Mazda MX-5: Aligned, me hearties! Aligned!
cj hubbard writes:
Well, this is amusing/embarrassing…
Took the Mazda along to Blackboots / Wheels in Motion in Chesham on Friday to get a new pair of rear tyres and a full alignment set-up done.
A nice chap named Joe sorted the tyres and rebalanced the front wheels for me – getting rid of those pesky stamp-on weights, but not soon enough to prevent them ruining the alloys’ vaguely refurbished finish. Getting the rims tidied up is a job for the new year; Dan’s guinea-pigging a local place right now, following his minor gravel trap incident at Oulton.
I’ve deliberately gone for a mid-spec, affordably priced set of Kumhos rather than anything super magic. Partly because I’m broke, partly because I don’t want to give the MX-5 too much grip – and besides which the KH17s I’ve chosen review very well as a balanced all-rounder choice. Just having matched tyres across the rear axle is going to make a big confidence difference.
Which brings me to the alignment. Ahem.
Wheels in Motion is widely recognised as the daddy of MX-5 chassis alignment in this region – and most probably the UK. It has its own MX-5 race car, and specced the GAZ suspension used in the Ma5da Race Series. Tony Bones runs this side of the business and has done, he reckons, thousands of MX-5 and Eunos “full geos”. Using state of the art equipment – the Hunter Hawkeye 811 Pro Wheel Aligner, to be precise – he can give your MX-5 anything from the exact stock settings (not necessarily to be recommended) to WiM’s own fast road alignment and beyond. Aftermarket suspension is no problem, and WiM regularly deals with far more exotic machinery – just check the website.
Asked if I thought there was anything in particular wrong with my car, I shrugged and said it seems ok. A statement I’m going to need to explain.
My main priority when purchasing the Mazda was to find an early one with as little structural rust as possible. As far as I was concerned, it seemed to be tracking in a relatively straight line. I’ve not been driving it very hard – those mis-matched rear tyres, for one thing – and it is nearly 20 years old. Clearly my sub-conscious has been making allowances.
Up on the Hawkeye lift, alignment doohickies attached to the wheels, and pretty much everything on the screen of the computer controlling it all lights up red. Red, as you can imagine, isn’t a good sign. In fact, the chassis settings are so far out, Tony is initially concerned the car has been in some kind of smash.
I’m pretty confident this isn’t the case, fortunately – Autolink having given the car a thorough going over. And as soon as Tony gets under the car the real cause begins to reveal itself: it doesn’t look like the alignment has ever been adjusted. We’re talking 19 years here.
Three out of four alignment bolts at the rear duly snap – to be expected, and hardly a problem since WiM keeps replacements in stock – but the really impressive part is that one of these has actually seized to the metal inner core of its rubber bushing. This elicits less in the way of swearing, more in the way of puzzled wonderment; thousands of MX-5s, remember, and Tony has never seen this before.
Fortunately, a touch of scientifically applied brute force frees the bolt after a few minutes. If it hadn’t come out I’d have been looking at a serious headache – involving cutting torches and new wishbones, probably.
The rest of the re-alignment process proceeds without major incident, and pretty soon it’s all green at the computer end. I’ve asked for as much of a fast road set up as possible on the stock suspension, but the remarkable thing at the end of all Tony’s work is that the suspension is lined-up to within minutes of degrees, in spite of 110,000 miles of motoring. Testament to the Mazda’s build quality, Tony says. I suspect he may be downplaying his own skill…
Current cost for a full MX-5 geometry alignment at Wheels in Motion is £95+VAT – and that includes the replacement bolts (second hand, but I like to recycle) and all the faffing about required with awkward machines like mine. Total cost for the morning including VAT and tyres: £225.
Has it made a difference?
In retrospect, heavens yes. The MX-5 feels far more of a piece now, far more together. The odd yawing sensation I’d experienced when changing direction, which I’d just put down to car’s age – in a sense that turned out to be true – has disappeared completely; there’s more stability but also more agility.
I can’t wait to get properly acquainted with my rejuvinated 5 – hopefully over the weekend, if the weather sorts itself out. And assuming the Ford doesn’t kill me first. 
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Links:
Headlight hypocrisy illuminated
Another day, another MX-5 purchase…
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Mazda MX-5, Blackboots, Wheels in Motion, alignment, tyres, Long Termers, MSN Cars, Inside Track
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Posted: December 3rd, 2009 under Long Termers.
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