I need MS Coilover Kit advice

[palerider]

I ordered the kit yesterday and hope to have it installed immediately on arrival. I know there are some guys using this... and Ive seen a little input from aways back on how the adjustments have been made.

My question is what should I do for my initial setup? Ive read that the kit comes with some recommendations.... how standard are they depending on individual setups? What are your impressions if you've been on them awhile and/or made a few adjustments?

For what its worth... Ive got the Rays rims on 225/40 Kumho spts. It needs a drop pretty badly. Is anybody running these on the full 25mm drop? Hows the feel? And with coilovers does the ride change much depending on the drop?

Anyway...any tips would be appreciated. Im TOTALLY inexperienced with coilovers so I am hoping some guys weigh in before the install. I dont want to put these on and feel like its Nascar. I know the rear adjustment is more than just a couple minutes... so Im hoping to get it halfway right initially.

Thanks.

[nypest]

Hey are you installing yourself??

[palerider]

Hey are you installing yourself??

Hell....no...lol. But I'll be watching it all and claiming I did:)

[nypest]

I ordered the kit yesterday and hope to have it installed immediately on arrival. I know there are some guys using this... and Ive seen a little input from aways back on how the adjustments have been made.

My question is what should I do for my initial setup? Ive read that the kit comes with some recommendations.... how standard are they depending on individual setups? What are your impressions if you've been on them awhile and/or made a few adjustments?

For what its worth... Ive got the Rays rims on 225/40 Kumho spts. It needs a drop pretty badly. Is anybody running these on the full 25mm drop? Hows the feel? And with coilovers does the ride change much depending on the drop?

Anyway...any tips would be appreciated. Im TOTALLY inexperienced with coilovers so I am hoping some guys weigh in before the install. I dont want to put these on and feel like its Nascar. I know the rear adjustment is more than just a couple minutes... so Im hoping to get it halfway right initially.

Thanks.

I have the kit now for about 3,000 miles or so and I love it in fact I just put the HKS sways on and the car handles amazing. After the initial settings and about a week settle in time I made a few adjustments and haven’t touched it since.

My set up is:

Rear: drop 1.00" with about 12mm left of drop. Rebound 2 clicks harder then the recomended
Front: drop 1.25 with about 10mm left of drop. Rebound 4 clicks harder then the recomended

I had 2 alignments done 1 was right after the install then another after the height adjustment.

[Rotus8]

I installed mine at exactly the factory recommendations. After driving a couple of days, I lifted the front 4 turns, and reduced the compression damping two clicks all around. I'm pretty happy with it now. If I take it to the track, I'll probably put it back to the factory recommended settings.

P.S. I also have the Hotchkis sways with the rear set to the softer position.

[nypest]

As far as the ride it defiantly changes from the stock feeling. It is tighter more connected to the road so naturally you feel more going on with the car but in my opinion it’s not HARSH but if you like soft and sloppy you will be disappointed. Oh and with the sways in OMG.

[nypest]

I installed mine at exactly the factory recommendations. After driving a couple of days, I lifted the front 4 turns, and reduced the compression damping two clicks all around. I'm pretty happy with it now. If I take it to the track, I'll probably put it back to the factory recommended settings.

P.S. I also have the Hotchkis sways with the rear set to the softer position.

Rotus was it you who made that rear tool for easier adj? I can’t remember. If it was genius mine works great.

[Rotus8]

Rotus was it you who made that rear tool for easier adj? I can’t remember. If it was genius mine works great.
Yup, thanks for the props.

[palerider]

Thanks guys... that was just the kind of feed back I was hoping for. Pest likes it hard and Rotus wanted it a little softer...lol

I have a feeling Im going to be alittle on the softer side.:) I can always stiffen things up gradually from there... Ive driven Lexus sedans for most of the last several years and I cant believe Im gonna be driving a damn dropped hatch as my daily...omg what have I done.(smash)

Do the sways make you want to tighen or soften it when they first go on?

And how long should this install take if done by a shop?

[Rotus8]

I installed sways, coilovers, and camberlinks all at once. It took me a full day, taking my time. I used ramps and jackstands. I think I could have done the coilovers themselves in a couple of hours; a shop should be able to do it somewhat quicker.

[palerider]

Yup, thanks for the props.

"coilover rear tool" came up no results on a search. One last post to help me find the discussion on your creative invention would be appreciated.

[Rotus8]

"coilover rear tool" came up no results on a search. One last post to help me find the discussion on your creative invention would be appreciated.
Well, the writeup is on "the other forum". Search for this exact string:

Installed MS Coilovers, MS rear camber links, Hotchkis Anti-Roll bars (http://**********************/index.php?topic=85514.msg1617655#msg1617655)

[palerider]

Well, the writeup is on "the other forum". Search for this exact string:

Installed MS Coilovers, MS rear camber links, Hotchkis Anti-Roll bars (http://**********************/index.php?topic=85514.msg1617655#msg1617655)

I found it....read it...I'll reread it. What an incredible writeup. You are an asset to the community here. Thanks.

We need to get that writeup over here too. Do you mind if I copy paste it or something? Maybe you should do it, so it shows up on searches.

[Rotus8]

I found it....read it...I'll reread it. What an incredible writeup. You are an asset to the community here. Thanks.

We need to get that writeup over here too. Do you mind if I copy paste it or something? Maybe you should do it, so it shows up on searches.
Thank you for the compliment. It's kinda old news (at least to me), but I guess if it helps people out. I posted it in the How-to section:
http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3542368#post3542368

[nypest]

I found it....read it...I'll reread it. What an incredible writeup. You are an asset to the community here. Thanks.

We need to get that writeup over here too. Do you mind if I copy paste it or something? Maybe you should do it, so it shows up on searches.

Yeah i felt that the car reacted better on a little bit of a harder setting.


HKS says there sways shoud take about 3 hrs average, mostly due to the front and having to drop the subframe. I have mine set to the stiffer setting (140% over stock) in the rear and i love it. Car feels so solid in the turns(but make sure your tires are warm first) lol

Yes i agree his write up was great!

[Sacrilicious]

ooo...nice write-up, rotus! it's really really nice to read through and find out about all the tricky stuff from someone who's already done it. thanks, man...:D

[mcspeed]

Having raced Formula Fords in the past, the way to set up your car with precision (in addition to alignment) is to weigh each corner of the car on a scale(each tire on a diff. scale) . You will be amazed at the difference it makes to have your car properly balanced. There is no other way to do it other than to measure it with weight. Height alone will not have the accuracy. When you tweak the LR weight it affects the RF as well as the other corners to a lesser extent.
When I had the car set up properly, it was like driving on rails. When I didn't, substitute the word rails with ice......a little exageration I know but the difference is huge in a race environment.

For every day street driving where tenths don't matter, no scales necessary.

[Rotus8]

+1. Adjustable ARB endlinks are also essential for accurate corner weighting.

[SHAGwagn]

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