Cusco Coilovers & Advan RZ for my 2016+ ND Miata

After I ordered my 2016 ND MX-5 Shop Car, I immediately knew that I would change the suspension on it because I didn’t like the huge wheel gap from factory.

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As much as it was easy to drive it everywhere and not care about clearance over bumps and driving fast over bad roads, I just thought it looked bad.

It became even worse when I installed my 17×8 Advan RZ coupled with 215/40R17 tires :

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(I only took one picture right after the installation. I didn’t take other as it just looked goofy.)

Installing coilovers on the 2016 ND Roadster is really a piece of cake. Get a friend who has power tools, follow these instructions and you’ll be done within a few hours. Adjustment takes a bit longer, but that depends on everyone. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures of my OEM wheels with the lowered suspension, but it’s easy to imagine. The wheels won’t stick out and will be very narrow inside the fenders; not the look I was aiming for.

After installing the Cusco Street Zero Coilovers, everyone who saw my car first and then were just AMAZED. Holy moly, they couldn’t believe how great the car was looking now!

coil1

coil2(I can’t believe how aggressive the car now looks!)

I was also pretty happy to notice that the 17×8 +35 Advan RZ & Yokohama S.Drive 215/40R17 don’t have any stretch and don’t even rub inside the fenders or anywhere during hard cornering! The wheels also sit perfectly flush with the fenders:

coil3
coil4(It did not require any fender work, it just sits within a safe distance of the inner fender and fender “lip”.)

The car now looks much less narrow than it was :

Before:nd_008

After:coil5(I gotta love the wide tires look with no stretch and low rear end.)

Also, I parked it next to my neighbor 2010 911 Carrera and you can see that I’m now a bit lower than he is;photo_911

As for the front, it just looks super aggressive now.

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The Cusco Street Coilovers, after install, felt perfect for this car. They did lower the car a lot after we changed the ride height to our needs. After a test ride, the car felt SO MUCH more comfortable than with the previous Bilstein setup. Car now feels very nice, and less stiff suspension-wise. How is that a good thing? The car is my daily driver and the Bilstein shocks combined with the 215/40R17 tires just felt horrible. I could feel all the bumps in the road and on long-range driving, it would have been hell. The Cusco Street Coilovers really hold their name well, they are made for street mainly and will help you obtain the look you are aiming for. I really would not use the Cusco Street Coilover is I was racing my car often; I would opt for the damping adjustable Cusco Street Zero A Coilover or any other coilover that offer more adjustability! These coilovers suit my needs for now as I am not really racing the car at all and the springs that comes with the suspension are quite soft and comfortable. It’s perfect for a daily driver or week-end cruiser, but not suitable for racers.

coil7(The look just is incredible. Everyone looks at the car and gives thumbs up now!)

The OEM Bilstein Suspension weighted 4.3KG in the front and 4.5KG in the back while the Cusco Coilovers weighted 4.5KG in the front and 4.2KG in the rear. So, the whole adjustable Cusco suspension is 0.2KG lighter than OEM. Not much, but at least it’s not heavier.

As for the wheels & tires, I was not able to weight them, unfortunately, but I know that the Advan RZ 17×8 wheel weights only 7.5KG (16.5 lbs) and it’s a super strong forged wheel with semi-concave spokes. The look of it just made my car look much better:

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coil10(The semi-concave spokes really fit well with the aggressive look of the ND Roadster.)

Since the wheels are wider and about the same weight as OEM wheels, the contact patch to the ground is much better which provides a better handling. Also, due to the lightness of the wheels, absolutely no loss of performance due to unsprung weight is felt!

After a few days of driving, I have to give advices to those thinking of upgrading coilovers!

Advice 1 : Buy the Cusco Headlight Levelizer Adjustment Rod

Your headlights, after being lowered, will aim much lower than they are supposed to and this means you will lose most of your visibility. If you don’t get the Levelizer Adjustment Rod, your headlights will pretty much light up to ~20-30 feet away from the car which is SUPER close and DANGEROUS as you can’t see anything on the road after that distance:

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coil13(As you can see, the beam now shoots to the floor really close to the vehicle and it’s not recommended to drive with such a low beam pattern.)

Advice 2 : Check your lowest vehicle’s point
If you lower the car a lot, like I did, you might end up scraping a lot from the front. Don’t worry, it’s not from your front diffusers, but from some kind of front flap just in front of your tires:

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coil15(That small flap is about 1 inch lower than the front diffuser. It’s flexible, but will make noises if you scrape on it. I haven’t checked, but it might be possible to remove it.)

Well, I think I’ll probably raise my car about 1cm each corner to make it more “driveable”. Right now, just the small flap scraped on the ground so the clearance is actually pretty impressive considering how low the car sits. Also, if I want to add aero parts in front and side, it will be much safer to raise the car a bit, and I think I’ll still have zero wheel gap with 1 cm higher.

Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

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You can follow our build on this blog using this link.

Instructions : Installing Coilovers in a 2016+ ND Miata

Installation time : around 2 hours plus any necessary adjustment
Installation difficulty : intermediate
Special tools needed : power tools (highly recommended), 10mm/14mm/17mm wrenches
Notes : Please note that you will need to have an alignment done after the suspension install to make sure your tires use evenly. It is not required to do it RIGHT after, but recommended as soon as you can.

The 2016 MX-5 has quite a bit of wheel gap due to safety regulations and low profile tires. Many people will run it as-is, but a lot of us will want a different look. Changing tires & wheels will definitely improve your car’s look, but without a lowered suspension, it will look goofy (see my coilover review). I wanted to have a more comfortable ride as well as 100% adjustable height, that is why I choose the Cusco Street Zero Coilover System. We also offer PLENTY of other coilover systems as well as springs for the 2016+ ND Miata!

I did not take pictures of the first steps as they are not necessary, but I’ll still explain them. We did not have access to a lift, so we used regular jack to do the whole job.

NEVER forget to set your handbrake when you are doing the suspension work, you wouldn’t want the car to roll down.

We first started by removing the whole trunk interior. It’s super easy, you just need to remove the plastic clips (we used our nails to do it). Spot them and remove the trunk liner. No need to remove the plastic part with the trunk light completely, just remove the plastic clips from it. Then, you’ll see a polished aluminum plate on the driver’s side (left hand drive vehicles), unbolt all the bolts (10mm) holding it remove the polished plate as it’s hiding the suspension top hat.

Then, you need to remove the top hat bolts 17mm (2 per suspension), the driver side is a bit more tricky, but overall it’s quite easy to remove. Keep the nuts as you’ll reuse them when installing your coilovers.

coilover_install_1Passenger side (17mm x 2)

coilover_install_2Driver side (17mm x 2)

Then, you will need to raise your car with a jack. We used our jack with a point in the middle of the car (near the differential) so we could raise both wheels at the same time. You don’t need to raise the car real high, as long as the wheels don’t touch the floor anymore. Next step; remove your rear wheels!

Once the wheels are removed, you’ll see your suspension assembly and the brakes. You need to remove the bolt at the bottom of the suspension (14mm). We suggest using power tools for this one as it’s pretty hard to remove.
coilover_install_3

Once this bolt is removed, just pull down the suspension arms, the suspension will move from its top mounting point and you just need to move it from the way, so that it won’t be attached to the car anymore. Do the inverse using your coilover system and bolt back everything firmly (please note that torque specs are usually included in your suspension instructions).

You can put back your rear wheels and check the ride height!

coilover_install_4

I am not going to go into adjusting your suspension ride height, but best is to install all 4 coilovers, measure your height from factory settings when all 4 wheels are installed and then you re-adjust to your preference.

So, no need to play with suspension adjustment now yet, let’s do the front suspension!

You can now lower the car to the ground. First, let’s open the hood and remove the bolts from the top hats. There are 3 of them per suspension and they are 17mm.

-If you have Mazda OEM Front Strut Bar, it’s a little more difficult to work on, but it is NOT necessary to remove the front strut bar! It’s made so you have access to all bolts using a wrench.
-If you have the intake sound enhancer, we recommend removing it as it’s in the way for the driver side suspension bolts.

coilover_install_5

Please note that the 3rd bolt is hidden in this picture, it’s right under the strut bar.

So, once your nuts are removed, let’s do the hard part. Since you can’t really jack both wheels at the same time, the front takes a little more time as you need to jack each side.

Jack one side of the car, remove the wheel and remove the same bottom bolt as you did for the suspension.

coilover_install_6

As there is less room to play with the front suspension, you need to remove 2 extra bolts so that you have enough room to move the arms and move the suspension out of the way. If it’s not enough, you might need to disconnect the front sway bar (1 bolt, not pictured, sorry!).

coilover_install_7

Then, it’s reverse engineering time, you just need to put back your coilover suspension system and bolt everything tightly.

Put back the wheels and check out your ride height. Measure how lower or higher you want to go and adjust your suspension accordingly! I suggest to drive a few miles and test the suspension (sharp turns) before modifying the factory settings as the suspension might “settle” a bit and make the car a bit lower than after the fresh install.

Last step; Enjoy your awesome looking ride!

coilover_install_8

Black Chrome Emblems for the 2016+ ND Miata

Another quick post about some small details that makes my 2016 ND Demo Car (The Project REV9 Clubman) a more unique build. I’ve wanted to change my “MX-5” emblem for a “Roadster” emblem, but also add a nice classy touch to my exterior, so I’ve got myself the REV9 Black Chrome Emblems.

Here are some before shots:

embem-2 emblem-1 emblem-3

The OEM emblems all have pins that leave holes in the bumper if you remove them. You gotta take your time with a heatgun when removing OEM emblems. You end up with some holes in your bumper and lot of glue to remove. Total installation time was less than 1 hour.

emblem-3-2

Also, when removing the emblems, we broke most of the OEM pins. They are very fragile. That’s why the Black Chrome Emblems are nice to have since they are brand new and re-use OEM pins (REV9 on the left, OEM with broken pins on the right).

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As you can see, the finish of the black chrome is very subtle (left), but has a nice deep and elegant tone:

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Once cleaned, I recommend fixing scratches that the emblems might have caused during removal using a touch-up paint.

Then, you just need to remove the self-adhesive behind the REV9 Black Chrome Emblems and install them using the existing holes left on your bumper. They all match up, so it’s super easy to install. Here is the final result:

emblem-5 emblem-6 emblem-7

Pretty glad I did the change, it’s very subtle but real nice touch to the look of the car.

emblem-8

You can follow our build on this blog using this link.

Red Seat Covers for my 2016 ND Miata

When I ordered my 2016 ND MX-5 Shop Car, I knew I wanted to have a more unique look than what Mazda offered. I choose the Autowear Seat Covers because they are in synthetic leather and the color is pretty vivid!
nd_012
(Although I have red stitching on my seats as an option, I wanted something different).

I was not a huge fan of the tan leather option and wanted a bit of contrast in my interior. That’s why I got myself some Autowear Seat Covers for 2016 ND. It was available in Black Leather & Red Stitching, but I wanted to try something more “punchy”!
aw_001 (With windows closed, it’s still a bit noticeable).

Installation was super easy, took less than 1 hour to install BOTH seats. I’ve never installed something so easily on my car. You can read the installation instructions here.aw_002(The look is pretty nice, contrasts really well with the Ceramic Metallic color).

The look of the seats is really neat. For “not so expensive” seat covers, they look really great and don’t “cheap out” your interior at all.aw_003(As you can see, the covers go under the plastics from the seats which integrate them very well to the interior).

Depending on the lighting, they will show as super bright red or regular red.
aw_004

aw_005(The red is very vivid, as you can see).

It really gives a cool look to the vehicle, making it much more unique than before.aw_006

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When parked indoor, the small amount of light these seats will receive really do brighten the interior!
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aw_009(I gotta love that “evil look” picture)!

Here are some other shots for viewing pleasure:
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As far as seating position, these sure add a small amount of synthetic leather between the original seat and you, but the most drastic part is that the center part of the seat is now a bit tighter and the middle “floats” a bit over the original seat, making it a bit more comfortable at the same time. The material of the seat cover is non-slippery which is nice and it feels very tight on the seats. Also, the seats do not reduce the sound coming from the headrest speakers by much. I still can hear people clearly when talking over Bluetooth.

These Autowear Seat Covers are available for the ND (2016+) Miata, but also available for the NA (1989-1997) Miata as well as the NC (2006-2015) Miata.

You can follow our build on this blog using this link.

The Shorty Antenna (S2000 Style) for ND 2016+ Miata

It’s not the most interesting post about my 2016 ND Demo Car Build (The Project REV9 Clubman), but I thought some would like to see what the TUCKIN99 Short Antenna looks like and how it’s installed on the 4th generation MX-5.

First of all, I’m not even going to make an installation instruction post about this one as it literally takes less than 30 seconds to install. You just unscrew your long “toy car” antenna and then screw in the short antenna by TUCKIN99.

Here is the before look: ant1

ant2

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And here’s the after look with the TUCKIN99 Ver1 Short Antenna:
ant6

ant4

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And here’s a last full shot of our shop car with the antenna installed. You can follow our build on this blog using this link.

ant7

 

 

Instructions : Installing Seat Covers in 2016+ ND Miata

Installation time : less than 1 hour

Installation difficulty : very easy

Special tools needed : none

The new MX-5 comes with some pretty light and cool fabric seats, but I’ve always been a fan of leather. I was not a fan of the price Mazda charged for the top of the line model, though. When Autowear came with these awesome Seat Covers, I knew I wanted to run these in my shop car.

First, you have these OEM seats to start with:
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Then, you have the Autowear Seat Covers:
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(My seats are more wrinkled than usual. They stayed in my trunk for a long whole and I DO NOT RECOMMEND keeping them folded for a while as wrinkle may show).

I myself started with the bottom, but you can start with the top, it does not really matter:
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You just need to take the top portion of that cover and bring it in between the reclining part of the seat. There is a Velcro and you just need to stick it as far as possible underneath your seat.
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Then, you press the seat cover under the plastic parts of your seat so it integrates very nicely in your car. Autowear suggests to use a spatula to make it fit under the plastic.
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Now, you just need to remove the seatbelt guide (2 bolts) from the top part of the seat:
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Then, you will just need to slip the cover over the existing seat. It’s not so easy as it’s very tight. Take your time and “massage” the seat to make it fit tight and nice.
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Finally, all you need to do is to take the bottom part of the top cover and slip it in the middle of the reclining part of the seat and connect the front and back Velcro as tightly as possible:
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Massage, massage and massage the seat. Sit on it, look at it and just enjoy!
awi_11

These Autowear Seat Covers are available for the ND (2016+) Miata, but also available for the NA (1989-1997) Miata as well as the NC (2006-2015) Miata.

 

 

REV9 Autosport ND Demo Car Project Debut

If you haven’t noticed lately, we’ve been adding a lot of ND parts to our web shop. We’re pretty much the #1 source of ND parts worldwide at the moment. Since the launch of the vehicle, we knew it would be our next shop (demo) car. In May, I went to Japan to be one of the first to test the production model (it was 1.5L) for a road test and I was so amazed that once I came back to America, I placed an order at my local Mazda dealership, without even knowing the price of the car. That’s how much I liked it.

I first ordered a 2016 Black ND Base Model (GX) with manual transmission. Then, I felt like I needed some change (from always having Black Shop Cars) and ordered a 2016 Ceramic Metallic Base Model (GX). Long story short, I was supposed to receive it in late July/early August, but it delayed A LOT. During the wait, I changed for a 2016 Ceramic Metallic ND Sport Model (GS) because I wanted to have the navigation, black leather with red stitching accents, leather steering wheel and, most importantly, the LSD. It also came with a Bilstein Suspension and Front Strut Bar, but those will be upgraded anyways. So, here is the car the day I’ve got it.

It was one of the happiest day of my life… my very first brand new car:   REV9 Autosport ND Shop Car(Sorry for the dark picture, but my car was delivered at 7:00 PM)

Now here are some pictures at day light. I absolutely don’t regret going with Ceramic Metallic, it’s such a beautiful and unique color. Everyone tells me how great it looks during the day as well as night or when it’s raining… color always is changing depending on lighting.

Front view: ND Miata Shop Car Front nd_003 nd_004(So aggressive, the black housing looks just great on a white colored paint)

Side view: nd_005 nd_006(If you compare the 2 last pictures, you can clearly see a difference in colors because of different lighting)

Rear View: nd_007 nd_008 nd_009(Mazda really cleaned up the lines, but as of now, I think the rear of the car does not match the “aggressiveness” of the front end)

Interior: nd_010 nd_013 nd_011 nd_014 nd_012(As you can see, the whole interior is very clean, console is minimalistic and everything is super easy to reach. They did an awesome job with the red stitching accents and leather wrapped “crash pad”.)

Engine Bay:
nd_019
(Pretty neat and not that cluttered, actually.)

Options:
Since I bought a non-base model (GS), I’ll show what was included with it: nd_015(17” Gunmetal Wheels & Black Side Mirrors) nd_016(Touchscreen Infotainment, Leather Wrapped Steering Wheel & Red Stitching Accents) nd_017(Red Stitching on the fabric seats) nd_018(Bilstein Suspension & Sport Springs) nd_020(Mazda Noise Enhancer (pipe coming from the intake) & OEM Front Strut Bar)

This shows pretty much what is the base of my project. I think it’s worth getting the GS over GX model simply because of all the leather accents, infotainment & LSD. The upgrades might just bring the cost to the same and you’d still be missing leather accents.

The Project REV9 Clubman
As with many folks, I don’t live anywhere nearby a race track. I don’t plan on building this car for the track, but mainly as a better version of what Mazda created. I am aiming for ~200 hp at the engine and lighter overall car than OEM. The project is to build a nice gentleman (classy) Roadster with many details that will make it better than the factory edition.

Car would still be able to do track days and perform, but that’s not the main purpose. It’s my pride and I want the best possible look without compromising quality over quantity.

Definition of Clubman : “One definition of “Clubman” is that of an amateur enthusiast, someone willing to partake in his sport without necessarily being a winner or serious contender, for the love of the sport. The founder of the Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin said: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part: the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.” (Ref; http://theclubman.com/blog/2014/4/7/what-is-a-clubman)

I want to build a car that my customers, friends and fans will recognize not as the fastest “form over function” winning car, but a car that will try, through selection of beautiful and functional items, to be an overall better car that still can compete against more “serious” racers.

Build Wishlist
Wheels : 17×8 +35 Ultra Lightweight & Forged
Brakes : 4pot Front Big Brake Kit
Suspension : Coilovers with tons of adjustability for street and track
Aerodynamics : Front lip, side skirts, rear diffuser, duck tail spoiler & hardtop
Engine : REV9 ECU tune, ram air intake, header & exhaust
Interior : leather seats, upgraded steering wheel, weighted shift knob, checkered floor mats & metal accents
Chassis : sway bars, front + rear strut bar & some more chassis bracing
(Some items might appear or disappear, but it gives you an idea of what I am aiming for.)

Installing Garage Vary DIY Tail Lights

Hey everyone,

I figured out I could throw some small instructions on how to install the new Garage Vary DIY Tail Lights. It’s their new release that’s less expensive than the original kit, but maintains 100% the same look.

I’m sorry I don’t have a lot of pictures, but hopefully it’ll be good enough to help you and if you want to send me more pictures of the install, it’ll be super appreciated!

Step 1 : Disconnect your tail light
That’s pretty straight forward.

Step 2 : Remove your tail light
You need to remove the 4 bolts/washers holding it and then push on the back and it’ll fall.

Step 3 : Insert OEM bulbs into tail light cup
You need to remove your OEM light bulbs (and connector) from your OEM tail light (same as if you were changing the tail light bulb. Then, you insert it into the Garage Vary light cup. There is small wiring work needed as you will relocate the back lamp.

Step 4 : Transfer waterproofing material from OEM tail light to Garage Vary fiberglass adapter.
Just look at the pictures, you’ll need to cut a bit of material to fit, but it’s very easy, it just need to have the same shape as the FRP adapter provided with the kit.

Here you go!

Step 5 : Install fiberglass adapter into the chassis
(Just use same bolts as with tail lights).

Step 6 : Connect tail lights using OEM connectors that you previously spliced.

Step 7 : Install wiring protector
A wiring protector is included, you just need to put insulator on it and install it using the same bolts/washers as OEM tail lights.

Done, you’re all set!

Integral Kobe ND First Track Results

Hey everyone,

Integral Kobe has been testing intensively their ND for a few weeks and shared with us the results of their track testings. They do all tests in Central Circuit (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Circuit) as it’s close to the shop. 

First of all, let’s start with the stock vehicle (1.5L):

Here are the results from the stock car:

Then, he added High Performer Springs, Rays ZE40 Wheels (17×8 ; 6.8kg), ZII tires (215/40R17) & their N-Zero Exhaust (under development). Now, the new results:

The owner says that from his analysis, the tires & wheels helped for ~2 seconds, springs for ~2 seconds and exhaust for ~0.6 seconds. He believes better results will be possible with full coilover system!

This is all based on the 1.5L ND, so it’s good to see that these modifications really improve the lap times by A LOT compared to stock.

For those who don’t know, they own one of the fastest NC in Japan (2.3L with ~220hp) and he actually holds the record for the fastest cornering speed in its class in West of Japan. That’s mostly because of the aero parts they develop as well as their suspension components. Most of their parts are available at REV9 Autosport.