ND2 - Geometry setup

Technical Area Steering & Suspension
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  1. My model of MX-5 is: ND2
  2. I’m based near: Rugby
  3. I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: Suspension

Ok, looking through the forums I can see that suspension alignment / geometry setup is a thing to consider… Couple of questions

  1. What’s ‘wrong’ with the factory settings

  2. What effects does revised geometry have

To give an example of the type of advice I am looking for - I used to have a factory spec VX220, in which I tried to keep up with a Corsa once! Stepped over the limit, backed off, nearly wrote the car off with a tank slapper that just got worse and worse. Got the geo done, car handled like a hot hatch - step over the limit, back off and the car would just settle down and sort itself out. Not a subtle change, night and day - best £145 I ever spent (this was back in 2005)

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Centre of Gravity in Atherstone near Coventry.

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They look to like their Porsches! Any idea roughly how much the ask for a setup?

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  1. Nothing wrong as such with factory settings except they have higher tolerance and can be tweaked to reduce discrepancies.
  2. Factory settings are a compromise in terms of handling and don’t take into account the individual car, it’s modifications and it’s intended use.
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As far as I’ve found there’s nothing wrong with factory settings, but they can be altered to suit your style of driving and the roads you use. BUT the settings on your car may not be correct, either through error or incident. If your car doesn’t feel right go to someone with the right equipment (Hunter ?) and get the suspension checked. It could be the choice of your money or your life.

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To answer the OP question
Sooooo much is adjustable on our cars and when mr Mazda bolted it all together he didn’t know who the end user would be.
Mr commute doing lots of motorway miles needing high speed stability & tyre longevity? or is it Mr hooligan who only does 2k and always around Derbyshire with some track orientated tyres?
Maybe Mrs big birthday present and we want something safe and predictable.
Personally we set each car to the requirements of the owner and we do not give a print out…this is because when we have given print outs I am constantly answering questions as to why I have set car A different to car B that the owner posted on Facebook etc

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Thanks, car is brand new so probably ok - I can’t help fiddling though, especially if it buys me something!

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Don’t assume that because it’s new it will be set up correctly or even within tolerance.
My last two BMW’s, bought new, were both way adrift, the worst being the M140 that had different cambers on the rear, neither within tolerance, and front and rear toe settings that meant it was effectively crabbing down the road, despite driving in a perfectly straight line hands off the wheel on a flat uncambered (which in itself is rare) road.
I’d get a few miles done then get it checked - it can make a big difference to how the car drives and it’s predictability.

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I have just bought a new ND, with the lowered factory sports suspension. I asked the dealer (as they are a “dealer fit accessory”) if they did the tracking/alignment and they said no. So I have booked it into Blink Motorsport (who do a lot of MX5’s) next Tuesday.

I will report back what the suspension settings are like and if they needed to be adjusted much. I only use it on the road, so do not want a particularly “sporty” setting, just good for mixed road use.

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I’ve never trusted a factory to get something as important as geometry right, I’ve always paid a specialist to work their magic on my car’s, worth every penny

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I agree - when I asked the dealer if they were doing the tracking etc, they said it was not priced in to the the suspension change, but they could do it - I declined and am going to a specialist…

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Hmm, that is like fitting new tyres and then not balancing them.

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I agree and was surprised. It will be interesting to see what Blink say when they have done it - if it is out from where it should be, but I do not know if that is due to the suspension change or was like that previously…

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Hello negTneg
Paul (Rodders) @ Roddisons Sheffield S9 1US 0114 244 5300 is most definitely the man to set
your car up to your driving requirements. Ask him to explain corner weighting as well a
alignment. Do it once do it right first time!
Regards
Keith

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