Generally speaking if i just got a set of lowering springs how quickly could i except my stock struts to go out and is this something i can do in my garage if i had a spring compressor?
Thanks |
Quick question about springs, Figured i'd post here instead of creating a new thread. Whats the reason most springs have a bigger drop in the front?
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The wheel well allows for more room to drop in front than in back is one reason. Visually, the car looks better with a 1/2" lower in front (IMHO).
Spoolin, it's been a while since you asked the question ... but. I'd guess your stock struts to last a while, 75k miles maybe. Of course there are tons of factors to consider like driving habits and such. And a spring compressor will help you do the job in putting on your lowering springs, but it's not a job to do alone if you're not experienced. |
Originally Posted by Spoolin8
(Post 3087802)
Generally speaking if i just got a set of lowering springs how quickly could i except my stock struts to go out and is this something i can do in my garage if i had a spring compressor?
Thanks |
If you're going to get coilovers don't bother wasting your time and money on springs. It's throwing away money and doing work twice.
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Originally Posted by shaunv74
(Post 3136983)
If you're going to get coilovers don't bother wasting your time and money on springs. It's throwing away money and doing work twice.
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Hi guys, just to let you know that i've just put "Tein H-Tech: 179/129 - Drop = 1.0"/0.3" " on my RX8 SP and i am very pleased of it in terms of efficiency and comfort BUT they are meant to have the car well aligned between front and rear and the front is really to high in terms of looks.
i hope it will go down abit after few month of use because right now i don't find it very sexy. here's the only pic i have for the moment but clearly the front is too high whether the H Tech are supposed to help having all well aligned : http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/5061/img9016l.jpg |
You need to get the car aligned when you swap springs as it changes the suspension geometry.
Also it may be too high if you tighten your suspension bolts with the car still off the ground. The car should be on the ground before you tighten your control arm bolts. Third they will settle a bit in a week or so. |
Originally Posted by shaunv74
(Post 3138212)
You need to get the car aligned when you swap springs as it changes the suspension geometry.
Also it may be too high if you tighten your suspension bolts with the car still off the ground. The car should be on the ground before you tighten your control arm bolts. Third they will settle a bit in a week or so. and still the back is low and the front is really high as i can put two fingers inside between wheel and body. i will have to ask if the car was on the ground when they tighten control arm bolts (need to understand what it is in french also lol) , thanks for the advise !!!, if it wasn't the case, should i ask my dealer to do it or would the springs lower after few month of use anyway ? |
Also measure the distance from the ground to the top of the fender well with a tape measure. Not the gap to the wheels. The rear on these cars always seems to squat lower in the back but it's an illusion.
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Originally Posted by shaunv74
(Post 3138254)
Also measure the distance from the ground to the top of the fender well with a tape measure. Not the gap to the wheels. The rear on these cars always seems to squat lower in the back but it's an illusion.
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Originally Posted by DPE
(Post 1518949)
This is copied from another post in my forum; just trying to keep all relevant suspension info in this sticky thread....
******************** Here is a post from our very own Craig (TheArchitect), describing his thoughts on the Tein Basics after living with them for a couple months. Took this from another post and edited the content a bit for relevance: Well, I'll add my $.02 to the mix. I haven't autocrossed with the Basics, but I have had it at the track a couple of times with Basics on and drive daily on them. In daily driving, I traverse plenty of pothole-ridden midwestern roads, so I appreciate that the Basics aren't super firm. The stock suspension is decent, but definitely soft. The Basics do cure that. I have driven the car on some road trips and it remains plenty comfortable. That the engineers at Mazda have given the car such a good GT/sportscar blend is a testament to their chassis tuning prowess, but there were obviously compromises made. The Basics get rid of those compromises, mostly without making any compromises of their own in harshness. I'm pretty impressed by that. That said, I can see them maybe not being the perfect companion for autox since agility and responsiveness are highly valuable in that setting, and I can see that some would prefer more damping (namely, rebound in the rear, at least in my observations) even in the Basics. The car with the OEM suspension has a tendency to get a bit of a wiggly butt on track when really pushed deep into a corner under trail braking, and it also has a bit more roll than I personally care for on track. Nothing horrendous, but it could be better. Under hard braking deep into a corner, it seems to me (keeping in mind that I'm not a suspension engineer) that the rear suspension unloads to such a great degree due to lack of rebound control in the rear and softness in the front that you can actually get a fair amount of change in alignment that creates some instability in the rear of the car at the absolute limits (think positive camber and maybe even a positive toe change). The amount of suspension softness actually is good up to about 8-9/10 in my opinion, because it aids in grip to a point and gives a little bit of margin for error before giving up grip and spinning. For most drivers, this is probably a good safety net. At about 10/10 (and especially at 11+/10!), things get considerably dicier on track. In several driving events on the stock suspension, I found that the car gets a bit spooky when really pushed to the limit. We're talking driving really deep into a turn, and frankly overdriving the car, but that was a bit of the point, to try to find the car's weaknesses. So, on track with the OEM suspension, one can definitely overdrive the car into an oversteering state, albeit a state that is recoverable - in my experience, anyway. After getting the Basics on, I found that the positive traits of the car remained in daily driving, but it really came alive on track. In fact, the car became a lot more entertaining on track. The chassis feels more balanced and more alive. The untoward dive and roll has been tempered a lot. There is still some roll, but it's lessened. Might still want sway bars, but that's a lot about preference. I have found the car to be supremely balanced with the Basics on track, more so than stock, and I have found that I can balance the car exactly how I want it with the throttle now, whereas throttle induced yaw corrections were less precise on the stock suspension. The car is much more planted in the rear in hard braking and trail braking, which is much appreciated at the limit, without gaining understeer. The car is a whole lot of fun stock on track, but with the Basics it really has gone to a new level when driven hard. It has shown no tendency to give up on me like it did as stock when driven really hard, remains balanced, has sharper reflexes, and yet still allows enough body motion to keep someone like me, with no F1 contract as of yet (I suspect with good reason, but I'm still open to offers...), on the road course and out of the weeds. So, the Basics might not be perfect for everyone, but I have been very pleased with them. We'll have more to report as time goes on and other developments take place with other product pairings, but so far I can't find much to fault in the Basics for a car that is daily driven and occasionally tracked. If you do autocross also, I could see going with something adjustable being a huge benefit, since the settings for autocross vs. road course would probably need to differ a bit. But, so far so good with the Basics for me. |
Looking into some eibach springs to lower the car (here the link http://eibach.com/cgi-bin/htmlos.exe...56575200011834)
, and also give me a stiffer ride for autox and road race. Any one use these springs? I'll be using bilstein shocks. Would love the input, especially on how low these springs would drop the 8. I hoping to get as close to 2" as possible. Thanks in Advance! (trying to do this on a budget...) |
^well if you read the very first post in this thread you would see that the Eibachs do not lower the car anywhere close to 2". They are 1.2" front and .8" rear. There is a set that lowers both front and rear about 2" but I believe it the sprint springs.
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Originally Posted by bulletproof21
(Post 3266127)
^well if you read the very first post in this thread you would see that the Eibachs do not lower the car anywhere close to 2". They are 1.2" front and .8" rear. There is a set that lowers both front and rear about 2" but I believe it the sprint springs.
I figured someone may have installed them, then they settled...:icon_tup: |
^ok fair enough, my apologies. I actually HAVE heard that the Eibachs drop closer to 1.2 inches both front and rear. I believe it was "swoope" that said this. We will see if he chimes in.
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Originally Posted by DPE
(Post 1169005)
At the moment, there are only a few options for shocks, though there are tons of options for springs. The spring choices are listed above, and there are other brands available that we haven't had time to look at. For shocks, though, the list goes like this:
Koni - Sport shocks, rebound adjustable (rear shocks must be removed for adjustment), seem to be compatible with just about any spring. Tokico - DSP Kit, compression and rebound adjust simultaneously, can be adjusted on the car at all four corners, and should also work well with most springs. Probably a bit softer than the Konis as the softest settings. We have not tried them yet, but will in the Spring. Mazdaspeed - Non-adjustable, probably best used with MS springs and swaybars to have the kit Mazda intended. Tein Basic Coilovers - Hey, I said I didn't WANT coilovers! Perhaps not, but for a matched shock and spring kit that you can simply leave at the Tein-recommended ride-height, this kit works quite well. And the price is well within range of buying any of the above shocks with a set of springs. Over the next couple weeks we'll post some of our impressions on a few of the suspension bits we've tried, and any other info we think might fit this post. for some reason i dont think that the mazdaspeed springs and shocks that are offered seperately are the same as the mazdaspeed coilover set they offer.... the mazdaspeed coilover set says its adjustable so just saying..........just my .02 cents to get some discussion here and clarify some things ive been looking at. |
I am very new to this Forum and i had a question? Please excuse my Noobness but I was just curious, Are the Tanabe Gf210's Any good? Thnx in advance! I just really like the drop rate and its not priced bad either!
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yes, tanabe's are good, thet're well known
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Originally Posted by Eight
(Post 3335441)
yes, tanabe's are good, thet're well known
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ya, tanabe's are i guess underrated here.
Heres a link on some of the springs out there. https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...0198&highlight |
Originally Posted by Eight
(Post 3336329)
ya, tanabe's are i guess underrated here.
Heres a link on some of the springs out there. https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...0198&highlight You are very right! The Tanabe's are very underrated! But on other Forums such as 350Z and Subaru. It is a very popular choice! Thanks i will check this out! |
yea the tanabes are awesome... im running them right now and have been for a little over a year.. best spring IMO
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Originally Posted by mattrotary34
(Post 3338021)
yea the tanabes are awesome... im running them right now and have been for a little over a year.. best spring IMO
Thanks for the reply! i wanted something different and i really like Tanabe! But i wasnt sure because not to many Rx8's have them. Now i feel alot better with my choice! |
I enjoy my Tanabe's very much. I run them with Koni's so I cannot comment on the ride with OEM shocks.
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/5604/groundy.jpg |
Originally Posted by The Reverend
(Post 3338324)
I enjoy my Tanabe's very much. I run them with Koni's so I cannot comment on the ride with OEM shocks.
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/5604/groundy.jpg |
If someone can still edit the first post, you should add the following:
MazdaSpeed Adjustable Coil-Over: F~400/R~275 2" maximum drop overall Bilstein PSS9 Adjustable Coil-Over: F~370 (main), 145 (tender). R~375-445 (progressive) 2" maximum drop overall |
Noob suspension questions
ok so i have read most of the pages on rx8 suspensions and suspensions for dummies....... i have just a few questions. o and yes i have searched alot. and read alot of stuff. its a 04, non moded, daily driver only.
1. im just looking to drop the car. the lower the better. dont ask why. just one of those things. 2. im on a budget with a $300 max limit. uninstalled. 3. ive read about springs but what is/are spring rates and how do they impact the car and why do they matter to aftermarket springs? 4. u only replace struts once or twice in a cars life so im not looking to do coilovers due to the budget problem and replacing them with stock parts is still cheaper than most coilovers at $87 a strut uninstalled. 5. what is the impact on the tires if you lower it? more wear less wear? 6. im running the aftermarket springs on stock struts. is there a point where i cant get too low (ive read somtn about it not being good to go over 1" or you bottom out) 7. all the inches that are posted on the 1st page of this and many threads...are they permanent in that ive also read that those numbers are without driving for a while on the new springs that they actually get lower with driving time. for example 1.4" in the front brand new. 2" after a month of driving on them. 8. do i NEED to replace anything else with aftermarket springs? 9. finally brand names. Tein, tanabe, mazdaspeed, ect.....does brand count in this aspect. like i found a set called Dropzone Lowering Springs DZ Sport that bost a 1.8" drop all around. but ive read something about crappy brands needing to be replaced because they are made bad. anyone elaborate. yes i realize some of these have been answered. trust me ive read the pages. however none to the detail that a complete suspension noob like myself can understand. so if you would be so nice as to respond can you dumb it down to like a 5th graders level please. -icedemon |
Originally Posted by icedemon690
(Post 3358202)
ok so i have read most of the pages on rx8 suspensions and suspensions for dummies....... i have just a few questions. o and yes i have searched alot. and read alot of stuff. its a 04, non moded, daily driver only.
<<<blahblahblahblahblahblahblah>>> yes i realize some of these have been answered. trust me ive read the pages. however none to the detail that a complete suspension noob like myself can understand. so if you would be so nice as to respond can you dumb it down to like a 5th graders level please. Just leave your car alone. Or flip a coin. It just doesn't matter in your case. |
maniac i respect what you have said.....i have no mechanical knowledge only audio/video knowledge. so when I read some posts i really quite honestly have no idea whats being said. I am only trying to buy them so my mechanic can put them on. not making any excuses but im just looking for help.
no i dont wish to be spoon fed. only led in the right direction. just lookin for a little bit of help as why i signed up. |
OK.
So what do you want someone to tell you? You've read the threads. You've asked very specific questions that are all very carefully addressed in the threads and answered in the only way that make sense. Do you just want someone to tell you what to do? |
thank you maniac...
any relevant links or threads you have knowledge of. i dont mind reading or trying too. so either any answers to any of my questions or just even 1 link. ill literally take anything. till than i will keep searching. -icedemon |
To be honest you have a lot of questions for someone that basically just wants to slam their car. I believe sprint springs goes low. I would change out the OE shocks as well. Read up and see what others are pairing up with the springs and then be done with it. When you have them installed be sure to tell the shop to preload the front so it settles down. The car will lower a bit more after a few days.
Checkout this thread for pics and what people are running. https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...hlight=springs |
Originally Posted by MazdaManiac
(Post 3351959)
Bilstein PSS9 Adjustable Coil-Over: F~370 (main), 145 (tender). R~375-445 (progressive) 2" maximum drop overall beers :beer: |
Put 500 lbs of stereo equipment in it and you're golden, no lowering springs required
. |
Originally Posted by swoope
(Post 3358509)
is the rear spring rate correct jeff? that seems very hi..
beers :beer: Front Spring Rate main 371 lb/in helper 80 lb/in Rear Spring Rate main 240 lb/in Cheers |
A couple more data-points (is anyone gonna update the first post?):
Progress Technology Springs: Front drop: 1.2" --- Rear drop: .8 " Tein S.Tech SpringsFront rate: 205 lbs/in --- Rear rate: 145 lbs/in Front drop: 1.42" --- Rear drop: 0.71" Espelir Active GT SpringsFront rate: 210 lbs/in --- Rear rate: 150 lbs/in Front drop: 1.1" --- Rear drop: 1.1" Front rate: 212 lbs/in --- Rear rate: 150 lbs/in |
very nice info
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H-Tech, D-SpecBefore and After
2 Attachment(s)
Folks,
These shots are before and after, the same day. I replaced stock Tokico shocks and springs with H-Tech and D-spec. D-Spec is set at 6. 5 was too hard. Will track at 5 though. I read the DIYs here for install and pre-load. Biggest pain was fitting the adjuster cable through the holes in the back, they kept hanging. This is a 2 person job. Note, an 8 year old fits well in the trunk. Before: http://lh5.ggpht.com/_YotTAsOuMrI/TG...Work_03441.JPG After: http://lh3.ggpht.com/_YotTAsOuMrI/TG...Work_03452.JPG Other notes, book says set D-Spec on 5 to start, it lies, start with 6. I got most of the drop right away, am a 1/4 of an inch shy all the way around after 2 weeks and alignment. I was worried that some of the thousands of suspension posts said Tokico will add drop, but I did not see that compared to stock Tokicos. |
^ 5 on the D-specs feels like stock to me. I daily drive on 5 and track on 2. Try tracking on 2-3. Ive been on the some of the same tracks as you ;)
Ive never heard that the d-specs add drop, its the Koni yellows that add drop by themselves. Looks nice though, good job. Yeah I wouldnt want to tackle that job solo. |
Thanks,
I got one bridge on the way to work that is incompatible with 5. Think waves in concrete. Makes my teeth clack together. I will stiffen up for Roebling. I will be there with PCA on Sept 10. Thanks. I could not find where I read about D-Spec and drop. Overall, I am really happy though. Mike |
no drop with the shocks.. :)
do you self a favor.. turn them all the way in. then back them off 7 turns.. and enjoy the car on the road.. as to track settings. it will cost you a beer!! :) i have some hints for the rear cables. beers :beer: |
Beer is in the veg drawers in the garage fridge. I am sitting at around 6 right now and happy. You mentioned the cables and I realized I did not post that picture.
Biggest surprise is the 1.5 to 2.0 instant increase in MPG. It has sustained over 3 tanks. A 10% increase in fuel economy from springs was unanticipated. Someone mentioned it, I figured no way (sorry whomever that was). I did not figure this was a mod that would help pay for itself, but I saw 300 miles on the trip odometer for the first time ever. I figure I am getting a free gallon of gas with every fill up. Now, to figure out turn 1... For the Rear Adjuster Cable (a separate item, make sure you order it). I used this hole so they can stay out of the way. I then ran them over the liner. I did not cut a hole in the liner. Hardest part is the part of the cable on the top of the shock catches when you are about an inch from installed. you want to push out, away from the center line of the car, to knock it free. This was the hardest part of the install, the rest was just work. http://lh6.ggpht.com/_YotTAsOuMrI/TG...Work_03451.JPG |
Originally Posted by bulletproof21
(Post 3675552)
^ 5 on the D-specs feels like stock to me. I daily drive on 5 and track on 2. Try tracking on 2-3. Ive been on the some of the same tracks as you ;)
I am investigating Seabring, I have a friend in PCA that is going to try. If he comes back with his car, it ought to be fun. I am looking forward to his gun camera video either way. |
just throw o some bilsteins and cut the springs for a quick and "cost effective" result! :)
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Originally Posted by 04Green
(Post 3682934)
Your sig pic looks like the midpoint of turn 5, or 5/6, depending on the numbers used at Roebling. Am I close? I will be there with the FCR PCA in a few weeks, I could not wait for Dark Side (Signed up there as well, may have MM tune done for that one with some luck). What other tracks? That is it for me so far.
I am investigating Seabring, I have a friend in PCA that is going to try. If he comes back with his car, it ought to be fun. I am looking forward to his gun camera video either way. as to mpg. that is silly. disconnect battery? but they dont suck. beers :beer: |
Originally Posted by 04Green
(Post 3682934)
Your sig pic looks like the midpoint of turn 5, or 5/6, depending on the numbers used at Roebling. Am I close? I will be there with the FCR PCA in a few weeks, I could not wait for Dark Side (Signed up there as well, may have MM tune done for that one with some luck). What other tracks? That is it for me so far.
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Hey guys i need help. I have tein s thech springs and i want to know if i need cambers anyone can helpme please.
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Originally Posted by alejo
(Post 3689874)
Hey guys i need help. I have tein s thech springs and i want to know if i need cambers anyone can helpme please.
I wouldn't change just the springs though. Change the shocks at the same time. You're doing all the work required to change both and you will want to change the shocks about 3 months after you change the springs. Trust me. Pick up the Tokico's or Bilsteins and put those in while you're at it. And you don't need camber plates for those either. |
Originally Posted by alejo
(Post 3689874)
Hey guys i need help. I have tein s thech springs and i want to know if i need cambers anyone can helpme please.
street you don't need much maybe -0.8 max race , is depend on tire chose and how fast you are, it range from -1.5 to -2.5. I don't do drift, so i don't know... |
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