interested in racelands

[MZ32011]

was thinking of scooping up some raceland coilovers for my 11' mazda 3
any concerns with these particular coilovers:

Would like to know;
how is the ride, camber problems, ride height, and if installation is difficulty

thanks guys

 

[xMazdax]

FROM WHAT I HAVE HEARD.

Ride is stiff (duh)
Ride height is the only adjustment. (they go low)
Camber? If you put these on and your ride height stayed the same youd still have to get an alignment.
Get these, lower it about 2 inches, get alignment. then youre done.
Installation? Have you ever installed struts before? Not that hard. Rears are amazingly simple.
Have a buddy help you who knows what there doing, hell if i lived where you did i would help.

What wheels you plan on running?

 

[MZ32011]

Thanks for the info, certainly helps. I'm planning on installing these racelands if I can scrape up enough info on them if they are worth it at the low cost. Potentially I'd like to pick up some 17/18" xxr 530s
I just recently purchased my mazda3 so therefore I'm not up to date with any Mazda stuff as I came from driving an eclipse, and I'm from the Wichita, KS area.

 

[xMazdax]

Racelands were made for people to go LOW and for stupid cheap around 400 now for brand new.If you dont want to go THAT low, but still want to lower it a little and not sacrifice breaking your back, i would suggest saving up the money and either buying Megan Racing EZ Streets, or go with a spring and shock combo like I did. (Eibach Sportlines and Koni Yellow shocks)

 

[MZ32011]

Well I'd like to go real low as long as I don't run into any major problems that could occur with being that low.

So if I was to go with the racelands, would you suggest getting a camber kit to save my tires over time?

 

[color0]

I will advise against the Racelands, ESPECIALLY for a daily driver. The seals reportedly go bad in much less time than those of better quality dampers ("even" Megans) and you will spend disproportionate amounts of time uninstalling and reinstalling the shocks after rebuilds. Yes you'll have to save up money, but the lowest calibre coilover kit I'd advise running with is BC Racing, and even that is borderline for a "lasts more than five years" reliable daily driver.

XXR wheels, same deal. If you must buy XXR's only go 17", the 18s are susceptible to cracking if you regularly hit potholes or rocks on your daily drive. Looks up "XXR wheel crack" on Google and you will see a lot of stories, compared to more established budget brands like Kosei or Konig. Heck, even 18" Enkeis will bend if you hit the wrong thing, I've cracked one RPF1 and bent the lip on one more.

 

[MZ32011]

Thanks a lot, definitely don't want any of that to happen, so possibly may go with some springs as I can save up some money for some quality coils. As for the xxr's, I'm leaning towards 17s just to stay near stock tire size. Used to run 19s on my eclipse, possibly worst idea considering the cost of tires for that large.

Is there any decent springs out there on the market you would prefer for the dd?

 

[WillD]

If you care at all about ride quality, I'd stay away from both sets of coilovers that you mentioned. The quality just isn't there, and you get what you pay for when it comes to suspension.

As far as decent springs... I ran H&R on my MS3 that I DD'ed and I liked them a lot. The Eibach Pro-Kit would be another good choice. If you do go lower you will need some camber plates for the rear in order to get the rear camber dialed into a range that will not eat up the inside shoulder of your tires.

 

[color0]

If you care at all about ride quality, I'd stay away from both sets of coilovers that you mentioned. The quality just isn't there, and you get what you pay for when it comes to suspension.

This isn't 100% true for just ride quality alone, as I've been able to tune BC coils (+ Swift springs) to actually ride softer than a stock MS3. That said it took $1400 and three months so it's a big step up over Racelands, Megans, D2's, etc.

 

[xMazdax]

Maybe if you weren't running a 35 series side wall you wouldnt have bent that RPF1...

 

[MZ32011]

Thanks for the inputs guys, probably just go with some springs then, and will post some pics at that time.

 

[Tungsten6]

Good call, Racelands are really popular in the Miata world and they are pretty much s***. I've heard people say that blown 100K, 10-15 year old miata shocks are better lol.
I've ridden behind people with them and they all bounce like ****** pogo sticks.

Hear's what you should do. If you cant afford a quality coilover right now (BC/Tein are probably the 2 best "budget" coilovers) get springs. They should last you a good 25-35K on the stock shocks and by the time you need new shocks you can probably get coilovers if you aren't satisfied with the height from the springs.

 

[color0]

Maybe if you weren't running a 35 series side wall you wouldnt have bent that RPF1...

255/35/18 has nearly the same sidewall height as 225/40/18 -- stock MS3 tire size. There is no less sidewall than the stock MS3 wheel/tire combo, the RPF1 simply isn't a strong wheel. But it's STILL tougher than an XXR, which is why that brand as a whole worries me.

 

[WillD]

Maybe if you weren't running a 35 series side wall you wouldnt have bent that RPF1...

255/35/18 has nearly the same sidewall height as 225/40/18 -- stock MS3 tire size. There is no less sidewall than the stock MS3 wheel/tire combo, the RPF1 simply isn't a strong wheel. But it's STILL tougher than an XXR, which is why that brand as a whole worries me.

This is true about the sidewall. The sidewall height is the section width (first number) times the aspect ratio (section number) so 225 * .40 or 255 * .35.

color, what makes you say that the RPF1 is not a strong wheel? If you don't think they're strong, what is?

Good call, Racelands are really popular in the Miata world and they are pretty much s***. I've heard people say that blown 100K, 10-15 year old miata shocks are better lol.
I've ridden behind people with them and they all bounce like ****** pogo sticks.

Hear's what you should do. If you cant afford a quality coilover right now (BC/Tein are probably the 2 best "budget" coilovers) get springs. They should last you a good 25-35K on the stock shocks and by the time you need new shocks you can probably get coilovers if you aren't satisfied with the height from the springs.

Exactly correct.

 

[xMazdax]

I agree with color and i don't, I would never run a 35 series even if i had the width. The rpf1 isn't strong above 17's. I actually dont think alot of wheels are.

 

[WillD]

OK? What are you or color basing the claim that RPF1s aren't strong above 17s?

Light, strong, cheap. You can pick any two of those when it comes to wheels. RPF1s are consistently one of the lightest cast wheels in any size. In addition to that they are also one of the strongest. Yes, you can bend them and they won't hold up as well as a forged wheel, but considering price/weight. You are going to be hard pressed to find a better wheel.

You can run whatever tire you want, if you want to base if solely on the aspect ratio of the tire that's fine by me. But that isn't the proper way to select tires for a car.

 

[color0]

This is true about the sidewall. The sidewall height is the section width (first number) times the aspect ratio (section number) so 225 * .40 or 255 * .35.

color, what makes you say that the RPF1 is not a strong wheel? If you don't think they're strong, what is?

The whole aspect ratio thing goes over peoples' heads too often, thankfully at least one person gets it. It does get a little trickier than just simple arithmetic (the inside of the tire is structured differently between 225/40 and 255/35) but for the most part the approximation is good enough.

RPF1's are a known "barely enough" wheel, that's the reason why they're so fantastically light. Enkei's own test data suggests that the PF01 and NT03+M (known to be stronger than RPF1's) are faster around a racetrack due to reduced spoke deflection, even though they are 2lbs heavier each. If NT03's didn't come in such weird offsets (18x9.5 +40 -- why?!) I would've bought those instead a long time ago. They're very, very tough and still lighter than a good chunk of "racing" forged wheels.

 

[DKaz]

Color0, how many MPGs are you managing to get with that setup?

 

[color0]

If I don't push the car, about 31mpg. Hoping for 32 once I get the tire pressures back up.

 

[Akito zoomzoom]

I had racelands on my Miata and boy are they stiff!! this time I wised up and went with Espelir super-low springs from Mackin industries they are a awesome brand. But coilovers are adjustable so that's a +