NB 1.6 vague steering at speed

[Rusty-C]

Have just driven a BRZ, which has exposed how vague my Mazda's steering feels at speed (above 50mph). Any solutions to this? It has a strut brace (sure it made a little difference), plus front and rear chassis bracing. Just had MeisterR coilovers fitted and setup by Wheels in Motion. Was thinking poly bushing might do the trick, guess the 19-year-old rubbers are past their best... Keen to hear your thoughts. Cheers.

[VladD]

My steering always feels great, so I'd say that your problem may not be typical. Could it be your geo setup?

[SebringMan]

What toe settings are you on and what tyres are you using/size?

If something like Uniroyal RainSport 3s they will always blunt the steering feel.

[SirSquidalot]

Not got worn track rod ends have you?

[Oldandslow]

Has it got a front lip spoiler? I swear mine felt better after fitting one, might be automotive placebo but it did. Maybe not a much of an issue on Mk2's

[designforlife]

mk2s were pretty notorious for this, i remember mine was very floaty at motorway speeds...get a decent front lip spoiler on there and it should hunker down a little better.

[MX-5 Lazza]

As O&S says, get a front lip spoiler fitted. Mk1 has front end lift at speed and a lip spoiler fixes it.
If the geo was sorted by WiM then i suspect that will be fine and I doubt there will be a mechanical issue as they would have spotted it.

[VladD]

MX-5 Lazza said:

As O&S says, get a front lip spoiler fitted. Mk1 has front end lift at speed and a lip spoiler fixes it.
If the geo was sorted by WiM then i suspect that will be fine and I doubt there will be a mechanical issue as they would have spotted it.

You're far more knowledgeable than me Lazza, but I'd always imagined you'd need to be doing 100+ to generate any lift. Would you really get some a 50 or 60?

[MX-5 Lazza]

VladD said:

MX-5 Lazza said:

As O&S says, get a front lip spoiler fitted. Mk1 has front end lift at speed and a lip spoiler fixes it.
If the geo was sorted by WiM then i suspect that will be fine and I doubt there will be a mechanical issue as they would have spotted it.

You're far more knowledgeable than me Lazza, but I'd always imagined you'd need to be doing 100+ to generate any lift. Would you really get some a 50 or 60?

Well to be fair, I never felt a problem with my old Mk1 that didn't have a lip spoiler but I came to it from a boat of a Toyota so I probably wouldn't have noticed. Some people are more sensitive to this sort of thing than others. A lot of people think that a standard Mk2.5 is too stiff and uncomfortable whereas I think they wallow like a cruise ship for example.
It could just be that the OP isn't used to driving a small front engine, rear drive sportscar with power steering...

[VladD]

MX-5 Lazza said:

VladD said:

MX-5 Lazza said:

As O&S says, get a front lip spoiler fitted. Mk1 has front end lift at speed and a lip spoiler fixes it.
If the geo was sorted by WiM then i suspect that will be fine and I doubt there will be a mechanical issue as they would have spotted it.

You're far more knowledgeable than me Lazza, but I'd always imagined you'd need to be doing 100+ to generate any lift. Would you really get some a 50 or 60?

Well to be fair, I never felt a problem with my old Mk1 that didn't have a lip spoiler but I came to it from a boat of a Toyota so I probably wouldn't have noticed. Some people are more sensitive to this sort of thing than others. A lot of people think that a standard Mk2.5 is too stiff and uncomfortable whereas I think they wallow like a cruise ship for example.
It could just be that the OP isn't used to driving a small front engine, rear drive sportscar with power steering...

I had a mate with a Toyota Supra years ago that had an electronically controllable front spoiler. If you activated it when doing a decent speed, you could feel the steering weighting up as it lowered. I thought that was quite flash at the time.