Our New 2012 PRHT SS Project....

[Brian]

Waiting on boxes....hope to ship next week!

[seatac]

Waiting on boxes....hope to ship next week!

[bubbajan21]

Have you tested your new braces in conjunction with the ILM braces? Would the 2 front braces be compatible with the ILM X-brace and rear butterfly brace or would the X-Brace have to be removed to make it all fit together?

[Brian]

Sorry, have not tried to mix and match. Note our new kit will only be sold as complete setup.

[eur0pium]

Hello all,

I just purchased a new Club PRHT, and I am excited to drive it.
I owned a 20XX SE that I adored, but it was totalled in an accident last year, and so I decided to get an NC.
My first one was a 2006 Sport, but I wasn't a fan of the 5MT and after 6 months I decided on the Club.

I began following several posts on .net and here on NA builds, I don't want to go FI, and after reading through them, I am really excited to start with some mods.

My 06 seemed like a tub, and I've only put 60 miles on my Club before I left for deployment so I have no perspective on what it really feels like, but after reading I decided to go with improving suspension first using the SS as my template, and then move on to the exhaust...

Lastly was the Tune. I read in this thread that a ECU tune was done, but I never saw the dyno numbers. I can't remember if the new cams were installed either. Mind you my internet on deployment is sketchy at best, and most pictures take forever to load and I may have missed it, but I was wondering what the SS is now producing...

[Brian]

I did eventually put in a MotoEast tune, though I need to give Mike some more datalogs to finish up that process and get it back to the dyno. Main reason for doing the reflash on this car was to get rid of the 2nd gear torque limitation that the factory included on 6speed cars, makes the car quite a bit more fun around town to have that limitation gone.

[Bart]

Brian,

It’s been over 1000 miles and yesterday, once again since my last few attempts, I got under the car and loosened the bolts on the lower part of the shock and upper suspension arms and drove over 10 miles trying to get the car to settle to less than 14.5 inches. The front, with the Progress sways and spring installed, has settled to 13.5. But, after all the driving and bouncing on the back of the car and torquing the bolts on the ground it remains the dreaded 14.5 inches. I’m about to give up, but an idea has occurred. The diagrams that show the exploded view of the rear suspension and the wording on the same talk about the need for the bouncing and torquing while on the ground. So it appears that Mazda knows about this problem. So, if I take it to my local Mazda shop would they be able to make it sit lower?

PS. My car is the 2010 Touring with soft top and sport suspension upgrade.

Thanks
Bart

[Brian]

Yes, stuck bushings. See it with every brand of springs and coilovers on NC MX5....because it has nothing to do with the springs or coilovers, it's stuck bushings. Yes, Mazda knows all about it, we know all about it too, that's why we included the Mazda TSB on the subject in the product description for the Progress Springs in the hope folks will read the product description and follow our tips there.

Note that in addition to the bouncing on the ground, Rocky (head mechanic here) will sometimes need to use a flat head screw driver to peel the bushing edges away from the suspension arm/link to which they are stuck. Rocky will also jack the entire car up by the spindle at each corner to get those bushings unstuck and moving. The result here is that we get the same lowered front and rear every time with these springs, week after week, month after month.... but there is no secret to getting it done, and it's not about going through the motions or using any one particular trick, results will not change until you get those bushings to release and move.

Another thread at Miata.net on the same topic today AT THIS LINK, and I notice at least one customer therein mentions same method of jacking entire car by the spindle.

[Bart]

Brian,

Thanks for the quick reply. This gives me encouragement. I'll give it a try.

Question: What is the spindle?

Thanks
Bart

[elloco54]

Brian
Would that same issue cause a problem setting the camber on the front suspension. Took my car to have the negitive camber increased and the most they could get on the pass side was 1.3 deg but the dr side would get over 2 and I have H&R lower springs and the ride height is good.