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13x8 Rota RB's + which suspension?

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C

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97 Posts
Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Hey everyone, I just picked up a set of 13x8 RB's and now I'm working on bringing the car down to a height decent for the rims before throwing them on.. I was trying to find a cheaper alternative to Tein Flex's, and I came down to:

-KYB AGX struts
-Flyin' Miata springs
-FCM shock mounts and bump stops

This is going on my '96 NA miata. Do you guys think the height will be low enough to reach the levels of the tein flex height adjustment? I know you can't do much with springs but I was hoping that the FCM shock mounts and bump stops would help a little more in lowering and still maintaining a decent amount of suspension travel.

Please post up if you have any comments. Thanks!
 
ExHondaMan

· Senior Member
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2,798 Posts
#3 ·
Depends on your definition of "decent height".

I believe there's at least 2 members here with the Tein Flex set-up and 13inch RBs, CE28 (peter) and me (tam). Peter has his slammed to where you can barely fit one finger between the rim and fender and I have a snug one finger in front and snug 2 fingers in the back. Peter also avoids speed-bumps like the plague and I have to drive over it SLOWLY. The problem isn't suspension travel, the cars handles beautifully, the problem is your undercarriage (or front lip) slamming down on anything larger then a ant-hill.

The question isn't How Low Can You Go? The question is How Much ABuse Can You Take?
 
C

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97 Posts
Discussion Starter · #8 ·
ExHondaMan @ Mon Sep 18 said:
Depends on your definition of "decent height".

I believe there's at least 2 members here with the Tein Flex set-up and 13inch RBs, CE28 (peter) and me (tam). Peter has his slammed to where you can barely fit one finger between the rim and fender and I have a snug one finger in front and snug 2 fingers in the back. Peter also avoids speed-bumps like the plague and I have to drive over it SLOWLY. The problem isn't suspension travel, the cars handles beautifully, the problem is your undercarriage (or front lip) slamming down on anything larger then a ant-hill.

The question isn't How Low Can You Go? The question is How Much ABuse Can You Take?
Click to expand...
Dang, I didn't realize how low the undercarriage would be at your guys' height. I saw your car in the other posts and that is my goal for the height I want to obtain. What part of the undercarriage are you most prone to hitting? Is it dealing with the tire banging the fender wells, or the frame itself?

btw, thanks to everyone who are posting up! :D
 
clshrckr

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740 Posts
#10 ·
when i had my rbs on and had no finger gap in front i remember scraping while at the gas station
you know those holes where they put the new oil in on the ground. its kind of like a mini sewer cover. like a little nipple on the ground. scraped on one of those :lol:
 
ExHondaMan

· Senior Member
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2,798 Posts
#13 ·
My bad, Basics.

Then I'm probably the only one with then :)

Dang, I didn't realize how low the undercarriage would be at your guys' height. I saw your car in the other posts and that is my goal for the height I want to obtain. What part of the undercarriage are you most prone to hitting? Is it dealing with the tire banging the fender wells, or the frame itself?

btw, thanks to everyone who are posting up!
Click to expand...
Its low. I'd say about 2-1/2 to 3 inches of clearance. Fenders don't hit anymore since I got them rolled and slightly flared. The frame rails underneath the car are slightly dented and has yellow paint all over them. Granted, they were dented because I wasn't paying attention to how tall the speed bumps were at first, BAM!

The front crossmember and oil pan gets hit a lot due to road imperfections (where the **** did that bump come from??) and there's a few scratches on the oil pan.

Anywhere in the middle of the car gets scraped in garage buildings when driving up to another level. Steep driveways that suddenly go flat gets to scrape the exhaust. Fun.

Like I said, it depends on how much you are willing to deal with. My set-up is tolerable to me AND I still have plenty of suspension travel. The great part is when I got my car corner-balanced, I was only off 12lbs cross-weighted!

Edit: BTW, I just recently set my Flex to full-soft (for the first time) due to road construction near my work and it rides almost near stock. Awesome street coilovers.
 
C

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97 Posts
Discussion Starter · #14 ·
ExHondaMan @ Mon Sep 18 said:
My bad, Basics.

Then I'm probably the only one with then :)

Dang, I didn't realize how low the undercarriage would be at your guys' height. I saw your car in the other posts and that is my goal for the height I want to obtain. What part of the undercarriage are you most prone to hitting? Is it dealing with the tire banging the fender wells, or the frame itself?

btw, thanks to everyone who are posting up!
Click to expand...
Its low. I'd say about 2-1/2 to 3 inches of clearance. Fenders don't hit anymore since I got them rolled and slightly flared. The frame rails underneath the car are slightly dented and has yellow paint all over them. Granted, they were dented because I wasn't paying attention to how tall the speed bumps were at first, BAM!

The front crossmember and oil pan gets hit a lot due to road imperfections (where the **** did that bump come from??) and there's a few scratches on the oil pan.

Anywhere in the middle of the car gets scraped in garage buildings when driving up to another level. Steep driveways that suddenly go flat gets to scrape the exhaust. Fun.

Like I said, it depends on how much you are willing to deal with. My set-up is tolerable to me AND I still have plenty of suspension travel. The great part is when I got my car corner-balanced, I was only off 12lbs cross-weighted!

Edit: BTW, I just recently set my Flex to full-soft (for the first time) due to road construction near my work and it rides almost near stock. Awesome street coilovers.
Click to expand...
That sounds great. I guess I'll have to dish in more money to get the Flex's. I was a little hesitant going with spring and strut setups again, since after going to full suspension (with preload) in my track integra, I noticed a huge difference in ride quality and dampening.

As for scraping the oil pan, that kinda scares me.. Anything else on the chassis I wouldn't be too worried about, other than the rear tie bar.. Looks like if you get that bar caught on something underneath the car, the whole rear is coming off the car..

Again, thank you for everyone that is posting up. You guys are very helpful! :D
 
Bryan

· Mufasa in Training
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52,428 Posts
#17 ·
Dicker @ Mon Sep 18 said:
and my front wheels hit the tops of the fenders under hard cornering.
Click to expand...
If that's the case, then you're too low, IMHO. Tires are important and expensive, and you need to figure out which is more important: impractically low ride height or new tires.

Slammage isn't everything...sometimes you need to ask if it's really worth [rolling the fenders, putting up with undercarriage damage, etc.] just to have a low ride height. Is there really any gain past a certain point?
 
DRFT MX5

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474 Posts
#18 ·
I agree with Bryan, I run 13x8's as race rubber.. and I would never consider running them on the street. I bottom out with my stock 15's at my current ride height. My suspension is Tein Flex sitting at 12' from center hub to fender (full extended). I will say this, Rota 13x8's w/ Kuhmo 710's make for one hell of an autocross set up.

Many people I know who run these wheels and tires use custom cut ground control's and Koni yellows. Spring rates are around 600lb/ft in the front and 361lb/ft in the rear.

My Tein's are the standard 7k/6k setup however, I'm moving to 9k in the front soon, the nose still dipps to much for me.
 
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