Getting down with the Mazda 2

So now that we have the Mazda 2, what are we going to do with it you ask? If you looked at the stock Mazda 2 the first thing that jumps out at you is that monster truck wheel gap. To solve this problem we picked up a set of H&R Sport Springs. The springs lower the Mazda 2 1.5 inches in the front and 1.3 inches in the rear. You can see how big of a difference the springs make in the pictures below. The sport springs are ~30 percent stiffer than the stock spring so the ride gets stiffer as well. You can really notice the improved handling going through corners or with quick lane changes. The only time the springs are uncomfortable is going over really big speed bumps, which you just have to take slower.



One other visual cue which is a little more subtle is the offset of the stock wheels. If you take a look at the stock Mazda 2 from the front you can see how far the stock wheels sit inside the wheel wells. After some measuring and consulting the H&R catalog we opted for the 25mm wheel spacers.  This would put the wheels 25mm further out from the hub which the wheel bolts to. The H&R Trak+ spacers are a hub centric design which means they have the same shape of the wheels and the inside and they carry over the correct shape for the stock wheels to bolt to. This is important to make sure the loads transmitted to the hub from the wheel do not put the load on the wheel studs alone.



You can see the difference with the spacers installed in the picture above.  The Mazda 2 visually has a more aggressive stance really looks the part of the sport subcompact that it is.


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