- :
- San Diego, CA
- :
- 2014 Mazda3 S GT auto, 2008 MX5 6-speed
I'm hoping to buy a set of coilovers and got to thinking about scraping. My 01 Corvette was lowered (about 1-inch) by adjusting OEM bolts (the cheapest ($0) lowering job I ever did), however, the flexible front spoiler scraped on EVERYTHING. I had to make a set of low profile ramps, just to get my floor jack underneath the car. This time, I wanted to have a more "concrete" idea as to whether a certain drop height would result in the same issues. My baseline of comparison is my MX5 with Progress springs and Koni Sport shocks. The springs lowered the car only a half-inch, but the Konis dropped it an additional 3/4-inch. It is definitely not slammed, and it scrapes on NOTHING, which is kinda nice after scraping the Corvette on everything.
So, I measured its tire to front bumper (furthest point) distance, + the height of the bumper at that distance. Some simple trig netted an approach angle of 11 degrees. Doing the same measurements and trig for my 2014 3 netted an approach angle of a whopping 14 degrees - no surprise there.
Now, if I dropped the 3, let's say, 2 inches, the approach angle ends up being 10.8 degrees. In order to match the AOA of the MX5, I would lower the 3 by 1.90 inches. Both suspensions, surprisingly, are fairly supple, going over rough roads, but the 3 can be loaded down with double the weight of the MX5......... I'm thinking a 1.5 to 1.75 drop would be good for the 3.
What do you guys think?
So, I measured its tire to front bumper (furthest point) distance, + the height of the bumper at that distance. Some simple trig netted an approach angle of 11 degrees. Doing the same measurements and trig for my 2014 3 netted an approach angle of a whopping 14 degrees - no surprise there.
Now, if I dropped the 3, let's say, 2 inches, the approach angle ends up being 10.8 degrees. In order to match the AOA of the MX5, I would lower the 3 by 1.90 inches. Both suspensions, surprisingly, are fairly supple, going over rough roads, but the 3 can be loaded down with double the weight of the MX5......... I'm thinking a 1.5 to 1.75 drop would be good for the 3.
What do you guys think?
