I bought a 1990 NA6 a couple years back, which I began auto-crossing last year. I'm running stock shocks and springs and 15x7 wheels with Dunlop Direzza ZII's. The car has decent grip and is a joy to drive, but the body roll is ungainly and I could use better steering response. I am looking for some coilovers or a shock and spring combo that will stiffen the car up a bit and preferably lower the ride height, but not so much that it becomes impractical to drive on the street, as the car is my daily driver and the roads around me are pretty bad. I am looking for a setup that will cost me around $500 and I'd be up to revalving, etc. if needed. I've been thinking about maybe some used Bilsteins, although NA Bilsteins are bashed for being too harsh, and I've heard that you'll be riding on the bump stops with NB Bilsteins and NB top hats. Maybe I could revalve some used NA Bilsteins to NB specs, find some used NB top hats, and purchase some applicable springs? I've heard Koni's are a good option for the NA as well, I've seen a few guys running them in the past year or so. Maybe I could just find a set of used Megan or BC Racing coilovers?

The more I read about all this the more conflicted I get. Any suggestions?

 

Your budget will be a severely limiting factor in this arena. Revalve alone will likely be more than $500 all-in not counting the purchase price of the shocks.

To just kill body roll may I suggest some upgraded sway bars? Much more budget friendly and really you shouldn’t need much more for the tires you’re running.

Otherwise, a used set of coilovers in your price range will let you drop the ride height but will likely be total garbage in terms of actual damping sweeps.

 

Option A:
Don't compromise, save up for a couple months, and grab a set of Fox or Xida GS.

Option B: Compromise, and get the only setup at your price point you wouldn't have to bribe me to put on my car....BroFab or go home.

 

$500 isn't enough to buy or build coilovers worth using. I agree with above that sway bars will be the closest to accomplishing your goal for your budget. My Bilstein based coilovers cost in the $700 range without any revalving.

 

Yep.

Double your budget.

 

*triple

 

I mean ideally, yes.

But $1k will get you a bells 'n' whistles budget bilstein setup which is the minimum bar for "acceptable bordering on good."

And is just an additional revalve later away from being "great."

 

Koni sucks *** on a Miata. They are ok for other makes but not the Miata.

 

Any objective arguments for that statement?
I'm quite satisfied with them. Using it for autocross and trackdays. At least good enough to catch up some elise and super7.

 

You can use factory Showa shocks for autocross and trackdays, too.

Use =! good

 

Idk how they're regarded on track, but FM Vmaxx can be found used for 300-500$ and I've heard good things about them.

 

MeisterR Sportive just came out at $599 -- not sure how good they are, but the ZetaCRD's are a good value at $1K, so there's a chance they're a good value as well. I have the GT1's and they're good, but $2K.

 

Those are just more BC/tein/Megan’s with different labeling. Would not waste money on them if going for performance. For purely gettin the car lower, they can achieve that goal.

 

It's funny to see stuff I do on Facebook showing up here.......what's funny is I made money on those setups. DIY Bilsteins are still the best bang for your buck shocks you can do until you get into big boy shocks. Even if you swapped those ebay springs for good Eibachs I'd still had less than $500 in those. I sold both of those sets in less than 30min so when your skills improve to the point where you know the Bilsteins are holding you back you can sell them for a profit.

 

Brofab is right on for the money. Bought a set of front wheel hubs/ bearings for my 99 flying miata turbo track car. He's legit!

QUOTE=Bronson M;1562872]It's funny to see stuff I do on Facebook showing up here.......what's funny is I made money on those setups. DIY Bilsteins are still the best bang for your buck shocks you can do until you get into big boy shocks. Even if you swapped those ebay springs for good Eibachs I'd still had less than $500 in those. I sold both of those sets in less than 30min so when your skills improve to the point where you know the Bilsteins are holding you back you can sell them for a profit.[/QUOTE]