Question for the suspension guru's...

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » January 27th, 2006, 6:25 pm

Ok.. Suspensions are my biggest weak point when it comes to working on cars.. in my past.. the components were always so expensive that I usually procrastinated replacing anything that wasnt completely & utterly destroyed. Soon I will be looking at doing the suspension on my MX-3. Now I have no intention of lowering my car.. I have a hard enough time hauling my a-- outta the seat as it is.. but what I am curious about is whether or not it would be prudent to upgrade my struts from just a RS replacement strut to a GS replacement strut.. and if this would be prudent.. are they a direct bolt in for both front & rear? (My guess is that they are.. but there are Guru's here that know a lot more about this that I ever will LOL) I did do a bit of searching.. but couldnt find anything that directly correlated RS struts to GS struts. Cheers

Tunes67

Vanished · Post by **Vanished** » January 27th, 2006, 6:42 pm

Seeing as your not lowering, I'd defantly suggest KYB struts. Theyre OEM replacement, shoudl be about 250 dollras for four, and they are are built well.

Oh by the way, i'm not a guru...i'm just answereing your post anyway.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » January 27th, 2006, 6:43 pm

Heh.. believe me.. when it comes to suspensions.. everyone is a guru compared to me LOL.. Give me a good old engine to work on anyday

Tunes67

jschrauwen · Post by **jschrauwen** » January 27th, 2006, 8:04 pm

Eric, in my shop manual, in the (TD) Technical Data section, there doesn't appear to be any segregation/distinction between the RS [B6] or the GS [K8] struts. There is however a difference when it comes to spring selections and applications wrt whether it's front or rear, GS or RS, ATX or MTX and combinations thereof. Page TD-26 in my manual lays it all out. Not sure if the page numbering coincides with your manual, but nonetheless, it should be there. Hope this helps "big guy" .... hehehehe.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » January 27th, 2006, 8:07 pm

LOL.. ok.. now I feel like a dumbass.. thanks John

Never even thought to drag out the shop manual.. doh! Yeah I can check that out this weekend and see what will fit. Since I am not exactly your average sized person.. I have been thinking I would upgrade my springs and struts a bit to handle the extra load

Thanks Jbeef

Tunes67

nos92mx3 · Post by **nos92mx3** » January 27th, 2006, 8:29 pm

When Im at work tomarrow Ill check the part numbers and see if they are the same.

PATDIESEL · Post by **PATDIESEL** » January 27th, 2006, 11:58 pm

The part numbers for the struts ar ethe same, but the springs differ from year to year, engine and tranny. Seems like they must have had about 20 different springs for the MX-3.

Sounds like Mazda

Anyway, the real ? is, what are you looking for? A stock like replacement with a bit of added stiffness for weight, a more sporty ride, or a Auto-X type suspension?

1. For a stock-like setup, I'd just use a KYB strut and GS spring. Get new upper strut mounts (from MazdaSpeed, Eibach (I think) or Mazda)

2. For a more sporty ride get KYBs, and GC coils so that you can set the heigth at stock and some upper strut bars.

3. The premium package is MS struts, GC coils, strut bars, SRD controll arm bushings.

There are other things you can buy to upgrade the suspension over #3, but That is truely for the roller coaster rider.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » January 28th, 2006, 12:07 pm

Thanks Pat, I think I will end up going with option 1.5

How does this sound..

KYB struts w/ GS springs and new upper strut mounts, along with front and rear strut bars? Should be better than stock as for handling and still have a decent ride with a bit extra support... right? Just for the record.. I already have installed a Whiteline front strut bar.. and this did improve my handling vastly..

One other thing I have thought of.. but will check in my manual to see how complex of an issue it might be.. would be to add the GS rear sway bar as well. Seems I have seen a couple of posts about this idea and if memory recalls correctly.. there was some kind of mounting issue.

Basically I am working on the assumption that my suspension is probably completely stock at this point.. so general maintenance would be prudent soon before a strut blows out on me.

Thanks for the help guys

Tunes67

PATDIESEL · Post by **PATDIESEL** » January 29th, 2006, 4:33 am

First of all, Whiteline makes REAR strut bars not front. The GS rear tie bar will bolt right on the RS. AtlMX3 has one on his car and it went right on. The GS front cross member will not fit and maybe that is what you are thinking about.

Good luck with the set-up. I should be a nice balance of fun and comfort.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » January 30th, 2006, 2:19 pm

Hmmm.. well.. I bought the front strut tower bar from Sam Baker a while back.. and he shipped it too me in a Whiteline box.. granted.. it might not have been the original box.. but I am sure you could see how I could make such a mistake.

Tunes67

Mazdaracer · Post by **Mazdaracer** » February 2nd, 2006, 2:38 pm

my suggestion:

ZX2 S/R Tokico struts ($160 for all 4)
GS Springs
MSmotorsport upper mounts
Sway bars (rather than strut bars)

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » February 2nd, 2006, 2:58 pm

Sway bars (rather than strut bars)

Actually.. I was planning on both. As for the ZX2 S/R Tokico struts.. isnt there some modification neccessary to mount these struts.. seems I remember reading about that. Anyway.. I want to use direct bolt in parts rather than anything that requires modification. This car is my daily commuter car and with the exception of swapping out the weak ATX for a MTX transmission.. the car will be remaining mostly stock.. some decent rims and tires down the road as well.. maybe a canadien GS spoiler at some point and new paint.. but thats all I really have planned for it other than general maintenance. I am still trying to decide what car to get for a "Toy" project.. something I can build the piss out of and smack down all the ricers and maybe even a few of the muscle heads as well

Cheers

Tunes67