Finished Eibach Spring Install
 

Just finished spring install after following previously posted walk through, very usefull. Will post before and after pics later. I don't know if anyone here has fitted the Eibach's but the drop they have given is larger than spec. The stated drop was 25mm, the car is down 32mm front, 33mm rear but it does look nice. I have driven a few miles to let the suspension settle and the car does feel much better. I have booked a 4 wheel alignment for the morning.

Regards

Like to know what settings you ended up using. My guy installed my Eibachs and set them back up without any alignment. Tracks OK with no signs of any tire wear. Still would like to do an alignment though.

it took me about 9 months with my eibachs to get an alignment. the dealer didnt even notice. they thought i got the alignment cuz i dinged my wheel

Are the Eibachs much bumpier than the stockies?
Which kit have you got?

I can get them relatively cheaply but was unsure since not many people (here in Oz) widely use them.

I'd wait a few days for the alignment.....

Sorry for the ignorance, but what does 32mm and 33mm equate to in terms of inches?

The car is booked for an alignment Friday, all should have settled now I think. I spoke to a local suspension specialist who said that he could carry out the alignment but he was unsure what results he would get (Don't know why). I spoke to my local Mazda dealer who said they would carry out the alignment with no problem Eibach's fitted. I can say that an alignment is required, the rear wheels especially are cambered in (if that's the correct term). Will post some after shots within next hour or so, I may have lost the before shots, they are in my phone and I have no idea how to get phone photos into my PC!

Regards

25.4mm = 1 inch

After Pictures
 

I know 'before' pictures are sort of, well, required, but never mind here's the after's

Regards

http://img15.exs.cx/img15/7136/Picture1491.th.jpg
http://img48.exs.cx/img48/4310/Picture1178.th.jpg
http://img48.exs.cx/img48/79/Picture1179.th.jpg
http://img17.exs.cx/img17/3717/Picture1489.th.jpg
http://img15.exs.cx/img15/6706/Picture1492.th.jpg

did you put some load on the car before you tightened the bolts(a arm i think)? that usually helps with lowering the car a bit more. maybe a quarter of an inch or so.

I've had my eibachs for 10 months now and I had alignment done one week after I got the springs

the car rides good but has got less smooth over the last couple of months

Side on profile shows the car sitting nicely.
Looks good, not too low at all.

That last picture makes it look like the car is slightly lower in the back than the front.

Otherwise it looks great. Perfect amount of lowering IMO.

A favour ?
 

Could someone do me a favour. If you look back through this thread to the pictures of my car, the first picture full side, could you look below the rear passenger door beneath the car. I am thinking a piece of the black plastic trim closest the road has fell off. Its the section of plastic directly behind the small mud flap about 8 inches long. I'm just after conformation that all RX's are the same.

Regards

Just curious as to why you only have one caliper painted red?

Nice looking. Didn't you replace the shocks at the same time? Only changing spring might cause bumpy ride. I used to put Eibach springs with Bilstein shocks on my Opel(Voxhaul in UK, right?) Omega and that worked out very good.

Your next project should be changing the tires and rims to wider ones. Or, putting body kits? :D

Alignment Check My Arse!
 

My local mazda dealer carried out a four wheel alignment check last week after I fitted the eibach springs. It was obvious to me after installation that the rear wheel camber needed adjustment. Mazda carried out the check and reported that all wheels are 'within spec'. My next question is what tolerance will mazda work within?

Regards

The specs refer to Mazda's specs from the workshop manual.
I'll have a look and post them for you as soon as I find it.

Specs can be found here:

https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...spension+specs

Thanks for that, those specs give 2 deg +/- 1 deg for the rear camber, I think I may have to revisit the dealer. I will post a pic later, you can clearly see the problem.

Regards P

Find somebody that will do "race" alignments. They will set the camber, etc., to whatever specs you want with zero tolerance. The local shop here charges $65 and does the alignment with you in the car. If you take it to Firestone, etc., they will only set the camber adjustments to the factory tollerances which as you can see can deviate side to side by +/- 1 degree of camber. I'll pay the extra money to make sure things are better than the factory "close enough."

Thanks for the comments all......

Result, in my humble opinion the drive has improved very much even though I'm still not happy the the wheel alignment issue. I don't know if slight mis-alignments such as I have mentioned will make any real difference to handling but I'm no track driver and am a little weary to push hard. The most pleasing result is the drop, the car does look 'cool' (excuse cheese). The ride is slightly harder and bumps are much more apparent but I like that. Thanks again for comments and feedback.

I have yet to paint the remaining calipers, lazy bas***d..........................

Regards C

Nice spoiler!
 

Hey Cocker, where did you get that spoiler?? I've been looking for something like that all over the web but havn't been able to find a small lip spoiler like that. How much did it cost and do you have a link? Also, did you have to get shocks with your springs? I heard if you drop it over an inch it will probably blow out your shocks in a few months, or at least on some cars

The spoiler is standard UK spec, I think it's standard international spec to be honest. With a 30mm drop the shocks will function as normal with no adverse affect. I have lowered many cars over the past 20 years with no shock issues at all.

Regards Peter

That's interesting thqt you say that because I had dropped our A4 (w H&R springs but left the shocks the same) and experienced quite a bit of rebound over large bumps where the car kept oscillating. :mad: After that, I had always been suspicious of just doing springs.
I must say though that I had the Eibach springs put in the RX8 without experiencing the same issues. :D I wonder if it is because it was not as stiff. I would have liked to have tried H&R ones on the RX8 (hoping the Eibach would be a little stiffer than what I am experiencing) now knowing the actual rates each manufacturer designed too. :o