Your preferred mk1 suspension set-up?

Your preferred mk1 suspension set-up?

Author
Discussion

JamesHayward

655 posts

163 months

Tuesday 11th September 2012
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cwinterb said:
You must live near some nice smooth tarmac!
Yea I do! Most of my road driving is on the motorway to be honest but they are still pretty good on the Surrey Hills. I agree they are set too hard on 14-12 but 12-10 they were fine. Alot better than the Bilsteins anyway.

mikey P 500

1,236 posts

186 months

Tuesday 11th September 2012
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I have the kyb shocks (so some adjustment) and eibach springs, I rate this better than both my last two mx5s on coilovers for road use.

Jobbo

12,958 posts

263 months

Tuesday 11th September 2012
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Finally got my car back after fitting the MeisterRs; done about 130 miles and it's amazing how comfy it is compared to the standard S-Spec Bilsteins. Not bouncy, silent and scuttle shake is almost absent.

It's so good it's going to be hard to work out how to improve on it. I'll no doubt mess it up by stiffening the damping. Going to play with it anyway...

SixtySpeedTwin

320 posts

151 months

Friday 14th September 2012
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I found the ride a bit too firm and def too low on my S-Special which had the factory slightly lowered suspension and bilstiens.

danuneek

31 posts

177 months

Thursday 27th September 2012
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scrwright said:
I had Autolink's sport springs with KYB adjustable dampers, very well matched, only a 10-15mm drop and not rock hard, very good road setup, not bad on track too
What was your original set up? I have Autolink sport springs with KYB AGX shocks and I'm catching speed bumps/ramps.

Autolink say your car should measure 310mm from the center of the wheel to the lip of your arch.

Spyder3400

233 posts

162 months

Tuesday 2nd October 2012
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I agree. Why coilovers? Unless looked after they only seize up with road use and if you make many adjustments (unlikely once you find a set up you enjoy) you will need another WIM/similar visit to align it.

I have koni adjustable shocks/eibach springs (-30) set on the highest koni platform and it is fantastic on the road, and good on track.

HTH

mikey P 500 said:
I have the kyb shocks (so some adjustment) and eibach springs, I rate this better than both my last two mx5s on coilovers for road use.

Lunja

Original Poster:

420 posts

184 months

Wednesday 3rd October 2012
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Thanks for all your suggestions. In the end we've gone for standard shocks and springs with new boots and bumpstops, which leaves budget for proper alignment wheel balancing. It's due to be fitted in the next couple of days and the alignment will be done either by a BlackBoots franchisee nearby or I'll head down to WiM. Does anyone know if the BlackBoots guys (of which I understand WiM are members?) offer the same geometry and alignment service as WiM in Chesham?

SixtySpeedTwin

320 posts

151 months

Saturday 13th October 2012
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I've gone from the bilstien setup on my S-Special to stock on my V-Special.
To be honest other than its loads more comfortable over bumps and doesn't ground out on speed humps the dynamic handling is disappointing in comparison and it looks way too high.
i'll drop it a bit on slightly sportier shocks when i can find a good excuse to justify it to Mrs S.

vrsmxtb

2,002 posts

155 months

Saturday 13th October 2012
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Lunja said:
Thanks for all your suggestions. In the end we've gone for standard shocks and springs with new boots and bumpstops, which leaves budget for proper alignment wheel balancing. It's due to be fitted in the next couple of days and the alignment will be done either by a BlackBoots franchisee nearby or I'll head down to WiM. Does anyone know if the BlackBoots guys (of which I understand WiM are members?) offer the same geometry and alignment service as WiM in Chesham?
Blackboots ARE WIM too as far as I'm aware, just the tyre division.

vrsmxtb

2,002 posts

155 months

Friday 8th February 2013
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Thought I'd raise this topic again, as in a month or two I'll be getting my MX5 out of hibernation and my first pressing job will be to make a decision on suspension.

It currently has original standard springs and shocks all round, but the nearside rear shock is completely knackered and the rear offside droplink is snapped.

So up until now I thought I'd just go top of the budget and stick some MeisterR coilovers on it, but I'm actually starting to doubt if I want to spend that much on it. The car already went WAY over budget last year with it needing a new engine to cure niggling coolant loss issues.

I'd like a very small drop in ride height, but other than that I'd prefer that

a) I can get it fitted and forget and be completely reliable for the foreseeable future

b) Will be a good match for real world uk driving. Ok to be on the slightly firmer side, but in no way bone shaking.

c) Won't need constant fiddling to get the settings right, or maintain them.

I'm thinking perhaps higher end coilovers may be a bit overkill for the use of the car (random summer pottering around, perhaps one or two track days and probably a longer road trip round the Highlands).

Maybe uprated but non adjustable shocks with lowering springs?

However, if I'm going to be spending several hundred quid sorting this, would it be a bit silly not to just go that bit extra for decent kit? I'm a believer in buy cheap, buy twice.

Also should I leave all the bushes well alone, unless badly perished or is it worth a full refresh at the same time?

Edited by vrsmxtb on Friday 8th February 16:53

Sad Weevil

118 posts

147 months

Saturday 9th February 2013
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I recently replaced the tired suspension on my mk1, and after much deliberation and investigation of coilovers and other options decided on staying OEM with Autolink standard springs, Sachs OEM shocks, and a proper alignment. Sure, it would probably look better a bit lower, but this car is all about driving enjoyment for me, and it's nice not to have ground clearance issues in the real world of uk roads. It drives brilliantly in standard form anyway, although I may have a go with a pair of uprated Whiteline swaybars. Cost of my setup was half what a set of decent coilovers would be.

vrsmxtb

2,002 posts

155 months

Saturday 9th February 2013
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Sad Weevil said:
I recently replaced the tired suspension on my mk1, and after much deliberation and investigation of coilovers and other options decided on staying OEM with Autolink standard springs, Sachs OEM shocks, and a proper alignment. Sure, it would probably look better a bit lower, but this car is all about driving enjoyment for me, and it's nice not to have ground clearance issues in the real world of uk roads. It drives brilliantly in standard form anyway, although I may have a go with a pair of uprated Whiteline swaybars. Cost of my setup was half what a set of decent coilovers would be.
Was that with all new parts Sad Weevil? What was the parts cost roughly if you don't mind me asking?

Sad Weevil

118 posts

147 months

Saturday 9th February 2013
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vrsmxtb said:
Was that with all new parts Sad Weevil? What was the parts cost roughly if you don't mind me asking?
Yes, all new parts, total cost for springs, shocks, and bump stops/boots was £340. Shocks and boots from 123spareparts.co.uk, part of Delticom/mytyres in Germany, springs from Autolink.

vrsmxtb

2,002 posts

155 months

Saturday 9th February 2013
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Sad Weevil said:
Yes, all new parts, total cost for springs, shocks, and bump stops/boots was £340. Shocks and boots from 123spareparts.co.uk, part of Delticom/mytyres in Germany, springs from Autolink.
That actually sounds pretty appealing. How does the car feel now? Decent ride / handling?

Sad Weevil

118 posts

147 months

Sunday 10th February 2013
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Ride is excellent - comfortable and controlled. Handling is sweet on 14" lightweight wheels, you can feel exactly what's going on, especially with manual steering, and when it does run out of grip, it's easily controlled. Everything a mk1 mx5 should be in fact. Big fun. As I said, I may play around with bigger arbs to sharpen the turn in and so on, but I don't want to upset it on uneven surfaces, which is a large proportion of the roads I drive on. Maybe an lsd too. As it is, it's a very enjoyable and practical B road car, also very straight and true on fast A roads - a good alignment is essential. I will be doing the odd track day and so on, but will be spending time getting my skills up - it will be some time before throwing money at posh parts will get me round quicker....

vrsmxtb

2,002 posts

155 months

Sunday 17th February 2013
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Just had a look at 123spareparts.co.uk, looks a bit amateurish is it all legit?

Also I can only get the Sachs shocks to come up when I search for a Mk2 NB MX5. Are they still the same units for a Mk1?

Sad Weevil

118 posts

147 months

Tuesday 19th February 2013
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Yes of course totally legit, part of Delticom AG, big German factors, millions of customers smile I've used them for tyres many times over the last few years.
Here's a link to mk1 shocks:

http://www.123spareparts.co.uk/cgi-bin/atm_shop.pl...

Mine arrived in 3 days, p&p was £3.50.

Mannginger

9,032 posts

256 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
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Just bumping this up as the NA I bought in Jan came on Bilsteins and I've decided they're just too crashy for the B roads around here (not helped by the fact that only one was changed at the rear at some point).

That, coupled with the fact that MX5Nutz currently have a group buy (15% discount and free UK delivery) on the MeisterR Zeta-S coilovers and the generally good reviews I've seen on them has meant me putting a deposit down on them with delivery expected end of May. Should get them on just in time for the Le Mans run which will make that a bit more pleasant!

J-Tuner

2,855 posts

242 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
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Mannginger said:
Just bumping this up as the NA I bought in Jan came on Bilsteins and I've decided they're just too crashy for the B roads around here (not helped by the fact that only one was changed at the rear at some point).

That, coupled with the fact that MX5Nutz currently have a group buy (15% discount and free UK delivery) on the MeisterR Zeta-S coilovers and the generally good reviews I've seen on them has meant me putting a deposit down on them with delivery expected end of May. Should get them on just in time for the Le Mans run which will make that a bit more pleasant!
i run them also (got them on a previous GB via nutz) - you wont be disappointed! Great kit.

I'm off to le mans on the friday also via eurotunnel smile

Jobbo

12,958 posts

263 months

Wednesday 15th April 2015
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I've got the Meister Rs on mine; have had them for a couple of years. To be honest, I preferred the Bilsteins paperbag The Meister Rs have been properly set up, even corner-weighted, but I find them either too bouncy or too uncontrolled. They do comfort quite well if you back them off, mind you.

ETA: just re-read my post above from Sept 2012 when they were fitted; I said they weren't bouncy back then but that's based on them being set quite softly. Wind the stiffness up a few notches and I find the back end can easily get out of sync with an undulating road, but on softer settings it doesn't inspire the confidence to rag it.

Edited by Jobbo on Wednesday 15th April 13:47