Budget Miata Suspension

I have been looking for ways to spend my tax return money and the miata is going to need new tires for inspection but I am thinking about extending that into some suspension upgrades too. I am looking at going with a 15" wheel with mild offset, no lower than 25-30 to avoid rolling fenders. This is also a daily driver over country roads, so I still need something that can soak up bumps and not jar my teeth out, but I am willing to sacrifice some comfort for cornvering prowess. I think my stock struts have had it by 150k so its not like I have a comfy ride now anyway. Im not looking for a slammed car on coil overs either, although they can look awesome its just not practical for me, nor am I careful enough. I am looking at $600-$700 for tires and wheels. Would it be possible to get a set of struts and maybe some used springs for $300-$400?

KYB agx are under 400. Or you could get a set of Gr2s for alot less than that. Anything will be better than your factory shocks, as I'm sure they have been wore out for a while.

Joey

Watch for someone selling their Konis. Should be able to pick them up for less than $400 easy. Oh, and if what's on the car now is what was on it from the factory, they're no longer shocks, more like A arm separators.

I am contemplating a budget suspension package for my Miata with my tax returns dollars as well. I'm probably going to use either KYB GR-2s or the new Koni STR.T. (tirerack.com has them for ~$65/ea.)

I'm also just going to keep the stock springs and use some FCM mounts and bumpstops. (http://fatcatmotorsports.com/FCM_KYB_products_NA.htm#bump)

All told, this should be about $500-600.

If you're willing to break your wheel/tire budget just slightly, you can get the 15x7.5 Trmotorsport C1 for $104 and the closeout Bridgestone RE01R for $77, or $724 plus shipping from Tire Rack.

^ That would be a sweet setup at a great price.

For the suspension I would go with Konis or AGX's and stick with stock springs. I would be tempted to change the bump stops too for some from Fat Cat

We're going to be using the FatCat mounts on the turbo project car. We'll let you know how they work out, but FWIW, Shaikh (FCM's head honcho) is the most obsessive suspension nut I've met in a long time. If he likes them, there's a good reason why.

FCM mounts are the factory NB mounts with a couple of bushings so you can use them with NA shocks. They will lower your car, so keep that in mind.

Personally, I'd rather go with a set of Koni yellows than GR2s with NB mounts. But that's me.

Keep an eye out for used. Used ebay wheels

I got a set similar from a guy local to me $500 a few years ago.

I got some shocks off a mazdaspeed miata with 5000 miles on it for $125 shipped. I saw a guy on the miata board bragging about his new big $$ coilovers for his low millage car. I sent him a PM and picked up his shocks. They are very similar to the hard s shocks that came on the 99. Matched that with some Tien lowering spring from ebay - but you have to be careful, there are some people selling counterfeit name brand stuff on ebay.

Keith wrote: Personally, I'd rather go with a set of Koni yellows than GR2s with NB mounts. But that's me.

That's actually a great point. Since in the end the price will be about the same. Keith, do you think it's okay to re-use the original shock mounts (100k miles, 19 years old)?

Some guys on Miata.net have tried those cheap ebay no-name brand springs with decent success: http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=289656&highlight=spring+rates

If you can afford it, I would do it right the first time, but those don't seem like a bad deal if they work without issues.

The stock mounts should be okay. The only sign I've seen of degradation over the years is a couple of cars that sit mysteriously low, and the only thing we could identify as the source was the mounts. But that's pretty rare.