So I bought a set of Racelands but I just can't do it.
 

The FM springs and KYB AGX's (suck) are toooooo low (older sagged FM's) and in light of the inordinate amount of money that I've put into this car over the last 12 months I thought I'd try the el-cheap Racelands. I just can't do it. I don't want to waste the time putting them on and then just have to take them back off because of wheel hop or just overall shitty soft handling.

Soooo... I've got about 2K +- in the budget now for coil-overs.

This is a track day car with the occasional back road jaunt. I don't care if it's comfortable and prefer a stiffer suspension. Function over form.

My thought is the FCM setup but I have only seen anecdotal evidence of their success. I've heard Tein's wear out quick and are somewhat soft but then some love them. I see a mix of Koni's some ground control etc. in use out there. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Thanks!

You were thinking Racelands but now your thinking of spending 2K? Huge difference there. Looking at your sig list shocks are definetely your weak link.

If you change your mind about spending big money, I have two decent set ups I can sell reasonable. Koni Yellows w/ Koni sleeves and 450/300 QA1 springs. Shocks I bought used but never used myself, springs are brand new. No top hats or bump stops with these. Also have a set of Tokico Illumina's w/ GC coil overs and std. GC Eibach springs. Again, bought used but never used them myself. I'm still up in the air about suspension. Have Tein RA monotubes on the car but it's a little rough for daily driving. Still experimenting with settings and ride height to see if I can keep using them. The other sets were good deals and backups if I bail on the teins.

So Teins wear out quickly? Never heard this before.

I just remember seeing it in two posts but don't remember where. After searching through miata.net, CR, and here for "suspension" and getting four billion results they all start to run together.

lol.....ricelands........lol

tein monoflex. done. /thread

Have you run these?

I was weak, may have been under the influence. It was such a low low price! :)

This, with either FCM tophats/bumps or

This.

Even though my FCM revalves are coming in a couple of days, and I won't have enough season left to test them out, I did lots of research and am convinced that the Bilstein or some kind of Koni setup, Yellow, race, 2812, etc, is where it's at, unless you have the money for a Penske or something. Koni and Bilstein are ubiquitous, used by tons of all sorts of race teams, easily rebuildable/revalvable by either the factory or by tons of third parties, etc.

I was basically sold on the FCM Bilsteins by Shaikh's pitch along with reading Dennis Grant's online blurb. The idea behind a large-pistoned monotube shock with a dead-steady rep by real racers, along with a quality revalve job made a lot of sense to me. I think the reports of Shaikh's success with these things make it a bit more than anecdotal. Just leave a good deal of lead-time if you want his setup, he's busy.

on a friends car. they were great. the flex are a little too soft for r-comps or slicks. (if not worried about daily driving) mono flex come with 10k frt. 8k rear springs.

above that i'd run xida's from 949 racing.

i may have a budget alternative though. i'll see how they work out and post the results. they're being built right now. should be able to test them out early dec.

I'd recommend you talk to Shaik. He's an awesome guy... really knows how to setup a Miata. (E-stock win, other racers and daily drivers praise him greatly, and from my talking to him and buying from him, he's pretty amazing)

After much consideration and thought I have ordered a set of AFCO's. I'm intrigued by the travel, dampening and rebound adjust-ability. They wont be in operation for a while as I'm still waiting for my head to be completed. It was a tough call, Shaik has a awesome product but I really want to see what these AFCO's can do.

Do post when you get them on, I have been wanting to hear about how they preform.

send me the racelands, ill test them out for you.

You can't mean that. If you do, I will have a supremely cheap set of GAZ threaded body coilovers with what I believe to be 350/250 springs on them in about two weeks. They will get you low, but I can tell interested parties their limitations. There are better low budg solutions, imho.

ill put my 500/300 springs on it and put them to the test dawg.

Quit fucking around.

OP: let us know how the AFCOs work, and I'll do the same with my new sexies, if I get a chance to drive them before the snow flies. I definitely won't get a chance to drive them in anger, but, oh well. We have your current setup on her car (FM 2.5), so I'm looking forward on how much of a leap forward a "real" set of dampers is.

Will do but it will be a while, I'm headless until the FM uber head arrives next month.

I've been running FM AFCOs (750/450) on the track for a few months now, and they are a huge step up from the tein basics i was running. they are more comfy on the drive to the track in spite of the high rates, and on track performance is night and day different.

If you get the AFCO's I'd recommend you get the newest cupped mounts. I think that all the new kits are shipping with them but you may want to check when you order.

Thats what I was wanting to do. I wanted to see how they did with higher rate springs. For the sole reason of just saying I did, and I like experiments.