Postby david_syd_au » Mon Jul 18, 2011 12:06 pm
An update on my NC YSR coilovers after 3 weeks.
First a brief timeline to give context:
27/6: YSR coilovers installed in my 2006 NC by MX5 Mania
9/7: I measured the ride heights, and lowered the front an additional 10 mm, leaving front at 335 mm and rear at 345 mm, hub centre to guard.
16/7: Wheel alignment by Stu at Spinning Wheel Tyres
17/7: MX5 club run to Hunter Valley
My MX5 has about 55k kms, and is stock, apart from the YSR coilovers, and after-market wheels which were on the car when I bought it earlier this year, and which I believe are same size as the OEM alloys.
Overall, I am very happy with the YSRs. They provide a much more controlled ride than the original springs & shocks, substantially improved handling, with the trade-off being some loss in comfort on rough surfaces.
Damping adjustment
The YSR coilovers allow adjustment of compression and rebound damping, with a range of 0 to 32, where 0 is softest and 32 is firmest.
I want to be able to adjust the YSR damping for 3 scenarios
1. A comfort setting, for cruises with my wife
2. A sport setting, for daily driving, and the odd weekend blast
3. A track setting, for the occasional track day
I initially tried 0 & 0 (0/32 front and 0/32 rear) for the comfort setting, but found that although it was better damped than the original suspension, it was still too bouncy which reduced the ride comfort.
I have settled on 4 & 6 as a good compromise. We used these settings for the club run to the Hunter Valley yesterday (17/7), and both enjoyed the feel and handling of the car, with only a few moments of discomfort on rough and/or patched roads.
For the sport setting I am using 8 & 12, which gives a firm ride that I like, and seems to sharpen the handling a little.
I haven't yet done a track day, and so can't report on suitable track settings.
Clearance
No clearance issues to report. I have only had one grounding so far, of the nose, and that was on a driveway entrance which had been a problem even before the YSRs were fitted and the car lowered.
I am of course being more careful now, so this situation may change as I inevitably become less timid about scrapping.
Handling
First, I must declare that I am not a car expert, not an expert driver, and that these are just my impressions.
My initial reaction on the changed handling of the car with the YSRs was "Wow!". The ride was much, much more controlled, the turn in to corners felt like a go kart, it sat much flatter round corners, and it followed a line around corners like it was on the proverbial rails. There were a couple of issues, like the steering wheel being slightly offset when travelling straight, and some skitishness when travelling straight, which I put down to the alignment being affected by the changed suspension setup. This was expected, and the original plan was to have the alignment done after the YSRs had been given a few weeks to settle.
When I took the car to Stu at Spinning Wheel Tyres last Saturday, he found that there was over 2 deg of negative camber at the front, which would have helped the go kart turn-in, of course, at the expense of tyre wear. He performed the wheel alignment, using his standard NC road car settings, but with slightly more caster to improve the camber on turns at track days.
It was with the new alignment that we did the Hunter Valley run yesterday, using my "comfort" shock settings. The turn in to corners was not quite as sharp as before the alignment, but not that much different, and certainly much better than stock. It still tracked around corners flat and on rails. The skitishness was gone too.
Thumbs up.
Issues
I have removed some of the plastic panelling from the boot to allow for easy access when adjusting the rear shocks, and would like to find some means of remotely adjusting those shock, so the boot can be returned to normal. I have asked MX5 Mania to enquire about options from Yellow Speed Racing.
There are 2 C-spanners supplied with the YSRs shocks which fit the collars used to set the spring preload and ride height. The spanners are a little weak, and I bent one of the buggers when loosening the shock collars to adjust the front ride height. Maybe I am just ham-fisted. Anyway, I straightened the spanner ok, and it should be right to use in the future. Not a big issue, as I don't expect to be changing the ride height too often.
2011 NC LE "Black Beauty" (ours) | 2006 NC race car "Shazza" (his) | 1998 JDM NB race car "OMG" (hers) | NC Trailer
