| Suspension settings can be whatever works best
for you. Although in front of me I have the Mazda Performance
Handbook and that gives settings for street as toe in |
| |
front |
rear |
| camber |
-0.5 to -0.75deg |
-0.75 to -1.0deg |
| caster more than 5deg |
| |
1/16" |
1/16" |
(12/99) |
|
4 wheel alignment
The MX5 is fully adjustable in 5 ways. The factory setting below
are pretty wide and if you like your car set up consistently and
value your tyres you will get this done at least once and maybe
even every year a big pot hole can push the whole lot out. These
settings are standard ride height you cannot get some of them
with lowered cars. I use Miq Millmans settings; http://www.miata.net/garage/align.html
- also a good start if this is all a bit confusing print it out
and take it to the garage so you understand them. I also set this
up with 75kg of cement bags in the driver's seat as this is how
I would be normally driving a bit extreme but hey if you have
it why waste it.
Specification figures from Mazda manual spec ('94 Miata);
|
| Front Ride height |
Caster (+/-45' ) |
| 328-337mm |
5d 16' |
| 338-347mm |
5d 02' |
| 348-357mm |
4d 49' |
| 358-367mm |
4d 35' |
| 368-377mm |
4d 21' |
| |
|
| Front Ride height |
Camber (+/-45' ) |
| 328-337mm |
-0d 20' |
| 338-347mm |
0d 03' |
| 348-357mm |
0d 24' |
| 358-367mm |
0d 44' |
| 368-377mm |
1d 02' |
| |
|
| Toe-in per side = 0d 09' +/-09' |
|
| |
|
| Rear Ride height |
Camber (+/-30' ) |
| 346-355mm |
-1d 08' |
| 356-365mm |
-0d 54' |
| 366-375mm |
-0d 43' |
| 376-385mm |
-0d 35' |
| 386-395mm |
-0d 30' |
| |
|
| Rear toe per side 0d 09' +/- 09' |
|
|
|
Remember there are 60 minutes (that is what the { '} mark is
for) in a degree.
But the real answer is to go and then be armed to deal with the
alignment people... and find one that actually know what they
are doing .. very rare outside race preparation shops.. I end
up using a tape measure to check the toe in/out alignment to prove
it was wrong on my first alignment.
Settings on my '94 Eunos FM2 ... with FM springs (25mm lower)
.. attempting to get Miq Millman settings
|
| front camber |
-1.14 |
-1.12 |
| front castor |
5.29 |
5.47 |
| front toe |
0.01 |
-0.01 |
| 0.13 set back |
|
|
| 0.02 set back ... he did not know what this
was either .. presume axle to axle alignment |
| rear camber |
-1.86 |
-2.25 |
| rear toe |
0.23 |
0.27 |
|
| (12/99) |
| Since the Miq Millman alignment settings were originally designed
for a Mk1, are they still applicable to a Mk ll which has a slightly
different settings to start with, and particularly a 10AE which
also has different damper settings ? (2/00) |
| Quite a few people have tried the Miata.net
alignment suggestions on the Mk2, and until now, I have only read
positive reviews. No personal experience, though. (2/00) |
| IIRC the Miq alignment has toe-out at the front. From personal
experience I can say that this gives the car a very twitchy feel
- horrid for road use. Try a little toe-in at the front - it worked
for me. (3/00) |
| Anyone remember the OEM wheel offset for MK2 alloys? (2/00) |
| 40mm for the 15" wheels. (2/00) |
Oddly enough I wrote to Mazda UK about this. Their reply:
45mm for 14" wheels
40mm for 15" wheels (2/00) |
|
40mm offset (mk1 had 45mm)
100*4 PCD (hole position)
54.1mm centre hole (or get the correct centering ring)
If you go for a wider wheel than 7", I would recommend reducing
the offset to 30mm for 8" to prevent inner wing rub (2/00)
|
| Sorry if I am being painfully stupid, but although I know what
you mean by wheel offset, what are the consequences of using wheels
with an incorrect offset? also, is this a linear relationship ie:
45mm for 14" wheels, 40mm for 15" wheels, so would it be 35mm for
16", 30mm for 17" etc. (2/00) |
| I believe the answer is "Yes" but in relationship to the width
of the wheel, rather than the diameter. It's probably been expressed
(or more accurately, implied) that way as the wheel width generally
increase with diameter. Does that make sense...!? (2/00) |
| Sorry....answers to first part include possible contact (bodywork/brakes??)
and poor handling/tracking IIRC somebody mentioned (on another list)
possible extra stress on bearings also. (2/00) |
| Just another bit of info, there is also a chart on miata.net
under the garage and then to wheels and suspension, which gives
the wheel weights, offsets of all stock wheels used and a great
many aftermarket wheels as well. I found it very helpful in considering
new wheels. (2/00) |
|
The offset is purely a feature of the wheel design - where the
designer decided to place the centre part (and the hub fixing
face) laterally in relation to the centre of the rim width.
Wheels with a bigger offset look sexier, because they look wider
(deeper) when you look at them from the side.
Changing the offset theoretically changes the suspension geometry,
and can affect the handling.
Probably the effect is slight with most wheels sold as suitable
for the MX5 - and probably not noticeable. The bigger problem
with wheels is weight. Standard MX5 wheels are very light, and
the unsprung weight in each wheel is low. Virtually any aftermarket
wheel is much heavier than those fitted as standard, and the effect
is worse the bigger the wheel. The bigger the unsprung weight,
the more unpredictable is the handling on bumpy corners. (2/00)
|
| This is interesting, especially the fact that my OEM wheels are
4-5lbs lighter than most of the aftermarket stuff. On such a light
car I would be loathe to increase the unsprung weight by such a
large amount. Those early BBS wheels look appealing, weightwise...
(2/00) |
| Having recently lowered the 5, we now need to get the alignment
done. I have the settings from Miata Net, but the garage have asked
me how the adjustment is done - are there shims involved or is it
a straight forward bolt adjustment? We are going for the Miq's settings
- unless you know better :) (5/00) |
| Find another garage that knows about mx-5s in that case It just
done by losening the innner pivot bolts on the wishbones, and turning
cams, then locking up again. (5/00) |
|
Wheel alignment adjust bolt and camplate, part no as follows
Bolt = NA01-28-4A0
Camplate = NA01-28-473
Nut = B037-28-091
These numbers are for the rear & cars up to April 96 (1/01)
|
|
If those part no's are not recognized then use the following
no's
Bolt = NA80-28-66Z
Camplate = NA80-28-473
Nut = B001-39037B
if you use these no's you must buy all three items because they
are a standardised part & are different to the original ones i.e.
your old camplate & nut will not fit the bolt listed above. (1/01)
|
| Just had my roadster suspension overhauled and going to have
a 4 wheel alignment done but all the advice on toe-in is in inches
- anybody know how to convert one to the other? and (probably a
stupid question) is 0 degrees and 30 minutes equal to 0.5 degrees?
(4/01) |
| Not sure about the inch to degree conversion but you are correct
with the 0 degree 30 min being 0.5 degrees from what I can remember
:) (4/01) |
| 1mm = 0.040 ins (approx) = 0deg 06min = 0.1deg toe in. So 0.5
deg = 0deg 30 mins and is probably too much for a lively feel -
spec is 0 deg 18min +/- 0deg 18min - the more toe in the deader
it feels. (4/01) |
| Careful with alignment, I've just had mine adjusted (just the
toe due to excessive outer edge tyre wear) and it was set at the
recommended amount of 1mm per side. I had it adjusted to zero and
the handling was awful (IMHO), Masses of *thinks really hard to
make sure he gets this right* oversteer... I took it back and got
it changed to 0.5mm per side and it's wonderful. Hopefully more
even tyre wear too... (4/01) |
| After all this alligment talk I would like to add a further
suggestion. If this is not your 1st allignment, and maybe if the
suspension has been apart before for bushes/shocks etc, then I thoroughly
recommend getting new adjuster bolts and nuts. Where can I get these?
(6/01) |
| Mazda dealer. NAY9-28-6AZ These are the better ones. You need
eight. (6/01) |
| Don't know anything about these technical things, but a lot of
people follow this Lanny Chambers' advice apparently: http://www.hummingbirds.net/alignment.html
(7/01) |
| Word file with Mk2 settings. (1/03) |
| |