Hi all,
I\'ve just bought my first REX and am absolutely smitten with the purchase. Some of you may well know the car, it has been in the club for quite some time. I purchased it from Richard Moakes and it is in absolutely stunning condition, my only gripe with the car is the Bilstein suspension...it is just way too hard for UK roads!
I basically wanted to know the options available for saving my poor spine from anymore punishment. I test drove a few RX7\'s prior to buying Richards car and all of these standard cars had a very compliant ride which I found to be more or less perfect for what I want.
can standard springs and dampers still be purchased from Mazda UK, or is there anywhere I can get brand new UK spec springs and dampers from for my car?:chat
Thanks chaps
welcome got rid of mine replaced with tein superstreets from clive miles better, see MRP top of page
Welcome to the club Ohms. Glad your enjoying your purchase:) You should post up some pics.
Noticed your from Telford, a few of us meet up at the Wood Bridge pub in Ironbridge usually once a month.
Welcome, are you chap whos got the black one, that came to the meet in ironbridge?? i had the white RX
Hi Spen,
Know the woodbridge well, and would love to attend a meet.:guinness
Not sure how to post pics, will have a play bout and suss it out.:yes
No, wasn\'t me mate, only picked it up yesterday.:)
Hello mate
Welcome to the club.
I also have a Bathurst (96 jap import). I have a tein suspension which is fully adjustable to haw hard or soft you want your ride to be. My car is alos lowered to 5" off the ground and it is a daily driver !!!
Out of 14 positions / turns of the key ( I Believe ) I am set on 12 and I am in London dealing with London humps every day.
You may want to consider tein for your car…as I said it is adjustable.
Good luck with the beast..take it easy on wet !!
Regards,
Michaelb
do they come with bilsteins as standard? thats what mine came with
It grips like **** on a blanket round the twisties, but alas is too compromised for british blacktop. I would really like to try out the standard Uk spec suspension as I\'ve had adjustable suspension in the past and never found a setting which I thought was to exactly to my liking. The way i see it, these manufacturers spend millions of pounds on R&D for specific situations so I\'d like to go with what Mazda would have originally designated for the car.:)
Can these parts be purchased from Mazda? Anybody??:Thumbs-up
Ricco had a standard uk spec car and changed his suspension for Teins so he would be a good person to talk to about the comparison.
Hello and welcome,
Thats one very very nice car that you have brought, I have know Richard and his car for years.
In answer to how soft is a u/k car, I had a u/k car for many years and it rode the bumps like a Rolls Royce compaired to an import :Thumbsup!
Thanks Clive, I feel very priveledged to have bought this car it is as you know absolutely immaculate and has been cared for on a level that beggars belief.
Now if i could just sort this ride quality issue out I would have the perfect FD3.:rolleyes:
Anybody know part numbers or a UK spec chassis number i can enquire at the dealers with?:cheers
Got to agree with Clive there, I\'ve now managed to drive a standard FD and it was so nice compared to the modded imports I\'d driven before. The suspension was soft and compliant. made the car so much more composed and exploitable on the normal road. Liked it a lot as a road car. If you only ever drive on the public road I doubt you need to upgrade it much at all.
Should also make it a little more forgiving at the limit...Certainly snappy once the rear end comes round at the mo, you\'ve got to be awake to catch it.:driving
A lot of fun, but could be much quicker IMO if it didn\'t make such a meal of a bumpy B road.:2Confused
:D
U/K Rear shock absorbers will cost £110.32 plus Vat each and the Rear springs would cost £63.25 plus Vat each.
Hope this helps
Thanks Clive,
Any ideas on prices for front springs and dampers?:)
Also, would you happen to have the part numbers for these bits?:Thumbs-up
There\'s a full set for sale on FDUK.org second hand from an import if you\'ve access..
http://www.fduk.org/forum/showthread.php?t=8045
Depends what you\'re looking for mind.. I always found standard suspension was ok, but I love the feel of the harder suspension in a sports car (watch your minds on that one people!).. Dunno why..
I\'m running Bilstein shocks and Tein springs and bar the fact my steering is a mess, the ride is fine for me :)
It does depend tho\', I\'ve got some type X shocks and springs in my garage and if they\'re weren\'t such an ar$e to change I\'d be swapping them over for any long holiday type journeys as they make the car ride so nice.
But as with everything it\'s always a compromise sadly.
I had a UK FD for 5 years, and I\'d actually say the opposite - the spring/dampers (standard spec) were very hard (they were new on the car just before I bought it). Indeed, if you read various reviews on the FD, it was one of the original complaints, that they were perhaps too hard initially. Spring/damper combos were gradually softened on later revisions to make the car more compliant. Just a word of caution - don\'t just assume that because the car was a "UK" spec that it was tuned for UK roads and thus had softer suspension. I\'ve got a later FD with yellow Bilsteins on it, (and I believe spring rates are softer to) - std later spec issue from Mazda - and it is far more compliant than the UK model. Where the UK one would simply not grip at times \'cos it was so hard (skipping over the bumps/potholes etc) my current one drives superbly.
back to my question are my yellow bilstiens standard?
Quote from: olly-civicback to my question are my yellow bilstiens standard?
andrewrx7\'s response seems to imply they may well be..
yeah thats what i thought but my mates fd is totally standard and its just got black ones?
Quote from: ohmsThanks Clive,
Any ideas on prices for front springs and dampers?:)
Front shocks are £152.16 plus Vat each and the Springs are the same price as the rears at £63.25 each plus Vat
Quote from: Acemanandrewrx7\'s response seems to imply they may well be..
Some FD models had Bilsteins, others didn\'t. No idea on what the colour relates to though.
This link, if you haven\'t seen it before, gives some info of the various models, but it is in no way an exhaustive list of models and what they each have (hardware wise). Which ones had Bilsteins are mentioned, but again, there may have been differences in the specific dampers used on which model. Interestingly, "softer suspension" is mentioned several times as the model range ages.http://www.rx7.net.nz/fd-jp-models.html (http://www.rx7.net.nz/fd-jp-models.html)
There is a slight difference in price between front and rear springs only a couple of quid, and font dampers are handed.
All info on here
http://www.rotaryart.uk.com/acatalog/New_Mazda_RX7_3rd_gen_ext_body_styling.html
Quote from: olly-civicback to my question are my yellow bilstiens standard?
were standard on my RZ - glad when changed skipped from 1 bump to the other a bit worrying
My car (92 UK) according to it\'s previous owner (nudge Clive) has standard suspension save some racing beat springs on the back. It\'s way too hard for the crappy roads around here. They gotta go. The car skips about way too much for my liking especially when doing roundabouts with anything other than perfectly smooth surfaces. Not that confidence inspiring and especially with the weather turning worse. Now all I gotta do is save enough bloody cash for a set of TEINS.
well mines a 92 and currently has the yellow billstiens on, gonna put my teins back on soon tho as the back sits to high with the bilsteins on
I have a 95 Bathurst with Bilstiens on it. They were standard on the RZ and Bathurst editions, they are yellow, and they are indeed back breaking. After 2 years of driving mine, my spine has been ground to dust and I\'m considering some Tein SuperStreets, pricey though.
Quote from: DarranJonesI have a 95 Bathurst with Bilstiens on it. They were standard on the RZ and Bathurst editions, they are yellow, and they are indeed back breaking. After 2 years of driving mine, my spine has been ground to dust and I\'m considering some Tein SuperStreets, pricey though.
the diference teins make is brilliant,taken me a while to adjust to how i want as 16 settings (easy to do takes seconds) wound mine down from hardest to 12 turns pretty sure will leave as that
did they make an rz in 92 or is my susepention off a diffrent car?
Quote from: olly-civicwell mines a 92 and currently has the yellow billstiens on, gonna put my teins back on soon tho as the back sits to high with the bilsteins on
Quote from: DarranJonesI have a 95 Bathurst with Bilstiens on it. They were standard on the RZ and Bathurst editions, they are yellow, and they are indeed back breaking. After 2 years of driving mine, my spine has been ground to dust and I\'m considering some Tein SuperStreets, pricey though.
Can you two tell me, on your suspension setup, on the shock itself, above (I think) the Bilstein label on each, do yours have a little silver badge with Re-Amemiya on them?
John Hudson, was selling these recently:
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/SaxoAL/sus1.jpg)
and they look just like mine, and on the silver rectangular badge on each, mine clearly state \'Re-Amemiya\' etc...
hmmmm
Quote from: DarranJonesI have a 95 Bathurst with Bilstiens on it. They were standard on the RZ and Bathurst editions, they are yellow, and they are indeed back breaking. After 2 years of driving mine, my spine has been ground to dust and I\'m considering some Tein SuperStreets, pricey though.
I think what is apparent, is that there are obviously different spring/damper combos that came on the FD. And I\'d guess that different spring rates have been used, as well as damper rates. As I said above, my ride is very compliant, almost soft compared to my previous UK FD. I am also guessing that my yellow Bilsteins are not the same spec as older yellows, esp if some people have experienced "back breaking" ride quality. Is "yellow" a bit of a red herring - is the colour just simply irrelevant to the specs of the damper - probably.
Quote from: olly-civicdid they make an rz in 92 or is my susepention off a diffrent car?
See my post 25 and the link......yes, an RZ was made in 92. Although from memory, they didn\'t have Bilsteins specifically on that year.
dont remember Re-Amemiya badge on my bilsteins but otherwise look the same
Quote from: peterwoldsdont remember Re-Amemiya badge on my bilsteins but otherwise look the same
Same
Quote from: peterwoldsIs "yellow" a bit of a red herring - is the colour just simply irrelevant to the specs of the damper - probably.
All Bilstiens I\'ve seen (and that\'s not many!) have been yellow so, as you say, it\'s most likely no indication as to the stiffness of the damper. I guess it\'s the same thing as Tein always using green.
Quote from: Alex TCan you two tell me, on your suspension setup, on the shock itself, above (I think) the Bilstein label on each, do yours have a little silver badge with Re-Amemiya on them?
John Hudson, was selling these recently:
(http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/SaxoAL/sus1.jpg)
and they look just like mine, and on the silver rectangular badge on each, mine clearly state \'Re-Amemiya\' etc...
hmmmm
they are exactly the same as mine