[BlackHornet]

hey guys, title says it haha but heres the predicament....

i have a 1997 with kyb and eibach black springs all around....too soft. (bought it like that)

I bought this car to commute with and to track. means, that i dont really need comfort as i have a gto to drive the lady around if the miata is too rough...

that being said, without spending $1.5k on suspension to cover tracking AND comfort (atleast try to). which coilover setup would yall recommend for handling/track? i can deal with roughness in the miata. i dont need SLAMMED...its going to be tracked and so a little lower will do just fine.


ive read and read and read and found that most people are interested in both aspects (ride quality and handling).

ive read about the teins and read that for the value, they arent worth it.
ive read about the stance...thinking about those.
ive read about koni and have owned konis....but would rather have coilovers.
looked into the vmaxx...not too sure.
Megan racing EZ street...but i hear the tophats have a rubber bushing so they wouldnt be as good for track?
Megan racing street...not sure
BC racing...hear mixed thoughts
Ksport.....dont even know which model I would go with

im just trying to get a selection of coilovers that are an excellent money-to-quality deal and if i have to sacrifice ride comfort on the commute for being able to rail a corner....im ok with that.....im still reading on this site and many others. sorry for the many questions...

thanks guys

 

[1vicissitude]

If this is for a track car, unless you are spending good money on coils, you'd probably get more for your money running sleeves, spring rates of your choice, and revalved bilsteins, OTS konis, or illuminas. If you don't care about slam these are what you should be looking at.

I've had ksports in the past and they blew within 20k just street driving in a nicely paved suburban area.

I hate my tein basics, friends megans streets (blue ones) ride nicer and take bumps MUCH better.

If you are dead set on coils and don't want to be slammed, check out rspeeds fortune auto coils. Feature packed at the price. Stance or tein flex would be okay too.

My vote is see if there are any meets by you, do some ride alongs in other peoples setups, or better yet do so at the track or auto-x.

 

[BlackHornet]

ive thought about getting the bilsteins but by the time i sourced all of the pieces...id be close to spending 1k. so i figured having the OPTION of adjustability with coilovers is worth the little extra.....IF i ever need to use it.

rspeeds...ive looked at them and that was about it. didnt really read about them. I did see that they can only come with 8k/6k setup. i know that may be enough for properly setup suspension but im not concerned with the stiffness at all in the car. ill continue to read about them.

only reason i really considered megan racing is that the "Street" series seem to be comparable/decent and for only $820 shipped with a 10k/8k setup.

 

[1vicissitude]

You can piece together bilsteins cheaper than that. One thing to remember all these cheap coils like Megan, Ksport, even teins need rebuilds every ~30k miles. Bilsteins can last three times that. Plus if they were valved, they'll be a heck of a lot better at controlling the spring they were valves for than some cheap bottom of the food chain coils.

 

[concealer404]

They're all coilovers....

Bilstein or Koni setup is what you're looking for on a budget with what you want to do.

 

[BlackHornet]

I just read that the Megan Racing Street (black and silver) are built by BC....so that would mean that they are rebuildable and cheaper than actual BC. still reading about the rspeeds.

anyone know BC compared to the fortunes that rspeed sells?

 

[1vicissitude]

I've never seen anyone with BCs not slammed, I'm not sure what ride heights they accommodate. I just know they do slammed well.

 

[BlackHornet]

ya, ive seen them be slammed often. ill continue to read and post back with results. if somebody comes across this and know the results between BC and fortune auto...please chime in. also, if anyone knows how true that megan racing streets are bc BR...please chime in as well.


thanks

 

[shame126]

fortune auto likes to show how their shocks and shafts are thicker (therefore beefier, more durable) than BC. As for Megans being BCs, that's just a rumor, I don't think anyone has proved it. Stance do have a copycat, HSD coils are supposed to be made by the same factory that makes stance.

I've ridden in vmaxx (non dampening adjustable), they ride pretty good, fairly stiff, but definitely streetable. I've recently ridden in starke coils, not very well known, but I'd say I was fairly impressed, ride was controlled, and felt noticeably stiff (this car was slammed though).

 

[skynyrd006]

I have had Stance coilovers on my nb for about 2 years and I love them to death. The ride is firm, and there is plenty of room for height adjustment. My car is not slammed, and it drives fantastic.

 

[miata_racer]

its a personal preference thing. For cheap go with lowering springs and some FCM bump stops on something like a koni or a bilstein.

Next step up is a budget setup (revalved koni or bilsteins bough used with ground control coilovers on them). I've had both and prefer the bilstein.

Last and my personal fav is some 949 racing XIDA (AST made) coilovers. The Clubsport is THE BEST bang for the buck around. They are about $2000 and worth it.

For the SUper pimp some AST 5200s or some Koni 2812's would be awesome...but very few people really need them...and they are about $4000.

 

[Nick7787]

I've owned Stance, Fortune Auto coils, and Megan Racing coils for various vehicle applications. The stance coils were their SS-D Time attack coils so they were insanely stiff and in a track car, that being said at 5 clicks from full soft they were "streetable" and on 11k/10k springs.

Fortune Auto Coils honestly I think might have been my favorite, They were the best of both worlds. Great adjustability... very streetable and very capable at the track. Plus they have alot of customer features and great customer support.

Megan's aren't a bad entry level coil. I'd put them just below BC coils, if you aren't building a hardcore track dedicated car this might be the best solution for you or go with the BC's.
Megan's are very streetable, they have a wide range of stiffening levels. (yeah yeah ha ha.) lol and each click on the adjustment screw really shows a difference if you know the car well enough.

Really I'd just look at what you are willing to spend maximum and work backwards from there eliminating the ones you don't like or have heard negative things about. Also it is a very wise move to go to a track and get a ride along in cars with different setups as mentioned previously. Goodluck

 

[BlackHornet]

those last two responses....thank you very much.

im not going to track this thing for points.....atleast i dont care about the points. so i dont need the BEST coilovers around but i will have it on the track.

but, this is a miata....so it needs to handle well. ive been into kart racing and done a lot of autox's so im not a new person to this type of racing....just new to actually owning a miata. since its not my only form of transportation....i figure i will make it handle well. since i dont NEED the best on the market...figure ill find the happy medium and may be able to get something that makes the ride rough as hell but makes the car handle awesome for cheaper than trying to do both.

so far, ive found the Megan Racing Streets for $760 shipped....seems to be a decent deal. but if they arent going to last or perform....id rather not waste the $760 and apply them to something else.

 

[1vicissitude]

Well if you are after a high spring rate, I assume the streets are the red ones, then it's not a bad deal. The good thing with the megans is atleast when you tire of them you should be able to sell them on here for $600. They are slam friendly so everyone with xxrs or diamonds will jump at saving a few dollars to make their car "dope". Could almost be like a rental test trial haha. Heck even if you got the ez streets, I've seen them sell almost instantly for $560 with like 3-4,000 miles on them. Everyones lookin to save a buck.

 

[xjdesertfox]

its a personal preference thing. For cheap go with lowering springs and some FCM bump stops on something like a koni or a bilstein.

Next step up is a budget setup (revalved koni or bilsteins bough used with ground control coilovers on them). I've had both and prefer the bilstein.

Last and my personal fav is some 949 racing XIDA (AST made) coilovers. The Clubsport is THE BEST bang for the buck around. They are about $2000 and worth it.

For the SUper pimp some AST 5200s or some Koni 2812's would be awesome...but very few people really need them...and they are about $4000.

What this guy said^

You might also want to read this: http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets18.html

Im not speaking from experience as I only have experience with HD billies, but Im going through the same thing with trying to choose coilovers. My budget was $1200...after weighing out the options, ive decided to save another $1000 and get xida's with helpers.

 

[Nick7787]

This is probably pointless to post but just remember, your coilover purchase should reflect other things being done to the suspension/footwork on the car. Such as Tires, control arms, sways, cars overall weight. IF you buy a coilover that is "Overpowering" the rest of your system. So really look at the big picture, what you plan to do else where, how aggressive you plan to get, Just a little tip.

 

[xjdesertfox]

This is probably pointless to post but just remember, your coilover purchase should reflect other things being done to the suspension/footwork on the car. Such as Tires, control arms, sways, cars overall weight. IF you buy a coilover that is "Overpowering" the rest of your system. So really look at the big picture, what you plan to do else where, how aggressive you plan to get, Just a little tip.

A high end coilover can compensate for any of this.

A cheaply made coilover will be lacking when there is a change in any of this.

 

[RacerFreakXXX]

I'm in the same boat as the op in some ways. From my research if you want to save money just get some megan ez-street. Koni Sport/ Ground Control setup is supposed to be great for handling but is a bit more costly. BC is worth the $1k from everyone I know who has them (none are a miata however), but I've read good things about them on miatas. I've read Fortune Auto and Stance coilovers are also just as good but are closer to the $1.2k range.

In the end it depends on where you live and what you do with it / what you plan to do with your car. I love the idea of the koni sport/ ground control setup since it will last a long time and will give me a decent rate for only a few hundred more than megan coilovers. I think the max spring rate on the koni sports is a 450lb/in rate (about 8kg/mm), so that would be comparable to the megan ez-street. My 2006 NC had 8kF/6kR DGR coilovers and it handled like it was on rails but I had rpf1's and was running a wide tire and wheel. I'm picking up a NA int he next week and I know a 8k/6k setup will feel stiffer just based on 300lb weight difference.

After all the I've said I'd probably say just get the megan ez-street if you want to stay cheap or if you have the extra cash go with something a little better for about 1k, it'll be well worth it. I would stick to a 8k/6k setup or something similar unless the roads you drive are mostly flat and smooth.

*Make sure you ride in a car with a similar setup, you want to make sure you are OK with how it will feel! I drove in a 10k/8k car for a day and afterwards I thought my nuts were going to fall off because you feel every little road dent, dip, and bump. Maybe I have sensitive nuts :dunno: but where I live there is a pothole or a decent bump every 10 feet unless they just paved in the last month.

 

[greeenteeee]

I've had ksports in the past and they blew within 20k just street driving in a nicely paved suburban area.

I hate my tein basics, friends megans streets (blue ones) ride nicer and take bumps MUCH better.

Ksports... did the oil seals leak? How'd they blow?

I know the EZs hit the stops, especially with 6kg/mm on there. The included stops must be decent. I've a buddy w/ BASICS and says they ride rough-- I bet they have similar stroke as FLEXs.

After all the I've said I'd probably say just get the megan ez-street if you want to stay cheap or if you have the extra cash go with something a little better for about 1k, it'll be well worth it. I would stick to a 8k/6k setup or something similar unless the roads you drive are mostly flat and smooth.

*Make sure you ride in a car with a similar setup, you want to make sure you are OK with how it will feel! I drove in a 10k/8k car for a day and afterwards I thought my nuts were going to fall off because you feel every little road dent, dip, and bump. Maybe I have sensitive nuts :dunno: but where I live there is a pothole or a decent bump every 10 feet unless they just paved in the last month.

Best advice is in bold. 10/8 might be okay to someone, and not to you. It's important to make sure you're avoiding hitting the stops as well as it has every bit to do with ride comfort. I had 10/8 now 12/8. It's not that much of a difference if the front is not contacting the stop. The issue on this car is in the rear.

 

[Mako]

I drove on SM and it works pretty good for the money. Then I had the billies revalued by SD and Wow what an improvement! Then I switched over to 450/275 Ground Control again with custom valved Billies from SD and she rides better and with the RE-11s she is much better for track and autocross and daily! Custom Valved Billies are about 900 and GC are about 450 including bumpstops and sleeves. ARBs are extra but you only need front one!