We introduced the 2014 Mazda 5 Sport 6MT project car back in September with a couple interior mods. The vehicle has undergone a couple upgrades since then. The most notable upgrades are the Goshers Premium Blind Spot Detection system that adds vehicle blind spot detection, ScanGaugeE OBDII trip computer and LED interior lights with Sylvania ZEVO replacements. However, you can check out the detailed installations on Tom’s Hardware where the project originally resides. This update will cover will cover the important aspects for a driving enthusiast – wheels, tires and suspension.
The Mazda 5 comes with tiny 16-inch alloy wheels and Toyo tires that aren’t the best for grip and performance. We’re fans of the stock 18-inch wheels that come on the 2013 Mazdaspeed 3 in black, but those are hard to come by since it was only available for one model year. However, we did track down a rough silver set for $300 and spent $60 on Plasti Dip and glossifier to clean things up. We used one can of Plasti Dip per wheel and finished the wheels off with two coats of glossifier. They turned out well.
Next up are tires to go with the larger wheels. The stock tires are 205/55-16 and a little narrow, so we opted to get tires in the stock Mazdaspeed 3 size of 225/40-18. Tires are one of the most important items on a vehicle and the only contact point your car makes with the ground, thus it’s not something you should ever skimp on. We tapped Yokohama for a tire sponsorship and requested a set of Advan Sport A/S ultra-high-performance all-season tires. Our experience with Yokohama S.drive tires on a Mazda Miata left a positive impression and we figured ultra-high-performance all-season tires would be good for the 5. Now we can have fun while maintaining the practicality of the car for the mix of Washington State weather that can change from gorgeous sunshine, pouring down rain, hail and light snow.
Right away we noticed the new wheels and tires made a major difference in daily driving. There’s less wheel spin in first gear with all weather conditions and the added grip provides greater confidence while driving aggressively. We knew the stock tires were bad, but didn’t realize how bad they were until we installed the new Yokohama Advan Sport A/S and Mazdaspeed 3 wheels. It made us fall in love with the little micro-van all over again.
While the new wheels and tires were a major improvement for handling, we weren’t finished with improving the van’s handling performance. Our next move was to work with Drift Office in Auburn, Wash. and Megan Racing to obtain a set of Street Series coilovers. We previously worked with Bob W. at Drift Office for dyno charts on the Ford Fiesta SFE EcoBoost. For those not from the Pacific Northwest or familiar with Drift Office, it’s one of the more prominent local tuning shops with an in-house AWD Dynojet dynamometer. The shop is known for tuning and boosting a variety of Japanese cars, with the Subaru BRZ and Scion FR-S being the latest hotness. Bob W, founder of Drift Office owns a variety of cars as well, including several keen AE86 Corolla’s, a pair of R32 Skylines, and a 400WHP Scion FR-S equipped with an AVO Turbo kit.
Since Megan Racing didn’t have an official application for the 2012+ Mazda 5, we were offered a set of prototype adjustable Street Series coilovers to install and test fitment on. We weren’t too concerned with the prototype nature of the coilovers as there were very little suspension changes between the two generations of Mazda 5.
The new Megan Racing coilovers sport its usual red and black color scheme. This is a full set for front and rear installation with spring rates of 8,000 kilograms in front and 7,000 kilograms in the back. The front coilovers come with camber plates for those that want to stance. Since we’re trying to make the car handle better, we left the camber settings stock. Installation of the front coilovers was pretty easy. It was a straightforward install and the only thing that was in the way was the clutch fluid reservoir that blocked the strut tower. The bracket holding the reservoir in place was very easy to remove.
Moving around back, the installation was even easier. We had to drop the rear control arms and disconnect the rear sway bar end links, but that was it. The rear struts had two bolts that were easily accessible with the wheel off and the spring and perches went in easily.
Once the coilovers were installed there was much less suspension travel and the car handling improved noticeably. Since the coilovers are adjustable, we started out with the softest dampening/rebound setting and bottomed out the struts to lower the car and give it a more aggressive look. We still need to adjust the rear spring perches to minimize the wheel gap, but that is for another day.
After letting the coilovers settle for a few days, we started playing more with the dampening and rebound adjustments. There’s just a little dial to adjust the settings up front while the rear adjustments are easily accessible simply by popping off the cup holders in the third row. Ultimately we settled at 16 clicks up front and 14 clicks in the back from the softest setting.
The car feels much better and more eager to tackle windy roads. Turn-in response is excellent. We’re very happy with the coilovers and would definitely recommend them for Mazda 5 owners. However, we did reach the limits of the stock rear sway bar and had a little understeer while aggressively cruising some mountain back roads. But, we have a thicker rear sway bar from a Mazdaspeed 3 that needs to be installed to address that slight understeer.
Combining the Yokohama Advan Sport A/S tires, Mazdaspeed 18-inch wheels and Megan Racing Street Series coilovers, we’ve created a minivan that is a ton of fun to drive while being very practical for the kids. We recommend the setup for family-oriented drivers that still demand the fun of tackling windy roads and on-ramps. Megan Racing prices the coilovers with an MSRP of $1,000 USD and we find the price reasonable for a complete suspension replacement. Pricing on the Yokohama Advan Sport A/S varies by size.
Although we’re happy with how things are driving-wise with the 5, we aren’t done quite yet. Next up is a CorkSport short-ram intake, ECU tuning by OrangeVirus Tuning (OVTune) using a Tactrix OpenPort 2.0 cable and MazdaEdit software to squeeze out as much power from the 2.5-liter MZR motor as possible.
See Mazda 5 Mazda Cars and Trucks for sale on eBay.
