Mk3 Sport Lowered.Its the way to go!!!
I’ve put the Mazda Eibach -30 springs on my 2007 Sport and they are great. I’d say the ride is better. It also looks way better
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100% correct. The perfect drop on the MX5 NC is 30mm. It doesn’t sound much. But it is perfect ! The thing to remember is that they lower even more over time, Mine are lowered on H&R springs (30mm) The car now looks correct … Mazda marketed these cars far too high There was probably a good reason to do so. But if you want the car’s to look much better. Have them lowered … My personal advice is don’t go down more than 30mm. 30mm Is just perfect … “Wheels in motion“ Chesham are recommended for the work,
image|666x500
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I lowered mine on the Mazdaspeed springs as they don’t drop the front as low and they are wound to be
progressive
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Here’s my car after 30 mm drop using 30mm H&R lowering springs… work carried out by Wheels in motion In Chesham
Work is carried out over a 4 hour + Schedule whilst you go for a walk around the town or raid their coffee machine and sit in their lounge and read magazines etc, approx £450
I also had H&R 25mm spacers fitted too. Extra £240 +
image|666x500
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That looks a fair bit lower than mine on -30 Eibachs.
Mazda quote ride height measurements as being 356mm - 405mm for the front and 354mm - 403mm for the rear with 16” wheels and 351mm - 400mm for the front and 349mm - 398mm for the rear with 17" wheels so that’s quite a wide variation. Mine rides at 355 front and rear and is pretty consistent side to side.
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In reply to your post … In my Personal Opinion
When we are using our MX5s for normal road use ( which is 95% of its life ) All that I see as the Reason for Lowering Is purely for the Cosmetic looks of the car, They arrived in the showrooms over the years standing on stilts…
there are several suggested reasons for this ride height…One being to satisfy the biggest buyer of the day ( The USA ). It is said that the cars were so low that they presented a pedestrian danger etc So Mazda raised the ride hight to satisfy that legal requirement, Others say that this is not true,
One thing for sure A great number of MX5 owners feel that the cars (at their manufactured height) looks too high… My personal idea of where a wheel should sit in the wheel arch ( to look at its best ). Is when the gap all around the wheel arch is uniform To the wheel and tyre…the look of the wheel squashed into the hole isn’t the best look cosmetically in my view, To me, it’s all about the cosmetic looks of a car… My evidence for thinking that this is important, Is the number of aftermarket “ goodies “ that are offered to cosmetically alter the look‘s of cars ( of all makes ) … I note the points you make too …
and from a purely scientific argument your measurements are probably quite correct… Me ? I just like to enjoy my little car and enjoy making it look a bit more Personalised… Best regards from Ray in Essex… enjoy your car I’m sure you do… Ray…
So what is the ride height on your car as a comparison to the Mazda figures? Do you know what it was before you added the lowering springs?
Sadly No, I didn’t check the measurements at the time of purchase, But To describe my car when I went to pick it up in one word “ grotesque “
My first thought at that time was ‘ I like the car but it needs lowering as my first job…
The gap at the top of the wheel arch was double the size of the gap elsewhere It looked ridiculous …
I note your measurements And do not possess the science nor skills to argue Against your measurements. You are probably right. I am just a user of my car and just want it looking as nice as possible. I never checked the measurements I just knew it was sitting far too high for my liking, so I listened to the general view that they look at their best with a 30mm drop over standard. And so I had it lowered… A huge smile invaded my face stretching from ear to ear… it now looked right ! etc… I don’t know if the ride hight of the ND needs altering. They look pretty well spot on to me… best regards from Ray …
Hmm, my 2008 NC1 is on standard springs with 17" wheels, and it has settled over the years. To my eyes it looks about right, perhaps a fraction high, but with our roads I’m very happy to compromise with it as it is.
When WIM set it up in 2015 each wheel was in the region of 380-385mm centre to wheel arch.
Today, six years later and still not modded, it is 366 each rear wheel and 371 each front wheel.
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Hi Richard, I’m glad to hear your car has settled down on standard springs To your liking… The problem with these cars is that many ( like my one ) would take years for the settle to take place because of the lack of mileage and use of some of them. To me, ( I hardly use my car at all ) I would have had to wait for ever for it to have settled down ! And I couldn’t wait. I had seen so many that had been lowered and looked nicer etc… . What is the mileage that your car has done ? Maybe higher mileage is the key to their “settling down“ ! Best regards from Ray
My car is low mileage!
It was 17,000 when I bought it in 2014 and now it is 32,650.
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Well, that brings my theory to an abrupt end then. Mileage doesn’t seem to come into the equation … best regards from Ray … Essex
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That’s interesting reading that. 
As you probably know, mine is a 3.75 2013 2.0 Sport Tech 17 inch wheels with standard Bilstein sport suspension and clearly Mazda did lower the ride height on these models.
Literally, just measured mine (as the same reference points as you) and mine is 343mm Rear and 362mm Front.
Which sort of answers why I am happy with mine I suppose.
6000 miles when I bought it in 2016 and now 26645, we really must get out more! 
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I remember this now.
Have a read of all the measurements on this thread, (including mine which are near as damn it the same then as now).
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My one hardly goes out at all. I went out in it Recently and it stopped at the end of my road and wouldn’t move … It probably thought it had been stolen !
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One of my previous cars (1994 Astra 1.4SE) averaged 20,000 per annum mostly commuting around the M25 for ten years until I retired, and when scrapped at fourteen after 205,000 the ride height was still the same, standard.
The only springy thing that ever failed on it was the clutch, bits fell out for its first and only breakdown. With a repair costing three times the value of the car I scrapped it.
However, the Astra was a “Declared as new” car when I bought it, but already 16months old going by many, many clues in the car, and when I pointed them out the dealer was surprisingly willing to retrospectively drop the price on it by 500 AFTER I had bought it. So it had probably done all its early life settling standing in a field somewhere.
My old Vextra B broke a rear spring at about ten years old and the two new springs raised the back by about 20mm, but it settled back to exactly level sills again in a couple of months. But I never noticed if it had been high when we bought it new, hot off the press so to speak. At twenty years old it also was eventually killed by its first ever break-down - premature cam-belt failure. Thank you RAC. Again uneconomic to repair.
Neither car had any signs of body rust, both were immaculate mechanically to the end. But time moves on.
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Nice story … I knew a cabbie back in the 1970’s. His Granada Ghia X had done one million miles at the end of its life… … It was featured in a few Media pages at that time Including a mention in a Ford Promotion item, That car was also Quite immaculate ( considering it’s age and use ) when It eventually died … bless its heart. Imagine the stories that it could tell. And the places it had visited and the conversations of its thousands of passengers during that million mile journey eh… I don’t recall what the full history of the car was … At the time an article listed how many things had been replaced During its long life,
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Well,
I am surprised to hear that Mazda lowered the MX5 NC Sport 2Ltr !
My one is that same model… and I had to buy a ladder to climb into it …
Of course a gross exaggeration.
But to prove a point I went out one morning in the pouring rain and found a fox asleep on the front wheel …stretched out with its two back legs down the back of the tyre and front legs down the front… He/ she looked quite comfortable, It was probably quite miffed that I was about to disturb it…
Really sorry, but I don’t know what the difference is 
I wouldn’t know if mine had been lowered or not!
For comparison, would someone be so kind as to post a before and after pic of standard height vs 30mm (Eibach) lowered?