Looking to upgrade to coilovers on 06' NC. Need some advice please

Tell me about it! Would be worse I think if it were a Boxster…

Imho (and usually my opinion brings controversy) read a bit more this thread what is the purpose of the suspension on your car, what coilovers mean in order to understand a bit more what you are doing/where you want to go with your car.

Then come back and ask anything you want to ask.

A few pointers, if the dampers in your suspension are gone then you really got to decide what you need depending what you want from your car. but if your suspension still works do take the time to read the whole thing. Its not just a couple of minutes read

Thanks dude! Good to be here. I’m currently limited in replying cause I’m a new member.

When you say “all in” does that include the alignment as well?

I called my garage to get a quote and they reckon 6hrs work what with installation and alignment?

Do you know if there’s a run in time and then you need a second alignment done after 200miles or so?

Watching some vids on the cobra exhausts earlier. :fire::fire:
I’m gonna have to save up for that one. :grin:

Thank you for all this info. That will keep me busy for a while.

I don’t really know of any MX5 specialists in the area tbh. I’m mostly relying on the knowledgeable people here in this forum. :smiley:

It was a great read and plenty of interesting information + videos.

Now it’s more of doing the research to find the best of both worlds. Reduced ride height + handling. I don’t want to disrupt the way the car handles, only enhance it in a good way.

If you had to spec coilovers for an 06’NC what would you choose? Would you also include changing the antiroll bar as well at the same time?

Depends what you want to do with the car.
If your suspension (talking about dampers) still works, bushes have not perished, just fitting some good tyres (28 psi all around btw) and sporty alignment (if not already done) is more than sufficient.

It really depends what state your car is and where you want to go with it. If you are going to keep it I’d consider checking about rust and the undersealing and sorting that out after doing tyres and alignment.

The answer to what coilovers depends what you want and whether you are going to track the car, how much you will track the car.

Having infinite adjustments on coilovers mean fork all to the layman and isn’t useful unless you want to achieve something or need to adjust the vehicle to have certain characteristics.

If its about stance… just no…

i was in a simular position as you almost 2 years ago now,
yes coilovers are the way to go, yes there ok for country roads and importantly you can lower the car by as much or as little as you want.
i went for a conservative 15mil drop on my NC and it looks almost as nice as the 30mil dropped cars but unlike them I drive over speed bumps!

i kept a fairly good record of what I did and posted it all in one thread

hope it is helpful

note the pictures were taken before I lowered it btw.
i will put some recent pics up soon, I just need to take some first!!

Hi yes that dose include alignment. Not sure about a second alignment i will find out when they have been fitted.

Well… Currently I just want to enjoy it, but the prospect of coilovers, lowering for looks + improved handling, sounds tempting and exciting to say to least. :grin:

That’s good to know about tyres, psi and alignment. I used 29psi the other day all around.

The underneath is in a pretty good condition, I was able to sneak a peak when it was having it’s MOT done, and the mechanic even said she was in good shape.

Here’s an example of what kind of state the current OEM shocks are in.

I was thinking about doing the anti roll bar at the same time, but I got advise from MeisterR as I have enquired about the stock availability on their Sportive range, and they said it’s probably best to upgrade coilovers first, get used to the feel, and then do anti roll bar later on so I get a better understanding how each upgrade feels rather that doing it all in one hit?

I don’t think for my driving needs I need coilovers with lots of adjustment settings. Something simple and affordable like the MeisterR sportive range should suit my needs and certainly works with my budget.

The Sportives come set default at 330mm. I was probably going to set mine to 300mm height adjustment. Should be fine for country roads I hope?

I’m not really in a position for doing track days just yet tbh. It’s nice to think about for sure! :grin: :checkered_flag:

I highly recommend the Zeta CRDs set up by a specialist, my thoughts here… Cost about £1.2k last year…

Mazda MX5 BBR Super 200 - MeisterR Zeta CRD Coilovers & Chassis Brace Upgrades (plus channel update)

You still have not got the bit about antiroll bars and what is their purpose.

You do not need to change them, especially for a road car. Their intended purpose is - as the etymology suggest - to resist body roll of the car.
However antiroll bars work in conjunction with the suspension spring stiffness and as result of the difference of torsional stiffness between from and back you can promote understeer (if that’s what you want) or oversteer.

Bottom line i echo what you got told, leave antiroll bars alone and as out of principle do one change and see the effect especially in uncharted waters. However a general “sporty” non adjustable suspension by koni or bilstains would probably suit you just fine.

As for zeta crd and their other offerings, nah. I wouldn’t touch them with a pole (because they rust and crumble) but again this my personal opinion

Thank you for your reply. I really appreciate it.

I started another thread last night asking a few questions with regards to steering and handling. New NC 06' owner. - Steering, suspension and handling questions?

Seems like I might have to look at getting a full set of new tyres as currently they are different front and back.
Also, possibly rear brake set + pads.

I’m very happy with my meister zeta crd’s they were a little stiff at first but worn in nicely.
I think the sportives are a little firmer! and IMO they would be too much for country roads.
the potholes would be backbreakers!!
I made that mistake of going to firm on my manta springs years back and am still living with the consequences in my back!!

as for the antiroll bars on a road car, I found them excellent
they not only improved cornering but they cut down the steering wander you often get under hard acceleration and stopped the car being pulled about the “tram lines” that big lorries make in the road surface
I put the il motorsport set on mine from mx5 parts

as to brake pads I upgraded to EBC greenstuff pads all around and they are an excellent uprated road pad

as to tyres, if you can afford them IMO Michelin pilot sport 4 are best the Bridgestone p4 handle much the same tho for sliding the back end and slide control the Bridgestone is better but the bridge stone only has half the mileage of the Michelin!

oh yes and you might want to consider putting on chassis braces!
the entire rear kit 4braces) is like £500 and they are easy to fit
they make a huge difference to the feel and stiffness of the NC and they stop the roof creaking because the body doesn’t flex over uneven surfaces.
tbh IMO braces should be every NC owner’s first mod!

all of this stuff is covered in my project that I linked

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Great vid. I have more or less the same car, BBR 200, GT exhaust system and now Meister CRD fitted by Rodders week before last. I shall watch the rest of your vids, in particular the Evora ones, as that is on my list of attainable dream cars in the nearish future.

George as I think you’ll be aware I have fitted the CRDs after a Mazda service found them to be leaking. I have your well considered view on this ringing in my ears, but my first thought after driving the car for a day is that I’ve done the right thing. Curiously Sally said she couldn’t notice much difference.

Hi

As you’ll see below I’ve just had some Meister CRDs fitted and I’ll mainly be driving in the Peak District area. They appear to be great but it’s hard to compare as I think my suspension was pretty shot. It was only lowered by about 15mm and doesn’t appear to bottom out. Enjoy the car, they are such wonderful motors.

Honestly they look good anodised and on paper apparently they are good, people seem to like them but…

a mate had bought brand new a set of meister Zeta CRD all of them were badly corroded with one broke on a 1.5 year unit.

It maybe a one off but I do wonder what to say when a company suggests using lanoguard or buy their own coating and treat your suspension with rustproofing coating…

I do hope yours are bit better mate

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Thanks very much for watching Dutchie, the Evora is still somehow a bit overlooked but offers such a good driving/ownership experience for the money. Hopefully you get behind the wheel of one soon.

Enjoy bedding in the CRDs :+1:

Has anyone here owned, tried and tested the Sportives and CRD’s on their NC? If so, what conclusion did you come to?

As I said earlier in this thread I had the CRD’s on an earlier NC (07 plate) and I loved them. The fact they could be adjusted for damping, twiddle the adjusters to soften or stiffen the ride up to suit.
I guess most would set it up to suit then leave it. That was me, I left it alone for a while then adjusted it a couple times to suit during ownership.
If you track the car occasionally then it would be beneficial to be able have that adjustment for that alone but I’m not into that at all.
The Sportives are fitted to my current car, not by me, one of the previous owners. If I had a choice I’d say get the CRD’s fitted, higher cost yes but worth it for the adjustability.
Having said that nowt wrong with the Sportives fitted to my car, probably a tad lower than I like but I’m looking at either getting them adjusted a little higher or changing completely for CRD’s. ATM if I wasn’t completely happy they’d be gone, they are ok, car rides great handles great and TBH are a firmer ride than the previous NC’s MeisterR’s but I say again they were adjustable for ride comfort.