Tell me why you bought fm fox suspension instead of vmax for your na6.

 I wasn’t planning on purchasing a  suspension for my Miata till after the holidays therefore I haven’t done any of the research but with FM’s sale going on today I’m considering doing this now to save a couple bucks.  Therefore, I’m looking for input from people who  have gone down this road as to whether the fox suspension is worth the extra money over the Vmax. The car will be driven to track events with some dd  duty as weather permits. Also I don’t understand completely the helper springs on the fox set up. Without the helper springs does this mean that every time I raise the car to change the oil I have to readjust everything?

The helper springs mean that there's no chance of the main springs coming dislodged when you have the car in the air for service. Usually they stay in place, but occasionally you'll get one that slips back in with a clunk or (rarely) requires you hold it in place as you guide the car down.

The V-Maxx is a great value for the money. The Fox is a great suspension.

Keith Tanner said:

The helper springs mean that there's no chance of the main springs coming dislodged when you have the car in the air for service. Usually they stay in place, but occasionally you'll get one that slips back in with a clunk or (rarely) requires you hold it in place as you guide the car down.

 

Dare I say, it sounds like a job for a zip tie 

After living with the fox suspension now for 6 months, I absolutely love it. It's got so much flexibility. You want to make it hard core track suspension. piece, you can do that. I have mine set at GT levels and it's crisp and the turn in is still great without ever once even remotely feeling harsh or punishing. I just did almost 1000 miles on back country roads over the weekend and fell in love even more with a great car. 

Keith Tanner said:

The helper springs mean that there's no chance of the main springs coming dislodged when you have the car in the air for service.

Right, "service"!  That's why the car is in the air.

rustybugkiller said:

Dare I say, it sounds like a job for a zip tie 

Doesn't work unless you go overkill with zipties.  The ziptie would have to support the weight of the suspension as it tries to droop past the spring's travel.

Yeah...I had to do some "Service" on my car while clearing an intersection yesterday too. 

    Sounds like a fox Set up allows me to change spring rates  without messing with the shocks  where as the Vmax does not.?

bmw88rider said:

After living with the fox suspension now for 6 months, I absolutely love it. It's got so much flexibility. You want to make it hard core track suspension. piece, you can do that. I have mine set at GT levels and it's crisp and the turn in is still great without ever once even remotely feeling harsh or punishing. I just did almost 1000 miles on back country roads over the weekend and fell in love even more with a great car. 

Did you get the helper springs?

Knurled. said:

Keith Tanner said:

The helper springs mean that there's no chance of the main springs coming dislodged when you have the car in the air for service.

 

Right, "service"!  That's why the car is in the air.

 

 

This is precisely what I was thinking. 

Flight time is not long enough for the suspension to relax further once the main springs are unloaded, so it’s only an issue during actual, legit service. Or rockcrawling.

The NC Fox on BMWrider’s car comes with the helpers as standard, because they have a more complex stack of parts that will almost definitely self-disassemble when the suspension is extended. 

You can change spring rates with both the Fox and V-Maxx, but the Fox accept a much wider range of springs and use a more common 2.5” size instead of 60mm. The Sport and Track rates on the V-Maxx pretty much bracket the useable rates. 

I had similar questions.

Does the koni's kit still allow 15x9s?

If the Fox setup is a 100% what approx % solution are the other FM kits?

Wife veto'd buying today but I still intend to in december since I spent almost 1k on safety gear yesterday

You need 2.5” or smaller springs to fit 15x9. So you can use Konis, but only with a coil over conversion. 

I’m not going to try to assign scores to all the kits, especially as some are very dependent on expected use. 

I've been very happy with my vmax (basic, non-adjustable kit) on my NA6.. I figured Keith did more testing and a better job adjusting it than I would ever due with fiddly knobs ;) I do the occasional track day and autocross with it.

I've been dying to try the fox setup, but I have a spec miata for hard core track use, so I probably won't.

If it's indicative of the quality of the kit, three people at work bought the vmax & swaybar setup after driving mine.

Keith Tanner said:

You need 2.5” or smaller springs to fit 15x9. So you can use Konis, but only with a coil over conversion. 

I’m not going to try to assign scores to all the kits, especially as some are very dependent on expected use. 

Ill stick to the original plan for Fox later this year then

So if I add a turbo to my car down the road (nothing crazy)  would the vmax need to be replaced for track use? Would the Fox be able to handle the added power or would I end up wishing for something SMs would run?

My intention for this car is to replace the 914 for a fun track car with an option of adding a little power down the road. What I liked about the set up on the 914 (Konis) was the easy adjust the setup for the different tracks but the car was rarely driven anywhere but to the track since the ride is rock hard. With the Miata, the focus will be on track use but I don’t want to dread driving it on the street like I did with the 914. 

I run the Fox on my 466 rwhp V8 track car. They can handle it 

Honestly, a good suspension works regardless of the power level. We've been running one of our shop cars since 2008 or so on the V-Maxx Sport springs, and it's almost purely a track car with about 250 rwhp. It's a staff favorite because it's just friendly and easy to drive. You don't want SM suspension, it's actually pretty terrible in a bunch of ways.

A rock hard ride may feel sporty, but it means you're having trouble keeping your wheels on the ground. A bit of compliance means more grip as you attack berms - and as a side benefit, means you have a reasonable ride.

Ordered the V-Maxx extreme kit today based on the same special offer.

As much as I am a high performance junky and love well engineered stuff the way women love diamonds, I cant help but think that the Fox parts would be like hight end audio where only the dog would appreciate the benefits. My driving just does not go to where the Fox suspension would come into play.

NOHOME said:

Ordered the V-Maxx extreme kit today based on the same special offer.

 

As much as I am a high performance junky and love well engineered stuff the way women love diamonds, I cant help but think that the Fox parts would be like hight end audio where only the dog would appreciate the benefits. My driving just does not go to where the Fox suspension would come into play.

 

 

Good point!

Keith, I have the fm Koni setup on my street na8 which I’m very happy with. However, I think it’s a little soft for track use. So Would the  vmax extreme track be acceptable in comparison on the na6 when I drive on the street? What’s the widest wheel do you recommend for this set up?  I’m probably over thinking this but ....

The Track Pack is pretty stiff for a floppy NA6 on the street, that's my biggest concern. You start flexing the chassis around with too much spring rate. If you've got some stiffeners on the car, it can certainly work on the street. It's firm.

If you decide it's too much spring for street use, a set of Sport springs isn't all that expensive.

15x9 is the widest I'd try to run for many reasons.

Keith Tanner said:

The Track Pack is pretty stiff for a floppy NA6 on the street, that's my biggest concern. You start flexing the chassis around with too much spring rate. If you've got some stiffeners on the car, it can certainly work on the street. It's firm.

If you decide it's too much spring for street use, a set of Sport springs isn't all that expensive.

15x9 is the widest I'd try to run for many reasons.

Wouldn’t that be the same concern for the Fox setup?

Less so, due to the quality of the damping. The Fox also have a different compression curve so a given spring rate will feel softer. But it is a concern for any NA6 suspension.

Ordered vmax extreme sport with sways. I can always upgrade if needed.. Thanks all!

Now, please no more sales

I’ve been running the V-Maxx Xxtreme Sport package on my ‘04 for three years and find it fantastic value.  Assembly and install were a breeze and adjustment to my needs was easy. You’re going to like it.

I regret going for VMaxx Classics instead of just ponying up for Sports or the Fox. At the time my thought was "I'm not good/consistent enough to tell the difference with the adjustments" Now I wish I had that built in overhead for when I reach that point. The Classics are still pretty good though. Beats the E36 M3 out of the Tokico Blue/mystery springs the car came with.