MazdaSpeed Shocks and Springs - Camber, Castor and Toe Settings
 

I'm awaiting delivery of a set of MazdaSpeed shocks and springs for my 8 and would be grateful for advice on appropriate camber, castor and toe settings.

The car is mainly used for spirited street driving. It is not a daily driver. It will make the odd trackday appearance but I'm not an auto-crosser or racer.

Rims are 18x8.5 Enkei RP03's shod with Michelin PS2 in 235/40/R18.

Adjustable Whiteline sways have been installed previously.

I don't mind a harder ride but don't want to get too aggressive.

You know BibO has them MS shock and springs and runs track. PM him!

Thanks Dominion :) - I'll track him down.

Anybody else who can assist?

Can't seem to find him in the member's list.

You don't mean BigOLundh do you?

Yup thats him :)

I got your PM. I'll post my reply here and encourage the other persons in the forum to do the same.

If your Camber/Caster/Toe settings are set to stock level now, I wouldnt change them just because your installing the MS set. The MS Set is designed well as an OEM swap.

Ideally there will be a faster setup by dialing in your settings for your particular car. If you are looking for numbers, thats going to be impossible since every car is different. I think whats important to know is the basis of what Negative and Positive Camber, Caster, and Toe will do.

Then if you want to dial it in... the only way to get it right is
1 - Put it on corner scales, with you in the car and have a professional adjust it.
or
2 - Do it yourself. If you feel it oversteers/understeers too much, adjust the settings yourself one at a time and give it a try with trial and error.

Personally I am still autocrossing with stock settings. Its not the fastestest setup but I have so much more improvement to do in the areas of my driving skill, that making my car faster won't make me any faster. Same reason why im not racing with slick tread tires... sure the times will come out quicker but it wont help me learn how to be quicker.

hope that helps
-hS

There are settings in the shop manual for different heights, take a look there.

Thanks for the feedback guys. :icon_tup:

Anyone else got a view on this?

BigO is the shit. That is all...

Big O is correct........

Use stock settings, your not racing.

Any other set up will wear your tires incorrectly, and fast!

Tires are expensive.

I also agree with Big O... stick with stock alignment. If your car is a little lower that's going to just help your alighnment a little more and make the car respond a little better.

I dropped my car 2" with the H&R's and did not change the alignment. The alignment is not great for street use and I do wear the inside of the tires a little, but on the track the car is a laserbeam and wants to rotate through a corner very well. The steering response is also much improved.

I'm happy rotating my tires to compensate for the mild uneven wear, given the benefits of response. I don't think the MS drop is even 1" (?) so your should have a perfect compromise without needing to change anything.

Thanks very much guys - much appreciated. :) I'll stick with stock settings as advised.

Next question - I can't find a local installer who has changed suspension on an RX8 before and I understand the rears can be tricky.

The shop that installed my sways appears to be reputable and was recommended by my service manager, so I'm going to get them to do the work.

Is there a DIY somewhere or any specific things I should be telling them to avoid a problem?

I'll do some more searching but would be grateful for any assistance.

I disagree. Set to the Toe on the front tires to zero. You will turn in alot better at the expense of the tires wanting to follow the road lines. Stock has some toe in.

My 2c.

The parts arrived with some installation instructions (they're even in English :mdrmed: ), so I think I've got this covered unless there are any hidden traps for young players??

Thanks slavearm for the feedback :) . I'm planning to start stock still, but will play around a bit later and will give that a try.

This should be helpful,
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...hlight=springs

I didnt notice the rears beign that tricky, and anyone whos changed springs or schocks before should be able to handle this. Its really not that hard... just takes time.

-hS

(This is all from facing the rear of the car)

Hey I had the dealer install my mazdaspeed shocks/springs a while ago and right when I got it I parked it and noticed the left side was lower than the right. I forgot about it until today when I was washing my car, I went to clean the tires and got my hand in the wheel well no problem on the right side. Went to the left and could barely get my arm in there. I could barely fit 2 fingers on the left side and could fairly easily get three in on the right. I took a look at the left wheel well and the right and definitly noticed something was off. I also noticed after getting it dropped that my cornering is off. When taking fairly easy left turns(55+degree angle at 45 mph) my dsc comes on and slows me down. Now I am almost convinced some setting is off but I have no idea how to adjust it and have no idea what camber/toe/etc is.

I called Tuffy's(local shop specializing in shocks/springs and made an appt. for 3:30 tomorrow.
What does it sound like it is to you guys?

Do you know if he preloaded the suspension (put the car on the ground) before tightening the upper control arm bolt?

The link given a few posts back talks about it in the first post

Well, I talked to tuffys and they said the spring needs to be re-set on the right side(side that is higher). Taking it to mazda tomorrow to have them look at my oil leak, springs, brake squeal, and a few other little things..

The shop manual has alignment settings for different heights. I'd start with those.

Went by Mazda today and the service dude said. If the drop is within 2 inches off we can't do anything about it regarding warranty. I said, dude, you got to be kidding me, look at that and tell me something is off. He replies with the usual he has always given me, yeah, everyone we do is like that. Yeah right I bet I am the only rx8 that goes there to get shocks/springs installed.