I've noticed that every time I have 4 ppl in my RX8 it bottoms out quite often. More like every single minor imperfection/bump on the road. Think it might be the shocks?

How often are they supposed to be changed? In my case i brought the car used and I don't think it's ever been changed (2004 RX8).

Do you guys have any suggestions for after market parts? What brands do you recommend?

TiA

 

Do you know if you have a stock suspension since you bought it used? If it's already lowered then this itself could cause the condition you describe. Also, we need to know what tire size you are running as this will have an effect as well.
There are plenty of after market sprongs and shocks................but let's see what you got first.

 

Umm this might sound stupid, but how do I know if it has a stock suspension or not? Would I need to take off the wheels? Do the (2004) OEM shocks have a particular color for example? I noticed they were red in the back. I am attaching a pic of the back wheel with passengers loaded. As you can see the wheel well is covering the tires (both the back ones).

Do the stock ones have any particular markings on them for easy identification?

 

thats why .... your lowered

the top of the wheel well stock is what 26 inches to the ground? im not sure i remember but thats definately lowered

if you have coilovers on there it shouldnt be too hard to take care of that problem you can adjust them up

 

Holy **** who is in your car?

 

haha thats what i said ^^^

i think thats with no one in it before the four people

no wonder its bottoming out!

 

Either he has coilovers cranked all the way down or blown shocks.

 

^blown shocks wont make the car sit any lower.

 

Really? So the spring supports all the weight in the rear?

 

Lol the people in the back seat did not weigh that much, I can assure you.

And the pic was taken with them in it. (passengers loaded). If there is no one in it, then it looks perfectly normal.

Does the RX8 have both shocks and springs? I noticed the shock absorber was inside a wide spring, but don't think they were connected. I can post some pics of that area.

 

take a pic unloaded.
better yet, measure from center of wheel to top of fender

 

Rear suspension setup.

 

Mazurfer: My tire size is 225 45 ZR18
cjkim Unloaded from the center of the wheel to the top of fender = 13.30 inches approx

 

he must of had a fat chick party in the back

 

Fat chicks haz many *****

 

yeah but only 2 nipples

 

So what do you guys think the problem is? Bad shocks? I was thinking about getting some adjustable ones (for tension not height). Any recommendations?

 

If the car looks like that while sitting still, then it is just very lowered. That is NOt the stock ride height. "bad shocks" cannot cause that problem.

You need to change to appropriate springs or it will keep happening.

 

Jack it up and take a look to see what is under there, if it is stock or not.

Take a picture and we can tell you what you have.

 

Cool. Will take a pic and post here. Btw I wanted to make clear that the picture I took earlier was when it was loaded with passengers in the back. Otherwise it looks normal and it does not look lowered. Unloaded from the center of the wheel to the top of fender = 13.30 inches approx.

 

im telling you guys , he must of had a fat chick party back their

 

Sounds like your suspension is lowered. Basically the springs support the weight ("sprung weight") and the shocks damp shock/vibration.

Lowered suspensions have shorter/more compressed springs and shocks, so once they bottom out with added weight you're done. Lowered suspension is primarily for track use (although many like the aesthetics) but you can't have it both ways unless you install pneumatically adjustable shocks (more typically for pickups and other work vehicles).

Get your vehicle back to stock suspension height, or don't put four peeps in a sportscar - simple.

 

hmm i dunno but when i have 4 people in my lowered car with s techs, it only lowers like a 1/2 inch or less

 

Maybe they put the front springs on the rear?

 

^if so, FAIL