Pigeon

Ok, i want a height adjustable suspension, but not at the cost of ruining my ride...

i know ground control lets you choose spring rates, so if i dont get a spring that is super hard, wouldnt my car ride like it does right now, maybe a bit harder...
right now i got lowering springs (apex)

so if anyone has coilovers on their 2nd gen, or had coilovers on their 2nd gen...
can u just leave small message telling me bout the experience with them?
whether good or bad....
(other than bruce, i already interrogated him enough

please speak up... cause i need peoples opinions that have actually tried coilovers on proteges...

Bruce95fmla

damn

Pigeon

ok, i could take this two ways...
either nobody has coilovers, or nobody wants to help me.. lol..
just kidding...

so i decided to place a long distance call and give Ground- Control themselves a shout...

i called, and i swear, they gotta be the most polite and helpful sales rep ive ever talked to....
i talked to Frank, ask for him, hes very helpful

i told him my situation, ( i want height adjustable suspension that is a little bit stiffer than my current setup, but not harsh in anyway)
and i had some questions as well...

i told him that this car is a daily summer and winter driven car and it autocrosses in the summer weekends...

he suggested 300lb springs up front, and 200lb ones in the rear...
this is 100% stiffer than stock, but is the softest spring that would work on the proteges...
it will not be harsh at all, once paired up with the correct shocks...
it allows 2.5 inches lowering, and when its all the way lowered, the suspension still has .75 inches travel...

the only question i have to ask them is if my car will be more neutral, or if it will understeer still....

but other than that, i think im set on getting them....
i just gotta save the funds for getting some high quality shocks to make sure that the car works as expected....

hope that this helps anyone else thinkin bout coilovers vs springs

pinoy323

I don't know if you can locate sources for this but it's worth a try. We've just got hold of a B+G kit (springs & struts). It's a tad better than stock but not comparable to MS adjustables. It's worth a lot less but it's not adjustable. A fellow member swears that it's better than the OEMs.

Hotbits (from New Zealand and Australia) has coilovers for 2ndGens. I've seen a set in my area but the dealer said it's the last set they've imported. The set costs almost thrice as Mazdaspeed. If you intend to use them on the track or circuit, go for it. But, I don't recommend using them on the streets as the ride is too harsh.

Davard

300 lb springs are probably closer to three times stiffer than stock. Although, you probably need that high a spring rate to keep you off the bumpstops with only 0.75" of travel. And you definitely need much better than stock struts to control that much spring.

I have 250lb springs in the front of my 1st-gen Protege, and the Mazdaspeed struts are just about taxed by these springs. Any stiffer, and I couldn't control the springs. The rear struts have plenty of reserve for my 200lb springs.

And your experience with Ground-Control runs counter to what most people think of them. They have the market for most cars basically to themselves, and don't seem to worried about customer service.

My story was ordering camber plates and having the guy on the other end tell me that I would have to redrill my holes because they didn't have the exact plates....they had their application catalog wrong, and listed the 1st-gen Protege as being made from '91-'94. No matter that I told them otherwise, they knew I was wrong. And then they waited for me to call back to tell them what car the camber plates were going on. Never occured to them to call me back, but they charged my credit card the moment I ordered them.

There, I feel better.

Pigeon

how does ur car drive with th 250 pound springs....
harsh at all??

turbonium959

Pinoy323. Where can I find more info on the B+G kit. I am saving money to lower my car next summer, and I am already set on the springs, but I was not so sure if I needed Mazdaspeed shocks. They are a BIT expensive, and I not care for the ability to adjust them. Also, I didn't know there were any other performance shock out there for our cars. You can PM or email, I appreciate that.

deckedoutmp5

why didnt you just get skunk2's? you can raise it in the winter and slam it in the summer. you can drop a mp5 4 inches with them. Just cut the bump stops

turbonium959

I think you posted in the wrong thread, but if you didn't and were implying to me, I don't wan't slam my car. I do not want to lower it more then 1.5 inches, because even in the summer, the roads in New England are not in the best of shapes, especially in Massachusetts. I am looking for about an inch drop, and stiffer then stock shocks, but not the Mazdaspeeds - I can't afford those.

Bruce95fmla

and how does that mp5 drive with a 4" drop ....... can't be comfortable

Pigeon

would the wheels even turn if ur dropped 4 inches?

Davard

As long as I remember to turn the shocks down and air the tires down to street pressures, not bad at all. With the struts set to 4 all around (4 is full stiff), you wonder if it has suspension.

It rides much better with the 250 lbs springs than it did with the H&R MX-3 springs (which are about 200-225 lbs...they are too big to fit in the spring tester, but the backs were rated at 180lbs and tested at 165lbs and the fronts were rated at 240lbs by H&R). This is mostly due to having about 1.5" of travel compared to about 0.75" or less with the H&Rs. Some of the travel gain comes from the use of camber plates.

But, I do run out of travel occasionally on LA-area freeways. Travelling to and from Kansas was quite tolerable. And even with a bad back, I can still do 1000 mile days (at 75mph).

A car with 400 lb springs and adequate suspension travel (and good shocks) will ride better than a car with 150lb springs and 1" of compression travel, as the soft car will always be on the bump stops (which are MUCH stiffer).

Pigeon

cool man, thanks for the info!

deckedoutmp5

it rides rougher than stock but not rough rough like you might think. if you think your car handles good now, its nothing unitl you drop it, mine only got WAYYY better. if a normal car did a turn at 45 a mp5 could do it at 60 with no squeal, i took a 50 mph turn at 90 after i slammed it no squeal. and no rub at all even with 2 15's and 4 fat people in the car. its just about what you want. i just made a sugg. jesus, its versitale cheap and you can drop it an inch if you want or 4. whatever.

Pigeon

thats pretty cool that skunk 2 makes coilovers for mazda....