Finally got my Mazdaspeed struts/sways/springs/rear strut installed. Very impressed with the handling now. Seems like it practically eleminates body roll . Here some pics:

 

Very nice RX-Hawk!! Very nice indeed.

- Irish

 

NICE
Where did you get the seats I like the rx8 logo..
off topic did you have any problems with the color match/ fit on the ms front end

 

Local leather shop did seats for me.


When first installed, the front seemed WAY lighter than the rest, but my hood ect was a little dirty. After I washed/waxed it....they matched perfectly.

 

that looks amazing. good job.

 

Is that the real MS kit or MS Style kit?

Looks great by the way!

 

Nice. How is the ride compared to stock, as in comfort.

 

looks nice, hate that black bar that comes along with the ms kit though, looks tacky. Now for some rims!

 

looks good...

 

Seems like the it didnt drop it alot still got that ugly gap on the wheels.Iwonder if you put 19 would it look better

 

I don't think it will. Sometimes a big drop isn't beneficial in terms handling. I personally dropped mine with tein stechs more for looks than anything. But I may go with coilovers soon so I can change the look whenever I want. I don't think izoomzoomi would like that since we were at his house ALL night installing my current springs :D

 

Congrats! Now get out and drive it like you stole it! Track time is in order!

 

looks sexy! any scrapping issues with the bumper?

 

Yea it didnt seem to drop it too much, probably not even an inch. I dont really care though, the important thing about the springs is that they are stiff. Ride is just a tad bit more rough, but its well worth it sacrificing that for getting rid of the body roll. IMO the suspension is the biggest bang for your buck upgrade wise. I dont personally see a huge difference with the flywheel, but I need to drive a stock 8 again and see how different it feels.


The MS front bumper has that ugly plastic licence plate thing on the front, I dont like it either. The problem is that the grill mesh only goes up to the bottom of that plastic, so if you take it off you will need to replace the entire wire mesh grill, and since I couldnt find any that was a perfect match, I'd have to buy enough grill to do the main air intake, as well as the oil cooler mesh so they all match. That is a future mod I have planned. I also elected not to install the fog light brackets/fog lights because they require you to remove the black plastic air duct for the oil coolers, and personally I like the Mazdaspeed 8 look without the fog lights. Again, if I change my mind, I will install the fog lights at a later time.

And absolutely no scrapping issues yet with bumper.

 

hehe, I was reading the Solo II rulebook trying to figure out which class I am in now. Seems street prepared doesnt allow side skirts, although it allows the suspension/flywheel. I'm guessing Street Modified, but I'm not sure if the 8 is supposed to be in SM or SM2....

 

Hawk, looks nice, but is that the real MS kit or the MS Style kit?

 

Total cost for MS suspensions was...?

 

Real MS kit....



Suspension was about 1300$ for parts i think.

 

ouch...I paid less than that for TEIN coilcovers.....and they're adjustable.....

 

Including sway bars and strut bar?

 

that is a pretty good price...you stay b stock if you change out your struts as long as they are the same size as the original right (can have differnt dampening but has to have same dimensions) at least that's what i gathered from teh rules.

 

I'm going to buy ms springs and shocks, and the mazda dealer wants to charge 400 dollars to install. Parts will be about 650...is this a decent price? They said i should have the dealer install them just incase something goes wrong in the future they could take the blame.