Hence why I asked about your usage.

My 1990 turbo Miata is daily driven on the bushings that were installed in Hiroshima. Street-driven Miatas are EXTREMELY easy on their bushings thanks to double wishbones front and rear and limited suspension travel in normal operation. Plus, the bushings get firmer with age.

The exception to the above would be areas where road salt use might have chemically attacked the rubber or extreme driving where a lot of suspension travel might have torn the bushing material. Bottom line, don't condemn Miata bushings based upon age alone. OTOH, bushings are cheap to replace (just a bit time consuming), so . . . . Personally, I'm glad that my daily has rubber and equally glad that my track car has poly.

As for wheels and tires, I'd say that 15x9s are very noticeable vs. 15x7s on track. Doesn't matter at all on the street. 225 vs. 205 . . . heck, every tire manufacturer varies. A 205 Hoosier is wider than a 225 Maxxis, so

Again, honestly assess your usage. Things like bushings, ELBJs and wider wheels/tires are track items. Also, all of these things are easily added later. The important part is to not make a mistake on the fundamental part of your suspension.

 

Thanks. I had no idea about that, I just assumed everything on the car was ready to be replaced by this point.

I guess I could get away with xidas and going back to a factory sway in the rear. That would trim about 1300 bucks and a weekend of labor off the near term amount and fix everything I hate about the car right now.

Edit: anyone know where you buy a factory swaybar? I figure there must be a million of them lying around somewhere.

 

Junkyard. Found my spare 12mm in a wrench-a-part.

 

tagged you in a thread where a guy is selling a BNIB supermiata sway set.

 

Hopefully this will help you...

You are running r comps, so 700/400 is too soft. You want 800/500 bgk, and the billet coaxials.

The delrin is worth it. Self lubricating, but still drill and install grease fittings (included in sadfab kit)

205 tires are fine, your grip will drastically improve with the above mods. Honestly it will astound you.

i daily drive this setup, little on the stiffer side, but totally worth not bottoming out or rubbing mid corner (i personally hate that, and it is very distracting)

pm me with any questions.

 

Please note: I disagree with Marcello on the spring rate issue. Our are very comparable weight, and I'm on 700/400 and he's on 800/500. His car does handle great but the ride is too firm for street for my taste.

 

Thats just what 949 recommends. For 300whp (what i was going for) and r comps 800/500.

stock power on r comps dual duty 750/450

stock power performance summers, street only 700/400

iirc

 

Power doesn't dictate suspension choice, grip does.

on the Xida site it says:

1000/500 Hoosier 225/45 ~ 275/35/15
800/500 Race - Track or autocross focused, 40~100tw race or 200tw UHP
800/400 STS - STS autocross class only
700/400 Sport - For high grip street tires, 200tw. Casual autocross or HPDE
550/350 Touring - Street comfort, not for 200tw or race tires

If you're going to do mostly street, I think one would be happier with the 700/400. I run 225 RS3's and will go up to 245 RS4's when these wear out, and I expect to still be very satisfied with 700/400 rates.

 

I run 700/400 currently. Moving to 850/500 still on street tires.

Cash me ousside.

 

Yes, but... You're concealer.

 

I GO HARD.

 

I'm guessing 800/500 on Xidas with proper damping settings rides better than my current 600/450 on koni sports (dd/time trials) at nearly full firm. Unless your roads are garbage it can't possibly be that bad, but depends on primary usage I reckon.

 

Oh I'm sure you're right. 800/500 is still drivable, but 700/400 is almost plush and just rides great while still providing excellent on track performance.

 

Regardless. I don't think there's really a wrong answer here. 700/400 vs moar because moar is going to be determined by preference, tire, and surface you run the car on.

I run 700/400 with the 1.25" RB front bar, MSM rear bar, 15x9 225/45 RS3s and it feels like a Cadillac.

Switching to 850/500 with same bars, but 15x10 245/40 VR1 and i fully expect it to ride a TOUCH worse and might actually be "slower" over bad surfaces (Looking at you, Chasing the Dragon Hillclimb), but overall probably a gain in performance and sets me up nicely for going with manpants tires later.

Also: a 205/50 long wearing R Comp likely isn't generating more grip than today's "Super 200s." That spring rate guide has remained unchanged for quite some time.

 

My body is ready.

 

Interesting. Looks like the spring rate recommendations have changed over the years. IIRC, when I bought, 700/400 was the race and 800/500 was the high grip/smooth track recommendation. That was the write-up for Gen 1 XIDAs though. Perhaps as the shocks improved, they could handle more spring.

Anyways, doing fine on 700/400 with the front sway set to max stiff. Great tire wear and great times. No complaints.

 

my flaccid ***** would dampen better than koni sports.

how do you not have back problems and concussions from spring rates that high with that trash?

 

Because I'm not a girly man who can't deadlift 2x bodyweight and already have dropped baby syndrome, so it's kind of a wash.

 

FWIW, I'm in a similar boat. Here's my plan:

1. Get Xidas (700/400, dual springs, NB mounts) with appropriate sway bars
2. Replace inner tie rods (because old and loose)
3. Replace outer tie rod ends with R-package parts (because old and loose and bump steer)
4. ELBJs for moar camber at moar ride height - I am currently here
5. Wheels and BBK would be next on the list, though I am not turbo yet so should be able to work with what I have for awhile
6. Bushings. Undecided whether to do delrin or poly with bronze bearings.

May push bushings up if I find my control arms sliding on the bushings while on track.

 

As a note for those considering ELBJs or offset lower bushings to increase front camber: Using these camber adders will make you run a lot of caster, increasing steering effort, particularly without power steering. With ELBJs, Thumpetto was only able to get down to like 6-6.5* caster, and on my car with offset front lower delrin bushings I'm stuck at right around 5.5*.

I'm totally happy with steering effort at 5.5*, but some may not be.