I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: __Poly vs Rubber bushings or a mixture?
Hi folks, first post so be gentle
I’ve had an alignment to the Flyin’ Miata specs done today and they found that one of the bushings on the FOS was spinning and preventing the camber from being adjusted properly. They’ve evened things up and it drives ok but it’s nowhere near the suggested figure.
Since I’m having to replace one bushing before they can re-align it, it seems to make sense to look into replacing all of them as they’re going to be wearing, and doing so will help tighten my car up a little
My question is Poly or Rubber all round or a mixture (and if a mixture which to replace with poly and which to leave as rubber?)
Use case is a weekend toy. It’s an auto so never going to be a track weapon. As I fettle it over the coming years I’m looking for an OE+ outcome and don’t wish to lose the “Sprightly GT” feel in favour of a bone shaker
I’m leaning towards rubber as I have poly in my Jeep and they drive me nuts with the noise. But I’m open to suggestions if there’s a combination that will help tighten things up yet still retain a comfortable ride
I’m very much a beginner in this space so any suggestions are welcome
Cheers
Dave
I would say rubber going off how you use the car.
No point making it more uncomfortable by adding in vibration and spoiling the ride if you dont intend doing track days.
Regards
Rob.
Auto and weekend toy I’d go rubber all round. Recently done rubber all round on my 20 something year old NBFL which I drive 18k miles a year and it drives like it just came out of the show room. Do you need any more than that ?
I had some Poly Bushes (from a very well known maker) on my road/occasional track car (Not my MX-5) in the end I took them off and went back to OEM because they squeaked too much which did my nut in.
Yeah, the ones on my Jeep drive me insane with the noise. That’s part of the reason I was leaning towards rubber. Interesting to hear you’ve gone back to rubber as a result.
I’ll have to bite the bullet at some time too. I think it’s all about the lubrication. I cut and pasted this quote for future reference off someone who used poly bushes on various cars which squeaked…
“I now use SuperPro, which seems to be polyether based, and have no such issues. They supplied a teflon based grease with the ones I bought”
I’ve got superpro poly bushes in my NC and they’re absolutely fine, there’s no noticable increase in NVH, they don’t squeak and the car feels a lot better for having them fitted.
Definitely one of the best mods I’ve done to the car IMO.
Yeah I get you on that. I’m looking for tightness and poise in handling but at the same time not wanting to introduce too much of the vagaries British roads give us, leading to my fillings working loose
I took it out for a good run round the Peak District on Friday after the alignment was done, and even though it’s not dialed in correctly the handling has been massively improved by the Flyin’ Miata alignment. The rear (which was done to spec) feels like it’s glued to the road now and I’ve got way more confidence chucking it through the corners. Just need to get the front sorted as it’s still lacking a little.
I have a full upgrade path worked out with bracing and anti-roll bars first but wanted to drive it for a full year before doing any real work on it (bar the alignment and a mild Versatuner remap to open up the bottom end torque) I would have come to the bushings in time but my hand has been forced by not being able to complete the alignment properly.
It’s a very kind offer Gary. Maybe a ride out would be good but I’m stuck driving an auto these days due to some mobility issues (gutted tbh I’d have loved a manual, but it’s no big deal, I’ve still got an MX5!) If anyone with an auto and poly’s is reading and wants to offer a spin I’d be very grateful.
