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MX5 NC Steering help.


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Hi WIM

 

I have had a couple alignment set ups through you guys throughout the work i have done to my car to get it where i want it. Overall they have helped massively but there always seems to be one reoccurring problem which is the steering.

 

The steering seems to feel overly assisted and floaty around 10 - 2 on the wheel. Despite new tyres, lowering alignment and new shocks it still feels about the same.

 

My thoughts are its something mechanical. The guys at WIM had a quick once over my car to check for any steering play when i had the fast road setup.

 

Any thoughts on what could be causing this....my guess is the power steering system.

 

Thanks

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Absolutely fine. However i do notive there is a slight rubbing noise. Its a weird sound but can only best describe it as a stretching rubbing sound. And its definately not the tyres.

 

I have also played around with tyre pressures too with no luck. But is definitely better in the psi's in the lower 20's.

 

The steering just feels vague and not very sporty like off centre.

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Well i'm happy with the geometry since we have checked for any human error. Mechanically the car is sound now and tyres all be them good or bad makes wouldn't favour or fail on a particular lock angle. So we are at the point for looking outside of the box hence the reason i suggested the EPS.

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Thanks Tony, I am in agreeance with you ther over the EPS. All tyres are good makes. Have Kuhmo Ecsta HS51's upfront. 

The steering funnily feels better some days than others. Id imagine this'll be costly to fix aswell :( 

I think part of the issue may be however is that most of the time I have been driving I have driven mainly FWD cars and maybe the switch to RWD may require some getting used to. While I can see how RWD has its benefits, I do sometimes miss the weighter feel and resistance you get from the Front drivers.

I drove a new Fiesta ST recently and even though it is electrical assisted steering, It did feel alot more accurate and confident inspiring, dont get me wrong the MX5 is a great car but I was very impressed with the feedback it provided over my MX5.

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Thanks, I never knew the ECU could govern this....If i am right in thinking though, reading into it, I thought the NC uses hydraulic power steering as opposed to electric. Unless its the same system as the RX8 which I think does use EPS.

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  • 1 year later...

Hi

Sorry for unearthing that old topic but I don't know how this issue ended up.

I think my situation is the same. I love my Mx 5 NC but...

I've changed shockers + eibach 30mm, new lower wishbones, tie rod ends, antiroll bar links Took my MX 5 NC for an alignment. But still I do not feel that fun I used to a couple months ago.

There is like a lack of response at the center position - I don't feel any resposne from the wheels. OK, car keeps straight line but when turning a little bit to the left or right I don't feel any weight on the steering wheel. Like it was not connected. The car reacts but I don't feel comfortable with that, because I feel like I don't have a full control.

Please check my last wheel alignment:

 

20161211_182103_zpsa4dlguyw.jpg

 

I would be grateful for any suggestion.

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The castor disparity is awful at nearly 2 degrees difference. The Mazda datum allowed for a vast difference in the castor position hence why the positions are in the green but in the real world half a degree is globally the norm. On the lowered NC the target would be 6 degrees.

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Thank you.

Right I knew that although everything is green something is wrong.

Well, yeah it looks like I need to visit WIM after Christmas. It's 70 miles away from my home.

I am so glad I've registered here in this forum.

I feel even now a relief and happiness driving my car after WIM visit 😀

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To be fair most technicians think that green is good without realising they are not just figures they are also forces...... The angle that's wrong is called the cross castor ( not shown on printout ) because you have what's called the "dumb" customers printout.

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Yeah. That's also my point of view. The techinican should be particularly interested in one model of a car, here MX 5 to know what "dumb" driver can feel on the steering wheel with green settings recommended by the factory. Like in the whole world: something is green which is good, but something can be greener an will be better.

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If you look at the green bars on the printout you will notice a black line in the centre and then two either side of the centre line which is the ideal setting and the tolerance. Sadly the ideal and the tolerance are combined and green. Fact is they should only be interested in the centre line,

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Well, maybe it is something wrong with my car that is not possible to adjust angles in the centre ? Guys, who did it have more then 20 years experience in motorsport so they should know...

I really really need a proper alignment. If I'm honest, since I bought my MX5 almost a half a year ago, I enjoyed maybe 2 weeks of driving. Then I started to replace suspension parts and all that time I was saying to myself"now will be much better after alignment". Since that time I had 3 alignments, spent almost 300quid on that and still my Mazda handles comparable to my former VW Golf Mk4. Not to mention about my old Vauxhall Corsa with bilstein b6 - Ok, it has no power steering there so I could feel any wheels movement. But even Golf was giving me better steering response when going straight or cornering.

I read a lot about ultimate pleasure of driving MX 5, but sadly it is not including my car.

Now I love the way it looks but driving is a big dissapointing.

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