But the biggest question I can’t answer is how the car is going to behave after being dropped 35mm, mainly around daily usability such as overall ground clearance, arch rub, bottoming out shocks etc.
I’m absolutely not going to compromise the car by doing this and so if the springs are going to be too low and it’s going to scrape itself under normal circumstances, I.e normal road surfaces, then it’s a no from me and I’ll go with the safer 30mm option.
What do we think is the best way way around this? 5mm isn’t a lot, but it makes a hell of a difference to the look!
I went to 35mm, and it was too low for me. 99% of the time it was great, but I have a big hump on my drive at I couldn’t live with having to negotiate it every day. I also had to take great care on some of the more extreme speed humps. Never rubbed arches, and handling was great.
Selling mine if you are interested, there is also a photo of the car with them fitted which may be of interest to you.
I also started a thread on here about NC Ride Height that has a lot of good information and contributions that you may find interesting. Search and ye shall find.
So as long as it never rubbed and it wasn’t a problem aside from extreme humps and your driveway (my driveway wouldn’t be a problem), that’s exactly what want to hear.
Unfortunately your set up is way more than I wanted to spend, the springs are only a couple of hundred quid!
Before you go with lowering springs on standard dampers, do some research. Lowering springs have to work over a shorter range of movement, and standard dampers are unlikely to control that well. Easy to make a pogo stick…
That said, I do have someone who wants to buy my dampers without the springs, so if you were just after springs, I may have a set for sale in due course.
Yeah I’ve heard that, putting the springs on standard dampers has been/is one of my main concerns, although to be honest the car is gently pootled about on warm sunny days and I don’t push it… I do think it would be fine for me as I’m really just looking to change the aesthetics more than anything else.
Hi Chris we had 30mm eibachs on our last NC, and found that drop to be quite sufficient, even then you will encounter bottoming out on occasion.Mr Trucky is correct in what he said about damper travel.I don’t intend to lower my sport black at the moment but if I do so in the future I think that I would go with a set of Meister coil overs . Regards Bob.
They transformed the look and have sharpened up the handling without any negative effect … no ground clearance issue so far with the speed bumps in south Kirby and Meltham which are pretty big . Mine has bilsteins so maybe different from yours … Also strange to me that mx5parts only list 30mm and 45mm options for the mk3 and the 35mm for the mk3.5 75 …
I have a NC with the standard “4x4” ride height, which I specifically chose after advice from a local friend who has had both. Given the state of the roads here (Scottish Borders) and the likelihood of them getting worse rather than better, I have not regretted the choice, and I think the handling is excellent.
My NC is also standard although it has settled a bit, and it still scrapes on rotten London roads with their pot holes and speed bumps, and even on the no-entry teeth when leaving some NT car-parks!
Road holding and ride are both still excellent. I have no desire to change it.
30.mm. Because the car will lower a little further 5mm after 2/3000 miles And become approximately 35mm Which if it is already 35mm it will become 40mm a little too low, Just my opinion here But it’s all down to personal preference. All the best from Ray In Essex. Ps I like your grill lights …. Safe new year ….
But it all depends on where you start from! The tolerance range for ride height on the NC according to Mazda’ s own figures on the suspension set up is nearly 50mm both front and rear. So if you already have a car at the bottom end and lower that by 30mm you could be way too low.
Yes, I’m sure from a point of view of ‘ perfection ‘ You are right in pointing out Mazda’s guidelines on MX5 suspension settings, But
Considering that there are hundreds of thousands MX5s world wide that have been lowered I see little contention nor regrets from the many of those who lower their cars beyond the Mazda guidelines,
I see very few who buy one of these lowered cars in any rush to put original springs back on the car. But as said I agree with your point
Lastly They look much better lowered ! As do many other cars that are Lowered beyond makers specifications, we can see this by the number of companies that specialise on doing such work… It a matter of preference for me, Happy new year to you…
Your car looks ‘ spot on’ I have seen it several times and thought that it looks fantastic. Indeed. It was your car that spurred me into lowering my MX5 that looked as if it was on stilts when I bought it…
Well… i beg to differ. Personally my nc sport roadster as far as suspension goes is stock, to me it hasn’t got a 4x4 look, and handles beautifully. Ride is firm but not uncomfortable.
If you lower the stock suspension for x,y,z reason you are using stiffer springs (well you should otherwise the suspension will bottom out). There is a thread that i started that we discuss this and many have gone in great detail in both not changing and changing the stock suspension. All i want to say it’s not trivial and there are benefits but there are also consequences for both options. And you should be aware of these before making a decision. My advice is going to always be, speak to a suspension specialist who deals with mx5. Preferably someone who will ask what you use the car for and isn’t just interested about selling you stuff you may not need.
I always understood that the MX5 NC all come with the 4x4 look as standard, It may be that your MX5 had been lowered at some past time in its life, Is that possible ? In any case. Have a good new year and keep safe Best regards from Ray in Essex…
. Here’s an example of a standard factory set up and a lowered 30mm set up. When the MX5 NC1 is lowered 30mm over standard. The gap around the wheel arch becomes much more uniform In my opinion it looks “ Right “
This is how mine looks like. I have no idea if mazda have changed specs or the suspension with the nc2 sport tech comes like this. Car was stock when I bought it and since I went with the BBR 185 super but suspension is stock with the bilsten dampers and as far as i can tell it works brilliantly as is.
You have probably got a lovely MX5 that suits your requirements So long as you are pleased with its set up That’s all that matters… But as you know. Many people like to refine the cosmetic looks of their car (That’s why there are so many personalisations available on the market). One of the most regular changes to the looks of the MX5 NC is to lower it slightly … I will include a picture of my Car here. It used to sit on standard springs and the gap around the wheel arch can best be described as Egg Shaped. The gap now is more uniform. For me it’s all about the cosmetic looks of the lowered MX5 car, It doesn’t make it feel better nor handle better. They just look better , In my opinion…
I think you might have taken it personally…
I am simply making a comment about the refined overall looks of the MX5 when Lowered by 30mm. It’s my opinion, I’m not suggesting you lower ‘your’ car. It certainly looks lovely as it is.
But again, In my ( and a lot of owners opinion ) they look nicer when lowered slightly, That’s all I’m saying,
I love the colour of your car incidentally and the Model too, Ray…
Hi Ray, no it wasn’t taken personally. Thanks for the kind words. Your car also looks lovely bty.
People reading these forums may get the idea that you should lower the car; this is the one most discussed element in the technical section. All I want to say is that, its not a must to lower the car it works brilliantly as is. If you do want to lower it, do your homework understand what will change and do it if it suits your needs…
