Beautiful car man! It looks sick! I just purchased a 09 velocity red r3 and am still reading and learning about the car. What exactly do I need to get that drop? I realize they are h&r part but if you could be more specific please id very much appreciate it. Thx!

 

Buy lowering springs and spacers and install them. Simple as that There are multiple threads discussing lower springs.

 

has anyone run their spacers through winter? I'm curious if they have any effect on handling in sloppy conditions. I wouldnt guess they would but hey might as well see if anyone has had any problems BEFORE getting stuck in a snow storm.

 

How would spacers affect that? But yes people have run them up east and i have never heard of any issues. Besides with 25MM spacers you can always just remove them anytime you want. Like when putting your winter wheels/tires on.

 

ya i'm gonna be changing wheels and tires soon so I wanna figure out if i can leave em on....Only reason i thought it might affect handling is because I feel like since adding them(25mm) i feel like handling may have been decreased just a tad. Feels like more oversteer than stock.

 

Nah, I never felt any real difference in the twisties with them on. I am running 10mm on my Volks and it handles as good as ever. I assume that every RX-8 with the wrong tires would handle like **** in the snow/sleet. But weather conditions are never a concern for me except when it's 110F outside.

 

Ya you lucky warm weather guys have no idea how badly snow can cramp your style haha. I run stockers with blizzaks and sand bags in the winter. Just thought i'd be thorough. Thanks for the input man.

 

I hate it when my handling decreases.....

 

I never noticed any difference with summer or winter tires.
Just make sure you put a thin coating of anti-seeze on the rotor face and hubs. I had to pound mine off with a soft hammer.

Winter + aluminum = damn you corrosion!!

 

So quick question.

Ive got Sprint springs on the way, and I need to know if Ill rub if I run this 25mm spacer set up. Seeing as how sprint springs get .5 - 1 inches lower than S-Techs Im thinking I will.

I will be running the springs on the oem shocks for now, and my fenders are not rolled. However I can easily roll if needed. Also, I am on the oem tire size and wheels.

 

where did you find sprint springs??

 

Sprint springs are 2 inch drop front and back.

 

Well Im now having difficulties with the people that are selling them to me. I found a parts warehouse that supposedly had a few left. Im trying to contact them to confirm that they are in stock before I pay. Hope it goes my way :fingers:

 

keep me updated if they have more than one set. we should meet up when I come to Hville.

 

There's too many factors to give you an accurate idea.

Things like camber, actual ride height(dependent upon your suspension angles), tire sidewall height (most of them are different), etc. all come into play.

I can tell you with Hankook RS-3s 245/40/18 running sprint springs, and approximately -3.0* of camber in the rear it would rub.
With 225/45/18s though you should be okay, but again it's dependent upon many things, just dont plan on changing wheels and tires any time soon.
This is why people run coilovers(I made the switch too), so they don't rub with soft sprint rates like sprint that create a lot of suspension movement, especially at a very low ride height.

 

I am on sprints (btw they are awsum) and running 25mm spacers with oem tire size and oem rims.

Before i put a bubble in my sidewall(2 days after installing spacers) I had no rubbing.

granted that i have a suspicion that the Oem bilsteins in my 40th anny lower the car ~.2 - .5 inch compared to standard S1 shocks, and are stiffer as well.

I wasnt getting any rubbing anywhere, and i was fine during semi hard turning. I did not get a chance to see what would happen when i was aggressive with it since i only had them on for 2 days.

HOWEVER IT IS VERY CLOSE TO RUBBING! Driving to the store, 4 of my lugnuts loosened up (about 3 turns till tight) and this caused rubbing.. So its only 1-3mm away from rubbing the plastic.

Im shopping for tires and probably going to buy something tomorrow online, but due to the close proximity and an alignment change i dont want to chance anything wider than 225

*Also keep in mind that i never got an alignment after switching to the sprint springs, so my camber was very negative.

hope this helped.

Also like how viperez has said, try to get coilovers.. It was a mistake on my part to get sprints. After i bought them and had them installed, it came out to the price of budget coilovers. Hold out on temptation and just get some powertrix or stance if you want some low. Also you will never be able to have rims that are flush, 18x8+24 or another combination that ='s that is as flush as its going to get without rolling, and that is with my upgraded oem bilsteins.

 

Yup. Current stance -> 245/40/18 Fronts:18X9.5 ET 30, Rear 18X9.5 ET 20. They rub. 255/35/18 tires give you more wiggle room but are more expensive. I rolled my fenders flat, pulled the corner a bit, grinded the tab slightly and put in a smaller bolt, trimmed the plastic. Still rubs. Coilovers going in this spring and I'll probably pound the tab up.

Be sure to look at tire specs when shopping around, you can determine the ACTUAL sidewall height by doing a little math on tirerack.com
So far 225/40/18 and 255/35/18 are the "shortest" sidewall height i've found.

 

I have the same setup you did, 9k;
OEMs, S-tech's, 245/40s, and 25mm spacers!

Apologizing ahead of time for any dirtiness.

Before:



Shortly after:

 

I'd like to contribute my two cents in this thread.

Although it was a different car, I had 25mm bolt on spacers, hubcentric, for 1.5 years on my 98 240SX (S14). I first thought the handling was fine, and maybe even improved (I read that a wider track lowers the CG roll couple). Anyway, when I finally removed them after 1.5 years, it felt like a different (better) car. Steering response was sharper and more crisp, the car felt more stable, and it didn't tramline on road imperfections. I felt re-connected with the car.

I had no structural issues or failures but after that experience I'll never run spacers again.

Just food for thought for those concerned with how it will affect your daily driving.

 

You make complete sense. I still wonder if my *thinking* that the car handles better after the spacers was just my post-mod rationalization kicking in.

I'm curious to take them off and see if there's a difference or was it just the excitement of the mod that kept me thinking they actually HELPED handling.

All-in-all, manufacturers usually send a car out as perfect as they can, and I'm sure mazda is one of them.

But, if I could afford rims (ex. 8.5 wide with +25 offset - almost what stock rims with spacers are I think) would it have the same (possibly) psychological/actual effect on the cars handling as spacers?

 

Well when I ran these I had no problem keeping up with any other RX-8's whether they were running stock wheels, stock suspension or not. Plenty of race cars use spacers.

 

haha I can't believe this thread is a sticky

 

To answer your first concern....how long have you had the spacers installed? You want to be so used to them they feel like stock.

With wheels that wide/offset, you will likely feel the same effect. Scrub radius increases (steering gets heavier), tram lines more, overall less response, but probably more roll resistance (due to an improved roll couple geometry).

(Large) Spacers won't affect lap times or speed much, but will definitely affect steering feel and driver connnectedness.

 

I've had mine for 2 years now. They were installed at the same time as my tein s-tech springs. Definitely noticed a difference from the get-go with the lower and wider stance all at once.

Anyway, I appreciate your comment, I always enjoy being educated a bit more when the topic comes up in other situations

 

I didn't even realize that, That's good.