Cheap way to reduce body roll?

[Uber_Beluga]

I have an NA MX5 and getting ready for track days this summer.

Here she is <3


28 year old stock suspension and the body roll is way too much for my preference... actually puts me off a little.

I've been saving for good coilovers, but finances haven't gone so great. Wondering if there's a cheaper way I can stiffen things up?

I was thinking about:
- new/stiffer anti-roll bars (AKA sway bars)
- New/stiffer springs (can I even put new springs around my old shocks?)

Good idea or do I really need coilovers to start pursuing a stiffer chassis?

[SAS Tom]

Anti roll bars will make a big difference

[Tony1963]

I wouldn’t even try to drive quickly on the road with 28 year old dampers. If you can’t afford to replace your dampers, you might want to reconsider whether you’re going to be doing track days any time soon.

[996Keef]

Cheap coilovers are going to be better than shagged out stock suspension, and they'll certainly be stiff

I fitted ebay cheapies to an NB and they were fine.

[HustleRussell]

Tony1963 said:

I wouldn’t even try to drive quickly on the road with 28 year old dampers. If you can’t afford to replace your dampers, you might want to reconsider whether you’re going to be doing track days any time soon.

Agreed. Waste of time and money to attempt to address what is a setup problem when the entire suspension is shagged.

OP If I were you, I'd skip the trackdays until you have new coilovers and bushes, and you have checked all of the ball joints. Then you'll have a base to start from in terms of suspension setup.

Also I think the MX5 responds well to braces to stiffen up the body so worth thinking about as you'll be increasing the spring rate massively.

Anti-roll bars are a handling fine tuning tool. They should be the last adjustment you make, after about a dosen other things.

[tapkaJohnD]

This is a thread diversion, but as we have some suspension experts here, please will they explain to what is meant by "zero droop"?

Thanks!
John

[finlo]

tapkaJohnD said:

This is a thread diversion, but as we have some suspension experts here, please will they explain to what is meant by "zero droop"?

Thanks!
John

Staying off the beer!

[gordmac]

Zero droop means the wheel stays at ride position rather than drop down. If you think about lifting a car up by the body the wheels will stay at ride position rather than drop down.

[Mr MXT]

996Keef said:

Cheap coilovers are going to be better than shagged out stock suspension, and they'll certainly be stiff

I fitted ebay cheapies to an NB and they were fine.

I fitted maxpeeding rods eBay specials, they were fine, did the job, but one of the dampers failed after a maybe 15 TDs, so bear in mind they might not last forever!

[E-bmw]

Mr MXT said:

996Keef said:

Cheap coilovers are going to be better than shagged out stock suspension, and they'll certainly be stiff

I fitted ebay cheapies to an NB and they were fine.

I fitted maxpeeding rods eBay specials, they were fine, did the job, but one of the dampers failed after a maybe 15 TDs, so bear in mind they might not last forever!

Yes, of course there is to be considered the fact that "maxspeedingrods" are far from the standard for go-to coilovers.

The name itself should keep you well away!

[Mr MXT]

I was specifically referring to cheap eBay specials, not standard go to.

[E-bmw]

Mr MXT said:

I was specifically referring to cheap eBay specials, not standard go to.

I didn't say you were saying that, I just stated that they aren't.

[Mr MXT]

E-bmw said:

I didn't say you were saying that, I just stated that they aren't.

I fitted Meister R today…phenomenal

[Uber_Beluga]

Ah, okay... I thought that might be the case.

Thanks so much for the help guys

I'll wait out this summer in that case and go for next year with proper coilovers.

[tapkaJohnD]

gordmac said:

Zero droop means the wheel stays at ride position rather than drop down. If you think about lifting a car up by the body the wheels will stay at ride position rather than drop down.

Thank you, gordmac! But that is a tad obvious! I was more interested in how zero droop can influence traction and turning. Please elaborate?
John

[PhillipM]

It's a good fix for st handling characteristics in specific situations/circumstances that you can't fix any other way.

Generally it just gives massively reduced traction, grip and unpredictable handling.

[GreenV8S]

PhillipM said:

It's a good fix for st handling characteristics in specific situations/circumstances that you can't fix any other way.

Generally it just gives massively reduced traction, grip and unpredictable handling.

I've seen droop straps used on the front of drag racers although even there I don't think they're aiming for zero droop. I imagine it'd be a nightmare on anything involving bumps and corners.

[E-bmw]

PhillipM said:

Generally it just gives massively reduced traction, grip and unpredictable handling.

It would, suspension is designed to keep the tyre on the road, these would deliberately mean less tyre/road contact when the suspension is in extension.