Hey guys, need some advice. I'm almost got the car done the way I want it (realitive term here - nobody is ever finished, right?) Ok, got my motor setup - after I get it tuned, should have a Reliable 300+hp at the wheels. I still have the stock twins and will be tuned for smooth power delivery. Not too interested in drag racing (even though I've yet to be beat ) - I like the twisties that's why the 3rd gen. was my car of choice, balanced handling, light weight and such a smooth engine. I'm running 17X9 Blitz 01's and 255 40 so-2's all around with the stock suspension. 44 offset with no rubbing.
Car has 55k miles on engine and chassis. Also it is my 3x week driver back and forth to work. I could care less if the car looks dropped or if the tires fill the fenderwells - function before form. I want it to work properly. I really don't want to go the coilover route as how many of you really adjust the damn things all that much? Sounds great on your mod list but who really really uses them for a street car? I'd rather spend money on track school - probably will make me faster around the corners than any $1500 coilovers.
So, I'm thinking different swaybars, maybe adjustable shocks, and springs? Noticed that quite a few people use the stock springs and seem to be happy, do I really need to change them too? I previously had a 91 mr2 turbo with trd springs and 4-way adjustable's - handled well but felt like a ChoLo when I went over railroad tracks or a pothole - not too confortable. Plan on doing a few track days per year as ThunderHill is only 20 minutes from my house - sometimes I eat lunch at the track I'm looking for someone who has been through all this and can steer me in the right direction to balance the car - without constantly switching out parts until I get it right. What group of parts have you found that work well together without breaking the bank? Thanks

 

I've heard very good things about the Koni Yellows and Eibach progressives or H&Rs. I'm going to go with Koni Yellows and Eibach Progressives as soon as I can have the fenders rolled and get new meat for the wheels.

 

The Eibach springs are not progressive in the FD application, they are linear.

rotoober: You said it in your own post -- you will be faster by getting some track time/instruction than with mods.

Running a set of Eibachs with the Koni sport shocks is a good setup. You keep the linear spring rate, front/rear spring rate balance of stock springs, and you can adjust the shocks from approximately OEM stiffness to rock hard.

I wouldn't mess with sway bars until after you do the springs/shocks. Personally, I don't see the need to "upgrade" the sway bars (especially the rear), if you are going with stiffer springs than stock.

 

Go dig through some of Howard Coleman's posts on suspension. I'm running his recommended setup, and I'm VERY happy with it. Eibach springs, stock shocks, new front strut mounts, and a good alignment and good tire pressures. That's it. It's actually VERY close to an optimal setup for the chassis.

Dale

 

Are you sure about this? I could have sworn they had progressive as well linear.

Victor

 

https://www.rx7club.com/suspension-wheels-tires-brakes-20/eibach-springs-linear-progressive-289625/

 

Ok, so it sounds like the Eibach Pro kit is the way to go. The Koni's you are talking about, are they also the Koni "yellows" I've seen for sale on and off on this forum? Also, people have written about suspension sag at different corners on these cars due to worn "pillow" mounts. If I'm going through the trouble of replacing the springs, shouldn't I also replace these? And is there a performance part from Mazda to replace these that may have a higher durometer reading? What's your thought on this.
Thanks

Matt

 

If you're talking about the pillow ball bushings... it would depend on the car. Mine were shot. I had some bad clunking so I replaced 2 so far, in the upper control arm, and the clunking is down some 75% or so. I'll probably replace the other 4 over the weekend.

I stand corrected... Eibachs are linear "."

I think since I have the konis and eibachs I'll try that set up and then try the stock shocks with eibachs.

 

Thanks guys, I'll buy you a beer if I see you in willows! I'll be looking for some Eibachs and Pillow ball bushings. Vchacon, where did you pick up your bushings, Malloy or do you have another suggestion?

 

The "sag" comments have nothing to do with pillow ball bushings, they have to do with replacing the large rubber upper spring mounts. I strongly advise replacing these, as they also have the shock boots integrated into them. They are not super expensive to replace and will last several years. There are no aftermarket parts unless you include the upper mount replacements for coil-over setups. You do not want to go there at this time (or ever perhaps) with your use of the car.

You need to look at the factory service manual and study the parts involved in the suspension, if you are not having a mechanic do the work.

As Vchacon pointed out, you may have (likely) bad bushings in your suspension, particularly the rear. You might as well anticipate the car being down for a few days to replace these if you are doing everything else and are preparing for track time.

 

I got mine from Malloy's

Victor

 

^ Might be a bit off topic but do you guys know if ray accepts paypal? I know he takes credit card. Or any other payments?

 

Best to call Ray and ask but I haven't seen a dealership taking payment that way as of yet.

 

OK, I'll add the upper spring mounts, and yes I do have the rear end "clunks" not too bad, but noticable. So, I'll add the pillow ***** too - doesn't Mazda Speed stock these with less rubber and more bushing? Have any of you used these, or did you just get the stock part? Also, last time I tracked with stock wheels/tires (yoko avs) the rear end seemed to breakaway and come around rather quickly and without warning (almost spun 2X). Both times were coming off the apex bump, maybe suspension was loaded strangely. Reminided me of my mr2's. I know the tires were crap, but couldn't some of this be attributed to the pillow ***** being worn? Alignment wasn't too far off if I remember.

 

[B] im very happy with my TEIN superstreet setup i rode in a few other rx7's with suspension setups like the RA or the endless kit and they were far too bumpy for street driving out here in cali. with mine ive set them at 8 in dampening level and i didnt slam the car to the ground so the car still rides real nice. on track days i stiffen the setup and lower the car but theres always potholes on the way to the track they make me glad i didnt buy the circuitmaster setup...


i highly recommend the tein superstreet kit and upgrading the sway bars and front swaybar mount

 

Actualy the Tein SS are stiffer than the Flex. I like my Flex set up. At the lowest setting is softer than the factory set up.

 

Ok, Fdss and 4kids, how long does it take you to adjust ride height, and how often do you mess with it? The difference between Koni's/springs and coilovers is about 500 bones, if the adjustability is usable it would be worth it to me. Can you adjust with the car off a lift with the wheels on?
Fdss, where do you track at?

 

I'm inbetween the tein super street and the koni yellow and rsr race springs myself. From rx7stores price the ss are $925, while the koni combo is $814. So its only a $100 difference. But the tein springs are 30% stiffer. The teins are 671 lbs/in in the front and 559 in the rear. The rsr race springs are 447 in the front and 391 in the rear. I need a set of shocks and springs for my track day at Streets of Willow in a week and a half. The fd that i just bought has 120k on the stock suspension. I might just end up getting which ever one is in stock. Anyone have any more input on the ss and the koni and rsr race spring setup. My car will be my daily driver and track car when i have time.

 

search on some threads from howard coleman here and in the 3rd gen section. all your questions will be answered...


those tien springs at 600+ lbs/in are waaaayyyyy too stiff for an FD.

 

I just ordered the tein ss for my fd, i have read Howard Colemans post about the ideal spring rate. I can get the teins in about a week and the konis are special order, so i decided to get the ss. Tein said that i could run softer springs on the ss, they said that the valving on the shock can go with either a stiffer or softer spring, but there is a limit on how much you can change the spring rate before you have to have the shock revalved. They really didnt say what the limit was. My friend has a bunch of tein springs at his shop, i might just try a softer spring if i dont like the way the ss handles. The reason a went with a coil over is because i dont like my car to be very low. And the ss are in stock.

 

I use the RSR Race Spings now. I like them on the track but they're a bit stiff for the street. I tracked for a long time with the stock springs and Koni Yellows. Worked pretty darn well.

If anyone is interested I have the following to sale if anyone wants them PM me:

1) Full set of Koni Yellows - used 15K miles - Good for street and track duty
1) Full set of Koni Yellows revalved for stiffer springs like the RSR Race Springs - Poor ride on Street but Excellent on the track combined with stiffer sprigns - used 20K miles

-John Magnuson

 

Been reading through a bunch of posts... trying to get myself knowledgible on this whole suspension thing. Just found out my rear ds strut is blown.I've decided to not do coilovers, for one thing I won't be able to really take advantage of what they can do... second, to much $$ for a fix I wasn't planning on doing for a while.

I hope you don't mind me dropping in some questions in this post... rather than polluting the board with another one.

I'm looking to keep the ride reasonably close to stock... or at least, not make it miserable on the street. There are just too many manufacturers and too many combinations to sort through here.

Has anyone compiled a good chart of combinations of shock/spring setups that work well together, in both the handling area, as well as mechnically. As I am learning, if you put a spring on that lowers too much your shock may not work right because it isn't adjustable enough. Or something to that effect.

I'm looking to only lower the car slightly - so if I do upgrade from my stocks to 17" or 18", the car will not look stupid, and will have a good stance. I don't want it to be so drastic that I completely take off my 99' lip spoiler exiting the shopping center (hmm, never done THAT before)

Alberto_mg, you mentioned that 600lb/in spring rate is too high for and FD. I would imagine that is correct, since our cars weight next to nothing. Something like that works nice for my friends Audi S4... which is a brick on wheels... oops did I say that. Anyway... stock springs are around 240lb/in. So, does this mean that if I jump up to a ~450lb/in spring set, the car will get consdierably stiffer, or if I get the right shock, I might still be able to control it.

Wow, there's a few questions in there... feel free to pick through them :o)

Thanks!!!

 

jk, I'm looking at the eibrach pro kit and koni yellow's, if this shock/spring combination work well together. Now, sombody had springs for sale in the fs forum, but had a bunch of different rates. Are there different spring rates for the pro kits? If yes, what spring rates do I need for the koni's?

 

Was talking to my buddy who is running koni yellows... not sure if he still has the stock springs or not. He said he thought they were a little harsh at first... but he got used to it. He's pushing me to go with coilovers and some aggressive springs. Though, I really don't think I need them.

 

You don't NEED separate springs with coilovers, that's kind of the point.

If you don't think you need them, then you definitely don't. Save your money.