franklin@ucbvax.ARPA (Bill Franklin ) (06/23/85)
I have a 1981 Mazda RX-7. I have had absolutely no trouble with it,
and really enjoy driving it. It now has 45K miles on it and the stock
suspension is getting a little soft. I have been to a few suspension
places in the Berkeley area and have received conflicting suggestions.
I was wondering if someone in the know, of which I am not, could give
me some helpful ideas on what to look for and look out for.
I am interested in putting fairly stiff shocks onto the car, and would
like to lower it about an inch, or so. I am figuring on about $600
to have someone do this. I realise that the RX-7 doesn't have the
turning acceleration of a Porsche, and that this is a slight limitation.
1. I have been told by 2 places that the koni's are just too stiff for
the RX-7, and by one place the swears by the koni's.
2. I have also been told that the front camber(?) cannot be adjusted
more than a few degrees, and this is not enough to allow me to lower
this car without some custom adjustments to the forward control arms,
and such. I do not understand this.
3. I have been told by two places that Kontrolle produces a very good
competitive with the Bilstens shocks. Kontrolle also builds some little
shim type object that is put into the control arms, or something which
allows you to adjust the camber more than a few degrees, thus giving you
the ability to lower the car. The shim type object is $75/pair.
And supposedly is all that is needed to increase the camber adjustment.
4. Finally to lower the car, I either need to cut the springs or get
new ones. Any ideas?? I have again received conflicting advice. One
place said that it is better to use the original springs, cut a turn off
of the and re-wrap them. Another place said that they do not like to
do that because the temper of the metal is not usually good enough to
take the heat of cutting and re-shaping. So do I get new springs, or
hack on the old ones?? And how much should I lower it??
5. I would like some recommendations on parts. Does anyone know about
Kontrolle, or the front-end shim devices they produce??
I would appreciate the input of any of you suspension gurus, and I would
be very interested in hearing from other Maxda owners who have modified
their cars in a similiar fashion.
Thank You,
Bill Franklin
{ihnp4,allegra,dual,mtxinu,hplabs}!ucbvax!franklin.UUCP
franklin@Berkeley.ARPA
(415)843-7778.ATT