NB Miata Street Suspension for often crappy pavement

My summer car is a ’99 NB with the base/soft suspension.  Stock springs, kyb excel g shocks, universal-looking bump stops & boots that don’t really fit correctly.  It came to me this way... it’s okay, but I want better.

Earlier this year I picked up low mileage stock Mazdaspeed suspension assemblies (Silver Bilsteins, red mazdaspeed springs) and an eibach front/rear sway bar kit with an adjustable rear bar.  Trying to decide what else I should refresh before installing this stuff in the car.  My goals are to end up with less body roll, and hopefully spend a bit less time on the bump stops while driving on our wonderful New England roads.

I’m thinking I should get:

• FM 54mm improved bump stops (I’ve heard this is a must-have upgrade)
• FM factory NB shock bushing set (I can see a couple are cracking)

Not sure about:

• Front sway bar reinforcement blocks (or replacement brackets).  How necessary are these for a street car that might see an occasional autocross?
• Sway bar endlinks.  Can I use the stock ones with the eibach bars, or do I need to upgrade to adjustables?  Would prefer to KISS.
• Shock eye bushings.  These look fine but they are old… send it?
• Any other suggestions?

The sway bars are your main weapon against roll. It's too bad your front bar isn't adjustable, as that's a great tool for adjusting handling balance.

For street driving, don't worry about reinforcing the sway bar mounts. That's a problem with sticky race tires more than street cars.
You can use the stock end links, especially on a non-adjustable bar.
The shock eye bushings don't see the sort of movement that tends to take bushings out, they're pretty long lived.

I will warn you that the MSM suspension is a little fidgety and not as supple as I often prefer. It's not going to give you the best possible ride but it should be a good upgrade.

Your wheel/tire selection will have an impact (har har) here as well, especially on those sharp frost heaves characteristic of New England. Not just diameter, but you'll want a tire with a softer sidewall and don't stretch them. If you're using a 205/50-15 tire, put them on a 15x7 instead of a 15x8 for example.

In reply to therieldeal :

 An upgraded front and rear sway bar and Mazdaspeed springs would make you not legal for Street class. You can only upgrade/add/remove one swaybar and the springs have to be original.

In reply to NickD :

Oh I'm not worried about autocross class, I'm well aware that this would bump me into a much higher class where I'm not competitive.  I would only bring this car for fun and/or because my Escort is not available for some reason.  I run with a local club where we group SCCA classes together based on PAX, so we have only 7 total classes (plus a couple "pro" classes that are basically wide open).  If I bring the Miata I'll just bump myself up to wherever my Escort runs (it's an SMF or XS car) for potential points.

In reply to therieldeal :

I saw the capital S in the title. Rereading the original post, I realize you aren't talking about the SCCA Street classes. Whoops.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Thanks for all of the info Keith! Greatly appreciated.

As far as wheels & tires I'm still running stock NB 15x6 with 195 width BFG Comp 2's right now.  Once those are worn out I'll probably put one of my sets of Kosei K1 15x7 on the car, we'll see.

Speaking of NB street suspension, question for Keith:

How would you compare FM/Koni vs. VMaxx Classic, assuming no need for ride height adjustment, and ride quality prioritized over absolute handling limits?

Car currently has VMaxx, which are about to get new bumpstops, but I was really impressed with the street manners of FM/Koni on our NC.

I know that "Fox" is the real answer, but that's not in the budget for this car, at least not yet... 

For street manners, I'd take the FM/Koni over the V-Maxx.

 Thanks, Keith!