Protege5online

I did the Eibachs on the Protege5 & I love it. Lowered it just enough to leave a small gap (which will be changed when I do the wheels in a little while) Eibach is about a 1.4" or so drop (slightly different between the Sedan & Pro5) It rides just fine. I dont feel Im suffering any ride comfort. I would highly suggest the Eibach set up.

nyczmp3

HEY PRO5 ONLINE...HOW IS THE P5 WITH THE EIBACHS DIFFRENT THAN THE SEDAN WITH THEM??...so if i get them i wont see a good drop??

Bruce95fmla

i don't see any reason why you should not get a good drop with the eibachs. It won't be more than the racing beats that you have on your car, If you want to go lower then go better get a complete coilover set up on the car, I think AWR has something , look into that..
Bruce

StuttersC

How do I put this?? What I mean is that both springs effectivley make the car handle the same minus any changes that the slightly lower center of gravity has.

The only difference between the MP3 springs and Racing Beat springs should be the ride height. Both springs should make the car car handle the same way.

I think that's what I meant to say and siad it clowned up. Sorry.

StuttersC

Nope. Don't have any of that. Do you??

I'm just going off of what I was told when I called Racing Beat about it. They haven't put the springs on a spring dyno either. They pretty much guessed what I have stated. Which I pretty much thought before I called them.

I understand that you would have to put both sets of springs on a spring dyno and then put them in a car back to back to try to determine if there is any real difference. Of course, measuring everything twice and double checking that.

Since Mazda went to Racing Beat to develop the handling of the Protege, it would make sense that Mazda would then use proportionally the same spring rates while keeping a close to stock ride height for the MP3.

And, I can analyze a lot of things based on a little SWAG-ing and some intuition...But, by all means, go ahead and measure all of this and give us a report on what you find. I'm sure there are a number of people who would appreciate a final answer to the "MP3 spring v Racing Beat spring" question.

StuttersC

Oh well...I guess while you are at it you'll just have to go and buy a 3rd gen too and get crackin' on this.

I aksed why Racing Beat hasn't done any testing between the two and they said, "We've had no need to."

I'm like, "Ok, thanks..."

Does anyone happen to know what rates the World Challenge cars are running?? I would be willing to bet that the rates are in between that and stock.

Some more SWAG for ya there...

Eric F

7" 325lbs spring in front and 8" 600lbs springs in the rear. The Racing Beat springs are 21% stiffer than stock front and rear, while the MP3 springs are 16% stiffer in front and 19% stiffer rear.

StuttersC

So then the 7" 325 and 8" 600 numbers are for the stock Protege??

And since the MP3 springs are shorter, so are the Racing Beat springs, I forget how to figure this stuff out. I'm going to be busy finding this stuff out again.

Eric F

You're kidding right? No, the 7" length 325lbs front and 8" length 600lbs rear springs are from the SCCA legal trunk kit for the Protege. They are 2.5" inner diameter racing springs for coil-over struts. Those spring rates would be very uncomfortable on the street. The stock spring rates are much lower and the springs are longer in length and diameter.

The thicker the wire used, the stiffer the spring rate.
The shorter the wire length, the stiffer the spring.
The greater the distance between coils, the stiffer the spring rate.

StuttersC

Yep...We just got a nice little cold snap here and I think my brain is frozen.

Bruce95fmla

if you intend to use the ground control coilovers , then I suggest you get a set of aftermarket adjustable shocks , cause the factory shocks just won't hold up against the springs for longer that 6-8 months , depending on where you live , give or take 4 months
...
to be honest, I installed a set of H&R's on my friends Accord coupe , and when we were done the car looked so sweet , ofcourse it ran shocks , with the wishbone suspension .... very easy to work on ... I just wish the protege would drop like these cars, but with stubborn struts ,, it won't happen
bruce

Eric F

Bruce, strut suspension cars like ours can be lowered like the Honda double wishbone suspension, it's just more expensive. The shock/spring combination on Honda's double wishbone suspension is very similar to a coil over unit. It is very east to work on, and easy to lower. Strut suspension based cars like ours need to have shorter strut housing bodies in order to be lowered 2" or more and still maintain decent compression travel. The AWR and JIC coil-overs available for Proteges use shorter than stock strut bodies.

Bruce95fmla

I hear ya , but aren't they pretty expensive, the average guy won't buy them , but with the honda, a set of coilovers would put the car litterally on the floor, as oppesed to my car when it had coils would barely drop
bruce

Eric F

Very true, I was just pointing out it can be done. I mentioned that it's expensive compared to Hondas, but what isn't. There economy of scale is much better than ours. Manufacturers produce and sell many more parts for Honda Civics/Integras than they due for Mazda Proteges, so the individual part cost is lower. Sometimes you do get what you pay though, so I'll stick with Mazda.