Budget suspension mods....

[Nexus]

dunno if it was already mentioned, but whats the purpose of the car and whats your driving style. from there you can work out what will work within your budget.

a drag car, track car and street car all have different requirements. set the suspension up correctly and a lower powered car can be quicker in each of the situations, particularly when you start getting corners and twisties involved.

also do right the first time. u have a good amount of power there, so don't skimp on suspension as good suspension will help make use of that power. same goes with braking

As I said, style of driving and requirement are mostly real world, with the a hint of balance adjustment. Any of these suggestions are going to be a significant gain, silly things like setting that front:rear sway (or shock) balance too hard for conditions aside...

Hence fairly set on the FSD with stock springs, slightly uprated rear swaybar. It's something that can have a front sway added at a later date, and fulfills desire for gains in the short term at minimum cost...It does make me look harder at a full sway solutions, but for now I know what I want...

lowered and adjustable sport shocks is appealing to me, but realistically, I'll be thanking myself that I leave it at it's current height. Track - no question I'd go coilies. They are not much money not much money for track purposes.

[bd581]

In the real world, I think you have the right idea james.
FSD + stock springs + sway bars will be the best comprimise. And the best choice for what you have asked.
Its no secret i love my FSD's. They handle well enough for 99% of driving, and the improvement was noticed within 50m of its first drive. Took all the harshness out of the suspension and smoothed the light corrigations in the road.
I run out of courage and ability before i run out of grip now.
Before, you could feel the limitations of the suspension before the tyres, now its the other way around.
I was sceptical at first because of the hype they get, but they deserve it.
Things to note, they have longer travel, I know longer cock a back wheel on uneven ground.
Koni say not to lower the vehicle with FSD's, yet on another page they say you can use the eibach, and they are sold as a kit. When i got mine, it was definately not to be used with lowered springs because there won't be enough travel and the springs are generally to firm to allow the FSD's to do their thing.
Possibly (might be worth an email to koni) koni and eibach have developed specific springs to suit, not the regular springs.
But as you have said that you wish to retain stock height, thats of little consiquence.
there is a good write up on the mazdaspeed forum on installing them, if you are going to do it yourself. Not a difficult job if you have the tools and patients.

I did write up a review and a few more installation hints, but the forum crashed and those posts were lost.
I'll have to get dad to reply to this thread and describe what he feels the difference on the road is between mine and another well known very sorted MPS he recently drove that has coilovers, sway bars etc etc etc

[BlueMPS3]

I had the Cobb rear sway on my MPS3 and loved it. It made a huge difference to the handling (I live in the adelaide hills) and suited my driving style when i did track runs.

I recommend a rear bar change as the best bang for buck handling improvement on a MPS3

[Nexus]

I had the Cobb rear sway on my MPS3 and loved it. It made a huge difference to the handling (I live in the adelaide hills) and suited my driving style when i did track runs.

I recommend a rear bar change as the best bang for buck handling improvement on a MPS3

No front bar for you? That's about the middle setting on the corksport, so that's good to hear - did you try it on the hard setting? That would be a very aggressive balance I expect

[BlueMPS3]

No front bar for you? That's about the middle setting on the corksport, so that's good to hear - did you try it on the hard setting? That would be a very aggressive balance I expect

I had it set on the hardest setting, which to me and my driving style was spot on for track work around Mallala raceway, also mine must have been a "older" version of there sway bar as it had 3 sets of adjustment holes on each side and was a 32mm "hollow" bar.

Front bar wasnt worth the hassle fitting for what i wanted from the car

[TD]

In the real world, I think you have the right idea james.
FSD + stock springs + sway bars will be the best comprimise. And the best choice for what you have asked.
Its no secret i love my FSD's. They handle well enough for 99% of driving, and the improvement was noticed within 50m of its first drive. Took all the harshness out of the suspension and smoothed the light corrigations in the road.
I run out of courage and ability before i run out of grip now.
Before, you could feel the limitations of the suspension before the tyres, now its the other way around.
I was sceptical at first because of the hype they get, but they deserve it.
Things to note, they have longer travel, I know longer cock a back wheel on uneven ground.
Koni say not to lower the vehicle with FSD's, yet on another page they say you can use the eibach, and they are sold as a kit. When i got mine, it was definately not to be used with lowered springs because there won't be enough travel and the springs are generally to firm to allow the FSD's to do their thing.
Possibly (might be worth an email to koni) koni and eibach have developed specific springs to suit, not the regular springs.
But as you have said that you wish to retain stock height, thats of little consiquence.
there is a good write up on the mazdaspeed forum on installing them, if you are going to do it yourself. Not a difficult job if you have the tools and patients.

I did write up a review and a few more installation hints, but the forum crashed and those posts were lost.
I'll have to get dad to reply to this thread and describe what he feels the difference on the road is between mine and another well known very sorted MPS he recently drove that has coilovers, sway bars etc etc etc

Good post, nothing to add other than that

[Vaku]

FSD/Eibachs are a fantastic combo, I had them on my SP25 for about 8 months (just put stock suspension back in as I might sell my car soon - see for sale section for suspension setup)

I travelled on the same roads and to my surprise the FSD/Eibach combo was smoother than the stock 'jittery' suspension overall - the hard bumps etc gave about a 15-20% 'firmer' hit assuming you cannot avoid them (such as the entry to the M2 from old windsor rd) but generally they are smoother/better than stock and I am very fussy in regards to comfort.

If i planned on keeping my car longer there is no way I would go back to stock, apart from the car looking a million times better it feels more planted and stable, body roll is significantly reduced.

good luck with whatever you chose!