Over the holidays I installed Tein S-Tech springs that my wife gave me for Christmas :D . Everything went smooth and I set alignment back to the original settings by marking the bolts, etc. as described in the D.I.Y. The car drove and looked great. Today I took it to the dealer for a $69 all wheel alignment just for my own peace of mind. The "Mazda master mechanic" told me he had recently installed a set of mazdaspeed springs on an 8 and returned all settings to original. He predicted that only the toe would be off because that was the case with his install when they put it on the alignment machine. They gave me a nice computer generated printout showing all caster & camber within spec.
But... all 4 tires were out of spec on the toe setting just as he had predicted .
They also adjusted the thrust angle. IMHO $69 well spent and I would recommend this to everyone who has changed or is planning to change springs.

HD

 

I'm actually surprised that the camber didn't change. Do you know if it changed at all? Do you have before and after numbers? Normally you pick up negative camber when you lower the car, and an aligment is required after installing lowering srpings.

If all you know is that it was within spec both before and after, it doesn't mean the camber didn't change, but still that's impressive. Makes me believe that the RX-8 has better camber curves than the Miata, which is a good thing.

How much do the S-Tech springs lower the car?

George

 

Typically you should wait at least 3 weeks or 1500 miles (whichever comes first) before you adjust the alignment. It takes awhile for the springs to settle in.

 

I do have the before & after numbers. No change on fronts and very little change on rear.
S-Techs advertise lower front by 1.4" & rear .7"
It looks better than I imagined it would and with no harsh ride.

 

I have to agree with Low Fly´n 8 > It´s only $68 and it´s money well spent. Although I havn´t fitted my Teins yet those $68 is one of those things you wish you had done when you don´t do it, and when you do it´, it might seem pointless. Nevertheless, $68 is a cheap price to pay instead of changing tires way before needed...

 

I had mine alligned about 11 months ago and its off again

how often do you have to align?

 

Once a year for alignment is pretty typical.

I'm still surprised that there was no camber change with >1" of drop in the front. I suspect you will see some change after they settle. I'll take back what I said earlier about the camber curves etc. These suspensions are designed to gain camber when they compress - that way, when the car rolls during cornering, the outside tire gains negative camber from compression to offet the positive camber it gains from roll.

Something is amiss with the alignment measurements - either the tech messed up, or the springs need to settle. Or the RX-8 has very weak camber curves.

Has anybody else with a lowered RX-8 verified this?

 

I think you're supposed to do an alignment every 4,000 miles or so. Or it might be 6,000. NTB has 1-, 3-, and 5-year alignment deals. For $90, you can go back to NTB for unlimited alignments for a year. They welcome lowered vehicles, unlike other places.

NTB is a subsidiary of the company that owns Tire Kingdom, so the deal should extend to other brands.

 

I'll get mine checked this week and report my findings. I lowered mine with the complete MS setup, and the alignment checked out within spec after the install. Now that everything is well settled, I'm curious if something changed.

 

Remember that the factory camber specs have up to 1 degree of variation.

 

Yes, I thought about that and Low Flyn 8 said the numbers were unchanged.

 

Check it out. Let me know if you can't read this.

 

My bad... after closer inspection, the front camber did change by a few minutes but nothing too significant.

HD

 

I wonder why somebody would want an OEM alignment if they spent all that $ on suspension?