NC Miata Suspension

Paging Keith and others:

Brother has been running his NC miata for 2-3 years now completely stock. Going to go to seats/harnesses/rollbar this winter, and last step being suspension. A few items of note as he looks for recommendations on best path forward:

- Running 255 square NT01's on 9" wheels and already has a set of upgraded sway bars

- Adjustability not important as long as the tire life is decent (but current tire life has been great so far)

- Reliability and lack of maintenance I would put as #1 or #2

- Car is mainly ONLY used for 5 HPDE weekends per year so streetability not a big concern whatsoever. 

I would love some sort of Koni single adjustable solution with a more track oriented spring rate. Any miata based springs on the heavier side that could be paired with Koni yellows? I know on my e36, we would routinely run 500 or 550# springs on OTS koni yellows with coilover conversion kits but have no idea if that is a thing in the NC world.
 

Basically, I am pretty sure the Flying Miata stage 1 package but with 500 lb/350 lb or whatever the hive would recommend would be the bees nees. But open to suggestions. Any input on the ISC coilovers for NC miata's as they are actually pretty well known as a decent step for BMW's considering the price. $1500 - $2000 is out of the budget as I have already suggested Ohlins :-) but that seems to be too much for this brother anyhow as he is definately more of a set it and forget it type and not a big DIY'er. 

Bump. Is there any way to get a stiffer track only spring setup on a set of Koni shocks on an NC? Something like 450 or 550lbs? 

Don't extrapolate spring rates from one car to another, motion ratios can really mess with the numbers. But if you really want to load up Konis, see if Ground Control offers some sleeves.  They may not, but that's your first stop.

You don't want Ohlins at any price, you'd want Fox instead :)

Is Ohlins the "you can buy better, but you can't pay more" option of the suspension world?

Keith Tanner said:

Don't extrapolate spring rates from one car to another, motion ratios can really mess with the numbers. But if you really want to load up Konis, see if Ground Control offers some sleeves.  They may not, but that's your first stop.

You don't want Ohlins at any price, you'd want Fox instead :)

Too bad they are out of stock otherwise they would be on the list too :-).

Just kidding, I just know the budget is lower than either.....

In my experience, square 245 RE-71s on 9's on FM (Konis & springs) suspension was really good on an NC casual track car.  The only reason I would do anything different today would be if I wanted adjustable ride height, and for that I'd get the FM Fox setup.  IMHO, the ride height adjustment isn't really necessary for a casual track car.

GameboyRMH said:

Is Ohlins the "you can buy better, but you can't pay more" option of the suspension world?

Oh, there are definitely much more expensive options available than Ohlins. :)

AIUI, the Ohlins R&T kits are pretty good for most cars, but they missed the target on the NC kit.

Rodan said:

In my experience, square 245 RE-71s on 9's on FM (Konis & springs) suspension was really good on an NC casual track car.  The only reason I would do anything different today would be if I wanted adjustable ride height, and for that I'd get the FM Fox setup.  IMHO, the ride height adjustment isn't really necessary for a casual track car.

Thank for the input and beautiful pic to boot! Only problem with this car in question is its pretty much a pure track only car (seats, rollbar, etc) so was hoping to bump spring rates a touch more firm.

My NC has the FM Koni Stage 2 setup and I absolutely love it.

It's hard to separate truth from fiction with NC coilover setups because the owners of each setup tend to maintain a level of "I'm right and everyone else is wrong" fervor similar to US partisan politics. That being said, you can't actually purchase the NC Fox setup right now so I would probably be looking at Xidas as the "hardcore" option.

pointofdeparture said:

My NC has the FM Koni Stage 2 setup and I absolutely love it.

It's hard to separate truth from fiction with NC coilover setups because the owners of each setup tend to maintain a level of "I'm right and everyone else is wrong" fervor similar to US partisan politics. That being said, you can't actually purchase the NC Fox setup right now so I would probably be looking at Xidas as the "hardcore" option.

I may just push him that direction if there isnt a coilover conversion kit I can add to the Koni's in the FM kit to make it firmer. Coilovers for this guy are not ever going to be adjusted so pointless and probably will have double the maintenance compared to Koni yellows.

Message already sent to Ground Control. They have NA/NB and ND offerings but nothing for NC on the website.. 

If they have an ND setup, they're pretty close to an NC option. The fronts are very similar iirc. 

I'll look into the Foxes. They've had trouble delivering for the past while, but I need to make sure it's not some other stupid computer glitch in our systems. 

Koni's and good springs are my go to,  I'm seriously thinking of doing it to mr rallycross car even though I have two sets of coilovers for it.

pointofdeparture said:

It's hard to separate truth from fiction with NC coilover setups because the owners of each setup tend to maintain a level of "I'm right and everyone else is wrong" fervor similar to US partisan politics. That being said, you can't actually purchase the NC Fox setup right now so I would probably be looking at Xidas as the "hardcore" option.

If you're looking to spend that kind of money, MCS is also an excellent option.