Hi folks,

My NA 1.6 has just gone through the turbo treatment, now making a healthy 245hp to the wheels and the need for a suspension upgrade has become more apparent than ever.

Currently I have just cheap non-adjustable shock/springs that feel bouncy and bottom out on big bumps, no clue on the brand... just probably off the shelve cheap stuff.

What's the recommendation for spirited road use? I certainly don't need anything fancy with all the adjustments that I'll never use and most likely, I'd never go to a track. Just looking for something compliant on the road and fun on a B road that can handle the whooooosh

Cheers
Rami

 

Tecna's from 949Racing. Spend the money once and be done with it.

 

On this side of the pond, those go for almost €2k... that's twice the cost of Meister's are they really twice as good for my use case?

 

Yes.

 

Alright, strong sentiment then... can I get more info on what makes them this good? Ride quality, road manners?

 

First off, I see them at £1,402, including VAT, at authorized reseller BOFI Racing...
https://bofiracing.co.uk/running-gea...da-mx-5-na-nb/

Second, their product page does a really good job of describing their advantages. Read thoroughly, and particularly check out the videos, especially the one titled "Youtube video on 1 & 2 piece shocks". (Yes, I'm intentionally making you go to the page and find the link). Also check out the video at the bottom of that page.

Third, unlike practically any other coilover kit aside from something from Flyin' Miata or Good-Win-Racing, this stuff is absolutely Miata specific, made by Miata nerds who have forgotten more about Miatas, handling, and engineering than pretty much any of us have in our empty little noggins. There's no comparison between a product designed by Miata people, for the Miata platform, and a generic product sold by a company that makes parts for everything from a Trabant to a Lincoln. If you want to get into a comparison of the SuperMiata, Flyin' Miata, and Good-Win products, that's a totally different discussion. The most common answer to that comparison, on this forum, is SuperMiata.

Finally (for the purposes of this post), the support you get by going with a SuperMiata product instead of a generic like the Meister is worth quite a bit. If £1,400-2000 is a lot to you, how are you going to feel when you drop £1,000 on the cheaper product, then have to navigate some giant support bureaucracy to get help with a product issue? How much frustration is the extra £400-1000 worth when you could just send one email to either BOFI or SuperMiata and get a personal answer right back?

 

If only they'd invent a way to search the internet.

https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=768322

https://www.miataturbo.net/suspensio...-107426/page3/

 

Ah yes, it cannot be a forum without the guy telling you not to post questions and google instead. Always helpful sir, thank you.

Yes, which with shipping and the EU VAT goes out to almost €1800 (euros)... almost at €2k like I mentioend earlier...

Well.. that's the thing, if I go to any product website they will tell me it's the next best thing since sliced bread. Thus why I reached out to this forum to get actual experiences from actual people and real experiences, not the seller or sponsored youtubers

This is good information, thank you. I really didn't know about this... I'm new to the forum and I haven't come accross the name until now... they don't seem to be as popular in this side of the pond.

I often buy from Bofi because the support I get, regardless of the brand I'll buy from them for sure... Now, unless I get a faulty product I don't see myself reaching out to a coilover company so that doesn't put a lot of weight on ny purchasing decision. I'd install and do the initial setup myself, I might go to a suspension shop if I need further assistance but again, this is a 100% street setup... I'm not looking for fine tuning or chasing milliseconds on a track, just looking for something good with a compliant ride.

So again, when I ask about if they're double good for double the price, I don't think I've got an answer yet other than the company is ran by a bunch of enthusiasts, which I appreciate but not sure if that's enough for me to pay double.

Safe to say that you have a set in your car, what's your experience with ride quality, is it harsh? Have you put them out of the box and just worked or did you have to spend time setting them up?

Thank you for your feedback, it's much appreciated!
Rami

 

Just sharing some additional information here that I found in this forum: https://forum.miata.net/vb/showthrea...=780372&page=2

A great conversation from both Supermiata and MiesterR owners sharing their insights and each others aim.

After reading that plus all the additional research, I'll probably give the new Sport-Z a go, it's a very interesting proposition for a much better price point.

 

What input are you looking for that would be enough to convince you that these are worth the premium?

We pointed you to the technical information on the product page and the videos in which Emilio explains the technical advantages of the shock. Technical advantages explained.

There are myriad reviews all over the web (and by the way, SuperMiata doesn't "sponsor" anyone, ever. They don't need to, because their products sell incredibly well without some TikTok muppet yammering on about them). Ride and handling covered.

You've dismissed the input about the benefits of a manufacturer that is dedicated to Miata products over a manufacturer that probably doesn't even own a Miata. You've dismissed the input about the potential benefits of their technical support. Vendor benefits covered.

Really, what input are you missing? Are you looking for some secret option that costs what you want to pay and rides/handles like a €2k coilover? That product doesn't exist. (And now I see where I made a mistake, I misread the € in your post as a £ for some reason and together with your "B road" comment assumed you were in the UK. I blame my poor eyesight.).

And no, I don't have Technas on either of my Miatas. My track car has Xidas, my street car has Foxes from Flyin' Miata. I've spent thousands and thousands of dollars with SuperMiata over the years - Xidas, big brake kits, clutches, suspension bits, radiator, coolant reroute, at this point I can't remember it all. I've also spent thousands of dollars with other vendors. I keep spending money with SuperMiata because their products do exactly what they say they're going to do, every single time.

The reason you get snark like you got from Maplewood is that we've all been through this before and it's tiresome. Lots of people want to know if Technas are really worth it. To sum up the technical merits, the internet's worth of reviews, and everything else, the answer is "yes".

 

It's all good my friend. I wasn't looking to be convinced or anything, I was just looking for experiences and recommendations.

Funny that you go that hard on the Tecnas when you haven't tried it.

Seems to be a lot of fan base for SuperMiata, I get it. I understand the hype around it, but I honestly don't think the product offers me anything extra to be worth almost double.

If it was a 100, 200 even, I'd probably consider it. But we're taking less than 1k to 1800 here. It's just not worth it to me... And I'll say it again, to me.

I appreciate your feedback and taking the time to respond.

As per the other responses, it is what it is... Not my first forum, but I guess I'll never understand, if you don't like the question, just move on.... A forum is based on people asking questions, looking for opinions, recommendations, etc...

At this point, all the questions have been answered. Should we just go ahead and close this and the other million Miata/MX5s forums out there?

Cheers
Rami

 

I trust the people who make Technas, based on years and years of personal experience. I would also trust the Flyin’ Miata VMAXX, based on my experience with their Fox suspension. I know that their products will do what they say they will.

I wouldn’t, and don’t, trust low-end brands like Meister to hold my beer. This is also based on years of experience in the market. The particular brand name changes, but the end result is the same. The brand doesn’t do much, if any product development specifically on the Miata platform. They use generic parts and formulas to build something that is cheap to manufacture and follows a set of engineering specs that are shared across multiple vehicle platforms. Some people love the resulting product, some people love it until they try something higher end, some people love it until it fails and bites them in the ***.

If you ask my fat American *** if I think you’d prefer a hamburger from a discount restaurant chain or a hamburger from the little mom-and-pop burger shop near me, even if I haven’t tried that particular burger before, I absolutely feel confident in recommending the local burger. I know the people who made the recipe, the people who chose the materials that went into it, and the guy who flipped it.

Same thing with shocks really.

 

You seem like a sound lad.

Next time I'm in 'murica, I'll definitely ask you for burger recommendations 😁

 

I run the Tecnas. They put the power down amazingly well. They soak up huge bumps on the highway. I can pull 1.7 60's on these set at 9, and they are still a comfortable ride at that setting.
SM truly makes the best products for our cars. They are 10x better than anything else for the street in my opinion. 10x is definitely worth 2x the cost. If you looked at any of our real threads you would already know all this.

 

I'm a bit of SM fan boi too, but if you want another suggestion aside from Tecnas, I've had good luck with Teins, I think whatever the cheapest is. We get a killer deal through our vendors at work, so a few co-workers have bought them for their DD beaters, I think they're around $500. They have the Flex too which is a few hundred more and probably worth it. I still think the Tecnas will be better, but it's up to you if it's worth the $$$. I have a co-worker that doesn't give a **** as long as it's slammed, so you gotta figure out where you live on the spectrum.

 

Thank you for the recommendation lads, I appreciate it.

 

Don't Bofi remove the UK VAT when you're buying to Germany, so you only pay German VAT? Ie, it's nominally the same price (19% vs 20% VAT).

 

Bofi doesn't charge me the UK VAT, only the irish one if I decide to "pre-clear it". Often they would even ship from the Netherlands, not the UK

 

https://www.949racing.com/supermiata/tecna-reviews/

 

Here's a video with a blind comparison test between some of the options mentioned, some Teins, ZetaRs and Xida's (unsure how they relate valving wise to Tecna's)