ND - Any one upgraded suspension yet?

[oppolock]

Have any ND owners upgraded their suspension? I have the 2.0 GT and find that I would like the suspension improved to provide more control in switchback turns and bumps, undulations mid corner, but still provide sufficient comfort and compliance. The suspension is fine in longer sweepers where it has time to lean and set.
I want the improvements purely for road driving in SW Victoria where we have to cope with dips, rough patches and ragged road edges.
Way back when I had a NB, I had Konis/King springs installed but they never coped well with our rough roads.
Am I seeking nirvana or is there a solution out there?

[orx626]

[project.r.racing]

sounds like you need bigger sway bars.

[elbekay]

I'm running MCA XC in my ND. I bought them with the same requirements as you, I can't recommend them enough. They're very comfortable on the street but there is less roll and better composure after hitting bumps.

[oppolock]

Thanks elbekay, I'll talk to MCA. I think I got details from you on miata.net a while back.
Some drivers on miata.net seem to have some positive results with just Eibach springs and standard shocks, but who knows how that would work for me.

[Magpie]

Automotive Plus (Forum Sponsor) helped develop the MCA's ND's give them a call.

[elbekay]

Thanks elbekay, I'll talk to MCA. I think I got details from you on miata.net a while back.
Some drivers on miata.net seem to have some positive results with just Eibach springs and standard shocks, but who knows how that would work for me.

I'm happy to take you for a spin if you're in the city Mazda area. The biggest improvements for me were damping and body control, I'm not sure I'd have got the same leap from springs alone.

[hks_kansei]

While Eibach make very nice springs, by their nature any springs designed for use on the standard shocks will not be a particularly large difference.

Shocks and springs need to be matched, and so if you leave one alone and change the other there's only a little bit of room.

I had Eibach/Mazdaspeed springs on my NB for ages and preferred them to the factory springs, however the difference wasn't massive.



For what you want, less body roll during switchbacks and minimal change to comfort I would suggest looking at larger swaybars rather than shocks and springs.
The swaybars will be substantially cheaper than coilovers, and will also leave the ride comfort almost the same as it is now, but they will sitffen it up during cornering.



Coilovers will do the job, but at a higher cost and at the detriment of comfort (reducing roll needs stiffer springs or shocks, either will reduce ride quality. Swaybars operate by only resisting roll during cornering, so dont effect ride quality anywhere near as much)



(for reference I recently installed Tein coilovers in my NB, so i'm not against them by any means. Just that the nature of them means they do reduce ride quality)

[oppolock]

hks,
Thanks for your input. Over many suspension mods over many years, I have never been really happy with the times I tried sway bars. I have found on the roads around here with real rough, broken edges they can make the ride harsher than a spring/shock upgrade. Having said that, I never tried them on my old NB. Also front bars are a bugger to fit on the ND.
Another option though.

[hks_kansei]

Rough roads where one side is hitting more bumps than the other is where swaybars can tend to affect ride quality (being stiffer they reduce the ability of independent suspension to well, be independent)
A thick enough swaybar would make a car handle somewhat like a live axle (kind of)

Shocks and springs very much depend on the rates and damping of each. To resist roll you need stiffer springs/shocks, but for comfort you'll be looking for softer on each.


Some adjustable shocks may be a possibility, using the original springs, or at least mild lowered springs.
That would allow you to set the shocks softly for regular use, retaining most of the current comfort, and when at a hillclimb wind the shocks up stiffer to help reduce initial roll (granted, with a far stiffer shock than spring it will likely slow the initial roll, but also slow the ability of the car to then level back out afterwards)

I'm not really sure, having never been in a car with a setup even close to that.

[CeramicND]

Fitted some eibach springs about 2 months ago and really impressed with the improvement in on-road performance. Gives the car a more secure feeling on the road, a little firmer but still supple over the bumps, significantly reduced the pitching on acceleration and braking and reduced the roll a little. However, did my first track day recently and at race speeds there is still significant weight transfer on hard braking leading to some tail end twitchiness. Now considering some coil overs, but concerned about maintaining reasonable road comfort whilst improving on-track handling. Looking at the Tein Flex (with electronic adjustment) or MCA XR's. I believe the Teins have 7kg/5kg springs and the XR's 10kg/5kg springs. Not sure if those Spring weights are correct. Would really appreciate some input.

[mx5parts]

Our MX5 Parts ND 2 litre is fitted with TEIN FLEX Z, EDFC controller and Progress Technologies sway bars.

Anyone is welcome to come and drive it to experience the mods first hand!!

More details are at our garage thread here - http://mx5cartalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=57&t=72879

chris@mx5parts.com.au

[manga_blue]

We have the same problem. You have roads as bad as my local ones. What I found was that, while sway bars are good at improving stability and control on smooth roads, they're not good for the sorts of roads here with corregations, pot holes, dips and poor surfaces everywhere. They increase harshness and reduce grip under those conditions. While my car is an NA the principles are the same. My car is much better on these roads with stiffer springs but lighter sways, even to the point of having no sways. Reducing sways reduces the connections across the axles, allowing wheels to work more independently. They then move with more suppleness over the bumps and dips, making the car feel better planted, even a bit catlike.

Stiff shocks may not be the answer either. I run springs 4 times stiffer than standard on Tein adjustable dampers. For these roads I still find it best to use standard (OEM equivalent) damper settings. Stiffening up the shocks does not help either comfort or grip. If I come back from a track day and forget to soften off the dampers I find the car is harsh and skating all over the place on local roads.