JonnyMiata
Member
...is the subject title of the message I sent today to Jim Mederer at Racing Beat, who supposedly had a lot ot do with the design of the suspension for the MSP. Here is a copy of my email:
Jim,
I was reading on the Mazdaspeed website the article you wrote on how you worked with Mazda to design the suspension for the new Mazdaspeed Protege. http://www.mazdausa.com/mazdaspeed/driving_tech/dt_steer_racing_beat.asp I just purchased one of these great cars at the end of December and I want to say that I have never had this much fun in a sedan before. The handling in this car is ourstanding and I want to congratulate you on a great job. I have been a huge fan of your products since I have had many Miatas since '92 and just recently purchased your Type II style bar for my 2001 Miata.
Here is the bad part of this message (you knew it was coming). I and many other Mazdaspeed Protege and MP3 Protege owners have a "clunk" that we hear from the rear of our cars. I have 2000 miles on my car but it started when I only had 500 miles. I was very disappointed to hear this from my brand new car. I was coming from a '93 Honda Civic Si that I had lowered and raised and it was never right. It had rattles and clunks. The reason I sold that car was because I was tired of these noises. So I decided to buy a new car that shouldn't have these sounds. You can understand how disappointed I was when I heard the clunking. I figured I would try to find out the root of this problem so I took my car to a friend of mine who is a suspension expert and a racer for many, many years. He actually rode in the trunk of the car to find out the source of the problem. It is coming from the top of the shocks. It seems that there is some play at the top of the shock. It is almost as if the rod of the shock is too tall and the threading is not low enough for the nut to be tightened down all the way. I am not sure what the fix is but I would love to have it fixed.
My car is at the dealership now to have it diagnosed. They think it is the bushings on the swaybar that is making this clunk but I don't think it is because the sound is coming from a higher spot in the car. I think they only reason they are thinking this is because that is the only technical service bulletin that they can find on the subject. I somehow doubt this will fix it. Other MP3 owners have had their bushing replaced only to have the clunk come back louder. The other reason why I think it has to do with the top of the shocks is when we had the car on the lift you could lift up the wheel in the back and feel/hear the slop at the top of the shock. I am looking for solutions to the problem. Could it be that the shock rod needs to be threaded further down so it tightens everything up? Should a spacer/bushing be placed at the top of the shock? If so, what will this do to the alignment?
This problem seems to be worse in the cold. There are few owners in Florida and California that do not have this problem but many of us northerners have this problem. Take a look at a couple of threads on the Protege forums on this subject. http://www.msprotege.com/vbb225/showthread.php?threadid=11784 & http://www.msprotege.com/vbb225/showthread.php?threadid=12714
This car is going to be my daily driver so I will be driving it when it is cold and ugly while my Miata stays in the garage. I don't want this to be another warm weather car.
I really feel like this problem can be fixed. I just don't think anyone at Mazda or Racing Beat cares about it. I would even be willing to pay for the fix if I get a guarantee that it will never come back. I am pretty much at the end of my rope. I was hoping that I could get some guidance from you since you had such a hand in making this such a great car.
Please feel free to call me if you would like. I can be reached at 513-295-3332.
Best regards,
Jon Roberto
President, Greater Cincinnati Miata Club
*******************************************
I am not sure what this is going to do but I hope I will get some response. At least this is a start.
I am getting my car back today. We are taking this in steps with my dealer. He is doing the sway bushing replacement and he also is replacing my muffler because he said it was rattling. I didn't hear it but I will take a new muffler anyday.
Jim,
I was reading on the Mazdaspeed website the article you wrote on how you worked with Mazda to design the suspension for the new Mazdaspeed Protege. http://www.mazdausa.com/mazdaspeed/driving_tech/dt_steer_racing_beat.asp I just purchased one of these great cars at the end of December and I want to say that I have never had this much fun in a sedan before. The handling in this car is ourstanding and I want to congratulate you on a great job. I have been a huge fan of your products since I have had many Miatas since '92 and just recently purchased your Type II style bar for my 2001 Miata.
Here is the bad part of this message (you knew it was coming). I and many other Mazdaspeed Protege and MP3 Protege owners have a "clunk" that we hear from the rear of our cars. I have 2000 miles on my car but it started when I only had 500 miles. I was very disappointed to hear this from my brand new car. I was coming from a '93 Honda Civic Si that I had lowered and raised and it was never right. It had rattles and clunks. The reason I sold that car was because I was tired of these noises. So I decided to buy a new car that shouldn't have these sounds. You can understand how disappointed I was when I heard the clunking. I figured I would try to find out the root of this problem so I took my car to a friend of mine who is a suspension expert and a racer for many, many years. He actually rode in the trunk of the car to find out the source of the problem. It is coming from the top of the shocks. It seems that there is some play at the top of the shock. It is almost as if the rod of the shock is too tall and the threading is not low enough for the nut to be tightened down all the way. I am not sure what the fix is but I would love to have it fixed.
My car is at the dealership now to have it diagnosed. They think it is the bushings on the swaybar that is making this clunk but I don't think it is because the sound is coming from a higher spot in the car. I think they only reason they are thinking this is because that is the only technical service bulletin that they can find on the subject. I somehow doubt this will fix it. Other MP3 owners have had their bushing replaced only to have the clunk come back louder. The other reason why I think it has to do with the top of the shocks is when we had the car on the lift you could lift up the wheel in the back and feel/hear the slop at the top of the shock. I am looking for solutions to the problem. Could it be that the shock rod needs to be threaded further down so it tightens everything up? Should a spacer/bushing be placed at the top of the shock? If so, what will this do to the alignment?
This problem seems to be worse in the cold. There are few owners in Florida and California that do not have this problem but many of us northerners have this problem. Take a look at a couple of threads on the Protege forums on this subject. http://www.msprotege.com/vbb225/showthread.php?threadid=11784 & http://www.msprotege.com/vbb225/showthread.php?threadid=12714
This car is going to be my daily driver so I will be driving it when it is cold and ugly while my Miata stays in the garage. I don't want this to be another warm weather car.
I really feel like this problem can be fixed. I just don't think anyone at Mazda or Racing Beat cares about it. I would even be willing to pay for the fix if I get a guarantee that it will never come back. I am pretty much at the end of my rope. I was hoping that I could get some guidance from you since you had such a hand in making this such a great car.
Please feel free to call me if you would like. I can be reached at 513-295-3332.
Best regards,
Jon Roberto
President, Greater Cincinnati Miata Club
*******************************************
I am not sure what this is going to do but I hope I will get some response. At least this is a start.
I am getting my car back today. We are taking this in steps with my dealer. He is doing the sway bushing replacement and he also is replacing my muffler because he said it was rattling. I didn't hear it but I will take a new muffler anyday.
