I was wondering if anyone can shed any light on a problem that has developed with my 2016 Sport Recaro, which seems to have become a really rough ride in the last week or so.
I bought the car last year with BBR lowering springs already fitted on the standard Bilstein dampers and I had a BBR Super 200 conversion with new exhaust and Wilwood four-pots in January. At the time of the conversion, BBR carried out a four-wheel geometry re-set on the car and (having been fidgety before they had it) it returned an absolute dream.
The drive was just great - revvy and responsive from the engine work, and planted from the geo reset. It was a slightly firm ride but nothing you would question beyond a sporty-car set up. But now, 1,000 miles later, it seems to have become very harsh and feels every bump and undulation in the road.
I drive it ‘progressively’ on mainly B-roads that are not in the best of condition, but I do not recall ‘kerbing’ it, or hitting any seriously bad pot holes. There are no knocking noises and the stance is unaltered; tyres are still at 29 psi as they have been throughout.
Any suggestions for the sudden change in behaviur would be appreciated.
My model of MX-5 is: ND2.0 Sport Recaro with BBR Super 200
I’m based near: York
I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: Suspension
Because of the modifications/geometry reset that have been carried out the only people that can give you the answer are probably BBR.
In my opinion we would all be just guessing.
A real longshot this but I wonder if, because it has been very cold these last couple of weeks, the tyres and suspension bushes are a lot stiffer. Even the oil in the shocks will be much colder (more viscous) all giving a propensity for a stiffer ride. I know that on my mountain bike suspension I have to back off the fork/rear shock damping circuits in very cold weather to prevent the ride from being harsh and skittery.
Or, it is possible that you are just getting older
I certainly second what first rider off says. Tyres and dampers both need some heat to work correctly.
Below about 10c ambient the ride becomes quite harsh for the first 10 miles or so until there’s some heat in them. Same with motorcycles.
In really hot weather the opposite can happen - my last car lost virtually all of its rear damping after a long hard drive as the rear shock absorbers were overheating, so much so you couldn’t touch them.
It has been driving fine since I got it back from BBR in January, in similar temperatures to the last couple of weeks. And I first started to notice the harshness during a sporty drive to Ilkley and back - so a good 30 miles in.
Possibly. A few minutes with a torch, have a look at each spring and damper, turn the front wheels on full lock for better access.
That’s what any mechanic will do, have a look.
Ha Ha. Yes, I once had a garage blow my tyres up to the pressure figures using the bar scale rather than the psi scale. I couldn’t understand why the car was bouncing all over the road until I got it home to find out the tyres were vastly over inflated. So it does happen!
After a week of rest in a cold garage mine felt like how I imagine a ground effect F 1car felt in 1982 . If rather slower . It crashed and banged its way across every change in road surface , and the tyres (PS4s ) felt like wood on a short 5 mile run. Yesterday I did 400miles and after half an hour it was still firm-ish , as it has been after lowered springs , but beautifully supple and absorbent .
Better stop there as I have already made my car sound like upmarket bog roll.
The Bridgestones the PS 4s replaced were the same size . The PS4s are so much better - much more progressive and far, far grippier in the wet . What size tyres should it have had ? Mine was previously owned by Mazda so it’s safe to assume it was standard in every respect…
I wasn’t trying to suggest you had put the wrong tyres on, I was asking if you had managed to find ps4s in 205x45x17 which is standard fitment size, as that is what I have been looking to replace the Bridgestones with, sorry if it caused you offence.
Ah OK, can I ask if they are the PS4 S that you have in that size then, and not the PS4? if it is definitely the 4 S could you let me know which supplier you used to get them fitted, as I would like to get some in the standard size, not 215x45x17 that I have been able to find.
!