Mazdaspeed Miata Suspension
 

Ok so I am looing for some direction on the suspension of the car.
I am looking to get it a tad lower and take a lil bit of sway that it has out. 100% stock suspension. for a 95% street driven car would you change it? If so to what? it already out handles my old crossfire. I just want to get even better street handling. I am going to be upgrading wheel and tire combo to get rid of 18's and get a lil stickier tires. I have not gotten a more aggressive alignment than factory cause i want to wait till i figure out the suspension. I know at least sleeves would be the minimum so i can have the car corner weighted.

What would you do with this suspension?

Based on my experience, i would start with a RB front sway bars. For a sole DD that MAY see the track, I would lean for the Ohlins DFV for the comfort/control factor. I love my xidas but they may ride too low for your heavy miata and full soft vs full soft, the ohlins seem softer. Granted we compared them in two miatas of the same year, not the same car. The Xidas feel like they're shoving the tires into the pavement. I prefer the xidas for a dual purpose car. FCM are a popular choice but I have no experience with them. Wheels depend on the size you're looking for. For a DD I'd want something wider and lighter than stock that look good, like the 6ULs.

I am kinda keeping budget minded. I was wondering how good are my factory bilsteins?
Are they canidate for some fcm revalving and ground controls? or would factory valving with just a tad stiffer springs and some bigger sways work? The mazdaspeed already has bigger sways then a standard miata. As far as wheels anything would be better than what i have now. 18x8 with 215/35r18. Rough and heavy... 15's are on my list just unsure of how much i want to spend on them yet.

You already have eibach sway bars stock. Just throw a generic eBay 450/350 on their with some ics rear hats and be done with it.

What sleeve kit would i need to look into to remove the oe spring perches?

Ugh the stock MSM Bilsteins suck.

I'd also get on ditching the 18" wheels asap....that'll probably be a bigger improvement over changing springs.

I have heard nothing but good things about the MSM bilsteins. Sleeves, perches and springs fix any of the factory issues including ride height and ride harshness. If you are on a budget that is what I would do. You already stated you are not trying to get every ounce of performance out of the car since it is mostly street driven so getting something like xidas would be over the top and very expensive. I have an MSM and after searching all kinds of suspension threads on here I came to this conclusion for a dual purpose car that sees far more street then track. Best bang for your buck.

While you may have heard things, I'm comparing them to what I've ridden in. The MSM in my drive way has the OE shocks with the H&R springs (350/275 iirc) and while those springs help, I still hate the dampening. But who am I to say anything as I ride around on Ohlins on a daily basis.

Are the DFV's really more comfortable than the XIDA at 400/300 ish?

i have plans to ditch the 18's once i find a deal on some wheels. at this point i dont care what they are as long as they are 15's and can hold 225 wides on them.

are MSM bilsteins able to be revalved like the na and std nb shocks? I am thinking i want to to build a coilover set out of them. That way i can take lil bites out of the suspension setup money wise at a time. I dont need super low. Just a tad lower to get a good look on it and then a lil better handling.

So if they are able to be revalved then where can i find the sleeves that will fit on the MSM bilsteins?

I also had an MSM with 450/350 rates and it drove great. Was it as good as Tein MonoFlex, Xida, or Ohlins...no. Was it superior to stock...yes. People need to quit being suspension snobs. If this dude was trying to spend $1200 bucks on some chang tang coilovers that would be one thing but he posted he was on a budget and already has better parts stock than 90% of the miata's on the road. With a $70 ebay coilover kit his problems are solved minus those 18x6.5's lol/ Ohlins aren't really hot ---- either Doppelganger...

they are not 6.5"s!?!?!??!!?!? lol they are atleast 7.5".... :) Gosh talk about cutting a guy at his knees!
But yes a lil stiffer and a lil lower and much better tire/wheel combo and i will be set on suspension for awhile till i can make it to heartland or hallett.

I would like a nice set of sleeves that i can do away with the factory perches if anyone knows of the standard bilstein sleeves will work.

My 2 cents says to swap the wheels first. That will change the feel of the car more than you might think. 6UL's are the best on the market, but I'm budget minded too and riding on el cheapo knock offs. After that, see how it rides and how you like it. That will give you a better idea of what exactly you want to do. You may decide the dampers are fine and a cheap effective sleeve and spring setup will satisfy your goals. Or you may decide you want to either revalve or step up to a more expensive setup.

Ok so as i said i needed to swap wheels. I am on my eay. Picked up three rota gt3's for 100 dollars. One may have to be replaced but still a decent deal. Need tires and 1 more wheel. What tires do yiu recommend? They are 16x7 :( much better than the 18's!

S-drives are really nice street tires for those without too much power, like you. In 7" wide, I'd stick with 195-205 width.

so whats the consensus on RT 615k? in 205 wide? then i can address the suspension

Dude get a 15x9 and 225 RS3 and profit

The RT615k is old tech.

And he really doesn't need 225 RS3's for a 14.3 car. Slowwwww.

I have MSM bilsteins on the track car, with coil over sleeves and (IIRC) 600f/325r springs. It's pretty good for as inexpensive as it is. For a pure street car, I'd probably go with a little less front spring than what I have. Something around 500/325 and new bumpstops, and it should feel pretty god.

what sleeve kit are you running, Ben? Did you remove oem spring mount?

What is good sticky summer dd tire? S drives will handle better that 615k?

Yes, you have to remove the original spring perch.

No idea about 615K's. I really did not like the old azenis so I have not given the new ones any thought. Can't lose with RS3's or Star Specs.

what sleeve kit did you run?

When you get the perch off with a 3lb sledge make sure to protect the threaded section of the shock shaft. Once off use a grinder to remove the small clip that was hiding under the factory perch. You have good foam bump stops from the factory, cut them in half and use the smaller OD sections. Any collar that sits on the c-clip and isnt taller than the shock is fine. You really need to do more reading on suspension/wheels/tires.

http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread...stein+coilover

Everything you ever wanted to know about DIY ebay coilovers...

Ohlins have a pretty serious lack of rear rebound travel which is not good on large whoop-de-dos on imperfect back roads.

Bear in mind that Xida valving has been developed with extensive track testing and thus are biased to track performance - the big thing is hitting those kerbs at speed.

FCM were more developed with autox and backroad testing. It may be that the FCMs are better for daily drivers. I have not driven Xidas so I can't confirm.

alright so i got a new set of wheels!!!!! they are 15x7 though... not as wide as i wanted but i couldnt pass up a wheel i have wanted since i was 15!!!!

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1341353173
So they are 15x7 +41 offset. 4x100 of course. Weigh in at 17.5 lbs though. But beautiful! Now need to decide on tires

oh nice, will look great on your bimmer.

yupp how did you know they were for the bmw and not my miata....

what else would those go on?

well if i recall correctly certain miatas had bbs wheels, bmw had bbs wheels some mercedes had bbs wheels, there are very a many vehicles that come oem with bbs. so i would assume i could place these on any damn car i please! :)

yeah i know, but they belong on e30s.

and whatever else car someone wants to put them on. But yes this exact set was off 89ish 325ix..... Werent available in the states in this sizing and offset... and i like em.... :)

The Miata BBS wheels were 14" and weighed ~10lbs.

Does this help with the spring perch question or make it more complicated?

i will look that thread over in the morning. and yes miata ones were 14's but 14's wont fit my car. So.... next best thing, and better than current 18's and the 16x7 rota gt3's i was gonna use. so i believe it is a better direction.