Text and Photos by Cameron Parsons // Illustrations by Paul Laguette
Searching for Gains
In the last D’Garage, our MX-5 lapped Buttonwillow Raceway’s 13CW layout with CorkSport lowering springs and sway bars, along with a set of Porterfield R4-S brake pads to complement a few power upgrades. A CorkSport Cold Air Intake, Good-Win RoadsterSport Race muffler and an ECU tune added approximately 10whp to the 2.0-liter SkyActiv-G engine, delivering a much improved power curve. Although this first stage proved a 1.793-second gain in lap times, it also helped to reveal what areas needed to be addressed next.Get Low
The CorkSport lowering springs aided in the car’s handling by significantly dropping its center of gravity and stiffening up the suspension. The springs are designed to drop the car by 1.6-inches in the front and 1.1-inches in the rear, though we noticed the fronts to sit a few tenths even lower. On the track, the 2.7 Kg/mm front and 1.9 Kg/mm rear springs made the car much more planted around the corners. However, the suspension still showed its limitations in the factory shock absorbers. Unlike the MX-5 Club model, which comes equipped with Bilstein shocks, the Sport model that we house in the DSPORT stable utilizes Mazda’s softer components. In this first D’Garage, we also paired CorkSport’s lowering springs with its front and rear sway bars. As a result, we discovered significantly reduced body roll and quicker steering response without sacrificing any ride comfort. Since we found the pattern of stiffening the chassis and suspension beneficial thus far, we decided to retire the factory dampers in favor of a set of coilover suspension to increase the car’s range of adjustments further for the next evaluation.Swedish MX-5 Solutions
In our search for a new coilover suspension, we hunted for options that could provide comfort on the street while maintaining the ability to perform on a racetrack. To this end, we turned to Öhlins for its new one-way adjustable Road & Track kit designed for the ND MX-5. This kit utilizes Öhlins’ patented “Dual Flow Valve,” or DFV, technology to help the car smooth out bumps on the street while enhancing performance on the track. This design concept also intends to deliver the same characteristics on rebound as it does on compression, making damper settings more consistent and predictable for the user.
Öhlins provided highly detailed instructions for initial setup on the Road & Track coilover suspension, down to the millimeter, for ride height and spring preload.
Shoe Shopping


Heated Battle
Given that this MX-5 would regularly hit the track for long periods of time, particularly at brutally hot locations like Buttonwillow Raceway, we’d have to prepare the car to take the heat. Instead of engineering a new method of mounting and plumbing an oil cooler, we consulted with Setrab, who produces the oil, transmission and differential coolers currently used on the MX-5 Cup cars. The Cup cars utilize Setrab’s 13×5.75-inch oil cooler, mounted behind the front bumper and in front of the radiator. We employed a similar setup in our D’Garage MX-5 in order to endure the more taxing track days and race events. The next step would entail packing the necessary gear for the track and heading out to test the new equipment.With the Setrab oil cooler, lines, fittings, sandwich plate adapter and mounting brackets, we had all the pieces necessary to keep the MX-5 temperatures down for especially strenuous conditions.
Filled to the Brim
In case you were wondering, yes, you can transport a full set of wheels and tires in the ND MX-5. We packed the MX-5 with all the track day essentials, which was every bit as challenging as it sounds. Since tire testing was on the to-do list, we mounted the RZII wheels and Toyo R1R tires to the car and loaded the four factory wheels and tires inside. With three of the wheels in the passenger seat and one mostly fit in the trunk, there was still just enough room to bring a small set of tools, a helmet, the Racepak G2X datalogger and a few bottles of water.Despite the MX-5’s little storage space, we managed to cram in a set of wheels and tires, a basic set of tools and a helmet.
Steve Lepper at Gearhead’s Garage assisted with parts installation and setup for this test. First, we maxed out negative camber for more traction. With stiff damper settings and the sway bars adjusted for more softness in the rear, the car found a healthy balance of front and rear grip. If we were to make a change, adding front toe-out or softening the front bar would have been preferred for better responsiveness.
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