I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: _suspension
Only had my 2008 2l 3 weeks. I bought it lowered 30mm on springs its running on 18’,s. All tyres are spot on. Ive found it a little skittish on rough roads or small bumps at speeds of say 50mph+ by skittish i mean it feels like your losing control a little and doesnt ride through uneven roads too well. Making me feel a bit nervous and not wanting to drive it too fast incase i lose control. Is there something i need to get checked? Thank you.
Hi Carol. Firstly I’d check the obvious, tyres - That they are at least a matched pair across the same axle, their condition and then do the pressures in them.
If these check out ok and problem still exists, you could look at the springs and shock absorbers… check suspension bushes etc…
I find that because the MX-5 is a rear wheel drive car, so has less weight over the driving wheels, they can be a little skittish on the dreadful roads we have nowadays…!
I had an NC lowered on 18’s previously and found the ride quite harsh/skittish, the tyres were quite low profile and combined with the shortened springs didn’t absorb the road roughness as well as smaller wheels with more tyre sidewall.
Thank you i will get it checked out. Its been very well looked after and has a big folder full of receipts and not had an advisory on mot for quite a while. Im not too sure if the shocks were changed when the lowering springs were done but im wondering if this could be the problem?
No problem… It could just be the condition of the roads causing it, but if you have a local garage/mechanic who you trust, then maybe explain your concerns to them and get them to give your MX-5 a visual check underneath? How does it drive on smoother better roads?
Hi Carol. I hope you resolve this niggle with your new car soon.
In the past I had a similar situation albeit on an older NB model.
I was advised to reduce the tyre pressure a little on all four corners. The recommended pressure was a touch lower than recommended in the handbook but the handling was transformed.
May I ask what pressure you are inflating your tyres to please?
Some NC owners may have experience of different inflation values that helped them in the past.
Drives spot on on smooth roads but if you get a road thats had a bit of work done and its not even/level its like the car doesnt know where to go lol its like bambi on ice. And any small bump in the road its all over.
Hi there ive heard this before lowering the tyre pressure, im really not sure what the psi its running on so i will get that checked out tomorrow. Thank you
As already suggested, first point of call is the tyre pressure and then whether they’re all matched.
Do you know how old the tyres are? Tyres do go off after a period of time as the tread hardens up. So whilst they might well have plenty of rubber left, they might be crapped out. Mine were on my current 5. Had a set of Toyos on that looked fine. Grip however was really ropey, and close on dangerous in the wet. Swapped them out and jobs a good un’.
I had the same when I bought my NC, having the 4 wheel alignment done on a ‘Hunter’ tracking system and having the tracking set as recommended by the Hunter fixed it.
My car has standard height and suspension and assume now set as per the latest Mazda recommended settings because Hunter get updates direct from Mazda regarding the recommended settings.
The Hunter prints out a before and after image of the settings.
Hi that symptom sounds like tramlining where the tyres follow road imperfections.
It can occur on any car with very low profile tyres but a light MX5 with lowered suspension will be easily effected.
Pressures and rubber choice may help but I suspect the issue is the wheels are too big and the tyres too low profile.
It’s the decision between show or go.
‘Upgraded’ suspension, as in stiffer ARBs, springs, dampers, can clearly have benefits to overall speed on smooth tracks and be acceptable for everyday driving on roads in good condition, but if not finely judged can be unpleasant and less effective on uneven surfaces such as are commonly found on UK roads.
One of the reasons I bought my 1.5 back in 2017 was a decent back to back test drive of a 2 litre with the standard ‘sports’ suspension and a 1.5 SE-L Nav, The drive was over half an hour on a circuit of country roads and the 1.5 was subjectively better. Comfort aside, the 2 litre felt less secure in a bendy stretch of road with a broken up wearing course - no loose bits but patches where a 25mm or so depth of tarmac was missing. It felt to be skittering across the surface rather than gripping as the more compliant 1.5 did.
Of course it’s all relative - the standard 2 litre doesn’t have a super-hard suspension but equally the 1.5 emphatically does not “roll like a trawler in a gale” as one reviewer put it IIRC. But more is not necessarily better when it comes to stiffer suspension.
I say this as opinion, not a matter of fact - I have no special powers or race experience beyond a few track days - it is as I say subjective.
If you don’t know what’s been done to the car other than lowering it may be harder to find what’s responsible for what you are experiencing, assuming it has a decent set of matching tyres at the right pressures.
I watched a couple of episodes of a Car restoration show called Flipping bangers, they do an NB which has been lowered. It’s returned to standard ride height by readjustment to look right and as they say Mazda spent millions developing this car so why change the ride height ? Ok I know it looks great !!
Take a look at the video and if you go to 22 minutes in, there is the section where the readjust and explain why in their case standard is better.
As you can imagine a highly compressed spring … as in a lowered one … is going to be harder and that could give rise to skittish handling. If that’s not enough of an improvement it could be wheels and tyres next.
How heavy are the 18" wheels? I reckon the low profile tyre needed on 18" wheels
are not a good combination for a smooth soft ride, plus if they’re heavy wheels that’ll
spoil the handling.
