Coilover or springs/struts??

[silvrMZhatch1]

Originally Posted by JosephJ85

OK so ive been doing a lil searching on which coilovers to get and im steering towards ST Suspension Coilovers... they are made by KW which is what i was thinking of getting in the first place...

ST Suspensions - coilover kits.... I like the fact that they have a 5year warranty over the 1year that BC has...

Any help or suggestions is highly appreciated

All I know is that KW has a pretty good reputation, so while they wont be as good (or else they wouldnt be cheaper) I'm sure they would still be quality. And a 5 year warranty you'd probably have a new car by the time that ran out. I found em on amazon for $874 shipped btw. little cheaper than you stated before.

[ksconekiller]

Yep, KW makes pretty good stuff.

People often talk about getting coilovers so they can run low in the summer and higher in the winter. Something to keep in mind is that ride height changes will affect your alignment. Depending on how much difference you were expecting between seasons, you could make it work without visiting an alignment shop twice a year. Personally, I would determine what my two heights would be and find an alignment that is a compromise between the two. If that was not possible, I would make the alignment favor the lower setting, since that's when I would be driving more aggressively anyway.

[silvrMZhatch1]

doesnt look like these or the KW v1 have camber plates on the front though. kind of a bust... about that, do coilovers generally come w/ camber plates for the front to adjust and something on the back as well? or you still have to buy camber arms for the rear?

[ksconekiller]

There aren't very many options for coilovers for our cars, but I believe the only one that includes camber plates is the BC. That may be a factor to consider when searching the market. As for the rear, none have adjustment since the shock is not a locating point for the suspension like the strut up front. Camber adjustment has to be done with separate adjustable arms.

[daygoVR6]

Does anyone make a separate set of arms for the mz3? Ive been going through this thread as Im searching for my '11 MZ3 hatch as well - some of the info in here is laughable at best...where people get their knowledge from blows my mind

[yellowmazda3]

I heard corksport is coming Out with a coilovers I wonder if it's going to be better since its made for 3?

[Adam3s]

1 grand will buy you a quality strut/spring combo, but pretty shitty taiwan made coil-overs. Personally I'd pick up some Eibach or H&R springs and mate them up to some Bilstein Sports or Koni's. That is of course if you care about the handling and performance of your car. If you just want an adjustable drop and don't care about anything else then the cheap coil-overs will get the job done.

If you want to get an idea of what is good and what is not, click on the link below.

Autocross to Win (DGs Autocross Secrets) - Buying Shocks

[silvrMZhatch1]

Originally Posted by daygoVR6

Does anyone make a separate set of arms for the mz3? Ive been going through this thread as Im searching for my '11 MZ3 hatch as well - some of the info in here is laughable at best...where people get their knowledge from blows my mind

care to point at said laughable info? and correct it/give your opinion? trying to learn here...

EDIT: Adam, why no Road Magnet springs? jw

[Adam3s]

Originally Posted by silvrMZhatch1

EDIT: Adam, why no Road Magnet springs? jw

The Road Magnets may be good springs, I just don't know enough about them to make a recommendation. Things I'd want to know before purchasing them would be who actually makes them, are they made in house, or are they contracted out to someone else? Also, what quality and testing standards does the manufacture have? It's not uncommon for cheaply wound springs to be way off the advertised spring rates and also big variances between springs ie: the spring on LF of your car could be 10-20% stiffer or softer than the one on the RF for example. That is why I wouldn't put just any spring on the car and it pays to do some homework first. Both Eibach and H&R have a long track record of making quality springs and have stringent quality control and testing standards so you couldn't go wrong with either of those. Also, if the manufacture can't give you spring rates I'd run away.

[warlord]

Originally Posted by Adam3s

. Also, if the manufacture can't give you spring rates I'd run away.

H&R doesn't publish spring rates.