Purchasing HSD Coilovers advice

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MrGrey
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Purchasing HSD Coilovers advice

Post by MrGrey » Thu Apr 30, 2015 1:06 am

Now this is all preliminary research, but from what I have been reading, for general street use on the crappy NZ roads, HSD coilovers would be my best option for my car.

I was wondering what the best source to get a set would be? from initial browsing, it would seem that a set bought in NZ would set me back around $1500 while I can get a set sent over from the UK for around $1250. Is there any one I could speak to over here to get a set at a decent price? (I would rather buy local than import to support local business but it seems some retailers want to price gouge)

Thanks in advance

evel
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Post by evel » Thu Apr 30, 2015 4:56 pm

I believe Dodson's is an HSD distributer so you could try them.

I have a set of HSD's on mine that I got second hand, and i love them :D
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Angreal
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Post by Angreal » Thu Apr 30, 2015 6:33 pm

Don't know why people rubbish nz roads. Far better than English ones and certainly better than any third world country I've spent time in (no tongue biting potholes in nz :-P )

Can't add anything of value to the question though...

MrGrey
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Post by MrGrey » Thu Apr 30, 2015 7:17 pm

Fair enough angreal, but up here in northland they are pretty crap. Specifically, I drive from whangarei to marsden point for work and because the government can't free up the required $$$ for a rail link to marsden, we have over 30 double trailer logging trucks carting logs to the port every day (each truck doing 3+ trips per day). As this stretch of highway is on reclaimed coastal swampland, the road simply cannot stand up to this wear and tear and thus is constantly having sections repaired which means driving over roadworks where they have torn up the asphalt in preparation for laying new asphalt.

All things considered, our roads generally are pretty good. I drove from Napier to Tauranga for work via the long coastal route and it was amazing :) so I generally agree with your statement that we do have pretty good roads in comparison to the UK (with exceptions)

The reason I am looking at coilovers is that I will be doing the turbo conversion after my manual conversion and figure that if I am getting work that requires a LVVT then I might as well go whole hog and get coilovers at the same time and I am after something that is a bit more comfortable than my current setup of tein lowering springs on bilsteins and the HSD's seem to have a pretty good reputation and I like the idea of tunable dampening screws for hard/soft adjustment.

Angreal
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Post by Angreal » Thu Apr 30, 2015 7:50 pm

Ah yeah, I ignore up north when I think of nz roads (and Christchurch now). Definitely have the right idea to get it all done in one hit

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Post by marcellarius » Fri May 01, 2015 1:32 pm

The damping adjustments aren't particularly useful ... on a good-quality damper it should give you a small adjustment range to dial in the handling at the limit. On my Teins I probably couldn't tell the difference in a blind test between full hard and full soft on the street. It's certainly not a limo/racecar knob.

I recently changed back to old OEM shocks and heavy wheels (WOF...) and was surprised how bad the NVH was on the treacherous roads of Hamilton suburbs. I had always blamed the valving and pillowball mounts on my coilovers but I guess it could be old hard bushings and chassis/floor flex.

SLYDIT
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Post by SLYDIT » Fri May 29, 2015 7:39 pm

i would look past the HSD's and go for some of the aussie coilovers called MCA...they are on the mx5cartalk page. they come as a kit with decent rate springs and matched dampers.

as with a lot of new carparts the average coilover is just shyte quality compared to decent brands... ab it like trying to find decent car audio stuff...most of the gear now is just junk buts its what the cool kids run.
oh and look at getting some "frog arms" while your at it.
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MrGrey
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Post by MrGrey » Fri May 29, 2015 10:24 pm

Thank you for the feedback but after careful deliberation, considering I would not be adjusting the height (due to the -/+5% restriction placed on LVVT certed cars) I have decided that my most cost effective option would be to stick with my Bilsteins and Dobi sport lowered springs as to do coilover properly would require a sizable cash outlay and require a fair amount of time to get set right to a height that I am happy with and can live with for an extended period of time.

I must admit that having to consider the implications of the LVVT compliance are slightly irritating. I like being all legal beagle but one aspect of the MX5 that I have come to admire and love is how customizable and adjustable they are and its starting to feel like when I go for my cert it will be like a dodgy episode of "who want to be a millionaire"

LVVT Certifier: "Is that your final modification? do you want to lock that in place?"

Me: "ummm maybe I should phone a friend... or maybe go mechanic 50/50"

LVVT Certifier: " well lets come back after the break and see if your mods are legally compliant!"

**queue theme music**

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