Hey all,

I'm currently on some Riceland coilovers (don't judge, got them for free and my stock suspension was dying). They're terribly bouncy, but they got the car lower and I can't complain.

My top hats are now completely shot, and I'm looking to upgrade my suspension over the winter. Thing is, I'm from Montreal where the roads are ******* abysmal. Seriously, check out Thatdudeinblue's Quebec trip for his unbiased commentary on it. Probably the worst in North America.

I daily the car, and want suspension that won't leave me wincing and swearing every time I go for a drive. I did my first track day this fall and enjoyed it, so I'd like something that can handle 3-4 track days a season. It really is more of a "racecar" daily - I'm young, can afford to have something impractical and silly.

Any recommendations for a happy medium? Preferably under $1000USD, comes with top plates?

('93 turbo widebody, w/ 205/50/15 Maxxis VR-1s on 15x8s)

 

Everything in that price bracket is going to be made by Bor Chuann (megan, BC, raceland, MeisterR, etc). They all claim that they are better than the other brands that come from the same factory, so who knows.

Probably the only thing that will do what you want (comfortably deal with shitty roads and be trackable) are the new Xida ACE shocks, but those are like four times your budget.

 

The closest you'll get for $1000 is a homebrew bilstein setup.

Otherwise, save more money.

 

Check out the better bilstein coilover thread: https://www.miataturbo.net/suspensio...-thread-78451/

I think that's going to be a clear winner for you, as long as you aren't trying to go super low. I'm much happier with my bilsteins than I was with BC's that were super stiff.

 

NB Bilstein B6’s, FM springs, NB top hats, new top hat bushings, decent bumpstops. Should be less than 1k, tolerable on rough roads and decent enough on the track. That’s the setup I’m running, I like it.

In this price range, anything that lowers the car is going to come at the price of either ride quality or performance.

 

I'm pretty low. On my Racelands, I'm ~0.85" of threads from the bottom. Can't get my low-pro jack under the front of the car, but can get in under the rear.

 

Ah, so you want to handle shitty roads, be trackable, not cost much, and be low?

In that case, you're screwed.

 

Quebec roads are ****, but Detroit would like to have a word with you about being the worst.

Your ride height and ride quality goals are directly at odds with eachother. If you want to ride nice over potholes, you need suspension travel. End of story. Raise the car up with what you've got and it will surely ride better.

Schroedingers setup is my current target. I got a set of $100 Mazdaspeed shocks, and FM springs are common enough that I should be able to score those cheap too.

 

Nah, just find something better than my current setup, for a grand or so. With a balance that leans towards street rather than track dedicated

 

Bilstein setup is your only hope at $1000. There is no magic bullet.

 

He's gonna hate Bilsteins because they won't go stupid low. I get 30 neg cats everytime I say it, but your current racelands are a reasonable choice for you. Nothing in your price range, or maybe any price range, is going to be what you're looking for. You can't go stupid low, inexpensive, comfortable ride, and trackable, it doesn't exist. Your racelands are going to do what you want as good as anything else and it won't cost you anything.

 

I can Stancenation superslammer mcslammerton my bilstein setup. Just gotta try hard enough.

 

Bilsteins, extended top hats, honda bumpstops, 450/300ish, stock sways. Sway bars give you that head sway that sucks on rough roads. A roll bar and strut tower bar will eliminate cowl shake over bumps. Your **** ride is probably due to bottoming out.

 

I've got a roll bar, it helped with chassis twisting, but nothing miraculous

I don't bottom out, my exhaust flex pipe lightly scrapes from time to time but I'm not riding the bump stops

 

lol. okay...

 

You guys are the snarkiest lmao here's a picture of the car, is it stanced and low? No, **** off. The flex pipe happens to be the lowest point on the car.

 

why'd you build such a shitty exhaust that hangs lower than the frame rails?

ricelands will bottom out easily. You might want to look into Tiens. I don't like dealing with shock/spring combos personally, but some here do.

just whatever you do, don't buy koni sports. koni race are okay, but not sports.

 

Didn't build it, I bought it off a guy that competes in our local Miata cup for really cheap; it's 2.5" straight through, had all the right flanges and hangs less than an inch lower than the OEM cat was.

Anyways, thanks for everyone's advice, I'll go kill myself now and pray that I'm reincarnated as a bone stock NA

 

Confusion abounds.

 

Reincarnated as bone stock NA =





The build your own bilstein option is pretty awesome. Or find some used length adjustable TEIN coilovers. Those were pretty forgiving.