NB Miata HPDE suspension

My 99 Miata is now relegated to occasional weekend rides, so the majority of time on it is to/from HPDE and autocross. So ride comfort is no longer a concern.

It is a stock Hard-S car, on 15x8 6ULs with 225 RS3s. Local track is very hard on the left side tires, and with the most camber I can get at stock ride height I'm wearing the shoulders. Need to lower a bit to get more camber, and would like to have a more track-oriented suspension anyways. It has a fair amount of grip with these tires and excessive body roll, particularly in autocross. Usage is intermediate HPDE, but my dad and nephew also share the car so it can't be too twitchy, though we can tune that with alignment.

Looking at setups in the $800-1200 range, so not up to the baller level.

Options:

Konis / FM springs & swaybars: $975. Seems to me to be a street spring rate, probably about as much as the Konis can handle.

VMaxx XXtreme Track: $970. Track spring rates, wonder if these shocks are really up to the task.

Revalved Bilsteins / GC coilovers / RB swaybars. May end up over budget, have the bilsteins.

Spec Miata kit. A bit over budget, shocks not really rated for that rate?

Tein / Feal / Megan / Apexi etc: rather stick with a known racing brand in the US. Just don't know much about these.

Any others? What direction would you go?

I have the spec miata setup. It's too hard for comfy daily driving but great for track use. Previously I have the FM 2.5 setup (Tokico whites, springs, bars) and it was great on the street, fair on the track, and utterly out of its depth with hoosiers autocrossing.

For the money I suspect the VMAXX track pack will be your best bet.

Agreed. It's great value, and we've been running one of our turbo NBs on it since day 1. Makes for a friendly car. It's not as fast as the Fox setup, but it's also half the price.

VMaxx track pack at that budget. I used the regulars a few years ago since the track pack wasn't out yet and they did a good job of keeping up with 205 R888s with the FM sway bars.

I did pick up about 4.5 secs a lap at Hallett when I moved to the 949 BGK.

But that's not really fair comparing a $900 setup to a $3500 setup.

The VMaxx are very impressive for their price point.

I agree: The VMaxx are very impressive for their price point. I'd go that way unless the non-rebuildable thing bugged me, in which case I'd look at more 'spensive options.

Hey Keith, I feel this is related enough to ask here. I see Koni is having a sale on your site. Looks like there is a springs/shocks package that normally goes for $1130 on sale for $975. This puts it in direct competition with the V-Maxx XXtreme Stage 2 Sport package ($969).

I'm just curious. Obviously you dont have any adjustability with the koni setup, but at the higher pricepoint, does the koni setup perform better, especially on track? Thanks in advance.

We're comparing https://www.flyinmiata.com/99-00-fm-v-maxx-xxtreme-sport-stage-2-suspension-kit.html and https://www.flyinmiata.com/nb-stage-2-suspension-kit.html for those that want to follow along

The Koni kit has a higher quality shock that's rebuildable and has a lifetime warranty. The spring rates on the FM springs are also a bit lower. Thanks to that, I think they've got the edge in ride quality especially on the street. They would likely deal with bumpy tracks like Hallett better.

The V-Maxx setup lets you set your ride height and cornerweight, has an inexpensive upgrade to higher spring rates ($130) and runs a stiffer spring. It will likely be quicker on smoother tracks due to all that, although I don't think I've ever done any direct testing.

Are the FM springs in the koni kit a linear rate, once the dead coils are compressed with weight on the car?

Thanks for the input. Are there any other mid-budget track-oriented options I should consider?

Keith - the Vmaxx track pack says Exocet = No. Is this just due to the spring rates? Other sets say Yes. Not so likely in my case but who knows.

I was really happy with my DIY Bilstein coilovers using ebay sleeves. With your budget, you could likely get them revalved and have plenty left over to pick out springs and swaybars.

Lof8 wrote: Are the FM springs in the koni kit a linear rate, once the dead coils are compressed with weight on the car?

Yes.

MattGent wrote: Thanks for the input. Are there any other mid-budget track-oriented options I should consider? Keith - the Vmaxx track pack says Exocet = No. Is this just due to the spring rates? Other sets say Yes. Not so likely in my case but who knows.

Just an oversight. They'll fit the Exocet, but they're awfully stiff.