Looking to Lower!
 

So, any opinions on the best kit out there? I like the 3 I see at the Protege Garage, but it's hard to pick one over the other?

Anyone have any opinions, or positives/negetives about any brands before I do this?

What are you wanting to do with the car? Any autoX , just daily driving?

Just a daily. No more than 2 inches drop. Just want the extra handling and I like the styling.

Also, looking at around $200 range, nothing crazy.

I've heard good things with Espilir, but not sure on the price.

I'll look into it. The P Garage has the Eibach Pro's for 209 I think. Any feedback on those?

I don't think you can go wrong really with anything from Eibach, the Pro kit is suppose to be nice, evenly dropped and no bone jarring ride. I'm going to lower too but waiting to save enough to get the MS sway kit too and HP's.

MS sway kit is pricey. There must be a cheaper altnernative somewhere out there. Friend bought the front and back sways for his SRT4 for like 150 bucks or something, and not off ebay.

Well there is a lot of options open. There are also a lot of opinions about this subject.

Espiliers are a bit expensive and hard to come by and I believe that they are progressive springs.

Eibach's Pro Kit is progressive springs as well, they run about 200-250 US $. Drop is about 1.2-1.4" I found that progressive springs cause struts to go berserk when you hit a bump.

Tein's S Techs are good too - drop is around 1.5-1.9" 170 US $. These springs are linear - same type springs on the protege lx,dx,es.

So the reason for dropping is usually for ride height on aftermarket rims. Consider auto x, spirited driving, potholes, temperature/climate, and how you want the setup of the car to handle.

oh btw, the only benefit would be to get the rear sway bar to counter understeer, i believe the MSP is 22mm vs 12-13mm on the pro.

I am selling the H&Rs for $199 plus shipping. 1.3 F and R.

Thanks for all the info. Could anyone clear up how exactly progressives 'go berserk'?
Do you mean they bounce alot, or make noise?

I had progressives (goldline) and my Tokico HP struts were a bit too much for them, so it was really bouncy and harsh. I stepped it up to some Tein S-Techs (much stiffer.. but linear) and the ride is so much better now :)

How about the racingbeat ones that come on the MSP? I can get a decent deal on them, or are they just pretty much stock springs like my ES has?

They'll drop you about 3/4 in.

Not too bad. Are they performance, or do they ride the same as the ES. Don't want to spend money if my springs are fine.

They are stiffer, but barely

Thanks for the advice everyone. Ended up going with the RacingBeat ones from the MSP, along with the MSP front and rear sway bars. Got a good deal on the whole set.

Go dealership garage sales! $325 bucks for the bars + springs.

wow thats not a bad deal at all. are they actual racing beat ones or the mazda speed version?

Er, as far as I know, the Mazdaspeed ones are just racing beat ones with new stickers, but these are racingbeat branded. Got em from a mazda dealership. They were selling off surplus parts.

Guess that had MSP parts laying around unsold.

they are NOT the same

The difference between MSP and Racing Beat springs. Pics.

Hmm, well then. Anyways, bought from a dealer as OEM, so I'd assume they are the direct MSP replacements, not aftermarket racingbeats.

Yeah!!! I got my tom motorsports (ebay buy), on friday and put them on the same day. I'm extremely happy with them. When I was putting them on a couple people asked me if they were teins. Their linear so I don't have any play just a nice solid ride. PLUS they lowered my car 2" in the front and 1 3/4 in the rear!! I just got back from a 400 mile road trip and they were well worth the price. I couldn't be happier. They even have some play in them so their not too rough over railroad tracks, potholes ad things of that nature.

Hmm, right on. How much those go for after shipping?

80 overall~ There are more expensive ones available. Took a drive today tooand they are still running strong~:tightass: I have a military base by me too so I got a free alignment after, the true mechanic pointed out that I should re-grease the shocks too. It's alot quieter now.....

J-Pro, those MSP springs were designed for use with the MSP struts. If you install them with stock struts, HPs, or Illuminas, it'll look like you have two bodies in your trunk. FYI.

You mean it'll look too low in the back? I don't mind if the whole thing look lower.

Shouldn't it be even if all the struts are the same?

All struts aren't the same. The spring perch on the rear MSP struts is located higher on the strut body to accomodate the shorter MSP springs (see the link ames posted). Thus if you use MSP springs with non-MSP rear struts, the rear will appear almost an inch too low.

You'd get an even 3/4" drop using your stuff with MSP struts, which are a bit spendy--$460 at onlinemazdaparts.com.

I also bought a set of MSP springs, but fortunately learned about this discrepancy before I installed them. No harm done, my set was $15 on eBay.

The problem with progressive springs is that they are not matched to the strut's damping characteristics at all points through the suspension travel.

With a progressive-rate spring, the spring rate increases as the suspension is compressed. However, the strut's damping is independent of the amount the suspension is compressed. Thus, when the suspension is nearly fully extended, you have overdamping; when the suspension is more nearly fully compressed, you have underdamping.

Linear springs are easier to work with since they can be matched to the strut damping throughout the suspension travel, which makes handling more predictable (this is more critical for the front suspension).

At 158/117 lb/in (f/r), MSP springs are about 15/10% (f/r) stiffer than stock ES springs.

Guess it makes sence. Are there any alternatives besides the MSP ones? I'd figure most performance struts would be build expecting performance springs (which are usually shorter).

Also, does the front matter as much, or is this issue mainly for the back?

Nope. MSP and MP3 springs are oddballs. In terms of setting up your suspension properly, you're better off getting a different set of springs and a set of HPs or Illuminas to match.

Only the back.

Wierd... Oh well, already bought the springs, and I'm still on stock struts from about 60000 miles ago.

Couldn't hurt to get them changed.

So, would I be able to just install the springs on the stock ones for now and do the struts later? I don't have the cash to go and buy some struts right now.

I don't know...dropping your car and reusing your old, stock struts is kinda like stepping in a puddle, only when you get home you change your shoes but leave your dripping wet sock on.

^Bwah! Yep - that is it! So do the strut swap too. It is such a PITA you don't want to do it twice and at 60K on the struts they are worn anyway...

Bleh... Looks like the springs are going to be sitting around for a little while then. This 'good deal' I got on the springs is turning out to be quite expensive, haha.

waited until I got some time, sorry about taking so long. Here are the pics, I'll try to get more tomorrow with the wheels off and parked next to a mazda 3,6 or protege there's alot at work!!

here are the bad pics but it is lower!!http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c7...oweredReaR.jpg
http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c7...h1/lowered.jpg

Future mods: Rims I hope?

Haha, just playing, but for real, that would look alot better with 17"s.

Steelies FTW!!!

Me too I have a couple options, there is a guy on base selling rims and tires for $400 obo but their five lug universal so i don't know if they fit~ 17"s too just what I want~

Looks to me like you need 4-lug rims.

Yup, Pro sedans need a 4 lug pattern. Anything else wont fit. I have the same thing, and it's a pain to find good, cheap rims with that pattern.