Time for new suspension...

[In4am0sPuN]

Well... Its been exactly 55,012 miles and FINALLY I find my ride going downhill... I would rather go with a strut/spring combo over coilovers... Since the car is my DD I dont want the MAX Drop, because once or twice in the week I would have 3+ ppl in my car.

I was looking @ going for the Illumina's, Just dont know what to match it with... N e 1 have Idea's? I would like to be looking @ an one inch drop or so w/ the same if not more smooth ride and of course the same if not better handling

[Outlawstar98]

BC Racing Coilovers, In my opinion, just cause 1. Camber Plate, 2. Ride height Adjustable, and 3, Stiffness adjustment from the top of the strut ( i believe its that haha)

[Rogue]

a popular setup seems to be the Illuminas with Tein H-tech springs, or maybe S-tech. I forget which one is the lower drop. I know you said you don't want full coilovers, but if you end up changing your mind, I'd go with BC. You can choose your spring rates to make sure it's not too stiff.

[StealthWyvern]

I have tein springs (not sure which) and tokco blues and the ride is soft compared to my old p5 and the drop isnt to bad! I haven't scuffed the front bumper like i used to in my p5 which is werid because the p5 sits higher.

Edit: This shoudl give you a good idea how it sits.

http://www.msprotege.com/members/StealthWyvern/MSP/DSCF0909.JPG

[Rush]

Tokico Illumina struts and Espelier (did I spell that right?) springs.

Ask Kooldino or 505zoom about how those springs ride. I've never heard a bad thing about 'em, and they don't lower the car too much, either.

[junya1985]

I got tokico hp and eibach sportline lines rides real nice and i've had alot of people in my car and had no problems

[MrDiggler]

Tokico Illumina struts and Espelier (did I spell that right?) springs.

Ask Kooldino or 505zoom about how those springs ride. I've never heard a bad thing about 'em, and they don't lower the car too much, either.

Rush is right on the money. The Espilir/Illumina combo is the best I found after trying a few combos. The drop is perfect, the handling is very good and the ride isn't much stiffer than stock. I've been very happy with it over the last 50k miles.

One thing I found is that the wrong springs will really screw up the handling of the MSP. It's easy to overlower the car with springs like Goldlines, which gets the roll couple out of whack.

FWIW, if you go with Illuminas, they would roughly equal the stock HPs at a setting of 1.5, which obviously doesn't exist. This was from an engineer at Tokico who worked on the suspension development for the MSP, and it gives you an idea of where to start. I run mine at 2 front and rear.

[livelyjay]

If I were able to replace my struts with something other than stock (SCCA rules) I would go with either the Tokico Blue or Illumina suspension kits. Decently priced and you get a nice matched package. Then down the road with the new struts blow you can just get off the shelf struts.

BTW, can I buy your rear struts when you replace them? I'll be in NYC sometime in September so you might not even need to ship them :)

[In4am0sPuN]

Rush is right on the money. The Espilir/Illumina combo is the best I found after trying a few combos. The drop is perfect, the handling is very good and the ride isn't much stiffer than stock. I've been very happy with it over the last 50k miles.

One thing I found is that the wrong springs will really screw up the handling of the MSP. It's easy to overlower the car with springs like Goldlines, which gets the roll couple out of whack.

FWIW, if you go with Illuminas, they would roughly equal the stock HPs at a setting of 1.5, which obviously doesn't exist. This was from an engineer at Tokico who worked on the suspension development for the MSP, and it gives you an idea of where to start. I run mine at 2 front and rear.


Are the springs for the Pro5 and MSP the same?? I am going thru their site and the Espilir Springs only come for the pro5

[In4am0sPuN]

BTW, can I buy your rear struts when you replace them? I'll be in NYC sometime in September so you might not even need to ship them :)

Sure... If I get the suspension on b4 u get here I would have no prob w/ that

[livelyjay]

Are the springs for the Pro5 and MSP the same?? I am going thru their site and the Espilir Springs only come for the pro5

No they are not. Here's the deal with springs and struts. If you get OEM MSP replacement struts, you need to stick with the MSP springs because the rear spring mount on the strut is slightly higher than a stock Protege. If you get off the shelf (OTS) Protege replacement struts you'll need to get OTS lowering springs.

1) If you use MSP springs on OTS struts your rear end will be slightly too low.
2) If you use OTS springs with MSP struts your rear end will be slightly too high, causing a raked look.

So, either go all OEM MSP springs and struts or go all OTS Protege struts and springs.

[livelyjay]

Sure... If I get the suspension on b4 u get here I would have no prob w/ that

Sweet!

[In4am0sPuN]

No they are not. Here's the deal with springs and struts. If you get OEM MSP replacement struts, you need to stick with the MSP springs because the rear spring mount on the strut is slightly higher than a stock Protege. If you get off the shelf (OTS) Protege replacement struts you'll need to get OTS lowering springs.

1) If you use MSP springs on OTS struts your rear end will be slightly too low.
2) If you use OTS springs with MSP struts your rear end will be slightly too high, causing a raked look.

So, either go all OEM MSP springs and struts or go all OTS Protege struts and springs.

planning to go with the Espilir and Illumina set up... so that would be fine correct?

[livelyjay]

If the Espilir springs you are looking at are made for the regular Protege then you are good to go.

[In4am0sPuN]

Year- 02-UP
Car- Mazda Protege 5 Espelir Springs
Type- ASD
Front- 35mm
Rear- 35mm
Front Rates- 3.2
Rear Rates- 2.8

[MrDiggler]

Are the springs for the Pro5 and MSP the same?? I am going thru their site and the Espilir Springs only come for the pro5

Don't know if they're the same or not. I got mine from a vendor here on the site, but I can't remember who it was.

[livelyjay]

I would be weary of buying Protege5 springs for a regular Protege. On Tein and Eibachs web sites they have different springs for the P5 and regular Protege. I would call ProtegeGarage and talk to them about it.

[In4am0sPuN]

cool, thx for the heads up guys