Andut

The car is booked into a local place in a few days time. Would you recommend a geo set away from Mazda specs for a car that is presently on the OEM (non-Sport) springs and black dampers, or are the Mazda spec's as good a place to start as any ? Any advice would be welcomed ! Andy

I think it's on the second set of T1Rs I have definitely noticed both front end and rear end slides in greasy conditions in the past, but it's not that often I drive it, so difficult for me to really compare the original Yoko's from almost 10 years ago with the more recent Toyos. Generally any sliding whilst I have been driving it has been as a result of me provoking it a bit, and it has always been very progressive and easy to correct which is fine if you're expecting it to move about. Last week's event with my wife driving has made me a lot more concerned about how quickly she said it went into oversteer, hence the original post. It's booked in for a geo check locally next week, so I'm keen to understand if comparing it to std Mazda settings would be the right thing to do, or if I should be paying attention to a particular set up even with the original springs and dampers ? Following that, I will consider the shorter springs if that is going to be a significant step in reducing potential snap oversteer, and I will definitely look to change the rubber - since your reply I have read a few tyre debates on T1R's wet weather performance. It's not driven hard, and we're not looking for the last bit of dry weather grip, so a less 'dry' focussed tyre would seem sensible if we can get a bit more wet weather confidence !

That’s interesting and a little disappointing to read ! We’ve had the car from new, and it’s only had a few sets of tyres in its 14 years. It’s so light on tyre wear that changes have generally been as a result of age related cracks rather than excessive wear, which is a good indicator of how the car is usually driven. It originally arrived on Yoko’s and I cannot recall why we went for the Toyo option ever since - likely a combination of price and forum reviews, but regardless I do not remember thinking there was a significant change in how the car performed.

Hi Rich, It has a set of Toyo T1Rs all with lots of tread depth and all at equal pressures. Andy

Hi Tony, The dampers are black. Interesting to read the history of the springs and ride heights for UK cars. I have always thought that the car would benefit aesthetically from being a little lower and I've been aware of the Eibach option for a while, but I did not want to get into notifying insurance etc for a car that is not driven hard. If there's a tangible safety benefit from changing the springs, then given this weeks event, it could be an easier selling point, especially if it's not something the insurance company would care about. I'll make more effort to think about implications of dropping the car 30mm over the next few days - some of our local roads, traffic calming obstacles and kerbs may make it more of a challenge ! If we decide to go down that route, then I'd definitely want your guys to do the work, so roughly how long would you need the car for, and roughly what sort of cost is involved (rough cost - don't need an exact quote !) In the immediate future I'm keen to get the geo checked asap to rule out any car related reasons as to why it swapped ends earlier in the week, and perhaps optimise it a little if it needs adjustment to give my wife some confidence that it's not about to happen again tomorrow ! Having driven and taken more notice of the road where it happened, I'm pretty sure it was a combination of a greasy road on a tightening, double apex corner with a localised change in road camber just at the point where i would image she started to accel again - and probably going a little too quickly as well ! Thanks again for your help / thoughts Andy

Hi, I have just found this forum via a search, and have to say I'm impressed with the service provided ! I have a question regarding the geometry of a Mazda MX5 Roadster Coupe, and I should say that unfortunately I'm too far from WIM, otherwise I would be bringing my car to you without hesitation. My other half drives a standard MX5 Roadster Coupe with the original suspension components (i.e. std springs) other than renewed A/R drop links which appear to be made of chocolate. Earlier this week, in wet conditions my OH put the car into a ditch - fortunately she managed to miss oncoming traffic and anything solid, so both she and the car emerged with not even a scratch - very lucky. She did report that the car just snapped into oversteer, and she then fishtailed into the ditch, so I'm now checking that the car is all OK including a geometry check at a local place with Hunter kit that has been recommended. I'm assuming that they will look to compare against std Mazda settings for the car (std 08MY Roadster Coupe 1.8ltr) and wondering if this is the best settings to be aiming for ? It's a daily driver for my OH and above all needs to be safe and predictable should it start to lose traction, so I would appreciate any thought's on what settings would be critical and what you might recommend ? Thanks in advance for any guidance Andy