joeB12

I'll have a work out and PM you tomorrow Iain

We keep Apex springs in stock for the MK2s Just saying

Tony and I have agreed on a 25% discount on alignment. Any tyres or suspension on the day will be at a reduced cost also, but priced on booking!

Of course there's no need to book to come along, but because of limited availability on the geometry ramp if you were looking to have your car measured and adjusted on the day, that will have to be booked in advance! We've probably got capacity to set 10-15 cars on the Saturday. There's still ample space in the diary for the day. But I can't see it staying like that for long. For any cars that we don't have a chance to set on the day, the same discount will apply for 5's booked on the day for a later date! Joe

Hi guys, to save messaging everyone individually, give me a call at the centre and I'll start taking bookings! 01494 797 820 Joe@WIM

Afternoon all! Me and Tony are orchestrating a Mazda MX5 meet for Saturday May 31st. We'll be starting at around 9:00 at the WIM centre, going on until 3pm. A catering van is being arranged, all alignments for the 5's on the day will be at a discounted price, this will also apply to all alignments booked on the day (for a later date). We'll have plenty of suspension and tyres in stock for all marques. Although any installations for on the day will need to be booked in advance. More than anything it's just a chance to all get together, and if any work is needed on anything, a chance for everyone to save a bit of money! Tony will be announcing it in the main 5 forums over the next week to give everyone ample notice, all are welcome, and i look forward to seeing you all soon! Joe@WIM

Iain, the contact number we have for you on our system seems to be out of date! Can you give me a call at the centre when you get a moment, Cheers Joe@wim

Morning Adam, There are a huge range of lowering coils available, the most popular being the Eibach, these lower the car by 30mm. If the ride height is a concern then maybe a coil-over system would be preferable? That way the compliance and height can be tailored to exactly what you want. For the NC Mx5s there 3 different 'generic' fast road settings written by Tony, depending on what you want to use the car for and your situation we tend to use one of those as a base line, then adjust accordingly for any particular demands, i.e Over-steer Vs. Under-steer. If you'd like to run through some prices you can PM me on here or give me or Tony a call at the centre! Joe

It's a bit long winded to write, but you're more than welcome to ring me at the centre when you're next to the suspension and I'll run you through it! Joe 01494 797 820

Hi and welcome to WIM! The handling issues and the vague feeling is typical of an MX5 that's got the wrong suspension on it. It's something we're correcting on a daily basis! The Eibach springs work fine with the standard dampers, though there are now two different types of Eibach, dependent on whether your car is a permanent hard top, or soft top. Mazda dealers tend to fit these springs governed on what year the car is, instead of what top it's got on it, which can lead to problems once the suspension has settled to it's final height. Also, the fitting procedure is very important with these, twisted suspension bushes caused by the upper wishbones being re-installed and tightened whilst in 'droop' can significantly change the body height. Finally, you'll have to make sure the garage who take care of the install have a good enough knowledge of MX5's and steering alignment, because it's not just as simple as setting them up to Mazdas own specifications once the lower coils have been installed! Joe

Yes, still on the OE rims, they took a 265 comfortably. The final difference in ride height was 10mm lower at the rear and 25mm at the front. That being said, making it look different wasn't really our aim, improving the performance was. I believe only the R8 and some of the TT's are released with Magnetic Ride in the Audi range. Joe

With the popular suspension design that is used for the new VW golf, Audi A3, Seat Ibiza (the list goes on) a common complaint is under-steer, and a slightly unsure feeling when entering and leaving a corner 'enthusiastically' We decided to to try and improve on this with an Audi RS3, but, at the same time keep the cars OEM driving comfort. Now as the first port of call, we changed the tyre size. The Audi RS3 is one of the only cars on the market at the moment with a staggered tyre size front to rear, but running the wider tyre at the front. Rumor has it this is to counter an under-steer issue that is a result of the engine being mounted quite far forward. A 'conventional' tyre set-up was used, changing the original size - F -235/35x19 R -225/35x19 to F -265/30x19 R -265/30x19 We fitted Vredestein Sessantas all round which work very well on all high power four wheel drive Audis. Noticeable improvement. Modified Anti-roll bars were then installed as an attempt to stiffen up the overall feel when powering into a corner. This worked very well, eliminating the majority of the vague feeling when cornering. But it still felt like more could be done to improve it's handling. H&R lowering coils were used. This worked, but with a 35mm drop front and rear, combined with the modified tyre size, it was just too low, and after the coils would have settled it was clear that the tyres would eventually rub on the outer lip of the wheel arch. The wheel alignment after the installation confirmed that it was too low, not only impractical, but running such a deep negative camber angle uneven tyre wear would be inevitable. Back to the drawing board, and an adjustable H&R coil-over was agreed upon. Success! The same result as with the H&R coils, only now we can tailor the ride height to accommodate the new tyre size and find a suitable 'middle ground' for the basically non-adjustable front camber. One final geometry check and adjustment, and its ready. Handling massively improved, and smiles all round! Joe

Excellent news!

Did you manage to line up the charger so the bonnet closed properly Steve?

Hi Phill, The after printout looks a bit untidy, but considering what's adjustable on that car, and the fact that it's been lowered, that's what should really be expected, ideally an after market camber adjuster would be installed to even up those angles, depending on what springs were used, that should bring back a lot of the stability. As for the steering wheel being out of alignment, it shows fine on the printout, so there's a chance that they clamped it slightly off to one side when adjusting it. If you take it back to the garage who done the alignment, ask if you can confirm the steering wheel position after they've clamped it, but before they adjust anything. Hope that helps! Joe

You should be looking from anywhere between 5.30 and 6.30 for the caster. But all the settings really depend on what ride height you're running. If you're in the area at any point give either me or Tony a call or a PM and we'll get it booked in for a little fine tune. Joe

If the car is getting used solely for road use, those damper settings need to come way down, also the front is never really set to stiffer on the front than the rear. Try backing them off to 10 front and 8 rear. That's how I like to run the NC BCs. Also, the rear camber could do with being about half a degree deeper, and ideally around 0.19 total toe in on the rear, 0.10 total toe in on the front. As for the caster, getting that measured should be a priority. Joe

Even though it's reflected in the price, the BC coilovers have my vote over the Koni dampers/springs all day long!

Apologies if you were expecting Bruce Springsteen fighting an Italian man. Here's a few snaps of our touch-less tyre machine 'The Boss' fitting a set of HUGE Ferrari Enzo rear tyres. Joe

The ideal ride height to achieve the optimum geometry set-up is 345mm front and rear. That being said, it can go 10-15mm lower, which still enables us to achieve a 'fast road' setting and remains practical. Personally I wouldn't go any higher than 345mm if body roll is already an issue. Joe

The manifold and the cat sit right up front, this Milltek kit runs from the cat back, like you can see from the pics! I'll PM you a price Dave.

Re-vamping this thread for anyone who may be interested before the summer hits? So outrageously cheap it makes my eyes water Joe

Really nice to hear you're enjoying the ride Dave & Danny! I wonder if Mazda would do a group deal for Me, Rich and Tony

Yeah that's something we could take a look at, sounds like a possible anti-roll bar drop link? When would you like to bring it in? If you were thinking about re-bushing it, a power-flex bush would be the way to go, will probably be a third of the cost compared to Subaru genuine parts. Joe

Dave give me a call if you decide to put some new wheels on there, I'm sure between me and Tony we can do you a little tyre/wheel package deal