Quality track-prep suspension shops around Gold Coast, Brisbane?

[ninerwfo]

So, have just bought an NB, and want to set it up for 90% track, 10% very short Sunday drive. Already knew that the pedders shocks were shot. But then, as I was giving it the first wash, noticed that the two front Lensos S4's had 6 out of 8 spokes cracked at the rim. I guess this is what happens when you drive lightweight wheels on bad roads with dead shocks.

So, now I figure It is time for the whole happy-meal of wheels, coilovers, tie rods, swaybars, frozen coke & fries. Does anyone know of a good place on the Goldy, or Brisvegas who will not fart me around, give me good advice, and do a nicely integrated system, all at the one place, and get it right the first time? Or am I just chasing unicorns? . Many thanks for your suggestions.


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[Magpie]

Accurate Suspension http://www.accuratesuspension.com.au/

Do you have a budget as this would be the first question I would ask you when you rang!

Most of the stuff you are mentioning, with the exception of the alignment can be done at home with limited tools.

Coilovers - MCA's Reds (http://www.mcasuspension.com/suspension) or BC ER/ZR series (http://justjap.com/) would be obvious choices. Could also consider TEIN. Biggest decision will be spring rates...

Sway bars - you will find that with the correct damper setup OEM swaybars will be sufficient. Trackphotos may be the best person to ask, similar car and does quick times.

Tie rods - if going lower then yes these will help get more camber and remove some bump steer. Mazda made a OEM part for the factory lowered MX5.

Lower ball joint - Group Buy was done on the forum recently of modified ones for more camber. All reports so far are positive (Trackphotos).

Tyres - what will you be running as this will influence alignment, how much camber do you want to run?

Bushes - consider eccentric ones (and grease nipples) as this will allow more camber as well as remove any 'binding' that adds to the spring rates.

Welcome to the forum and the obsession. What tracks will you be attending? Format - time attack or door to door or god forbid happy laps?

[ninerwfo]

Wow, thanks for the great questions, gave me much to think about, and revealed the extent of my noobery!
- budget, was hoping somewhere like $2-2.5k for wheels and tyres, and $2k for coilovers, but not sure if that is realistic?
- spring rates - have no idea! How would I decide? It is definitely not a daily driver, and may end up being trailered within the next 2 years. Oh, and I am a big unit (100kg), does any of that make a difference?
- Tyres would be semi- slicks, cause there is another set of wheels for the road. Or full slicks? Don't even know where to get them! Are they ok to use on club days? (The extent of ignorance we're dealing with here is becoming apparent).
- Tracks, the paper clip, Lakeside, any other stuff around SE QLD. Am hoping to join the Gold Coast MX5 club if they'll have me...
- Format, just time attack and sprints for now, until I know I won't be a "clear and present danger" in a door to door situation.

The questions on Spring rates, how much to lower, camber, etc I just don't know yet. Certainly don't mind doing intermediate level spanner-twirling myself.

I guess at this early stage I am just looking for someone to (i) help me assess whether or not I bought a dog, (ii) advise me on the mind-boggling number of product options for suspension, and (iii) help me prioritize a schedule of upgrades to get it nice. Happy to pay to access this knowledge, just trying to ensure that I ask someone who knows their stuff, otherwise I could just ask myself and hope for the best!

You know what it is like when first bitten by the bug - I have this thing sitting there, not ready to go yet, and I want to fix it and get out there yesterday!! But given it was a hard-won thing to get permission from the Minister for War & Finance to get the car in the first place, I need to get upgrades right the first time.

Much appreciated the clarifying logic and questions, cheers.

[Trackphotos]

I run MCA Blue coilovers with 11/7kg Springs. If I were doing it again I'd probably go Reds and stiffer springs, but only because back when I got the Blues I was still set on it being a dual-purpose car. Now it's almost entirely track, and I'm beginning to play with aero enhancement, stiffer and lower is going to be the way forward for me. That being said, with 115mm ride height, Blues, factory sway bars/links, extended front lower balljoints, wing/splitter and a full exhaust, I've managed a 62.8 at Lakeside on factory power and almost factory weight (~30kg of seat/interior removed, added back by wing/splitter/rollbar).

The extended balljoints will get you to about 4deg camber. I've pulled it back to 3deg front and 2.5deg rear, and it seems to wear tyres very evenly since I made that change, with surface temperatures within 2 or 3 degrees across the faces.

If you're not sure on what springs etc you want, you could talk to Josh Coote from MCA directly. He will recommend rates based on how your street/track priorities lie. He will also tell you to keep factory sway bars.

MCA coilovers will cost you 1500ish for blues or 2500ish for reds.

Tyres, I've been running two sets of wheels. Oem nb8a wheels with federal 195/50/15 595RSRs for road use, buddyclub P1 15x8 +32 with 205/50/15 Nitto NT01 semis for track use. This wheel size will fit without guard rolling. The nittos have been great, and it's about $900 for a full set in 205s. They aren't as fast as the premier semis like ao50s or z221s, but they're $400+ cheaper a set. I have been happy with mine, but will be stretching for ao50s when these nittos are done, just to see what time difference they're worth.



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[Magpie]

Budget for wheels tyres - OK.
Suggestions - Yokohama AD08's on 6UL's. 6UL's from forum sponsor MX5 Mania.

Budget for Coilovers - may need to up to $3k
Suggestions - MCA Reds. Josh/Murray will suggest spring rates based on intended usage, alignment and ability. I would 'push' you down the BC path only because I run them Your weight will only be an issue when corner weighting the car and answering why the car does not accelerate as fast as a similar car, however the Sparco Sprints and being over 100kg will not be comfortable, I know this because....

MX5 Car Club QLD - does have a chapter on the Gold Coast who do monthly meets, however car needs to be road registered

Tracks - there is general practice at both Lakeside and QR. This is good for testing car/driver. QR runs a time attack series as does Paul Ruzic (http://www.timeattack.com.au/). The next MX5 car club track day is at Morgan Park on 09/07/16. Street sprints at QR on 02/07/16 (a few MX5's are in this) and general Practice at QR on 18/06. Closer to home is Norwell Park (http://www.hardtunedevents.com/shop/norwell-motorplex/22nd-may-speed-weekend/), a good place to learn.

Driver - SDT (http://www.sdt.com.au/about-safe-drive-%20...%20dates.html) runs driver coaching days a few time a year at Morgan Park as well as skid pans, next track day is 10 August. A few MX5 drivers have given good feedback on these days. QR offer some coaching as does Paul Stockell (http://drivingevents.com.au/). Another company that offers coaching is MR Tuning (http://www.mrtuning.com.au/). MR Tuning can do car setup as well but you may need to double your budget...

My advice would be to get a good alignment (replace busted rims shod with AD08's or Trackphoto's suggestions) and get some seat time. Once your 'learn' the car then you can plan the changes. It took me to completely modify my car before I finally learnt the lesson of seat time is king. Learn to drive a slow car fast than be slow in a fast car

This forum is helpful and gives good advice. Ask away. Consider attending some of the track days when there are MX5's running and ask questions about what works/does not work for them.

[ninerwfo]

You guys are awesome! Quality, clear info. Many thanks

[Trackphotos]

No worries. Good to have another local tracking their car. The MX5 club track day entries have been dropping off, the more keen drivers we have around the better.

[Magpie]

Consider dropping into the BP Southbound at Burpengary and a Sat/Sun morning (around 0700) and catch up with some MX5 owners who meet and talk 'stuff'.

Dodgy days when held are another opportunity to catch up and chat about MX5's (and anything else). The next dodgy day could be in Aug/Sep depending on what people are doing. Trying to set a date when Trackphotos can attend.

If you are in the Yamanto area let me know and we can catch up. Happy to share all the mistakes I have made and the words of wisdom from other I did not listen to. For the record the words of wisdom were correct... "stop playing with it and drive it".

[Code4]

I don't race, but spent a lot of time and km's visiting everyone who would help before buying my MX-5. So i could make a plan. I suggest you do the same. (start with solid basics and build from there) PM and ring everyone who has replied to you. If on a budget visit if you can before spending a cent.

The local MX-5 community is very helpful. You will find a few constants in regard to what to do, but also a lot of variation in experience and advice. Sift out the internet theory from the actual practical results.

I cant help thinking of a few sage sayings from my muscle car days 30 years ago.

1) 'Speed costs money son, how fast do you want to go'.
2) 'pay once and cry once' (at the price).

[MattR]

having just bought the car and wanting to get on th etrack, personally i wouldn't be doing too much.

What magpie and trackphotos have given in advice is pretty good.

What I would be doing, with near 30 years experience in playing with cars for competition use, is first look at what you want to do.

You have done that with saying sprints and a little road driving, this then lets you see where the car build will go.

At your point, just starting out, the first thing is to get the car prepped properly, a set of wheels can be had for around $1000, a set of 15x8" enkeis or similar quality wheel. Don't worry about slick tyres, too hard to set up a road going car to make the most of them. get a set of semi slicks, plenty of places to get them from, a 205 to 225 wide 15" semi slick can be had for around $250 pretty easy, tempe tyres on ebay does R888's for around that delivered, Option One at Albion do Achilles for much cheaper. And yes i would recommend Option One beccuase they do a lot of suspension work and fabrication work for me, as well as getting me my Achilles slicks and also my race wheels at great prices.

In terms of suspension, you said that the pedders stuff in there was now cactus. I would look at getting a reasonable brand coilover to replace, my recommendataion, either MCA's of BC's, but more road orientated than race as you are starting out and need to learn the car. The other thing to checked in the suspension is the bushes, replace these with the cheaper lower end versions of the MCA or BC coilovers and you will have good suspension to go with. You do not need need race only spec suspension with external damper reservoirs and fancy spring rates and adjustable this and that. This will save some dollars. Standard sway bars will also be fine. Sway bars are a fine tuning tool and should be the first things changed. This used to be the case when dampers and springs were limited in choice twenty years ago and they were the quick fix to get your old holden, ford or valiant to almost turn a corner. MX5's need a reasonably soft set up to work properly, they are designed to have a little roll to get the most out of them. My little NA was probably the softest set up in the club track days but it punched above it's weight and the only thing tha kept it back was the standard 200k mileage unopened motor that couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding

Next get a good alignment, you don't need to go the lengths of corner weighting for what you want to do, to do a corner weight and alignment setup properly is a time consuming and very expensive exercise. i have never worried about corner weighting my previous cars I raced as I had no adjustment to sort problems anyway, so save your money, just get a good alignment from a reputable specialist shop.

Last thing you need to do is prep the brakes, this is easy, look at the calipers make sure they are in good condition. For your first track days get some good brake pads, everyone has their own recommendations, me I like Hawk brake pads have been using them for near 25 years in a variety of cars, they suit my driving style. For an MX5 like yours i would recommend the Hawk HPS pads, and if you want to try a set can give you a hand in sourcing from teh States a lot cheaper than here. others will recommend a variety of brands including Carbotech, Winmax, QFM, ferodo and so on. But all you need is a good high performance pad, not an out and out race pad. next is the brake fluid, again a good quality fluid is needed, but you don't need to spend a fortune on special race fluid made with the tears of unicorns. My personal recommendation, again from years of use in my own cars, Penrite Sin brake fluid. In my race cars, I would change the fluid every couple of races. In my NA6 that saw track use, every twelve months.

And to answer your first question in who to go to in Brisbane or the Gold Coast to set you up, for a drive in and drive out later that day with new coilovers a set of wheels and tyres, suspension bushes done if need be and a really good alignment, I would recommend Option One in Albion, just across the road from the Brekky Creek pub car park. Paul, the owner knows his stuff and is an old school rally guy. He set did teh coilovers on my NA6 and alignment and it hung on like sh*t to a blanket around corners, both on the track and on the road.

[Trackphotos]

Sway bars are a fine tuning tool and should be the first things changed.

From context I'm supposing you meant should be the last things changed. Just to clarify.

Like Magpie has found, less tweaking and more driving is really the way to go. When you're starting with broken wheels and shocks though, you can't even start without making some decisions. Wheels, tyres and coilovers need to be decided on to even get on track the first time. All depends what direction you intend to take the care as to what will be the best option for you, like Matt said. If you're already set on it being almost completely track use, the people who know (Paul at Option1garage, Josh at MCA) will have good input on what choices will suit.

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[Magpie]

Happy to take you for some passenger laps one day if we are at the track at the same time. If you are also running that day it maybe possible for you to have a drive, again something I'm more than happy to do.

Give me a bit of warning as I'm planning on running without the passenger seat at future track days, however I can just remove it at the track.

As for what others have said, get the car to a track ready condition, that is wheels, tyres, brakes, suspension in good condition as well as new fluids and an alignment to set a base line. Also get yourself a notebook to write down the cars settings (dampers, pressures) and record your feedback and any changes. This has helped me a lot in understanding what does what when you make changes. Whilst I did not listen to this advice, try not to make too many changes at once as you will not know if it was good or bad.

The hardest thing I struggle with is being consistent as when a setup change is made it is difficult to sort out if the change(s) made you faster or were you faster because of being more consistent. Now that I can string together consistent lap times changes can be objectively measured as well as better planned.

Forgot to ask will you be driving to the track or using a trailer? Making a road registered track car will require compromises If you are like myself, Trackphotos and The American we all have road registered cars but use trailers most of the time. Well Trackphotos is going down that path

[MattR]

One thing I will add,

Once the car is set up do not change anything but tyre pressures. If you are just starting out your times will be too inconsistent to know what what the cause, a good lap or the set up.

Wait until you are at a plateau in your times and then you start making little tweaks to the set up to see what happens.

As you are learning you will drop between 5 to 10 seconnds a lap just in improving your driving and knowing your car without having to make any changes at all.

[ninerwfo]

Trackphotos, Code4, MattR, Magpie - I have been taken aback by the detail of info, and generosity of your comments! Will certainly be PM'ing to organise a chat and observations, many thanks.
MattR, you are right, some slightly different particulars here, but a consistent broad plan is emerging:
1. Talk wth MCA, choose something that lets the car move a little and won't compress my spine, probably install at home.
2. Change pads, fluid & bleed bakes at home,
3. Book in at Option1 Albion for a wheel align, and perhaps change any shagged rubber bushes for poly
4. book in at Automotive plus to assess engine health, and ensure current tune maps are safe,
5. Take up the gracious offers to ride shotgun and just generally observe and listen - repay with cookies or beer,
6. Choose a low key club day, "shut up and drive it" - and be confronted with the level of suckage!
7. Keep an eye out for a trailer to make life easier and keep miles off the engine.
I'll have to stay with 17" wheels just for now, as this is what the car came with- a road set, and 2 track sets (but 1 set broken) with proxes 888s. The front has Corvette 4 pot discs, so 17s is as small as I can go. Tyres are 215/40-17. Sounds like Willwoods and 15"s would be better, but staying consistent with the advice, I'll just dance with what I brung...


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[ninerwfo]

Other contextual info that may inform suspension plans:
- engineered forged 1.8 with the "Disco potato"? Turbo,
- AVO manifold, IC & piping, - 6speed box with RX7 diff, Torsen centre,
- Old mate I bought it from had it tuned by Rigoli in Sydney. Dyno sheets show current tunes are 7psi wth ? Kw, 20psi with 165ish, and 30psi with 198 atw. Have only been brave enough to drive it on the middle tune at the mo.
In light of the above excellent advice, am thinking I have unnecessarily jumped in at the deep end?


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