I have Koni Yellows. Mistakes were made. I will go Xida in the next couple of years, but that isn't happening today.

I'm on stock springs, with a RB front hollow bar and a RB rear bar. I'm still on NA tophats.

I'm toying with the idea of:
- either ebay sleeves or koni sleeves
- 450/300 # springs? Maybe 550/350?
- revert rear bar to stock size
- Honda 51722-SR0-003 bump stops trimmed to... 40mm?

So after searching I can't figure out:
- Anything wrong with this plan?
- Are the koni sleeves really worth it over ebay? (Safety?)
- Can yellows handle 550/350 springs?
- How much do I trim them bump stops?
- How long do I want my springs for a dual HPDE/street car? 6" front / 7" rear? I imagine I'm aiming for a 5" pinch weld height?

I'm no stance bro, I just want to try to get more out of my shocks on the cheap if possible. If not possible, I'll continue suffering.

 

Maybe this thread is dumb. Here's a simpler question: Should I just do this? https://www.miataturbo.net/build-thr...02/#post773115

 

I run Koni Sport/GC with 450/350, racingbeat front bar and stock 11m rear bar (open diff life) at about 5" pinch. NA top hats with 30mm F/36mm R FCM bumpstops. I'm running 7" front and want to say 7" rear on springs. General consensus is the Koni can't handle over 500#'s, but at 450 you're already using at least a turn of rebound to control the spring. It gets the job done for daily/track duty at stockish HP on an NA8 on 205 ZII's, but I feel like that's only because the car is dog slow. At Harris hill, which is very bumpy, I can soak up some big mid corner bumps without worry. I don't know how much more grip I'd want to run on this setup, ZII's feel about right.

For cutting bumpstops, I don't know if there's a proper way, but I just measured, hacked off enough to get close, then filed it down the rest of the way measuring along the way. No clue about ebay sleeves. Since you already have the yellows seems like this would be a good intermediate setup to hold you over until Xidas.

 

Wow, thanks for the video, that helps a lot. Still looks like it's doing far better than my stock springs (as expected) but that's good to know. Honestly looks like you're turning pretty good laps.

Kind of leaning towards sucking it up and just buying Xidas now rather than throw good money after bad.

 

When feasible, do it once and do it right.

 

Everybody with a koni setup seems to be giving me that advice.

 

I so wanted to post a picture of a dumpster in your thread. As that is the best place to put your koni's. Save up and buy Xida's, don't waste any more money on the Koni's.

 

http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view1/435...-michael-o.gif

 

Hah, yeah, I think I'm convinced. I bought the yellows based on reading on miata.net a few years ago before I knew the better options.

I was hoping I could slap find some used FM springs or something to try to bandaid it until after an ecotec swap, but it looks like xidas will come first. That's the safe way to do it anyway.

 

I made the same mistakes. I am currently running 450/350 both 7" with ebay sleeves on mine. I just left the koni spring perches and set the sleeves on top of those, works great. They were great with the FM springs if you can find a set (mine were super cheap and super sagged first gen springs). They work ok, I drive the car long distance and it isn't bad, about the same comfort level as my daily Honda Fit that has Bilstien coil overs.

I am planning Xidas in a year or two.

 

pretty much if something is recommended on that site, it means not to buy it.

 

Thanks for all the input, guys. I'll just move straight to Xidas, I'm convinced.

Downside is I'll have a few track days between now and then, but I've driven this setup for a few years already, another few months won't hurt. At least my sway bars help limit the insane bodyroll I was getting from my lack of springs.

 

Good call on moving directly to Xidas. Buy once, cry once. However, my car came with Koni Yellows installed by the PO just before he sold it, and I found that installing FM springs was a great improvement over stock in terms of handling dynamics and overall grip, even after I installed FM sways. I bought the springs instead of a lesser height adjustable coilover to hold me off until funds allowed for the blue and orange crack. I'm selling the FM springs and FM bumpstops, if you're interested, as I have achieved Xida nirvana. $200 + shipping? Maybe we could start a community "Saving up for Xidas kit", haha.

 

I'll pm you. I could be interested but it'd have to be real cheap, esp if they're old and sagged