Sounds like a premise for a new thread.

If I was a manufacturer of a product that had already done research and design testing I would not waste my product on someone else's test. I would allow them to buy it and test it like Consumer Reports does but there is no reason to throw away a perfectly good set of shocks off my retail sales shelf.

I do a lot of testing. without even a quick calculation, I can tell you that this test would cost 100hrs per set up. easy. I value my time. One test would cost as much as 5 sets of xida's, to get any useful data.

We're all still holding our breath.
Any day myeaw

lol at this thread.

The truth is that Emilio/Andrew and some other guys on the forum could drive a shitty BC setup to close to XIDA times around a track (all things equal). But that shitty BC setup is going to be less consistent, less reliable, less comfortable, etc.

OP, you're going to buy a poverty setup anyway. Why did you even bother starting this thread?

I know Emilio pretty well, have ridden with him, and am convinced he could drive the box that the shocks came in to a lower laptime than me in a C8.

To be fair, OP is likely going to do a Bilstein setup, which is the only poverty setup that works. He specifically said he wasn't going to pay for the options that dudebro is talking about doing a comparo with, the whole thing got sidetracked when Jerrick decided to show up.

The advanced autosports sleeves are what you want.
I only ran hats in the rears because folks said that was fine. I haven't had any crazy bumpstop marring experiences in the front, but this is for street use and I'm not low at all.
MSM billies are good.
I don't understand the rationale that goes into spending a grand on a budget DIY billy setup. That just feels like no mans land to me.

I think I basically turned the DIY billy thread into this exact conversation a year or so ago haha.

NM, nothing constructive.

Those are bottom barrel. If you're really pinching pennies, sure. Otherwise, i'd rather have pretty much any other option.

Alibaba Jerrick, whom all the M.Net fanboys swoon over? Meh.

https://www.mazdamotorsports.com/2018/08/14/14166/

SM is going to penskes, so used market to be flooded with billies shortly?

Oh boy. THAT'S what i want.... SM takeoffs. Guaranteed to be babied and well-cared for.

I personally don't see Meister as something terrible. I haven't tried them, but I see knocking them down without first hand experience as biased. I have worked in product sourcing and can tell you that something designed in-house and built to spec in the same factory as some cheap parts does not mean that everything coming out of there sucks. I work with machine shops that make everything from simple hardware mounting plates, to medical grade titanium implants for humans, bodies for lasers used in microprocessor production, gas turbine parts (these are SUPER high tolerance and QA on them is insane), to US military components that I can't talk about. Some parts coming out of the shop are $20/pieces, others are into thousands for just a complex metal part cut out of a special alloy block. Some are done on semi-manual lathes, others on $5,000,000 fully automated systems loaded with 100 tools, crane, belt line and multiple mill/lathe machines.

On the Penske subject, I think this paragraph is relevant:
So it's everything except for the springs. I assume that SM springs rates will be target for Penske shock valving, but that may not the be the case. Cost wise, it looks like they will be a bit more expensive than Bilsteins, but maybe will ride better. The part that concerns me is the "temper-proof" part - what does that mean and how will that affect those not racing in SM, but still wanting to use the shocks? What about adding remote reservoirs?

Rebuild price is similar to Bilstein, maybe you can also customize and request special rates. I do wonder how the shocks will be configured ( i assume threaded body with perch going up and down), so no messing around with sleeves anymore.

I think you're missing the point on Meister coilovers and why they're a meme.

That very well may be, wouldn't be the first time.

The way I see it people knock on them because they are made by BC and use some similar components, so there is an automatic assumption that they perform similarly to BC's own (and many other generic names produced by them). However, I've read what Jerrick posted about them on various sites and looked at them sponsoring racing including Miata's specifically. They do appear to have in house shock engineers instead of just graphic designers sending logo files to put on generic coil-overs. I'm on a fence until I either try them myself or hear from someone with experience running other setups and lots of track time behind the belt, someone who can be considered an authoritative person on Miatas. While m.net members are more of an average crowd mostly interested in street performance, the feedback so far has been largely positive. This is why I'm challenging Jerrick to find such person and see if he/she would do a fully independent review/test.