Tonight I installed Espelir Mazda RX8 GT Racing Springs in my 8'. I have some install thoughts, before pics (after pics in a few days) and some pics of the install. Special thanks to Vivid Racing with the Espelir Springs!!!

Pic of the Car before springs...I'll find another before and after in the same spot for comparisson.

 

These are the items that need to be removed from inside the trunk. Simple and easy, 4 nuts per side.

 

A Pic of the rear Suspesion.

 

front suspension...

 

Install notes for the rear suspension....
1) It helps to have two people!!! :D

2) Push down on the lower sway bar and lift on the caliper in order to 'shimmy' the strut bar assembly down and out of the car.

On the front, The biggest time saving tip I could find was after removing the engine cover and strut bar, Remove the top bolts of the upper A arm and it will allow the suspension to shift down giving the strut assembly enough space to be worked free.

 

rear spring comparison

 

rear springs assembled....comparison

 

front spring comparison (sorry the front spring assembled pic didn't come out )

 

rear springs installed

 

rear springs installed...(again...damn...lost the picture of the front springs installed)

 

Overall, the install took about 1.5 hours to do and this included some screwing around. With a lift and air tools, this install should only take about a little over an hour. I would say it was rather simple but took some thought to figure out the best way to remove the stock parts.

If you don't have a life and air tools this would be an all day affair to be sure.

Overall we spent more time marveling over how good the stock suspension parts were than how to put the new springs in.

After the install, My brother (the installer) aka Dr. Insaino took it for a drive to see the difference. He noted there was significant less body roll after taking the 90 degree turn on to the shop street at 50mph. I however am not quite so loony. I took the long way home and have the following impressions.

1) There is a minor increase in the feel of the road over stock as far as bumps go. Although much less than I expected to feel.

2) The 'feel' of the road is MUCH improved and the car which before felt like it was on rails...has now been sharpened to razors especially when braking into a corner.

3) Body Squat was greatly reduced in both accell and decel.

4) Although it hasn't fully 'settled', the center of gravity feels lower and the shift in weight is a bit different. better I would say. I will be driving and assessing the changes over the next few days and will be posting thoughts of these springs along with some after pictures. As of the end of the drive home it had come down about 10mm (of the predicted 30mm) and I must say that it looks nice. Overall I am exceedingly pleased with these springs and am dying to get out on some nice twisty hairpins to try them out more!!!

 

How much did the Espelir Springs lower? How much would it sag? What's the tech data on the Springs?

Thanks!

 

Koala Joe,

I'll be checking the lowering in a day or two to see how far down it has gone. It has come down about 15mm as of today. Install was last night so I have to put some more miles on it for them to settle. As far as the actual spring rates and such, I'll try to find the exact data.

S_D

 

How about a sideview of the car now with the springs installed?

 

Yes, I'd like to see one too, but I think he's waiting for his car to settle before posting them.

Besides the questions above, yy question is this: Are the front and rear spring heights different? If so, by how much? I note the stock wheel gap in front is about 3/4 of a inch more in the front than the rear.

Nice job on the post. Thanks!

 

SDFLY and Omicron,

That's right, I'm waiting for it to settle but I'll look at it later today or tommorow and see how it looks. The spring heights front and rear are both supposed to drop 30mm. I'm expecting that the front will likely stay a little higher than the rear. I must say it really increases the response in handling.

 

it normally takes a week to completely settle...but im sure it will look really good..

 

it normally takes a week to completely settle...but im sure it will look really good..

 

Lookin good, my test monkey.

Talked to you today and can't wait to see the car once they settle. Bring here by for some pics when you get a chance. BTW, thanks again for helping me out with Jay and the AutoEngineuity Scan Tool. Looks like we'll be gettin together at the end of the month for another club ride as well. Rock on.

 

I'll be interested to see if an inch is enough of a drop. I'm with Omicron I'd like to see the wheel gap the same all the way around. Giving the car a slight 'rake'. If we could ever get hard technical data out of the MFG's maybe this could be accomplished by mixing and matching springs. Although I don't image it'd handle to good with different heights/rates front and back.

 

Hotrodder,

I'd like to see an equal wheel gap all around as well. I'll just have to wait and see how it turns out. Pics will be forthcoming.

Vivid,

(test monkey HAH...that's funny. Maybe I'll change my handle to that :D) I'm loving these springs. I'll try to swing by later in the week to get some pics down there. I'm meeting with the autoenginuity guy tonite for the test runs and I'll be posting some thoughts and feedback on that in the vivid thread on it.

 

Omicron...

Look out btw....I'm gonna catch you one day!!!! (1 mod down..only like 200 more to go to catch up).

 

LOL! :D

 

Okay...here's the kicker.

My wife got in the 8 to drive to work. Later in the day I called her to see how she felt about the new springs. She said "oh..I didn't really notice a change" Considering how my wife drives (slow and easy) she is pleased that the ride is almost identical to stock smoothness when not 'pushing' the car. Happy day :D

 

That is a kicker. They pass the wife test. Sweet.