Umbra

Ok, just got shinka back last night after adding HKS Hypermax II coilovers, racing beat front and rear sways with endlinks, and mazdaspeed front and rear strut tower braces. Tires and wheels are still stock at this point.

I only had about 20 minutes of seat time in the wet so far but....

My initial impression is that the ride is pretty hard, right now I'm set at 16 all around which is about dead middle on the damper adjustments. I wouldn't call the ride anywhere near as comfortable as stock but we'll see what difference some adjustments make when I get a chance, raining again this morning. When the rut in the road is a drop it seems much harder (like one cement slab lower than the other), bumps are ok. Like I said I really need to adjust it a bit before commenting more and I had driven the eclipse GT for a week prior and that has a really soft smooshy suspension. I think a setting around 16 would be good for an hour or two of hard driving but I wouldn't want to drive all day like that.

Handling, well again it's hard to tell because of the wet but it seems to handle pretty good. Body roll is well under control now, I don't like body roll, it makes me nervous. The car seems to have a tendancy to oversteer without even a hint of understeer. I think I prefer that as it's easier to correct for oversteer and with no body roll it's almost a non-event. Kinda like... oh is that the back end hanging out? Hmmmm.... maybe I should get around to correcting that at some point... hehehe Traction control still works exactly the same as it did when the car was stock. The car seems faster too, go figure.

The car is set at about a 1 finger gap right now. Looks pretty hot with the big hymee exhaust tips sticking out the rear down low. So far no issues with scraping or bottoming out on train tracks or the driveway. Biggest headache has been relocating the tire repair kit which no longer fits in the same spot after the rear strut tower brace.

I'll try and get some photos and more details on the ride quality when the weather clears up a bit hopefully this afternoon sometime. I've got a drive with the club on the 13th and I should be able to push the car really hard then and see what happens, hopefully not me wrapped around a tree.

XDEEDUBBX

nice setup..i need to get some sways pretty soon as well, Be sure to give us driving impressions when the weather clears up a bit.

Red Devil

I have the Whiteline sways, which aren't nearly as stiff as the RB's. That said, I didn't go with the RB sways because I thought they would be too stiff in conjunction with the spring rates/dampening of a coilover kit like the Hypermax. I'm very curious to hear your impressions also.

XDEEDUBBX

Any updates umbro?

Umbra

I wont really get to push the car hard until the 13th. I did get to drive it to work today and a bit yesterday. I think about 18 all around is the setting I like so far for normal driving. The suspension seems to have softened up a bit since it came out of the shop as well.

I really like how flat the car is on turns and under heavy braking. Very little lean very little roll. Right now I'm still learning to trust the car again.

Biggest annoyance is adjusting the rears. I have to put my head into the trunk and listen for the clicks, there is very little feedback through the remote controllers.

XDEEDUBBX

head int othe trunk? Where did you mount them? I just stick my arm in there. I finally got to test a car out with sways yesterday but with racing beat springs, not bad..i can feel a noticeable difference.

NgoRX8

iTrader: (1)

i have springs on right now, but i think i will wait till i get coilovers + sways + struts and put those on all at once too. I'm sure you feel a big difference right umbra? that's what i'm hoping for when I do it.

Umbra

Ya, big difference in ride quality (worse) and big difference in body roll (better). Not sure yet if the handling is better or not, will know that after the 13th. About all I can say with any confidence at this point is that the handling is more predictable than stock.

In the trunk. There is no tactile feedback from the extension *****. You can't tell turning the **** if it's changing the damper or not, you have to listen for it, that means putting your head in the trunk to hear the clicks.

XDEEDUBBX

oic what your saying...i adjust mine with my garage closed when its completely quiet. have fun!