mx5cartalk.com

miztapizza wrote:hey guys
i am looking to lower my car further (it currently has king spring low's 35-40mm i think) my car currently has 17in's so i am trying to get rid of that tractor look. does anyone know any company that does springs lower than 2in. or can anyone think of another alternative (nothing dodgy like cutting or compressing springs) on a budget!!!!

cant do it on standard shocks

you'll have to get adjustable height coil overs

FWIW i run 17's and have kings 35-40mm lowered springs and my tyres meet the guard just nicely without any major bump and grind

When I had coilovers years ago I went alot further and it just messes up your front guards!


17's on 40mm lowered springs



approx 75 -80mm lower than stock with stock 14 inch rims (way to low)


Same ride height but with 17's
They mangled the front guards alittle bit


bout 60mm from the front lip to the road hense the name!

40mm is still practical and it still looks good and you havn't got to spend a fortune on bling suspension just to get closer to the ground!

Daaaamn that's low!!

yep std shocks
you have the springs the right way round?
ie fronts at the front and rear at rear
(to check do a count of the coils and I will confirm on mine)
sometimes if they are put in wrong (easy to do) as they are the same size
it can give undesired effect

maybe post a pic up so we can see?

Going too low will mess up the handling by actually increasing the height of the roll centre due to the inverted leverage on the lower control arm. About 30mm is the sweet spot from.

when I bought my car it had std springs in he front and lowered pedders in the rear. it looked like i had just been to the pub and filled the boot with party supplies.

i changed the front springs to king lows, i think they are a very good height for general street use and make it look a good height also. now all i need to do is to put my kings in the rear and get rid of those crappy red ones they are actually bowed so they touch the shock in the middle! and it is too low at the rear, my muffler now looks like the backboard of a duck shooting game at the show

im with slugoid, i think kings low are the way to go for a road car

I think these springs will be for sale soonish.

I contacted him for you.

miztapizza you have PM

Got a question in regards to handling: right now my NA6 has the Bilsteins from the Clubman. However, the front sits at a good height, while the back wheel is about 3 inches away from ever touching the guard

As a result I was looking to lower the back end with some springs but I'm worried about:

1. Without knowing the spring rebound and compression rates of the orig bilstein springs, would installing lowered aftermarket springs in the rear and keeping the orig's in the front totally screw up the handling?

miztapizza wrote:was that 40mm kings with standard shocks coz i have standard shocks and kings low's( i'm told they only make lows not super low)

I'm having the SP lowered a tad on Wed/Thur next week when the new tyres get fitted. After a bit of a chat with Southport Mazda (who service the car)...they recommended a two-way approach. First fit Super-low King springs (which have to be made up), and check the handling/ride/balance for my needs/requirements. Then if I feel I need to go lower, change the shocks, but they were strongly hinting further lowering would be a waste of money from a handling perspective as I'm not into any competition stuff (except when chasing a certain Blu Loo SP through Binnadabba way).

Regards,

Teins mate, go for Teins.

JBT wrote:Teins mate, go for Teins.

Go the Tein Flex

UPDATE: Mazda have just advised me the King Springs will only get me 19cms closer to the ground to stay within the legal limits. That's not much for the quoted $600, so I cancelled the order. The chap I was speaking to did say that a set of Teins would get me there (...I don't know what happened to the legal limit, but somehow the Teins comply). Anyway, the revised quote is substantially out of budget...

I double checked with Fulcrum as they are the suppliers and there's not a significant difference in price for the Tein kit, fitting and wheel alignment between Fulcrum and King Springs...which kind of surprised me.

Can any other clubbies tell me the differences they noticed after fitting Teins? (please be more specific than \"chalk and cheese, mate\")

Cheers,

MX5-SP wrote:the King Springs will only get me 19cms closer to the ground

IDIOT!!! I meant 19mms....

Cheers.

MX5-SP wrote:Can any other clubbies tell me the differences they noticed after fitting Teins? (please be more specific than "chalk and cheese, mate")

Cheers,

Mr Lovell fitted his teins to his SE... from what i gathered he liked the result very much, it also lowered it ALOT... instead of the fist size gap in the arches its a struggle to fit a finger in there... ill post up pics later tonight if i remember.