Softening the ride
 

This is for my 93 FD.....

I want to "soften" the ride in the car. I am tired of every expansion jiont in the world crushing my vertabra........SO what is the best way to SOFTEN the suspension from stock Touring?

Shocks?

Springs?

Anyone do it that can give some realy world feedback?

I understand I will lose a little bit of cornering ability but I am willing to give that up to make the ride more comfortable.

TIA
Mike

If you're running stock springs and struts, then I'd look at tires and wheels.

If you have aftermarket suspension, then I would start there. Springs and shocks both affect the comfort of the ride, and you want them both to be relatively similar - stiff springs on a soft shock or soft springs on a stiff shock are both kinda cruddy for ride and performance.

What wheels / tires / pressures are you running?

Dave

1. Tires: get tires that are not all-out performance tires with very hard sidewalls. compare ride qualitiies at Tire-Rack, etc. Tires are the most-important factor in ride quality. If you have "plus-size" (17" or larger wheels) go back to the original 16" wheels and 50-series tires. Lower-profile, stiff-sidewall tires always degrade ride. Run somewhat lower tire pressures - IMO, the recommended 32 psi is too harsh for the street. I've found that ~26-28 psi is much more acceptable, causes no problems, and vastly improves ride.
2. Get tuneable dampers and lower the amount of compression (or bump) damping, or evaluate (through customer evaluations, etc.) aftermarket dampers on their ride qualities. Or, if your car is an R1 (or has R1 or other stiff dampers), get R2 or base dampers.
3. Softer springs will not do much for ride over small bumps, such as slab joints, because unless the suspension moves quite a bit, the spring force does not change anywhere near as much as the impact forces the tires/dampers contribute.
4. If you have aftermarket suspension bushings, or solid links, go back to the stock setup.

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DaveG, we did it again - this time you posted before me...
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Touring suspension should not be brutal....

In addition to what the other guys suggested, I would replace the rubber upper spring mounts. If they are original, they are toast.

tokico 5 way adjustable shocks. If you use setting one (the softest) the ride will be as soft as in a buick

sorry if this isn't the suspesions answer you are looking for, but you could try a cushion like the backsaver pad sold on bakerprecision, softens a lot of the bumps

damn, unless ur stock shock are damaged. theres nothing really softer than stock...and to be honest its an rx7 i doubt u was softer suspension. it sounds like ur suspension is done. a good replacement would be stock springs and 5-waytokco on softest setting

I have stock shocks and springs.......

I DO have performance tires all around (Bridgestone Potenza S-03's all aroud) so maybe that is what is getting me so bad....

I mean it is ROUGH. Cornering is fine but the "bumps" hurt.

I will look at the upper spring mounts too.

Thanks for the feedback guys at least you are pointing me in the right direction.

You have one of the few tires that resist hardening as they age. The rubber in most tires gets harder as the tires go through more and more heat cycles. I won't go into all the technical details, but the S-03 has design elements that prevent and counteract that hardening. So it shouldn't be your tires, although a stiff carcas construction can lead to a bad ride.

I'd look to the soft part in your suspension....bushings, mounts, etc if you noticed a deterioration in your ride. The 93's are known for a stiff ride, and if your car is an R-1, I'd say it's something you'll have to live with.

Look into shocks: it's been said that Mazda's suspension is often overdamped. I once spoke with Guy Ankeny of Ankeny Racing Enterprises. His name is on a lot of championship-winning autocross cars (Andy McKee in SM2, among others). He told me that a 3rd Gen with well-adjusted shocks will ride better than a stock RX-7, even if the springs are stiffer than stock. I'll try to dig up my notes, but if you can get independently adjustable compression and rebound on your dampers, you can tune the feel and handling to be very nice.


-s-

So stock springs with a good shock?

Car is a TOURING....

The tires may heat cycle well but the sidewalls are super stiff. Any recommendations on a softer tire? I think I am gonna run MT DR in the rear so the fronts is all I need (stock rims)

I have touring shocks, Eibach springs, 18'' wheels and my car rides like a Caddy. I really doubt that it is your tires especially if they are stock 16''
It's a sports car....Deal with it.

In 94, Madza softened the FD suspension. Changing to 94 shocks and springs will help.

Progressive springs and adjustable shocks adjusted too softest can really help.

If you really want a soft ride at the expense of some performance and style, you could have some custom progressive springs built much softer an inch or so taller than stock, with soft shocks and the tallest (hopefully performance) tires that can fit on the stock 16 inch rim.

Tires make more difference than anything. I had a talon previously, I moved to an area with real rough roads. The stock tires where 205 55 16 on 16x6 wheels. I moved up to 225 60 16, with 16x7's from another car. They just barley fit and didn't rub, and handled as good as it did before, the car measured 1.1 inches taller and rode like the f150 I drove for work.

I wouldn't do that to my Rx7 but then I wouldn't put an LT1 in it either, to each thier own and all.

It doesnt sound like there is much you can do besides tires considering you are running stock suspension and wheels.

I have the same problem. The ride on my 93 Touring with stock suspension and springs (100k miles on it) is getting unbearable. Even the slightest bumps feel like I'm driving over the biggest pothole.

I recently changed to new tires and that made things abit smoother over bumps but I'm trying to find a setup which will make my ride as smooth and soft as say a family car.

I'm guessing my stockers simply need replacing?

"please help my 2 seater sports car doesn't ride like a large cadillac sedan"

this thread sucks, you think fd stock suspension is hard, try a sti once... and i consider both pretty subtle *shrug*

I have coilovers on my ride with low profiles. I know what you are talking about.

The pot holes here in Los Angeles is brutal and unforgiving.

...dang... u think the stock touring susp is rough! ...you must have your tire pressure at max...try lowering it...your cornering may a feel a lil sloppy

...you'd hate my car 750/650 lbs/in on Koni with Mazdaspeed front sway. Michelin Pilots help.. the best street tires IMO...

This is my third FD.....I dont expect a Cadillac ride smartass but this is ridiculous......thanks for th "helpful" input........

LT1RX7,

I would recommend the Tokico shocks. On full soft, they are softer than the stock shocks (IMO). As for the springs, if you want a lower stance, you could use Eibach or RSR Down Springs. Those are only slightly higher rates than stock. The stock springs would also work just fine.

I believe that combination would give you the ride quality you are looking for with the ability to turn it up if you decide to hit an AutoX event or just have some fun.

Good luck.

If your stock shocks are worn out and you are looking for a replacement, another option are the Konis. They have an adjustable perch so you can lower your car 1/2" to about 1.25" while still using the more comfy stock springs. At the softest setting, the Konis are just slightly softer than the stock shocks - like the Tokicos that Mahjik mentioned.

As others might have mentioned, you might also want to look at the bushings. It helped quiet the car down and made the ride feel less jolting when I replaced my upper shock mounts. Same thing with the rear bushings. When they were worn (120k originals), the car would transmit lots of NVH over pot holes and expansion joints. New stock bushings helped that out also.

Good luck.

Just to throw something else out there, if you are still on your stock pillowballs and bushings you might try to have those changed. I had mine swapped out at a 128K miles with delrin ones and the suspension was less harsh. I have to imagine that the originals were pretty shot to be harsher than solid bushings.

New bushings and upper shock mounts are on the way.......

I may try a softer shock with the stock spring

What's the verdict? Did ride quality improve considerably?