Request education regarding coilovers please. Miata related.

As I find myself building further and further toward CSP prep on my 97 Answer I find that the current suspension setup isn't going to cut it. I have FM 2.5 shocks and springs. These have been good for mixed use but aren't stiff enough for the amount of rubber getting stuffed under the fenders. Also to clear the 275s when fitted to 15x9 rims the suspension setup needs to be a smaller diameter.

I thought I had a line on a set on Megan Race coilovers but got to the guy a day late and they were sold.

A friend has FM VMAXX track pack coilovers with very few miles on them but he wants essentially full retail price for them.

I had the thought last night that Amazon sells everything so I went to look and saw a dozen brands I've never heard of. So I suppose my question is: how does one know if these other brands are excellent deals or junk? Any recommendations? The more budget friendly the better as ever....

Thanks all.

Junk, let your friend sit on his used stuff and buy it off him. Flyin Miata is great stuff as you know

Or build you a bilstein coil over kit with stock shocks revalved to your specs and springs you choose. That's what I had on my 93 and it was wonderful, 700/225 springs

Build a set using good high quality monotubes, ground controls and fat cat bumpstops.

The answer for your Answer

Subbed.

I've got a set of 15x9s that I can't bolt up until I get a new suspension. I was hoping FM would have a Black Friday deal on their VMAXX setup, but no dice. I'm really hoping for a bolt & go option, but I may end up having to DIY a Bilstein setup....

my 95 is set up for STS, but I didnt go all the way with the spring rates or damping.

What I have - Koni Yellow, 550F 375R on ground controls, ISC racing rear tophats, Racing beat adjustable Front sway, no rear sway, and good bumpstops.

I would suggest similar but upgrade the front shocks to race valving and go to 700F 450R springs.

Either that or spend some coin on Xidas with 800lb-in springs front and match the rear to that (500 I think?), some friends are running those and they really like them and I think they are a step up from my setup based on driving the car a few times.

Apexcarver wrote: Koni Yellow, 550F 375R on ground controls, ISC racing rear tophats, Racing beat adjustable Front sway, no rear sway, and good bumpstops. I would suggest similar but upgrade the front shocks to race valving and go to 700F 450R springs.

If you want to spend $1200, do that. Way beyond what you have now, or a nonadjustable VMAXX (in my opinion).

If you want to spend $2100, do Xidas.

If you want to spend $3000, you have a few very good double adjustable options.

Frankly I think the Koni setup would be capable for a long time at a nice price.

I'd go with the new Fox stuff from FM. Of course I would say that - but I'm in the enviable position of being able to say "nope, that's not good enough, we need to make it better" And I really like these. They can handle a lot of spring rate, I think we aimed for 900 at the top end.

They cost more than a set of V-Maxx, but they're inexpensive for what they are and you won't outgrow them. There are a lot of cheap coilovers out there with crap internals and unknown or estimated spring rates. There may be some okay ones out there, but I suspect the majority of them are pretty terrible and aimed at the stance crowd more than anything else.

I'm agnostic on the mono/twintube subject, as there are excellent and atrocious examples of both. The GC setups have loose springs more often than not, so they're not my favorite. The Fox are monotubes, but that's because it's the technology they use for that body. Revalved Bilsteins can be excellent or terrible depending on the valving chosen, I've found that I've been disappointed in some of the highly hyped revalved setups on Miatas. In fact, I find myself disappointed by Bilsteins more often than not, they have that constant fidget.

Grassroots budget precludes the $1,800 setup.

Does anyone have any knowledge of Tein Street?

In reply to KyAllroad:

Btw, I noted GC sleeves, but you can go cheap with amazon/ebay sleeves if you keep the threads clean, because you'll want to get some eibach (or other) coilover springs that you can order specifically by length and spring rate.