suspension advice
 

I've already done a full google on this. I guess I'm looking for people's gut feeling about the best path forward.

Consider my suspension a blank slate at this point. I'm going to rip everything out and replace it. I made one or two stupid purchases in the past and everything else is worn out.

My dilemma is that I have way too much power for stock suspension/tires but I'm not willing to run aero or hoosiers because streetcar. I do run sticky street tires and long wearing r-compounds, but I've been at 205/50/15 for years now.

My original plan that I got the wife to sign off on a year ago was to get xidas. Then I decided to do the bushings while I was in there. Now I'm wondering whether to upgrade wheels/tires/brakes....

Anyway, I smell mission creep and I need some perspective.

Funny, I'm in Tampa right this moment, and thank GOD for that, as the low in Denver earlier today was 26 degrees, with a windchill of 19!

Care to describe how much power your car puts to the ground, and what your aim for the suspension is? Tampa roads are BLESSED, in that potholes are few and far in between, so road manners are less important here than say Pennsylvania or Ohio. FL is cursed as curvy roads are few and far in between, unless one drives to Marion and Lake Counties in a consistent basis.

Step 1: Buy the Xida BGK
Step 2: Buy a @SADFab bronze bearing conversion kit for the poly bushings.
Step 3: Install everything.
Step 4: just profit, No question.

You might also look into what's cheaper: buying the full BGK AND the SADFAB kit, or just buying the Xidas, sways+blocks, and endlinks from 949 and then get all the bushing stuff from SADFab.

If you want to upgrade wheels/tires/brakes go for it, but if you do this to your suspension you are going to absolutely love it.

You do realize that not everyone has $2,500 to spend on a suspension at the drop of a hat, right? More so, since Tampa roads are SMOOTH, going spendy out here is somewhat unnecessary. This I say, as I drive my Miata in Tampa, with Fat Cat coilovers, right now.

You do realize that he said he was planning on Xidas, right? :rolleyes:

Also, FCM's are more expensive than Xidas.

also, LOL at only needing good suspension if your roads are shit

Yo, when did I recommend FCM'S? I just said I own them. Also, he stated that he needs to run the XIDAS by his wife, wanna guess what the problem with XIDAS is? PRICE.
When was the last time you drove in Tampa, since you are obviously so good and knowledgeable about it?

One more thing genius, If I can get a suspension that will work in the roads around my house, and I don't have to spend a big coin on it, shouldn't I at least explore it?

Now, go back and drink more of that 3.2 swill they sell in that multiple wives state of yours. It's obviously not working.

Read his post again and quit being such an asshole. He already got the xida plan signed off by his wife.

Also, Fuck off.

Not 100 percent on my math here, but:

XIDA BGK (2720) + Sadfab bronze kit (300) = $3000
XIDA coilovers (2020 with mounts + dual springs) + sadfab full package (delrin/bronze/spherical) (600) + 949 sway kit (449) + NB hats (100) + extended ball joints (140) = $ 3300
FCM coilovers= $pay us a consulting fee and we'll let you see the prices
Flyin Miata= something I've never heard of before for 1900 bucks, vmax for 1000 bucks and 15.8mm rear sways with everything
Other options? Seems like every miata web store has a 1000 dollar coilover set that might be either cheap chinese garbage or the bargain of the century. I'm just not in the market for 1000 dollar lottery ticket.

So basically it boils down to 949 suspension with bronze bushings = 3000 bucks, delrin for 300 more.

Holy shit, calm down guys.

^OP, XIDAS are NICE, no bones about it. But if I lived in the 813, 727 or 863, I'd take a hard look at a set of VMAXX Sports. I'll be back in Denver in about a month, and my FCM's or XIDAS are a necessity out there. But here in the low flatlands, frankly they are almost overkill. Now, if you track or have plans for BIG horsepower, and have cash to burn, yeah XIDAS certainly scratch that itch.

If xidas aren't going to be wasted on my 205/50/15 setup with no aero, then I am going to stick with that as a plan.

As for FM, I've been there done that, don't want to send them money for another shitty suspension package with an oversized rear sway and soft springs.

Is the $2720 the price with the spherical tophats? Regular NB tophats will lower NVH a bit.

You can certainly do the whole spherical stuff, but just doing the poly with the bronze bushing kit (<$300) will get you phenomenal performance without a bit hit in NVH.

Also, I'd stick with 700/400 rates.

What's your intended use for the car?

Mostly street driving, track days (probably at sebring) when I can fit them in.

edit: I have 300whp, ballpark. I haven't dynoed the car since the rebuild (just finished), still breaking in the clutch. I think I have all the reliability mods for a turbo track car.

Well, I think the XIDAs are a fantastic value in the performance and feature/$. Certainly better than the revalved Billies from FCM (I own both, so . . .).

Based on your usage, I would do the XIDAs with NB tophats and swaybars for now. Even with 700/400, the XIDAs are so good that it's completely streetable.

As for the heavy-duty track stuff like bushings and ELBJs . . . it can be done later and you'll know when it's time.

I think one thing some folks misinterpret is that if you're not aggressively tracking the car they think there's no benefit to using quality shocks.

That's totally incorrect, and in some cases the inverse is true. Budget billies work very well on track but simply do not ride as well as Xidas. Aside from the couple of tenths you gain on track, you also gain excellent ride quality on the street. This ride quality benefits you whether you're on pothole-ridden roads or just when going over normal undulations/expansion joints/etc.

If you can afford quality shocks there is no reason to pass on them. And ultimately when you're done with the car, you'll get better resale value out of them, largely offsetting the higher initial cost.

My bushings are 20 years old. It's time.

A lttle more input on the rest of your setup: nothing wrong with sticking to 205s if your budget doesn't allow going to 9's and 225s quite yet. I'd go ahead and do the bushings/sways/shocks all at once, then brakes as soon as you can if you're at 300 ish whp, then tires. I ran 205s for a while on a similar setup (Xidas, BGK, 300 whp, BBK) and it was great.

At the risk of going off into the weeds here, is 15x9 and 225s really that noticeable a difference over 205s and 15x7s?