The difference between MSP and Racing Beat springs. Pics.

[amsgator]

so will the msp springs make the rear sit lower than the mp3 ones? i'm debating on buying some msp ones for 50 bux because i cant afford springs and struts. poor college kid here

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=106574

 

[CulRidr]

BTW, very late update; I'm still moving in and haven't had the time to measure them, but the MP3 "Racing Beat" springs don't have the name on them...They are kinda burried right now so I couldn't measure them if I wanted.
They are kinda for sale if anyone is interested, but they'll be REALLY cheap since they have roughly 80,000 miles on them. I'll have a FS ad. if noone PMs me from this thread...

 

[JoshP5]

so will the msp springs make the rear sit lower than the mp3 ones?[/url]

Yes, MSP springs are a tad lower than MP3 springs.

 

[amsgator]

will the front be a tad lower too or just the rear?

 

[JoshP5]

I think you're getting things mixed up. MP3 springs/struts, when used together, result in a 1/2" drop over a standard Protege. MSP springs/struts drop about 3/4". A separate issue is the spring perch on the rear MP3 and MSP struts is attached at a different location on the strut body, necessitating a shorter spring (as indicated in post #1). If you put the shorter rear MP3 or MSP springs on any strut other than the MP3/MSP models, it will drop the rear about an inch too much. Got it?

 

[amsgator]

that has mp3 springs on it, and i was wondering what would look different if I put MSP ones instead of MP3 on my p5

 

[JoshP5]

It'll look like this--MSP springs on stock struts:

 

[amsgator]

ok. it only looks like it is 1/2 in lower in the rear, but in reality the car is the same height just the rear well is smaller. :-\

for 50 bux i might just go ahead and do it and if i get enough money later i can get teins and hps.

 

[CulRidr]

OK so I FINALLY took the time to clean my MP3 "Racing Beat" springs tonight so that they could go their new owner...and therefore I took some measurements for you guys before I sold them off.
Height
Front = 31.4cm
Back = 34.4cm

Thickness
Front = 14.5mm
Back = 11.7mm

 

[JoshP5]

Thanks, dude. That pretty much confirms that all three kinds are indeed different.

 

[CulRidr]

Big bump for an old (but good) thread.
I think there is some misinformation about the rear MP3 struts. I unfortunately sold mine a long time ago and completely forgot to take pictures of the rears to compare (in the same garage, I had the MP3 struts, Illuminas and [green, TRUE] mazdaspeed struts and completely forgot to take pix when I was doing my suspension swap). They may be a shade higher, and I'm only basing this off of the measurements of the springs, but I don't believe they are different from stock in terms of perch height. I'll try and find out...

 

[MP3Performance]

Here are a couple old pics of the MP3 strut and spring compared to the illuminas. The fronts seem to be the same height, while the rear struts are a inch or more longer then the illuminas. You can also compare the MP3 springs to the espiler springs.


Front:

Rear:

 

[CulRidr]

Perfect!
I'd been looking for that picture for a while as I had remember seeing it. The perch is really the important part since the travel of the strut won't affect anything. The total length of the strut (when installed) will be the same since the mounting point is solid on the top, and the travel of the trailing/lateral links will limit how low they can go when all bolted up
Can you also post the original thread?

Edit, someone should really go edit all those posts that say the rear perch is higher so as to not spread misinformation...

 

[njaremka]

thats is exceptionally interesting. are those actual MP3 struts, or are they aftermarket tokico blues? there was a picture floating around that showed the rear spring perch being at a different height, but that one shows them at the same height....

 

[njaremka]

i say what i say because of this picture:

 

[CulRidr]

^That's the rear MSP strut

 

[MP3Performance]

Perfect!
Can you also post the original thread?

Here is the original link. But there is no additional info about it since I just posted it so people could have a visual reference. As the saying goes one picture is worth a thousand posts without pics. lol. If you need anything else I could check it out if needed.

http://www.mazdas247.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123692770&highlight=strut&page=4

And to answer njaremka's question, yes they are stock MP3 struts and springs. I took the pic when I was replacing them as a reference for others. I still have the stock strut and springs in my basement as they were still in good shape when I took them out.

If you look closely in one of the pics you can see half an endlink still attached. Thats what happens when parts don't comply due to rust, Dremel cutter FTW!!.

 

[njaremka]

so then, the MSP and MP3 struts are COMPLETELY different... interesting