Does anyone know a reputable garage in devon or Cornwall that can do a good job of setting up the suspension on my mk3. Im looking into lowering mine on 30mm eibachs after reading so much about it. WIM is the best by the sounds of it but I cant justify a 500 mile round trip.
I’d recommend you go for coilovers, the the ride is so much better, set the height you want, set the comfort soft-hard, no more awful mx5 bounce, better handling. The coilovers mx5 users go for are the Meister Zeta S, about£700 and they also do finance
They sound tempting, not sure how I would get it past the wife even though I have the money. Lol
when I looked into improving my suspension and ride height, I opted for the Eibach springs as that is what is recommended on here, but mx5oc is mainly full of the older more mature generation who don’t like to temper with their mx5’s and keep as stock as possible, you mention anything like coilovers and they’ll have a panic attack on the mx5nutz forum it is the complete oposite, so yeah I purchased the lowering springs and that night after more research I instantly regretted my purchase. I then opted for the Meisters that night using the discount code off mx5nutz, Meister also have a presence on nutz and their customer service is excellent. I really could not be happier with the meisters, the mx5 puts a smile on my face everytime I sit in it but that smile is definitely even bigger woth the meisters. It really is money well spent :)
Anyone?? There must be other places other than WIM capable of doing this work to a good standard.
On WIM’s web site they list below as on of their fitting centres. Maybe if you call Wheels in motion first, they can confirm this and put you on the right track.
Performance Tyre & Autocare
Unit 6, Broxton Drive
Pomphlett Farm Ind. Est.
Plymouth
PL9 7BG
Xpress Tyres
Unit 3
Tregoniggie Ind. Est.
Falmouth
Cornwall
TR11 4SN
Olysparks makes a valid point about getting coilovers especially if you can adjust bump as well as rebound on the shocks. When I have a mk1 v special I changed the shocks several times from standard to 8 way adjustable KYB AGX (bump adjust only) could not find a setting I particularly liked, to Bilstien, the best, in terms of road holding and comfort on nice flat roads, but the rebound was too high made it very harsh on uneven roads. And finally back to standard, the better compromise IMO.
The Meister’s may well be what the mk3 needs but I read of one guy on a forum that did not like them and went back to standard, which was an awful lot of money to waste if you are not happy with the final result. Then again if you can afford it why not try?
The mk3 on Eibach’s, dare I say it , drives like a mk1 but more comfortable. It corners on the bump stops, as it was designed to do, turns are flatter making the car more pointy (it steers where you want it to go) and much more predictable.
The only negative thing I find is also what Olysparks mentioned ‘the mx5 bounce’ you will know this if you have ever driven a mk1. When driving, at a brisk pace probably over 40mph, over a humpback bridge or a carriageway with a fairly reasonable sized hump, the car’s springs compress and decompress to their max shooting the cars occupants upwards at an alarming rate. This does not happen quite so violently on the mk3 standard springs so take it easy on the Eibach’s if you are not familiar with the road you are traveling on.
Thanks for the heads up on the plymouth centre. Its only a few miles from me, ill go and see them soon.
Ok, just spoke to WIM and all these places on their website only cater for run of the mill cars. If its to be done properly they like to have the mx5s in at Chesham.
Ill have to mull this over as its near enough a 4 hour trip each way. Suppose I could make a weekend of it and stay with family in london.