you will thank us for not going Koni/GC. That's seriously such a sub-par setup it should be illegal. It's easy to tell when a miata has that setup too: If you feel like your head is going to explode from the constant blunt trauma from hitting the most minute of imperfections in the road.

Hahaha are they really that bad?! And yeah man i'm already thankful you guys made me go that route. This is the most excited i've ever been waiting for any parts for my car, I can't wait to get them on the car. Once I get the sway bars and billet mounts then I need to hold off on spending money on the car for a few months and just focus on seat time. Having said that though, I'll be at Thunderhill tonight until Sunday so that should be fun! I just wish I had my Xidas to test out because I'm an impatient bastard like that.

They were designed to mimic stock shocks for compression coupled with tons of rebound.

Even with soft springs, the ride quality is poor and doesn't really offer much in terms of improved handling.

Having gone that way before I knew better, they aren't that bad. the car rides just fine with 450f/350r and damping adjustment set middlish. It is stiff, but not harsh, never had a single person complain about the ride and I have done 6 hour drives in it no problem.

That said, I am saving up for Xida crack anyway.

Sure they aren't as good as Xidas but they've gotta improve handling at least a little bith with how much people on a budget like/recommend them.
Yeah I don't see them being quite as bad as everyone makes them out to be but I think they just mean in comparison to the Xidas. All 3 miata drivers I talked to over the weekend all had Xidas on their car and highly recommended them. I can't wait for them to come in.

You would think...

Braineack is not incorrect at all. They are are as bad as everyone makes them out to be. They gained a following in the 2000's because they were at the time one of the best AVAILABLE setups at a cheap price point. Since then the suspension market for the Miata has grown enormously. There used to me no Xida's, no V-Maxx, no racelands, budget bilstein coilovers, no generic Asian coilovers. You had Koni's/GC, Ohlins, Tien's, and maybe only a few other suspension makers for the miata. If you wanted a budget performance coilover setup Koni/GC were the best you could do on a budget, they were still complete shit, but better then any other shit in the same price market.

That makes sense, they're at least better than racelands though right?

for performance, yes. for comfort, NO.

Having moved from Konis w/FM springs to Xidas, they are that bad even with full soft. I don't know how I dealt with it... raw ignorance of the improvements and tolerance for shittiness are all I can chalk it up to. I guess it can be bearable if you know nothing better, but once you know you can never go back.

Remove racelands from your mind. You no longer have to worry about such peasantry.

Have a few other things to finish up, then saving up for Xidas.

I have ridden in plenty of cars that ride way worse than the Koni with 450/350. Certainly not a buick with shiny new moogs in it (my friend has one) but they are better than some stock cars *coughsecondgenFitcough* come from the factory in terms of ride comfort.

My buddy's miata came with racelands and they were pretty fucking bad. The kony/GC combo is actually more uncomfortable?
I was talking to one of guys who ran Xidas and he said they're not comfortable on the street. Is this true or is he just being a pussy?
Interesting, well we'll see once I get mine installed. I still need to order the 949 sway bar kit once I save up some more money. One of the guys at the track ran with the racing beat front bar with no rear bar and set the front to full stiff while the rear was full soft. What are your guys' settings/setup?

No rear sway bar is useful for high-power Miatas at autocross because it helps in putting power down coming out of slow corners. My car has the 1.25" front Racing Beat bar with no rear (custom FCM Bilsteins, though, not Xidas).

--Ian

I'll mainly be running at road courses and my engine is mostly stock, so I'm assuming that means that a rear sway bar would be helpful?

AIUI, naturally aspirated road course Miatas usually use rear sway bars, so I assume so, but I've never set one of those up. :)

--Ian

Hmm... They're consistently hailed as a setup with superb comfort especially considering their performance capabilities. I feel the same way and wonder why your friend says this. It's really the best of both worlds.

Right on, yeah i'm definitely gonna be naturally aspirated for a while.
Right on, yeah he's probably just being a pussy.

asking for ride COMFORT input then calling someone a pussy for not praising a suspension that makes the car UNCOMFORTABLE is retarded.

do you want comfort or performance? you either get lots of one and some of the other, or vice versa. you don't get both. no one gets both. anyone that claims both is either lying, or has no idea what one of the two terms being discussed means.

that is all.

I love the xidas for their performance.
Not their comfort.

He says it makes his car un-streetable on 700/400 spring rates. My vmaxx extremes were very comfortable and performed just fine for me, I just hope the xidas give me a significant performance gain while maintaining decent composure on the street.

Different people have different standards for what "comfortable" means. I think my FCMs are pretty comfortable, but they're 650/375 spring rate and it doesn't matter what shocks you put on it, you'll never confuse a Miata with those spring rates with a luxury car. Digressively valved shocks are a big part of making the suspension perform well without being ungodly punishing over bumps, my FCMs have that as do (I believe) the Xidas.

So the Xidas will be "comfortable" in comparison to a cheap "performance" suspension. They will not be comfortable in comparison to a Mercedes Benz S-class.

--Ian