Hi I have just bought a 2.0 Sport Recaro and I am already in mod mode.
Having come from a Mk1 with Meisters and a BMW E92 Coupe, I am finding the ND a little wallowly in the turns and a bit skittish in a straight line especially when on the bumpy stuff. The ride is fine. I am looking at fitting lowering springs to try and address these issues and also to improve the stance slightly. The car will be my daily driver on mainly B roads and won’t be tracked.
i can’t make my mind up between the eibachs and the BBR springs. From searching on here, my understanding is that the BBR springs are stiffer and provide a greater drop. I don’t want the ride to be too much firmer nor do I want an excessive drop. BBR say their springs are matched to the Bilsteins whereas Eibach springs seemed to be suited to all the types of Mx5 ND dampers - which I find strange.
I would appreciate any thoughts or views from anyone who has fitted either. I recognise it will all be subjective but it will give me more to ponder over before I decide.
I purchased an ex demo ND 2ltr Sport Nav 12 months ago, the car has Bilstein shocks fitted as standard.
After using the car for 2 months I also found the ride and handling a little skittish.
I had my local Mazda dealership fit Mazda lowering springs - part number 4100-77-780, the springs lowered the car 30mm. The dealership also carried out a full 4 wheel alignment after allowing the springs to settle for a few days.
Result - the car now feels very planted, the overall ride quality is much improved. The stance of the car is much improved. To get the best out of the car, tyre pressures must be maintained at 29psi.
I chose the Mazda springs and dealership in order to maintain the manufacturers warranty.
If you would like a photograph of my car with the Mazda springs fitted, PM me your e.mail address and I will e.mail some pictures.
Hi thanks for the feedback. Glad to hear you are impressed with the Eibachs. Yes I would like to see photographs, I will PM you my email address later.
Like you I am leaning towards the Eibachs and a 30mm drop is plenty for me.
The only niggle in the back of my mind is that BBR say theirs are specifically for the Bilsteins and the reviews on Pistonheads are good, However having said that I have no doubt that in those reviews they are really pushing those cars as they have had either the BBR Super 200 or the Turbo conversions whereas mine will just be a standard daily driver with some spirited driving thrown in.
I had mine done last week with the Mazda (Eibach) springs mentioned above, other than the motorway drive home and a short drive around locally I’ve not driven it since, but initial impressions are VERY good.
I too found the stock setup unsettled coming out of corners at speed, this appears to be completely irradiated with no ill effect on ride quality, it also looks 100% better.
It is worth mentioning that you will need to have the headlights reset afterwards as the car will think only the rear axle has been lowered and it will lower the headlight to compensate, if taking it to a dealer get them to do it, otherwise I have posted the ODB2 method here:
Thanks for the feedback guys, it is much appreciated so much so I had the Mazda (Eibach) springs fitted last Monday.
My initial impressions are the same, all very positive. Perfect stance with much reduced body roll, ride quality has improved losing that slightly unsettled feeling it had at certain times.
Thanks for the heads up regarding the headlight levelling. I had assumed that Mazda would have made the adjustment after fitting new springs. I suppose it does no harm to check.
On a different tack, Gareth on a different tack, do you notice much difference with the B
I had the exhaust fitted at the same time as the springs, so as said I really haven’t driven it much since it being fitted. I should hopefully drive the car a bit more over the next couple of days, but my initial impressions of the exhaust so far are as follows:
On the motorway: No more ‘boomy’ or louder over the standard exhaust (how I wanted it)
Under hard acceleration, again not particularly any louder (a little disappointed with this but again its early days and the exhaust will still be bedding in).
Where I have noticed it definitely has more sound in particular is at low speeds around town, but again not in your face.
My view with the exhaust was I wanted to enhance the sound as much as possible without making the car too loud or in your face, i think the exhaust does that I just hope when I come to drive it more and it has bedded in that noise under acceleration improves. That said, I’d much prefer it to be this way around than the exhaust being too loud and wishing it wasn’t (something I think you’d be taking chances with buying any of the aftermarket items)
if you have had MeisterR before why not go for them again? You can set the ride height to exactly what you want, set the damping to what you want and corner weight it for a perfect ballance
Hi, sorry to revive an old post. I am looking to fit the same parts to my car.
Dealer has quoted £171.36 for parts and £300 labour.
Seems expensive, but cheaper than BBR (£594) and I think its the only way to keep warranty, presumably another garage fitting genuine parts would invalidate warranty.
There is a common misconception around warranties being invalidated by manufacturers
Its probably fair to say, that if you had the suspension changed by a non franchised garage using non Mazda parts, then it would not be a surprise that the suspension would not be covered by a Mazda Warranty
BUT
Would that invalidate ALL the Warranty? Simple answer: NO
Its the same as having an independent Garage service your car. As long as genuine Mazda parts and the correct schedule is followed…Again: NO
I checked with my dealer and the parts department said that they believed they were compatible with the ND+. I’m not confident that they know what they’re talking about though. Do you mind messaging me your dealer details and I’ll refer mine to them to get it cleared up?
