Spring and shock advice

Technical Area Steering & Suspension
1
  1. My model of MX-5 is: 2007 2.0l sport
  2. I’m based near: Guildford
  3. I’m looking for technical help or recommendations on: springs and shocks

Hey everyone

Looking to lower my NC as the arch gap is currently huge on stock suspension. Probably going to go for a 30mm drop.

Read a lot that you can’t really go wrong with a set of Eibachs. Car is currently on stock shocks at the moment and I can’t see these have ever been changed before. Now obviously the car is getting on a bit so wanted to know if you think it’s best to replace these at the same time?

Would go the coilover route however good ones are quite expensive and I don’t fancy getting a cheaper set really. Car is more of a weekend and summer car so also doesn’t seem worth it to me.

Although if anyone has any points for it I’ll have a think.

Thanks!

2

If the current dampers are ok just do the springs. Minus 30mm is typical and I found them a good mod. The car feels better overall without getting harsh.
It’s just over a hundred if you’re lucky. Coilovers are quite a leap and cheap ones may be brutal ride wise.

1 Like
3

It’s a no brainer for me .

Dampers at a possible ripe old age of 18.

I’ve used Eibach / Bilstien dampers with decent results in the past on various cars.

2 Likes
4

We had friend at Lotus test our 18 year old dampers, all were equal and within tolerance, so we had them slotted to put some adjusters on and then tried a few new sets of Eibach springs. We ended up with a set a quite a bit stronger than the originals (about 28kg/mm rear and 22kg/mm front ). The adjusters on the Bilsteins allow us to play with the height to get the stance we need. An RX8 arb on the back helped as well. It’s now got excellent primary ride and soaks up undulations really well. It’s a great balance for country roads and trackdays. And it’s about 30mm lower than stock.

Hope this helps.

1 Like
5

I think they’re okay, haven’t had any complaints with them so far but I’ll have a look and see what’s around in terms of getting both.

That was my thought too, I’d rather get a good set of springs than some cheaper coilovers that just won’t last.

6

Okay awesome, will have a look around and see what’s about then. Cheers :+1:t2:

7

One of the things I noticed was a lot of people say they’ve gone for 30mm front and rear.

However everything I’ve seen online looks to lower the rear by around 25mm. Have I just gotten mixed up here or is there a set which lowers the rear by 30?

8

I was reading up a bit about this too but I wasn’t really sure what sort of benefit I’d get out of it.

All a bit new to suspension etc and at this point I’m not sure whether I’d end up doing track days or not.

Would you say adding in ARBs would be a better option than not then?

Would just adding one to the rear be enough or is it worth doing the front too do you think?

9

We only replaced the rear arb as the front behaved really well on the road and track, the rear arb was upgraded to match the increase in rear spring rate, that has worked really well.

30mm seems to be the target if you’re using the std Eibach sports setup.

2 Likes
10

I am in the Eibach springs and blistein shocks / dampers camp great all rounder for roads cannot speak for track i guess meisters coil overs but in my experience they say replace top mounts at same time as dampers :+1::+1:

11

I lowered mine the usual 30mm and then purchased a set of arb’s 6 months later. Standard bilsteins btw.
What a difference the arb’s made!!
Second hand items (from RX8) front and back on ebay. If you find them, go for it!

12

Exactly the same here. The vorland springs were £130 and the s/h Rx8 ARB £100. For under £300 it’s a good bang for bucks as it makes quite a difference to the driving experience.

1 Like
13

So with the RX8 ARBs I’ve seen a lot about yellow orange and red dots. Everyone of course has different opinions but what would you say are the best ones to go for?

Seen a few people suggesting not to put yellow on both front and back?

14

I can only vouch for the yellow ones I’m afraid but it really really does make a difference to the body roll. I wasn’t sure if it was going to be noticeable but I was very wrong. As @Beryl has said too, definitely worth it.

15

Yellow seem the most common and are mostly used on the MX5 from what I’ve read.
Try this for a full picture of the options….

1 Like
16

This opinion seems to be that with both RX8 ARB fitted you have less warning about when the back end is going to let go: the car is more on a hair-trigger sort of thing. This maybe more about on the racetrack than on public roads where you have a duty not to stray into the oncoming lane…

1 Like
17

My yellow spot cost me £110 posted. Some on eBay now for £150. Silly prices both, but that’s the market. The ones in the for sale section on here look a decent punt. If it was me I’d include the droplinks but knock him down on price😀