Yup, as much as I’d like to spend thousands on a suspension setup, I won’t be going on trackdays (sadly), I’ll still just be commuting 3 miles to work everyday (which does involve lots of roundabouts, and plenty of chances to kick the tail out on wet mornings)… so I’m quite happy if the new car replicates or improves on the handling of my current Eunos. (Which can understeer terribly cos I have some horrid no-name tyres on the front, and I haven’t swapped them to the back yet)
Well if we’re on a budget (and I am!) then the obvious is indeed to replace the springs with the units that’ll give you the ride height you need. If you think your shocks are good (and you can get 'em tested) then fair enough. With any lowering then the anti-rollbar will be pre-loaded with the angle you’d create. So new anti-rollbars (s/h RX8 blue dots?) are needed to suit otherwise the car will roll badly and spend a lot of it’s cornering time on the bumpstops. I’d replace the bumpstops as a matter of course , probably OEM, but you can squeeze another 1/2" by choosing other shorter bumpstops (FCM).
Minimum plus labour has to be £250. Add an alignment and it’s £600 if you don’t do the fitting yourself. That will give you something thats workable.
After 100K miles I’d say that any shock should at the very least be inspected and tested. These cars eat them on the front .
When buying any car you have to make the decision as to whether you can run it for a while without spending any money, especially when you don’t have a lot of cash.
My Eunos ,since August, has had a service (done by me) ,4 new tyres (Goodyear Excellence front 28psi, Uniroyal Rainsport 2;s rear 29psi) , one headlight bulb, brake fluid flush. Thermostat and OAT coolant flush and fill. I’ve greased everything and cleaned stuff like the AFM and throttle body. I’ve got new pads and discs to fit when I have the time.
My shocks are toast but I’m saving to do the whole lot in the summer ( Koni’s) and I’ll be fitting the lot at home.
In an ideal world I would have spent £1500 bringing this 16 year-old car back to stock. I know I will have to spend that money sometime but it won’t be this year! The car is reasonable in it’s present state and I’m happy that I had the sense to take it easy until I knew what I’d got. It’s a buzz to have the car in the first place (long story) and I’m looking after it ,since I hope to keep this one. I’ve had the back out twice in 6 months -both times at about 60mph on crap tyres. That’s why I got the Rainsports.
I have driven a few 5’s with real good suspension and can definitely say that you’d be amazed. Unfortunately they were someone else’s car.
Guess I spent too long on The American forums. They seem to have more money over there and I’m really used to advising on the ultimate kit. Thanks for the reality check. Nice to know it;s not just me that’s broke. I’ll look forward to meeting some of you guys at your events and talking MX5’s over a bag of chips and a few beers!!
Cheers
Pete
Pete,
you’re the very antithesis of me as a car owner. Whilst you tweak and test and polish and lube and care for car, I kick the tyres and drive mine until a light goes on in the dash telling me it’s broken… and then I drive it some more.
You adjust your tyre pressures to the single psi. I look at 'em and see if they’re vaguely round!
I just don’t spend any money on my car, beyond filling it at the petrol station.
I suspect if you met me in person, and looked at my Eunos, you’d punch me repeatedly in the face 
On the other hand, you say you’ve got the back end out twice in 6 months? I try to dial in some opposite lock every time I’m on an empty roundabout (Mind you, I don’t often achieve it as I’m never at any great speed)
Basically my sights are set waaaaaaay down. As long as the car goes, stops, stays dry inside, and I can control it when I get the tail twitching, then I’ll be a happy man. My budget wil stretch to £3k for a 1.8iS mk2 (if I can find one), but once I’ve bought the car my expenditure will stop.
I enormously respect the deserved care and attention you lavish on your car, and all 5’s definitely deserve it, but I don’t have the time, patience, expertise, money, or most importantly the inclination, to do the same. (Sorry!)
RX8 anti-roll bars will not fit a NA unless you bodge them with a hammer and hacksaw. Any Miataforum discussion you have seen refers to the interchangeability of the NC MX5 and RX8, which share common platform features. The NA shares no parts with the RX8. About the only scrapyard change you can do on the MX5 is to fit the front bar off a Mk1 S-Spec. A 1.8 front bar isn’t supposed to fit a 1.6, but it does, and works fine.
Anti-roll bar selection needs to be carefully done; too many MX5 owners have put on the stiffest set-up they were told to buy, and promptly put the car in a ditch. Probably beter off getting adjustible anti-roll bar links.
The FCM bumpstops aren’t really a money saver. The old trick was to cut down the stock bump stop. If you’re not bothered by the gaiters (not an MOPT item, and will do nothing to extend the life of old shocks, and aren’t even needed on Konis), and are reusing old shocks, the original bumpstops will be perfectly serviceable.
Lowering springs: £80 for some cheapo set, no need to touch the bumpstops. ARB changes purely optional. Bear in mind, cheap lowering springs will go all saggy, and hasten the failure of your already tired shocks. Rule of thumb; don’t lower on stock Showa shocks more than 25mm. Stock Bilsteins will take 35mm. Cheap springs can start out lowering at 30-35mm, but before long may sag to -55mm (ie, riding on the bumpstops). Hardly workable. Ride will be terrible.
No, they tend to pop first in the rear, if there is any bias.
Hopefully you didn’t scrub off the anti-sludge paint on the butterfly.
A budget suspension approach which will lower, and preserve the ride comfort (or improve it), is to fit Mk2 shocks, Mk2 lowering springs and Mk2 top mount assemblies. The Mk2 top mounts are cheap new (<£100 for all 4). Mk2 lowering springs are the same price as Mk1. The Mk2 shocks will give increased travel, so you won’t spend time on the bumpstops. However, fitting stock Mk2 shocks and springs will lead to a slightly raised ride height.
If you’re labouring yourself, consider the P5 Puredrive kit instead of Konis. £600 for the full kit, including Mk2 tops, pigtail springs and bumpstops. The shocks alone can be supplied with a larger spring perch for a comparable price to the Koni shocks, if you intend to use a standard diameter spring, but you need to pick one that is quite firm, such as the FM spring set. Since they have adjustible perches, you can set the height you want.
Over the years, I have had cars on stock suspension, Racing beat spring/Bilstein combinations, Apexi Adjustables/Apexi springs, and now Puredrive. The Puredrive hs given me the best ride comfort/handling combination so far, probably because I went to the Mk2 tops. It got a little odd in the very cold weather we recently had, but easily cured by stepping down a couple of clicks to compensate for increased shock oil viscosity.
If upgrading suspension, while retaining some older parts, note, the rear springs tend to last 100k miles or so before snapping a coil (near the top). If replacing the shocks, unless the car was low miles, I’d replace the springs as well, given the relative low cost of aftermarket parts.
Well, firstly thanks for the head’s up on the RX8 bars. The thread I’d read must have been an NC one .I didn’t notice that for some reason. Must have been a long night . Of course an uprated MX5 bar from the earlier years would be an improvement. All suspension components should be tuned for each other and I don’t like the trend of mating saggy springs with over-rated shocks and a heavy rollbar. The rollbar will do the job of the springs, which is not good. Appreciate the comments on Mk2 stuff for the NA and I’ll be looking at that closely. Especially with my meager budget.
Adjustable drop-links are a great buy . I’d appreciate a link for some.
Yeah cutting down bumpstops was a method indeed and still works.
25mm drop on OEM shocks is a good rule of thumb as well, and as you say most lowering springa (if not all) start at 30mm.
Another good rule of thumb is to always use the proper throttle body cleaner for that job. Saves misery afterward!
Cheers
Pete
S-Spec is roughly equivalent to the Miata R-Package.
Standard 1990-93: front ARB: 19mm, rear ARB; 12mm
1992-93 1.6 S-Spec: front; 19mm, rear; 11mm
Standard 94-97 1.8; front; 19mm (longer than 1.6), rear; LSD cars; 12mm, non LSD cars: 11mm
S-Spec, RS-Limited, R-Limited, VR-Limited, SR-Limited, R2-Limited: front: 20mm, rear: 12mm
Note; 1.6 and 1.8 bars are interchangeable. 1.6 and 1.8 bars are meant to be.
Randy Stocker’s ARB info:
http://www.solomiata.com/swaybar.html
Moss UK sell them
http://www.moss-europe.co.uk/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=4800
Also
http://www.flyinmiata.com/index.php?deptid=4537&parentid=0&stocknumber=13-99300
http://www.racingbeat.com/resultset.asp?PartNumber=54200
Budget:
http://www.mx5ocforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=60138
Great info. Thanks loads. Pete
“If you’re labouring yourself, consider the P5 Puredrive kit instead of Konis.”
I went down the purdrive route with the MK2 top mounts and did all the bushes at the same time and all i can say is wow what a difference they made.
The car went from bangs and bumps to smooth and comfort.
Has for the spending £1500 on the suspension on a £1500 car i can see how this could easily be achieved if you dont do the work yourself, so far i have spent £900 on the suspension and i did all the work myself.I did the work in 3 days over the xmas period so to get a garage to do it you would be looking at 2 days full labour ( 2 days labour must easily be £600 ).
Having said all that i would spend it again i enjoyed being cold dirty tired but chuffed to bits when finished and WOW what a difference it made to the car and the drive