Just remember, lowering the car ride height means:
a) reducing the suspension travel - whether that’s acceptable or not depends where and how you want to use the car. If you go too far this will be beneficial for track use but not for road use where the bumps and potholes are pretty much a daily experience.
b) you have to use stiffer springs. This means the suspension will feel a lot harder than currently
c) because the car will sit lower it will roll less during cornering and braking, which is a good thing.
Setting up the suspension is a compromise. It also depends what you want to do with your car.
one of the reasons I would suggest speaking to someone who knows their business setting up cars even if you end up fitting the coilovers you bought or buy new non adjustable ones or go with a fully adjustable type. The car has to work for you - and because you will have to adjust the steering geometry anyway it makes more sense to take the right advice the first time round and getting everything done in one go. IMHO this will be cheaper for you on the long run anyway.
sound like good advice. the more i think about it the more i am leaning toward shelling out even more dosh and getting adjustable ones . wish i was born rich instead of good looking. lol
I lowered my MK3 with RHT by 30mm & had the suspension geometry checked & reset, handled & looked much better however it bottoms out when going over larger bumps which gives you a jolt through your back & also caused an issue getting on & off ferries when we do tours.
Considering changing mine back before the next trip to Europe, Something to consider.
now thats interesting. the ones i bought are from a 2007 and someone has said that the early ncs did sit higher. thanks for that. i have also just read an old thread by hamsterinacan. (love that name) that the high ride height is often the result of torquing while the car is still on the lift. which kind of makes sense
I agree with Stace regarding the post 2009 ride height. The ones I fitted came from a 2012 Sport Tech. Sorry, should have mentioned that. On the point about tightening up the suspension only when there’s load on it. I know it applies to the front, so could explain why yours is high at that end. Don’t know if it applies to the rear though.
Wow, that’s really high. Something that might be causing that is incorrect tightening of the bolts that keep your suspension arms to the chassis (from the top of my head). The should be tightened with the suspension loaded, not while hanging loose on a jack or whatever.
You could get them loose but not removed, drive around slowly through a street near you that is of lesser quality so your suspension is used and then tighten everything again with the tyres on the ground. Have a search around for the exact instructions, I believe I found them on miata.net.
Also, having done some research (as in, reading a lot from other users mainly on here and miata.net) many say the Bilsteins from the NC1 aren’t much of an upgrade over the standard shocks, while the Bilsteins on the NC2 and NC3 are a bit better. If you want a poor mans reasonably performing lowering option you might try NC2/3 Bilsteins with Eibach springs.
[quote=“nlppan, post:36, topic:129710”]
tighten everything again with the tyres on the ground. therein lies the first problem how do you get your arm underneath one of these cars let alone holding a torque wrench. and then try and get enough purchase to tighten the nuts you would need a pit or ramp therein lies the second problem. everyone else in the world has a mate who is a mechanic and has a lift but not me. i’m gonna buy a push bike
Leave bolts slightly loose.
Move car around to settle the new components, or better drive it a (very) short distance.
Measure centre of wheel to top of wheel arch.
Jack up front (or rear) of the car and support on axle stands.
Use jack to move each wheel in turn up so the distance is the same as measured.
Tighten bolts.
Repeat for all four corners.
I also don’t have access to lift, and it’s a ball ache to do - you’ll find a trolley jack helps speed things up, and be careful where you jack the suspension up.
Hope it helps.
