GAZ Fixed Height Coilovers.. Changing Springs?

[Conor D]

I have a set of GAZ Fixed Height Coilovers on my MX5, they're an adjustable damper with a fixed height spring. They have 300 lb springs on the front, and 225 lbs at the rear. The car sits at about 330mm (arch to inside of wheel) but its a bit too high for my liking.

I want the car to sit a little lower, can I just swap out the springs for a set with a different rating or will these have been made for the dampers?

Also what effect will changing the spring rates have?

[TheLastPost]

I started typing out a long explanation of the various options in terms of altering the springs, how to go about calculating the new spring lengths properly to get the correct ride height (taking into account the suspension leverages and the new spring rates) and how to adjust the damper settings to compensate properly for the new rates, but then I thought, 'this is bks, he's never going to do this!'

So... short answer: sell your non-ride height adjustable dampers on e-bay and buy some with adjustable spring seats.

You can fit shorter (to lower the ride height) and stiffer (to stop the car bottoming) springs (or even cut down your existing springs - if they're of the right type), fit helper springs to stop them rattling round at full damper extension, and stiffen up the damper adjustment to compensate for the increased rate, but it's not really worth the hassle and at best it's a half-arsed solution.

But have you given the existing springs time to settle before deciding that the ride height they give is too much for you?

...and remember that whenever you change the ride height, you have to get the car's geometry re-set to suit.