I picked her up a few weeks ago and after initially not having decided upon a gender or a name… she is called Vida.
Here is a pic of her as she was when I got her.
First thing I decided when I got Vida was that, whilst I loved the engine sound (having come from owning a Fiesta Ecoboost 140 this was quite delicious) - I wanted more. So I took her down to LongLife exhausts in Swansea and had something fitted. I am sure this wont be to a lot of your tastes but I love it and the noise is great to boot. It’s my kind of style and I loooove it!
Here we are:
Needless to say, that Longlife sticker is coming off. But they did a stellar job of creating it absolutely from scratch for me. (Cat back).
The next job is to have her lowered and Vida is currently in the garage at the moment having Eibach springs fitted.
If you don’t mind me asking, how much did the exhaust set you back? I’m aware longlife aren’t far from where I’m situated (though I’d probably only go for the dual-exit).
Keep up the good work! I should be having some new wheels (being refurbed) and Eibach springs fitted next week at some point!
A fellow South Wallian! Excellent. Yeah they’re on the Cwmdu industrial estate. For a standard dual exit exhaust it’s £499 inc fitting. The exhaust being made from high quality stainless steel - you can pick the exhaust note and tailpipe. For the twin exit tips I paid an extra £150.
The guy who works there is a top bloke and really friendly too. :)
It was quite good fun driving back to Llandeilo from Swansea as at the lights just outside Fforestfach a chap wound down his window and asked me about the car!
No worries mate. I’ve just got a job down in Swansea so I’ll be around there more often too!
I’m still waiting for the car to come out of the garage with the springs, apparently it’s quite fiddly and the bolts are extremely tight. Once I have it back I’ll get a video of the sound too.
Hi Robbw, be interested to know what you think of the lowering springs and the effect on the ride and handling as I have an NC 2.0 sport and really don’t like the 4x4 look, plus by how much are you lowering it.
It’s going to be lowered by 35mm all around, I didn’t want anything to drastic. Once I have given it a drive I’ll let you know how it feels.
My biggest criticism of the car (stock) was the body roll and pitch when accelerating, so I am hoping this will knock that on the head. But as I said - once I’ve driven it a bit I’ll let you know! :)
Both, I’m going for the Eibach Pro 30/35mm drop all round as well, hopefully soon.
Just to give you a heads-up, there are some RX8 Yellow Dot anti-roll bars going on eBay for circa £65 delivered, without droplinks. Spend an extra £60 on droplinks all round (about £15 per corner) and this should firm up the steering/body roll a lot - it’s pretty well documented on here. They look a little rusty in places but I’ve been assured it’s cosmetic and have that statement in writing. If it’s anything other than this then I have eBay buyer protection to fall back on.
For reference, I asked an RX8 breaker on eBay whether they still had the anti-roll bars for one they were currently dismantling and they quoted £180 for the pair… without droplinks. No thanks pal…
Main reason for asking is that I went in to my local independent mx5 garage (a well trusted guy) recently with cash in hand looking to fit lowering springs (plus new shocks or a coilover kit) and he strongly advised against it, quoting it would totally ruin the handling and ride. Well this stumped me a bit as I do trust his judgement and he gets nothing but excellent reviews and the fact he refused to take my money was a strong statement, he suggested that I go seek feedback from those who have already taken the plunge so here I am…
Anytime, NarmerJeff. There’s speculation that the Mx5 was raised by 30mm upon import into the UK to pass pedestrian safety laws - hence Mazda have an option for lowering springs from the factory (30/35mm Eibach, as it happens)!
The mechanic you spoke to has some truth behind his statement, for most othercars. It’s often seen that with cars which are slammed or incorrectly lowered, the handling and ride suffers as well. With the Mx5, it seems to appreciate the lower stance - people have stated that it does firm up the ride a bit, but that’s to be expected. Plus, it doesn’t make it too firm which might be the case with coilovers at their lowest setting. I’m sure if you look around there are plenty of people who swear by it.
Back to my original point, if Mazda offer the service of lowering the car for more money than standard, then surely it is worth its pennies to some extent? I’ll certainly report back when I have them fitted, along with the strut braces, wheel alignment and fluids change - I’m envisaging an entirely different car after all this work…
Just a quick update before I upload some pics and a sound bite of the new exhaust.
The car handles beautifully now, it feels great and “right”. By “right” I mean it feels like it is a proper little sports car now, whereas before it felt a little wallowy.
I agree with what Benz3ne has said above, and I was thinking about it earlier - this car certainly does benefit and over the many speed bumps I drove over today, it wasn’t too firm at all!
o here is a shot from the back of the, I think compared with the other you can see it’s got a more ‘hunkered’ look and to my eye looks wider.
Another shot from the drivers side front. Yum. It will settle a little more apparently so will look even better then.
Then finally - a video of the car’s delicious new sound. It wasn’t meant to look so dramatic and top gear like, but I am just too talented (ahem) to produce any boring videos… :’) ha.
Yes to all! A little of both, not excessive but oh so satisfying. I’m hooked on driving this car!
I went to get my wheel geometry checked after the lowering and they said that it was 100% spot on so nothing needed to be done. Nice! Where you going to get your wheels refurbed mate? Mine are in need!
Rather, about 5 minutes away! Grand.