Dissapointed with my MX5 MK3
Discussion
I've owned my mx5 mk3 for a couple months now which has eibach lowering springs and a Wheels in Motion fast road geo, but I still find it feels...well numb. My main issue is the steering is way too light and lacks feedback and the whole car just doesn't feel confidence inspiring. Having researched the issue not many people (other than evo magazine) seem to comment on these things, everyone else seems happy once they have the springs and geo but its still not quite there for me.
To put this into perspective my previous cars were 2 Z4's, DC2 Teg, and a mk2.5 mx5. The Teg and my old mx5 felt FAR better even as standard.
Does anyone else feel like this or have a cure?
To put this into perspective my previous cars were 2 Z4's, DC2 Teg, and a mk2.5 mx5. The Teg and my old mx5 felt FAR better even as standard.
Does anyone else feel like this or have a cure?
My bet is that the lowering springs are out of sync with the shock absorbers and the ride doesn’t “flow”.
We had exactly this with Eibach -30mm springs.
Bought matched spring/shock units and all is well. Meister R in our case as a set came up at a good price.
Mucking about with manufacturer suspension is a black art.
We had exactly this with Eibach -30mm springs.
Bought matched spring/shock units and all is well. Meister R in our case as a set came up at a good price.
Mucking about with manufacturer suspension is a black art.
JeremyH5 said:
My bet is that the lowering springs are out of sync with the shock absorbers and the ride doesn’t “flow”.
We had exactly this with Eibach -30mm springs.
Bought matched spring/shock units and all is well. Meister R in our case as a set came up at a good price.
Mucking about with manufacturer suspension is a black art.
How did this change effect the steering? The steering feels very loose over bumps too.We had exactly this with Eibach -30mm springs.
Bought matched spring/shock units and all is well. Meister R in our case as a set came up at a good price.
Mucking about with manufacturer suspension is a black art.
Jonstar said:
I've owned my mx5 mk3 for a couple months now which has eibach lowering springs and a Wheels in Motion fast road geo, but I still find it feels...well numb. My main issue is the steering is way too light and lacks feedback and the whole car just doesn't feel confidence inspiring. Having researched the issue not many people (other than evo magazine) seem to comment on these things, everyone else seems happy once they have the springs and geo but its still not quite there for me.
To put this into perspective my previous cars were 2 Z4's, DC2 Teg, and a mk2.5 mx5. The Teg and my old mx5 felt FAR better even as standard.
Does anyone else feel like this or have a cure?
There is some vital info missing like; have you made it like this or did you buy it with these mods already done? Have you had it checked to see what the geo settings are now? Before? Anything loose or worn? Mileage?To put this into perspective my previous cars were 2 Z4's, DC2 Teg, and a mk2.5 mx5. The Teg and my old mx5 felt FAR better even as standard.
Does anyone else feel like this or have a cure?
Having driven two with standard settings and Bilsteins, but one having Eibachs the only difference I noted was the lower one hit speed bumps and the rear felt a bit floaty and uncertain. Quite a few people think the Mk3 isn't as go-kart like as the earlier models so you either get your suspension changed to suit you or buy the older version and go on a welding course.
If you haven't driven one with standard settings on Bilsteins then try and get a drive in one, at least then you've got a base to start from if you haven't already.
Jonstar said:
How did this change effect the steering? The steering feels very loose over bumps too.
I would second this thought - when I bought my mk3, I had it lowered and aligned, which improved things, but not the dramatic benefit I had hoped for. I then upgraded again to a set of Meister R coilovers set up and aligned by Roddo, along with RX8 ARBs front and rear - the result being that the dampers are now able to cope with the suspension movements, whereas before it was significantly under-damped. One example being speed bumps, where on springs, the car would dip significantly dropping of the bump (and would catch if you weren't careful), with the Meisters this drop is well damped, but without really hurting ride quality.Having gone through the 2-step upgrade, I definitely wish I had gone straight to the Meisters as they have a great balance of road manners, but also the option to stiffen them up for trackdays too.
Evoluzione said:
There is some vital info missing like; have you made it like this or did you buy it with these mods already done? Have you had it checked to see what the geo settings are now? Before? Anything loose or worn? Mileage?
Having driven two with standard settings and Bilsteins, but one having Eibachs the only difference I noted was the lower one hit speed bumps and the rear felt a bit floaty and uncertain. Quite a few people think the Mk3 isn't as go-kart like as the earlier models so you either get your suspension changed to suit you or buy the older version and go on a welding course.
If you haven't driven one with standard settings on Bilsteins then try and get a drive in one, at least then you've got a base to start from if you haven't already.
I bought the car with the lowering springs and it felt awful so did the geo and the settings are spot on now but still feel loose. Mileage is 80k, nothing too bad or noted on the recent MOT. Good point on the test drive though.Having driven two with standard settings and Bilsteins, but one having Eibachs the only difference I noted was the lower one hit speed bumps and the rear felt a bit floaty and uncertain. Quite a few people think the Mk3 isn't as go-kart like as the earlier models so you either get your suspension changed to suit you or buy the older version and go on a welding course.
If you haven't driven one with standard settings on Bilsteins then try and get a drive in one, at least then you've got a base to start from if you haven't already.
browno said:
I would second this thought - when I bought my mk3, I had it lowered and aligned, which improved things, but not the dramatic benefit I had hoped for. I then upgraded again to a set of Meister R coilovers set up and aligned by Roddo, along with RX8 ARBs front and rear - the result being that the dampers are now able to cope with the suspension movements, whereas before it was significantly under-damped. One example being speed bumps, where on springs, the car would dip significantly dropping of the bump (and would catch if you weren't careful), with the Meisters this drop is well damped, but without really hurting ride quality.
Having gone through the 2-step upgrade, I definitely wish I had gone straight to the Meisters as they have a great balance of road manners, but also the option to stiffen them up for trackdays too.
Sounds promising, I have the same symptom of bottoming out on bumps despite the car not actually being that low, very odd. Coilovers look like the answer, will give Rodders a call.Having gone through the 2-step upgrade, I definitely wish I had gone straight to the Meisters as they have a great balance of road manners, but also the option to stiffen them up for trackdays too.
Jonstar said:
I bought the car with the lowering springs and it felt awful so did the geo and the settings are spot on now but still feel loose. Mileage is 80k, nothing too bad or noted on the recent MOT. Good point on the test drive though.
Yes it's a shame you're 250 miles away otherwise you could have driven mine, we've recently become a dealer for Meister so can do you a deal if you're interested.Evoluzione said:
Yes it's a shame you're 250 miles away otherwise you could have driven mine, we've recently become a dealer for Meister so can do you a deal if you're interested.
Thanks for the kind offer, maybe I will take you up on that at some point. Spoke to Rodders earlier who as many have said the problem is in the damping, I'm just amazed mazda got this so wrong but for me its either I change them or get a new car!Jonstar said:
Thanks for the kind offer, maybe I will take you up on that at some point. Spoke to Rodders earlier who as many have said the problem is in the damping, I'm just amazed mazda got this so wrong but for me its either I change them or get a new car!
It’s a bit rich to blame Mazda when you said the car has Eibach (not Mazda) lowering springs on!Jonstar said:
Evoluzione said:
Yes it's a shame you're 250 miles away otherwise you could have driven mine, we've recently become a dealer for Meister so can do you a deal if you're interested.
Thanks for the kind offer, maybe I will take you up on that at some point. Spoke to Rodders earlier who as many have said the problem is in the damping, I'm just amazed mazda got this so wrong but for me its either I change them or get a new car!
Sounds like your shocks are fubarred.
I have a sport with Bilsteins on and its awful as well. The shocks are knackered, and everything is pretty warn, looks like the car was mostly driven in town. 80k miles.
Fit a decent set of meisters or similar and it will be much better.
Mines going to be a race car soon, so I just put up with it.
I have a sport with Bilsteins on and its awful as well. The shocks are knackered, and everything is pretty warn, looks like the car was mostly driven in town. 80k miles.
Fit a decent set of meisters or similar and it will be much better.
Mines going to be a race car soon, so I just put up with it.
I'd try a set of RX8 ARBs first as they're cheap and easily added or removed. They made a very noticeable difference to mine when it was still on stock suspension.
Tyre pressure and type certainly make a difference to the steering feel. I've got three different sets of wheels and tyres now and they're all quite different. The sticky semi-slicks give much heavier steering, not sure I'd want them on the car for every journey though!
Tyre pressure and type certainly make a difference to the steering feel. I've got three different sets of wheels and tyres now and they're all quite different. The sticky semi-slicks give much heavier steering, not sure I'd want them on the car for every journey though!
Interesting feedback, shows its clearly a common issue. I've heard the RX8 ARBs make a difference so might be worth trying this beforehand, although I suspect once coilovers are on they will no longer be required. I can tell there is a brilliant car under here somewhere, just need to find it!
I agree with the above. I found the standard Bilsteins very wallowy (lots of roll and pitch/dive) but yet still crashy on bumps and darted in various directions on uneven surfaces.
Digging about on forums the consensus was to go straight for MeisterR coil-overs. They transformed the car. It became so much more controlled and communicative. Great sharp, pointy steering giving full confidence over any surface so you can control it when the tail yaws nicely
, and flat cornering. IMO it brought the MX-5 half-way to the joyful handling of an Elise.
As someone has said, get the wrong upgrade and the car's just wrong. I sold my Bilsteins to a guy who bought an MX-5 with some awful coil-overs fitted that he couldn't live with.
The trouble with this sort of thread is my next call is usually AutoTrader looking for another MX-5.
Digging about on forums the consensus was to go straight for MeisterR coil-overs. They transformed the car. It became so much more controlled and communicative. Great sharp, pointy steering giving full confidence over any surface so you can control it when the tail yaws nicely
, and flat cornering. IMO it brought the MX-5 half-way to the joyful handling of an Elise.As someone has said, get the wrong upgrade and the car's just wrong. I sold my Bilsteins to a guy who bought an MX-5 with some awful coil-overs fitted that he couldn't live with.
The trouble with this sort of thread is my next call is usually AutoTrader looking for another MX-5.
Bit late to the party but - all this talk and nothing about the most common problem - worn bushes!! I had pretty awful snatchy steering on my Mk3 - the inboard front bushes were ruined. Replaced, and all was well with the world. I would urge you to make sure the rest of the suspension is fault-free first, because the best springs and dampers in the world can't operate well with poor or knackered bushes.
Evoluzione said:
Yes, that's why they put Bilsteins on all the sport models, they're great! I've got a set of those coming up for sale too
They are great... When they are new. A bit like all performance coilovers you do not get the milage out of them that you would a more ordinary suspension. Factory Bilsteins at 110k miles are bloody awful. Replace mine on my mk2.5 for Gaz gold pros and it was night and day. Gassing Station | Mazda MX5/Roadster/Miata | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff