers or GC. As i just replaced my whole suspension less than 1k ago im not really keen on the first option. I figure Konis with Ebachs + GC will be the best option for the money given the circumstances.

I thought my uneven suspension height was because my shocks were dead, which they were anyway given they had done 150k, but unfortunately it was not the cause.

Of course the last thing i need to do now is get GC that leaves my car not being able to get a decent ride height even though i fix the uneven height issue, i realy need to get this 100% right.

if i had a Delorean to go back in time i would of bought coilovers, but i dont and i didnt hence im buggered!

tbro · Postby **tbro** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 7:09 pm

Don't know if you did what I suggested??
Try reading the info at http://www.fatcatmotorsports.com
My old Clubman was done with his gear and it worked out allright

ForceMajeure · Postby **ForceMajeure** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 7:34 pm

tbro wrote:Don't know if you did what I suggested??
Try reading the info at http://www.fatcatmotorsports.com
My old Clubman was done with his gear and it worked out allright

Cheers, im not looking to replace my entire suspension, which fatcat seem to specialise in, i only want the ground control kit, some good info on there though.

Having discussion with some race suspension guys today they say my biggest problem will be correctly matching the shortened Ebach springs that come with the kit to the existing Koni yellows and avoiding riding on the bumpstops, they suggest i need to measure my shock travel and other numerous suspension components before i even think of embarking down this road.

project.r.racing · Postby **project.r.racing** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 7:39 pm

dunno if getting these and welding them to the konis is gonna do much better. once you lower the height of the springs, you'll be pre-loading the konis and shortening the life and reducing their effiency.

i'd bite the bullet and buy coilovers. band aid solutions tend to just cause more problems.

ForceMajeure · Postby **ForceMajeure** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 7:47 pm

Yes i am getting the feeling im pretty well screwed.

rossint · Postby **rossint** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 7:57 pm

I agree, coilovers are what you need. You should be able to sell your current setup to cover some of the cost of the coilovers. I think going down the GC route will just end up with way too much mucking around to get it right.

ForceMajeure · Postby **ForceMajeure** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:07 pm

Its a sad state of affairs to say the least, and to make matters worse my dic$head neighbour reversed into the car last weekend so its getting repaired for the third bloody time now on the drivers side.

Basically once mx5's are involved in car accidents its pretty easy to get the chassis and alignments really f@#$%d up.

Might be best taking it back to stock and selling it at this point IMO.

zossy1 · Postby **zossy1** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:01 pm

ForceMajeure wrote:Basically once mx5's are involved in car accidents its pretty easy to get the chassis and alignments really f@#$%d up.

Might be best taking it back to stock and selling it at this point IMO.

Well I'm sure your near-new suspension will sell for a decent price if you ripped it out... Would definitely get you some of the way towards a decent set of coilovers.

As for the fragility of the MX5 chassis, I couldn't agree more. Our poor little cars are VERY easy to bend...

Steampunk · Postby **Steampunk** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 9:41 pm

Okay, I will try this one more time as the last time you pretty much ignored me and others;
You stated a while ago that "...money is no object..." so why are you doing things, not only on the cheap-side, but also the hard-way?
Quite a few people have recommended bolt-on products from Koni, Tein, Bilstein (I recommended AFCO because of your aforementined premise of "money is no object") but you went ahead and bought a DIY kit which you had problems with missing parts, and you also stated you are not all that handy with a spanner.

So why don't you simply get rid of what you have, forget about the Ground Control kit and it's ensuing work to weld them onto the Koni's, and take the advice that was first given to you?

ForceMajeure · Postby **ForceMajeure** » Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:21 pm

Your ignorant comments have nothing to do with what my problem is, i never did anything on the "cheap side" or "DIY" i had everything installed professionally.

I did not want coilovers on my car, if i did i would of got them straight up, i still would prefer not to have them.

Im just trying to make the best of a bad situation.

Forget i even asked for advice. :idea: