Espelirs/HPs quiet the ride

G

gino

Member
:
'03 P5, '14 iTouring hatch, '04 Honda S2K
Installed Espelirs and Blues last weekend and can't believe how much quieter the car is at speed. Used to have lots of road noise coming through, typically Mazda. Kewl.

Unkewl is the thump over bumps. Forgot to check for excess travel on shock rods before I stuffed everything back together. Do a relook this weekend and also check for SB interference.

Pinpoint turn-in and terrific, dead-flat cornering. Absolute control, perfect drop. Ride's firmer, but not objectionable. However, not running summer rubber--Goodyear F1 GS-D3s on 17s. F1s have more road feel than Yoko Avid TRZ 40s on my wife's SE and when added to the mix, may loosen fillings and blur vision.

Regardless, Espelirs and HPs are here to stay. Thanks Rishie. Great combo! (bow)
 
these are the springs/struts i want. What do you need to do as far as alignment and camber adjustment?
 
I have em with illuminas. They rock! Perfect drop and great handling, while not being too harsh for the street.
 
jonlong said:
What do you need to do as far as alignment and camber adjustment?
Click to expand...
Go with nominal factory settings--about halfway between max plus-minus specs--for general street. If you're autocrossing, check archives for caster/camber tips. Front toe-in .10 degrees, rear factory spec.

Do a 4-wheel thrust alignment, it's worth the extra $$$.

Anyone else have Espelir HP/Illumina specific alignment #s?
 
Last edited:
(scratch) Am I the only one here with this combo that came up with the dreaded "clunk" in the rear? Gonna check shock rods this weekend to see if they need the washer fix under retaining nuts.
 
I just got my Tokico HPs and Springs from Rishie at AutoRnD too! I'm waiting for the weather to warm up to install them.

Gino, bummer to hear you got a clunk coming from the rear. I don't think it's a good idea to resolve your issue by adding washers. Tell us about the remedy though if you nix that clunkedness.

I hope this doesn't happen to me again. I ended going to the dealer who fixed me up after having racingbeat springs installed. The shop manager told me they had to use a torch to melt the endlink end because the guys that did my install stripped the nuts big time!

Anyway... How the heck does the dealer get all that back together tight with no clunkin?
 
I am also waiting for warmer weather to install my HP Blues and Espelir springs.

Did anyone cut the bump stops?
 
Well put my HP's and Espelir springs on yesterday and must say, very impressed with the ride. Better than the stock that had 81k on them.

One thing I noticed is that the rear stock sway bar is touching the control arm. Has anyone else noticed this? Do I need different end links? I hope not. Is it an issue?

Thanks
 
I have this set up too....

I've got this set up too.....also, Rishie and Micheal intalled them for me!! YeeHa!

Those guys did it in about 2hrs. I mean taking the whole back end apart(interior) and putting that s**t back together with 4 struts and springs.

The ride is perfect for a daily driver - very quick lateral response and the thing just sticks to the road.

No clunk, no nothin'. Call Rishie right a-way, he will know how to get rid of the clunk...that dude has tried just about everything in his own P5.

Note: I just got my new Enkai RPF1s in with Falken 512s - 205/50/16s on 16x7s. This set up complements the Espilars and Blues perfectly (IMO). Now all I need is the rear sway bar.

Peace.
 
i'm still waiting for the spring weather. There is still a possibility for snow in my area and i don't want any salt on the new suspension. I'll report back when it's all done.

Spooky5 - Why are you just interested in the rear sway bar? Wouldn't you like to upgrade the front and rear together?

I was bidding on a pair of mazdaspeed sway bars on ebay. The auction started at $30. I bid up to $150 (my dumbass). the winning bid was $240! What the heck were they thinking!! The same bars, brackets and bushings can be purchased *NEW* for $210! Then a set of front and rear endlinks for $50 is needed and the AWR brackets $?? that mount on the rear cross member.

If you want to make some money sell it on ebay!
 
I've heard....

booom said:
i'm still waiting for the spring weather. There is still a possibility for snow in my area and i don't want any salt on the new suspension. I'll report back when it's all done.

Spooky5 - Why are you just interested in the rear sway bar? Wouldn't you like to upgrade the front and rear together?

I was bidding on a pair of mazdaspeed sway bars on ebay. The auction started at $30. I bid up to $150 (my dumbass). the winning bid was $240! What the heck were they thinking!! The same bars, brackets and bushings can be purchased *NEW* for $210! Then a set of front and rear endlinks for $50 is needed and the AWR brackets $?? that mount on the rear cross member.

If you want to make some money sell it on ebay!
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, a front one would be cool too but I've heard that to install the front sway bar is pretty involved. You have to remove all sorts of s**t to get to it. It just seemed like too much work.

The rear alone was suggested by Rishie because I have a daily driver and the ease of installation (cause' Rishie knew he would have to intall it cause I'm complete dumb ass with tools). This would include the endlinks things too.

But it was not "must have" item. Right now I would like a Cat-Back exhaust and CAI before a sway bar.

I've never used eBay to buy stuff...I just show up at Rishie'd place (Auto RnD) on the weekends.....

Peace.
 
stiffer rear sway bar helps negate understeer

I just dug up some info I'll regurgitate: if you experience a bit of understeer *which is when the front tires loose grip while going through a turn and the front end starts edging towards the outer limit of say an off ramp (yikes); you can upgrade to a thicker rear anti-roll/sway bar to reduce the understeer.

With Racing Beat springs on my stock P5 with and mazda3 rims mounted with 205/40/17 tires I experienced a fast free drift on the last lick of an off ramp once. That is when both understeer and oversteer are happening simultaneously. Since I was sliding at an angle out of the off ramp just about to merge onto straight road, I just corrected a bit and STOMPED! on the gas pedal. That forward velocity pulled the car straight out of a 45-50 mph free drift. That was quite exhilarating and totally unexpected.

your fired > (wrc) (almost lost it!)

I wonder what that off ramp will be like with the Espelir/Tokico HP suspension I just got with a thicker rear sway bar installed. I'm still shopping for a racing beat rear sway bar, brackets, bushings, endlinks, and the AWR crossmember bracket. My goal is to maintain tire grip all the way through that off ramp.
 
I am going to get the awr 21.5mm swaybar to augment my espelir/illumina combo hopefully next week. the car is still very neutral handling with the stock swaybars, so I will have to take care not to screw its balance up.

by the way, I do curvy roads not autox so heavy oversteer is not my cup of tea. With extensive testing I believe my car will hit the sweet spot for handling, where it has oversteer with deliberate weight transfer but a mild slip angle in other situations
 
Please log in or register to reply here.

New Posts and Comments

W
Shock Upgrades For A 2024 CX-5 Carbon Turbo?
Replies
10
Views
243
N7turbo
N7turbo
T
2017~2025 Rear AC vents retrofit
Replies
0
Views
56
Terrypham
T
sm1ke
    • Like
Mike's 2018 CX-9 Signature
12 13 14
Replies
279
Views
73K
Fawiek
Fawiek
Z
Mazda3 Engine mount inquiry
Replies
13
Views
648
TheMAN
T
Z
    • Love it!
    • Like
    • Applause
She is de-badged!
Replies
2
Views
122
zoomies100
Z
MolarCraft
    • Like
Turning Heads and Snapping Necks: A Build Thread
2
Replies
21
Views
5K
zoomies100
Z
View more…

New Threads and Articles

Back