So last night we found out we won the postcode lottery and will be receiving £3685. WOOT.
Problem being it is my wifes ticket and she will using it to pay off some of her visa. However she is giving me £300 to spend, as well as £300 for her. The rest is visa card.
So I have £300 to buy something for my car. I am thinking time to get the coilovers (was going to get wheels but this seems a better option) and the Tein cost £398. So I can put £100 in and then get the local garage to fit for £100.
Is there anything better for the cost can the Teins. I do not want to spend anymore than £400.
I will be ordering in two weeks when the money lands.
Following which I will refurbing the wheels then getting new tyres followed by an alignment once I have saved up.
Local garage in a small village, he reckons two hours work. £50 per hour.
Alignment will be once the wheels are refurbed and new tyres fitted. Are there any issues with doing it that way MickAP which I might not have considered?
Someone at an office I visit for work had a similar win to you… The Postcode Lottery organised a get-together of the winners where the amount they had won was revealed . . . in the days before the C-thing.
As discussed in your other threads Teins basic are softly sprung for a performance setup so be conservative with your ride height. Your garage will have to reuse the factory top mounts. I would suggest you align the suspension as soon as possible after fitting if not at the same time, all the settings will probably need adjusting and you don’t want to be going too far with wheels pointing the wrong way. Toe out on the rear is entertaining… once😀
If you are quick Bofi will do them for £368 at the moment. https://bofiracing.co.uk/tein-street-basis-z-coilovers-for-mazda-mx-5-nc/
Hi, I’m a newbie here having just bought a 2008 NC 2.0 PRHT.
I am still on “4X4 settings” and the front goes scarily light at speed. I was looking at Teins but maybe the mid range set with damping adjustment. Local MX5 specialist has suggested the Eibach lowering springs as a cure but would the Teins be a better spend? They get great reviews online…
I looked at Eibach springs myself at £130 plus fitting.
My research led me to the fact that coilovers will be superior for the following reasons ;
The shocks may not be able to support the springs and the car could sag.
The ride would not be as good as coilovers.
You will go coilovers anyway in time and they are cheaper than shocks and springs.
I dont want expensive coilovers, i will not be going on track, i will not need to adjust them once on the car. So Tein seem perfect for me. I can set my height (will be going 30mm lower) and then job done.
If I may just comment on your the conclusions as you may have taken some of the wrong infomation.
The weight of the car is almost all supported by the springs. Dampers are there to stop the spring oscillating. Old dampers can begin to struggle to control reduced height and higher rate springs which can be the cause of complaints when just springs are fitted.
The ride is mostly due to the quality of the damper and the technology used in the design. £390 Tein basics that are a twin tube design are never going to be the same quality as even the standard OEM Sport Bilstein damper that are £200 a corner.
I have had 2 cars that were fitted with budget aftermarket coilovers and the first job was to remove them.
If you don’t want to adjust the suspension it would be better to have a non adjustable setup. Some of your money will go on the adjustable parts and setup will require a bit more attention and cost to get correct.
All that said, if you have a budget, want more than just springs and are not going to push the suspension you may find the Teins are the right setup for you.
Thanks Rukuokami. A budget i want to keep to, but i want the car lower for normal road driving (perhaps spirited driving sometimes ). I figured cost wise i was better to go for the teins which will ensure i dont get sag from my current dampers.
Just to say, since commenting I saw a vid on Youtube where a mechanic explained the difference between the Street Flex Z and Street Basis Z Tein shocks.
On the Flex (adjustable damping and ride height) it looks like height and preload are not separate so the more you lower the car the more preload goes onto the springs. I can see, therefore, why some may say the ride is very stiff.
I’m now going to eat my own words and pay more for a set of MeisterR or GAZ coilovers where height is independently adjustable - no point trying to save £ and ruin the ride.
There is alot of misinfomation about preload and manufactuers also differ in how you setup the product. In general if the spring rate is linear then compressing the spring does not effect the rate in operation. The things that do cause issue with precompression is reduced travel, coil contact and the point the bumpstop begins to come in. The Meister R are popular because of its features and well specified rates at that price point.
). I figured cost wise i was better to go for the teins which will ensure i dont get sag from my current dampers.