biggest drop(lowering?)

[jdmls88]

Whats the biggest drop possible and practicle?

 

[Evo Scooter]

Whats the biggest drop possible and practicle?

For a ????

I have an MS3 and honestly I don't see the need to drop it at all... The wheels truly fill in the wheel wells almost totally. Unlike my Evo.

 

[MadOzodi]

For a ????

I have an MS3 and honestly I don't see the need to drop it at all... The wheels truly fill in the wheel wells almost totally. Unlike my Mustang.

(Sorry Evo Scooter, I was frikkin lazy)

 

[jdmls88]

yes an ms3, and as u guys feel its fine i would still like to drop it some. If anyone who has lowered there ms3 any difficulty driving, speedbumps, etc?

 

[dcomiskey]

I'm so NOT a fan of dropping cars anymore. From the factory, they've been tuned specifically for that height. You drop it, you are usually screwing up the suspension geometry and making the car's handling WORSE. Also,o I'm really enjoying not scraping the front lip of my car. My last VW (33&) was low enough and I had it dropped only 1/4" and I still had issues scraping the front all the time. Not worth it.

Although, Mazda HAS released a coilover kit for the MS3, so maybe I'm just talking out of my ass on this subject.

 

[jdmls88]

I'm so NOT a fan of dropping cars anymore. From the factory, they've been tuned specifically for that height. You drop it, you are usually screwing up the suspension geometry and making the car's handling WORSE. Also,o I'm really enjoying not scraping the front lip of my car. My last VW (33&) was low enough and I had it dropped only 1/4" and I still had issues scraping the front all the time. Not worth it.

Although, Mazda HAS released a coilover kit for the MS3, so maybe I'm just talking out of my ass on this subject.

how would it handle worse?? if you lower the center of gravity at all it handles better(doesnt try and flip the car). And if what ur talking about screwing up the geometry is the camber, well negative camber is actually good for road racing and drifitng and such. it just has odd wear effects on the tires. But can be fixed with an ALIGNMENT. So is there anyone with a lowered ms3?!!

 

[dcomiskey]

how would it handle worse?? if you lower the center of gravity at all it handles better(doesnt try and flip the car). And if what ur talking about screwing up the geometry is the camber, well negative camber is actually good for road racing and drifitng and such. it just has odd wear effects on the tires. But can be fixed with an ALIGNMENT. So is there anyone with a lowered ms3?!!

Just because you lower the center of gravity does not mean you are improving handling. For example, if the control arms are not level with the ground (meaning, pointing upwards from the center of the car) after you drop the car, you are reducing suspension travel in a _negative_ way.

Also, dropping a car has NOTHING to do with camber. You don't magically have -1.6 deg front camber by slamming your car. That's what camber plates are for (and why in hell would you try drifitng in a FWD car??).

You need to learn a lot more about how suspensions actually work. I know the trend is to drop a car and automatically think your car handles better, but so much goes into how a car handles that 90% of the people who change the suspension in their cars are actually hurting performance.

I don't think you are going to find more than one or two people who's done this, as the car is brand new and no one I know of has come out with any suspension parts besides MazdaSpeed. Hell, I'm still waiting for someone to come out with a simple damn rear sway bar...

 

[jdmls88]

hahah! first u said it could mess up the suspension geometry so i said camber? I said nothin about once u drop it u have camber. second i said nothin about drifting a fwd car(but it has been done) i said drift cars use serious negative camber. third if you CORRECTLY lower the center of gravity via lowering springs/coilovers, sway bars, control arms, and w/e else is necessary your car WILL handle better. All i wanted to know is if you lowered your MS3 and is it practical i dont want your opinion on ur vw scraping or how u think it looks good stock. If u dont have any real advice dont come in here and pick arguments, im not here for that.

 

[dcomiskey]

hahah! first u said it could mess up the suspension geometry so i said camber? I said nothin about once u drop it u have camber. second i said nothin about drifting a fwd car(but it has been done) i said drift cars use serious negative camber. third if you CORRECTLY lower the center of gravity via lowering springs/coilovers, sway bars, control arms, and w/e else is necessary your car WILL handle better. All i wanted to know is if you lowered your MS3 and is it practical i dont want your opinion on ur vw scraping or how u think it looks good stock. If u dont have any real advice dont come in here and pick arguments, im not here for that.

Dude, no one is arguing here. I'm just trying to have a discussion and you're taking offense to some solid advice. You mentioned both camber, drifting and such. Sorry if I misunderstood what you said, but you weren't clear.

Good luck.

 

[MS3_Mafia]

Unbelievable that these guys wanna throw in there .02 cents of what not to do and not just answer your question... My answer, you could throw on some Tein S-Techs (from a Mazda3) or Eibach Sportlines. They both have a pretty aggressive drop. I too will be installing some aftermarket springs when I pick up my MS3 next week. Personally i'd like a little more tuck under the fenders plus I like a dropped stance.

 

[jdmls88]

MS3 mafia u are awesome lol thanks for ur useful 2 cents, i have yet to see a dropped ms3 and im very interested. Many of the ms3 owners feel it looks good as is, but i feel that it still looks stock, were all in this game to be different make our car faster, better looking and handle like a dream and doing some suspension work will get me that much closer to my goal.

 

[Wes]

Wait for the Eibach's and Tein's that are being made for the MS3 to come out. Don't go out and buy regular ol' Mz3 springs! Both of those company's do a lot of R&D on their products. I'm pretty sure the spring rate's between the Mz3 and the MS3 will be different (which means optimum performance and ride quality).

I haven't seen a dropped MS3 yet, but I plan on installing the Sportlines once they are available.

 

[Evo Scooter]

For a ????

I have an MS3 and honestly I don't see the need to drop it at all... The wheels truly fill in the wheel wells almost totally. Unlike my Mustang.

(Sorry Evo Scooter, I was frikkin lazy)

It's OK. Us Cosmic Blues gotta stick together.

 

[wingnut12]

I'm still waiting to see someone drop it properly before I add my two cents.

As for practical, I see a lot of people with crazy drops that ride like crap, much worse than stock. Once in awhile, someone does a good job and it ends up being better than stock. I guess practical is a personal choice. If you like it a certain way, who am I to convince you otherwise.

Drop us a line after you get it dropped (if you do), to let everyone know what your thoughts are.

 

[jbiird317]

i am not lowered yet, but I am considering it. I have a possibility of being a test mule for road magnet springs. I tried calling today to get their spring rates and other details, but since I am on california time, i was too late and unsuccessful. I will try again tomorrow and hopefully have a date for when my car will be low and some details for you guys.

 

[SwampAss]

on a semi related note, I saw that the Mazdaspeed sport springs for the MS3 showed a 30% increase in stiffness with only a 15mm drop (about .5 inches)

Appears the performance spring tested with the car are not so much lowering springs as they are tighter wound/stiffer material.

 

[jbiird317]

on a semi related note, I saw that the Mazdaspeed sport springs for the MS3 showed a 30% increase in stiffness with only a 15mm drop (about .5 inches)

Appears the performance spring tested with the car are not so much lowering springs as they are tighter wound/stiffer material.

hrmm, that is interesting. It sorta makes sense, cuz if you look at the wheel gap/bottom of the front lip, you really wouldnt want to go a whole lot more than a half an inch drop.

do you know about the whole mazdaspeed coilover system?

 

[matsuda]

I have scraped the front lip many times (stock ride height).
Good luck with lowering the car.