20mil drop without cuting or adjustable coilovers?

  1. My model of MX-5 is: __2013 sport tech 2Liter NC2 (3.5) PRHT
  2. I’m based near: __grantham, lincolnshire
  3. I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: __lowering springs.

hi all.
so, the previous owner only replaced 1 rear spring instead of both and he also put the wrong spring on!
so currently my 5 is not handling right.

i had decided to simply replace both rear springs with the correct ones.
however, at some point in the future, I would like to lower my 5.

obviously, this is a double expense.
so I am reconsidering my position.

however, when I look through the available kits the drops are all too much.
The smallest drop iv found was 30mil.
I would like to stay away from adjustable coil-overs if possible.

so my question is.
does anyone know if there is an off-the-shelf 20 mil drop spring set out there and if so can you point me in the right direction, please.

and if there isn’t does anyone know where I could get some custom springs made?

Mazdaspeed springs are a -20mm drop, but good luck getting them. Plus they are very expensive which is why I fitted a set of MeisterR’s as there was no alternative that I could find. I had -30 Eibach springs on mine which after a while probably settled to -35 or so. These ended up being too low and I was catching every ramp, especially with two on board. I must be the first person to lift their car after fitting Miesters…. :joy:

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hey mate.
i just did a search and found
https://www.mazdaspeedstore.com/home.php
but they don’t do mx5 parts on there!
have I got the wrong site?

I could only find the MS springs direct from Japan. IIRC, by the time shipping was sorted, it was almost £600 which is why I changed the whole shocks. Maybe someone else has had better luck finding them, but as there seems to be no talk about them, I wouldn’t hold my breath.

hey dave i dont suppose you still have the link for those in your book marks do you please.

anyway i am off to work now, see you all tomorrow.

https://www.mx5parts.co.uk/mazdaspeed-sports-spring-mk3-p-1026.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=googleshopping&utm_campaign=googlebase&gclid=Cj0KCQjwiNSLBhCPARIsAKNS4_dCXNUfYuNapVffEEkh7CDdv88_VjgFMBsRITPK6rC3sstLc5B69loaAqBDEALw_wcB

Not 20mm drop, plenty in stock.

20mm drop

Eibach Pro; if you source from US, its a 20mm drop, not 30mm used in European market.

Progress Technology (12.5mm, 0.5" drop), UK stocked.

NC2 version:

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Good info their! :slightly_smiling_face::+1:

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I have Mazdaspeed springs on my Sport. I’ve always been pleased with them and never regretted spending the bit extra

As far as I can see the only 20mm drop springs available come from the USA with the penalty of high transportation costs and import tax and duty making them almost twice the cost of equivalent European 30mm ones. Before you embark on any lowering it may be useful for you to measure your existing ride height - centre of wheel to arch rim to see where your car sits at the moment. The std Mazda tolerance is quite wide 351 to 400 front and 349 to 398 rear so if you start out at the bottom end then you may have problems with speed bumps etc, but if at the top end then -30 would actually bring you into the centre of the std band. You may also like to think why you need to lower your car. If it’s to get rid of the excessive roll then providing you are somewhere in the middle it may be better to look at roll bar changes, the yellow RX8 bars offer a cheap solution. The standard Bilsteins also come in for some criticism particularly when combined with different springs so you may end up changing those as well. At which point you will be in coilover territory. I would perhaps talk to BBR and see what they would recommend as a suspension package for your requirements rather than taking a piecemeal approach which may or may not do what you want to achieve.

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If changing the springs measuring existing ride height isn’t really relevant as the reason it would be bottom end of the tolerance is tired existing springs.

You are not going to get un unbiased opinion from BBR!

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I believe that th “Mazdaspeed” branded springs are made by Eibach, as Mazdaspeed springs have always been, hence the two versions available.

Since about 2004, “Mazdaspeed” is effectively Racing Beat.

Mazdaspeed was originally a private race team, by one of the Mazda dealers, and was finally brought out by Mazda around 2000-2004. The NC was the first opportunity to commoditize the brand, and apply it to a whole bunch of stuff. Racing Beat had a long relationship with Mazda USA going back the the 1970s.

hey all.
thanks for the responses and the great points that were made.
very very helpful. indeed.

so. where am I at in my thinking!

I very much like the

but a likely drop of only at max 15mil isn’t really worth it.
ok, it is only 5mm off the 20 I wanted but I am expecting a certain amount of settlement on top of the 20 anyway.
so a 20 mil drop spring would probably give me a real drop of between 22 to 25.

so that leaves me looking at the US imported ones.

the question with though, are they just nc1 springs that will give an nc2 the speedboat look, or have they adjusted them for the nc2 and nc3?

as for BBR, I’m looking at their kit.

the problem here is that unless I am blind, it does not say how much they will drop the body by!
i sent them an email on Friday asking if they could make me some 20mm drop custom springs, so I am hoping that when/if they respond they will mention that particular kit.

and lastly i am going to go out and measure the current hight this afternoon.

I know you said you didn’t want to get adjustable coilovers, but…
I fitted a bilstein/eibach kit and found it too low. I did lots of research about alternative springs and came to the conclusion I could very easily be throwing good money after bad. Various manufacturers quote spring rates, unloaded length, ride height, wire thickness, etc but the reality was it was impossible to compare them on paper with any degree of confidence.

So sucked it up and bought a adjustable set (of Meister) and set them exactly to my liking. Did cost me £800, but I did get exactly what I wanted.

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Good tip and at the end of the day, you get what you pay for. :+1:

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But at least you know where you are starting from and you get biased answers from everyone, including here.

just took some rough measurments

front 37cm both sides
rear passenger side 36.5cm
rear drivers side 35cm !!!

so turns out the previous owner screwwed up even worse than i thought!

Pretty common for MX5s to be a bit lower on the drivers side, due to sag. Rear springs tend to wear quicker than front, because they are of a lower weightage.

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the driver’s rear spring is only 8 months old.
all the other springs are 8 years old!
so the new spring is sitting 15mil lower than springs that are 8 years old!

as I said the previous owner screwed up, instead of replacing both rear springs he only replaced the broken spring on the driver’s rear! and he didn’t even put the correct spring on!
at a guess, I’d say he put a normal convertible spring on there instead of the PRHT Bilstein spring.

So, allowing for a bit of settlement due to age your ride height is about in the middle range of where Mazda designed it to be. If you fit the -30 springs you would probably be below the minimum Mazda designed the car to be, with the possibility that you may ground bits of the underside on speed bumps or if fully loaded like others have found. The decision is yours, do you want to go that low or does the fully adjustable coil over suspension now begin to look more attractive particularly if you decide to change the shocks as well. Or you could just fit the correct rear springs and see how it goes. Or speak with one of the Specialists like WIM, Roddisons, BBR etc and see what they recommend for your requirements. Personally if you want to spend the money I would go for a well set up coilover and maybe roll bars.

I don’t know when your birthday is, but I reckon you have talked yourself into a set of these.
That would definitely be my route and indeed if I get a failure in due course. :slightly_smiling_face::+1: