Anyone fitted MCA Pro Comfort on an early NC?

[madmort]

As title, has anyone experience with fitting and driving with MCA Pro Comfort suspension on a 05/06 NC MX5. I'm just about to purchase a set after limited knowledge and am seeking opinions from owners. My stock setup is popping at speedbumps and after 155k klms they feel a bit tired

Cheers

[madmort]

Has anyone fitted any aftermaket coilovers to any NC? If so, what did you do regarding the stock front strut tower brace and access to the adjusters on the coilovers?
It appears I might have to drill holes on the top of the brace to access the adjusters or purchase an aftermarket brace.
Anyone bumped into this?
Thanks

[Red_Bullet]

My NC2 has BC coilovers fitted by previous owner. the strut tower braces have been drilled to allow an allan key to pass through to make adjustments.

[madmort]

My NC2 has BC coilovers fitted by previous owner. the strut tower braces have been drilled to allow an allan key to pass through to make adjustments.

Thanks for that RED.

[ManiacLachy]

NCs seem to be hitting their stride right now, more and more people are getting into modifying them. We should see some very interesting developments in the coming months and years.

[madmort]

Yesterday I ordered MCA Pro Comforts 9 Kg fronts & 4Kg rears for my NC. Up to a 2 week wait for assembly and delivery. Will be interesting to see them in the flesh as I don't think they have the extended top hats ( I think that's what they are called? ) the stock NC has for the rears. I don't know if that matters or not but even Ohlins reuse the stock NC hats on the rear. I'm told the units are ready to install out of the box.
I will give my impressions when they are installed and the car aligned.
Cheers

[Luke]

I have MCA purple on my NC2 with Stealth finish and extended rear shock valving adjusters. NC1/2/3 makes no difference.
Not sure what Purple translates to in the new naming scheme. Was middle of the road before.
I have 11/5kg springs.
It is the last of the purples as it has the single adjuster collar for the spring perch that is locked off with an allen key, rather than the earlier units which had the more traditional 2 rings that lock together.
BTW, this newer system kaes it a million times easier to adjust as you never have to fight 2 bound together rings.


The front shock valving adjuster knobs are pretty permanent fixtures. Ie, they do not come off. Each shock has one permanently installed.
You can get away with a reasonably small hole in the strut bar for adjusting if you are super accurate with your drilling.
I will have to measure mine as I can't remember the diameter.
I then adjust by shoving a rubber hose into this hole that then snugly fits over the adjuster. You cannot get your finger down the hole size I have drilled.
I have rubber grommets installed on the holes on the strut bar.
Basically looks factory.

[madmort]

Thanks for the details Luke, interesting solution for the front adjusters as it saves drilling a big hole, compromising the integrity of the strut bar.
Can I ask how they ride and handle? Are you happy with them? Mine are going to be a little softer in the springs than yours so will be different, but your overall impressions would be appreciated.
Thank you.

[Luke]

Hey see the pictures below regarding how mine is drilled.



I made the measurements as well.
The holes are 20mm. I think we(OK my Dad as he is more accurate than me) did them with a hole saw.

I use a short offcut of a 3/4inch OD rubber hose that I think has a 1/2inch ID to adjust the fronts.
I just basically shove them down the hole and twist with pressure on the adjusters.
You can feel the clicks.

The car actually came the with Purples fitted brand new from the previous owner. Just no holes in the strut bar.
I am happy with them.
They work really well on track.
I thought with the front springs being more than double the stiffness of the rears the car would understeer, but it does not.

For the first time ever I actually adjusted them to full soft yesterday as my Dad wants to drive it to work every now and then since we can no longer do track days for the foreseeable future.
It does not feel like there are 11kg springs up front now at all.
And I have never hit the bump stops on these even when hitting ripples strips on track.
The factory Bilstein's I had on our first NC1 LE practically hit the bump stops all the time.
Then again standard NC springs are the softest of any MX-5 at 2kg/mm front and 1.5km/mm rear.

Also mine are not setup as per MCA's recommendation.
They say to have the rear a little lower than the front.
I have the rear a little higher than the front.
I have no idea why they would say to set it the way they do as that will likely cause understeer.
I think from factory they are a little lower in the rear than front once a driver is in it but that is with a completely different spring ratio of 4/3 where this is now more than 2/1.
And as I said before the height is very easy to adjust because it only has the one lock ring with a grub screw for the spring perch.
Plus it has tandem/helper springs. So it is very easy to go higher/lower and keep the springs seated.
The helper/tandem springs also allow these units to have more droop then a lot of other coilovers. So you tyres stay connected to the road when cornering hard on track over undulations and bumps.

[madmort]

Thank you Luke, that's some great information. The holes would not really want to be any bigger in the strut bar as to compromise it, yours looks about right.
Interesting regarding spring rates, at 9kg fronts I hope mine are not too soft. I'll have to wait and see.

The stock suspension appears to sit a little lower at the rear as you said, so maybe MCA are following that.
I'll take note of the ride heights you mentioned and make sure the rears are a little higher than the fronts and go from there.
I might have another week to wait for delivery but I am looking forward to the install

Thanks again Luke
Cheers

[madmort]

Had the MCA Pro Comforts installed yesterday. The install went well..... until the mechanic who was reversing out of the bay, sounding the horn, was struck by a twin cab ute ( Parked in a NO STANDING area ) he had reversed straight back into my car!
What a mess.

IMG_2589.JPG

Anyway the suspension has settled a bit and is still 10mm too high all round and all sides being equal at 360cm front and 355cm rear. ( Recommended setup is 350cm front and 345 rear )
The ride was a little too firm and I thought that was just how they were till I discovered they had the adjustment at performance settings rather than street. Softening the settings made the ride more compliant on rough surfaces. At highway speeds they are great with the steering feeling slightly heavier and planted and the cornering effortless on the winding roads I've been on.
As for the strut brace. I've purchased a new open ended one to fit.
I still may play with the damping after more Klms under the belt. Still waiting on a quote for the damage.

Cheers

[bruce]

Nuts! When they fix the car, make sure they replace the metal support behind the bar and repair any dents on the underlying metal surface. Ya don't won't them to just do a cosmetic fix and leave all the stuff underneath damaged.

[madmort]

After a lengthy discussion, I trust the business handling the repair to do a complete job. It won't be cheap.