H&R Owners Feedback Wanted

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2008 Mazda5 GT
H&R Owners Feedback Wanted

Hoping those running on H&R can give some feedback. Im considering toning it down (it is a hard decision b/c I really like my current setup but now have to factor in passenger comfort).

A) Are you using 1st gen or 2nd gen H&R springs? Is the -1.4 front and -1.3 rear drop even with an unloaded car?
B) What shocks/struts did you pair it with and how long have you been riding on this setup??
C) $$$Million dollar question: Are you able carry a full load (say 6 occupants + some cargo, avg. total weight ~800-1,000 lbs) and does this rub? Or blow shocks/struts prematurely? Do rear passengers have a somewhat decent/comfortable ride (assuming you sat in the 3rd row)?
 
I cant specifically answer your H&R questions, but I am about to start transitioning to Koni Yellows with my Megan Racing springs. As far as I have read they are the only shocks available geared towards lowering/aftermarket springs.

I say transitioning because I just got the rear shocks and new bump stops in the mail today. Front struts to follow in a couple months. One of the trailing arm bushings is looking questionable, I will be replacing those with ford focus polyurethane replacements in the next couple months.

I have about 25k miles on unknown mileage oem struts/shocks since lowering springs went in. Ride still isnt TERRIBLE (its much better than the lowered Accent I just sold) but they are absolutely on their way out, more suspension noise/clunks, one of the rears is leaking. I was running heavy, wide wheels, I think that made the entire situation worse as far as the suspension not being able to keep up. Feels much better on oem wheels despite crap tires.

I should try to keep up with my build progress on here as I start making more changes. I am at 119k miles now and the suspension is tired, so its going to be just chipping away at things bit by bit to tighten things up. I grew tired of having to drive carefully to not rub my tires, I want something that handles and I can toss around without worrying about it.
 
I cant specifically answer your H&R questions, but I am about to start transitioning to Koni Yellows with my Megan Racing springs. As far as I have read they are the only shocks available geared towards lowering/aftermarket springs.

I say transitioning because I just got the rear shocks and new bump stops in the mail today. Front struts to follow in a couple months. One of the trailing arm bushings is looking questionable, I will be replacing those with ford focus polyurethane replacements in the next couple months.

I have about 25k miles on unknown mileage oem struts/shocks since lowering springs went in. Ride still isnt TERRIBLE (its much better than the lowered Accent I just sold) but they are absolutely on their way out, more suspension noise/clunks, one of the rears is leaking. I was running heavy, wide wheels, I think that made the entire situation worse as far as the suspension not being able to keep up. Feels much better on oem wheels despite crap tires.

I should try to keep up with my build progress on here as I start making more changes. I am at 119k miles now and the suspension is tired, so its going to be just chipping away at things bit by bit to tighten things up. I grew tired of having to drive carefully to not rub my tires, I want something that handles and I can toss around without worrying about it.
Koni Sports (aka Koni yellow) and Bilstein Sports (also yellow, look at rear V50 – same chassis, similar weight/weight distribution, slight difference in bushing size) are prob the only two legitimate options. Both kinda pricy for this old car.

How low are the Megans? Without knowing how rough your daily roads are, it is promising the front stock shocks can survive for a little bit and reaffirms the rears seem to be failing first. Do you often carry passgners+cargo or ride solo? When the car is loaded up, you are riding on near the end of stroke travel + compressed bump stops and these softly valve stock shocks cannot control the oscillation (amplified by passenger/cargo cabin weight), causing them to move too much to compensate, which build up heat, which causes seals to fail -> “blown shock”. I’ve been looking around a bit and am contemplating a hybrid of front Mazda 5 KYB Excel-G (f.k.a. GR2) + rear V50 KYB Excel-G (KYB does not make a Gas-A-Just for the rear :( ). From the little bit of tech info I can find, seems the V50 rears are a tad shorter with less travel, which is more ideal with a lowered springs. Top mount is the same but lower bushings are different size.
 
Good call on cross shopping the V50. I also like your thinking about the shorter rear shock. I breifly considered going with mazda 5 specific kyb gas-a-just rears and koni FSD fronts. But those seem geared towards stock springs.

I figured if I am spending this amount of money on konis that for any possible warranty issues I better get the set that was designed for my car. (And can you imagine what my wife would say if I blew my new shocks in a year!! LOL) I understand the rear konis are unique to the 5 but the fronts are same as the mazdaspeed 3. I briefly looked at MS3 bilstien options but again deferred to the set sold for my specific vehicle. My hope is that by getting the koni sports, advertised for aftermarket spring applications, they might actually last a little while.

I believe the advertised drop for Megans 1.75" front and rear. No idea how the spring rates compare to H&R, but the Megans are a progressive rate spring. 90% of the time it is just me in the car and my 15 month old daughter in her carseat, passenger side middle seat. I keep my back row folded down. If I do carry anything in the back for an extended time its usually negligible weight.

I need to read up a little more, about if I should consider trimming my new bump stops when I install the rear shocks. I know sometimes people do that when they lower their cars, and these rear bumpstops look huge. The new ones feel a lot firmer than the crusty old ones on there now.
 
Some info that you may find useful.

First thing you should do once you get the Konis is depress the shock piston all the way down and measure how much suspension travel you have to work with. The adjustment knobs control the rate of oil flow valve in compression (you need high end shocks to control both compression and rebound). This allows you to set the shocks to react fast/slower to match different spring rates. Shock bodies are fitted (mounting and size) to a model car but shock valving is fitted to a spring (rate & travel).

You should do some basic measurement of the Megan springs to know how much travel you have. Total OD length - # of coils x coil thickness; take 20% off that total value as a safety measure. Whats left is how much springs movement you have. This should be equal to or slightly smaller than the total Konis piston travel. If too much spring, you risk collapsing the shock. If too much shock, you risk spring bind. When set right, you dont have to worry about either.

Bump stops Unless they are ~.5 thick and is really hard, they are no longer bump stops that serve to prevent collapse (over compression) of the shocks. All modern day bump stops are known as jounce bumpers, which act as auxiliary springs (notice how long they are?). The accordion shape and size are effectively extra spring rates to help cushion/offset shock compression driven by the main spring (humps/bumps or going through sweepers/chicanes). In OEM applications, they are designed to work WITH the OE spring length/rate to control a desired suspension travel/motion. A lot of cars actually sit on bump stops at rest. They come in various lengths, which you can get from different vendors. In short, if you have OE length bump stops with lowering springs, you will need to trim them or it will engage the stiff end often, resulting in an unnecessary jarring ride. If you have enough suspension travel AND your shocks are up-to-snuff, you can remove it all together and just let the spring and shocks do all the work (prob want to add a ~.5 bump stop as safety measure). This brings another problem. Bumps stops are progressively rated. If you trim the smaller end, you are trimming the softer transition engagement point. I believe out rear bump stops are integrated into the dust boot cover so you cant trim the stiffer end. Even if you do, do you really want to trim the stiffer tend that may sever to save you from a hard suspension hit? The proper way it to get appropriate length jounce bumpers for your application. All major suspension mfgs. sell them in various specs.



Back to topic at hand, no H&R users around anymore?? Anyone looking to install a set? Id like to get some numbers on these spring (H&R does not advertise/disclose tech specs).
 
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Hoping those running on H&R can give some feedback. I’m considering toning it down (it is a hard decision b/c I really like my current setup but now have to factor in passenger comfort).

A) Are you using 1st gen or 2nd gen H&R springs? Is the -1.4” front and -1.3” rear drop even with an unloaded car?
B) What shocks/struts did you pair it with and how long have you been riding on this setup??
C) $$$Million dollar question: Are you able carry a full load (say 6 occupants + some cargo, avg. total weight ~800-1,000 lbs) and does this rub? Or blow shocks/struts prematurely? Do rear passengers have a somewhat decent/comfortable ride (assuming you sat in the 3rd row)?

Ok, I can answer some of these. I've been running H&Rs on my 2010 touring since 62,000 miles. I currently have 112,300 miles. When I first installed them, I also installed KYBs up front leaving original shocks in the rear. The ride was quiet (at first) but by the following spring, a noise started coming from the back which turned out to be a blown shock, so I replaced them with KYBs (super easy). RX-8 wheels with Cooper RS3, mazdaspeed 1st gen rear sway bar with prothane greaseable bushings, Moog greaseable endlinks, SPC rear camber arms, and 5mm rear spacers round out my setup. It seems like it was made for the the larger wheels and lower profile tires as I've still not been able to get this setup to break loose. But it will rotate if driven as aggressively on the the stock 17 inch wheels. The car sits lower unloaded. I would say the advertised drop is correct, and I would advise against pulling up to curbs as you'll most likely hit them. It doesn't look slammed, just lowered. I've driven from Tupelo, MS to Fernwood MS (round trip 540+ miles) with six passengers. No complaints from them or the car. No rubbing whatsoever even on those overpass expansion joints. My kids prefer sitting in the back 2 seats than anywhere else in the car. The springs were compressed a bit lower than usual but it never bottomed out like with stock springs. I've hit the bump stops with OEM setup but not now. My wife's car is more comfortable (air conditioned seats) and rides smoother but the 5 is more exciting to drive and is not jarring with the H&Rs. I've ridden with 4 passengers and a ton of stuff in the basket on top with no problems. The ONLY issues that I've had with this setup is clunking noise in the front which turned out to be the nut loosening up on top of the strut on the passenger side and then the strut punching completely through the strut bearing plate. I replaced it with a Moog part as OEM is very thin to begin with. Hope this helps you.
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Thank you. This is very valuable feedback. How many miles have you been on full KYB + H&R? And are the rears Gas-A-Just or Excel-G (fka GR2)? Did you do anything (mod/cut or replace) the bump stops?

I need to replace shocks but don’t want to throw too much money into this car. I am targeting Bilstein B4s but debating if I should try sticking in H&Rs while at it…
 
I have about 20K+ on this setup with full KYBs. No mods to the rear bumpstops. Another benefit to the H&Rs is that you won't have to compress them to install the front struts, making installation easy and worry free. If you look on my pictures in my garage area you can see the shocks I used for the rear. I'm thinking gas-a-just. I did end up cutting a bolt that holds the adjustable a arm to make it easier to remove in the future if necessary. This car sticks like Velcro! The Only bad thing about it. I can no longer slide my floor jack underneath. I have to drive it up on homemade ramps first.

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