Spec Miata Announces new non-adjustable Penske Dampers to replace Bilsteins

unevolved said:

Jaynen said:

Sure but the Penskes will be built for those rates. I think the defacto Xidas setup to go with is 800/500 or like Keith mentioned

Might be significant that Penske shocks are relatively rebuild-friendly, and there are tons of shops around the country that can rebuild Penskes.  I haven't seen the internals of these, but I can't imagine why it wouldn't be a minor affair to revalve for a different spring rate.

By the time you’ve done that and bought springs, you’ll be getting awfully close to a set of adjustable Foxes. The Penskes sit in a bit of an odd area in that regard. 

Finding a set of rebuildable cheap Bilsteins has never been hard. The problem is finding someone who can get it just right. 

Keith Tanner said:

unevolved said:

Jaynen said:

Sure but the Penskes will be built for those rates. I think the defacto Xidas setup to go with is 800/500 or like Keith mentioned

Might be significant that Penske shocks are relatively rebuild-friendly, and there are tons of shops around the country that can rebuild Penskes.  I haven't seen the internals of these, but I can't imagine why it wouldn't be a minor affair to revalve for a different spring rate.

By the time you’ve done that and bought springs, you’ll be getting awfully close to a set of adjustable Foxes. The Penskes sit in a bit of an odd area in that regard. 

Finding a set of rebuildable cheap Bilsteins has never been hard. The problem is finding someone who can get it just right. 

Do the Foxes have adjustable compression, though?  The dyno graphs on your site only show rebound changes.

Correct, they're set up to adjust rebound - the majority of adjustables are like that. The Penskes adjust nothing.

Fox does offer free revalves for the first 90 days or so if you're not happy with the available range.

This news makes me happy.  The Spec Miata I drive is currently running miss-matched front shocks because one of the new Bilsteins we installed came apart during the third weekend that it was in the car and it's taken approximately forever for a replacement to come in. In the interim we're running one used shock from the wrong year in the right front. 

V2 Motorsports posted these photos on Facebook today. They're REALLY pretty.

Sigh. All that work to get the dimensions right and the springs are all floppy at full droop.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Carp. I wonder if some tender springs can be worked into the rules.

There’s a lot less droop when the sway bars are connected, right?

Keith Tanner said:

Sigh. All that work to get the dimensions right and the springs are all floppy at full droop.

All that work, but it retains the same old springs. Wouldn't you end up with a pretty short stroke if you wanted to have the spring remain seated at full droop?

DeadSkunk said:

Keith Tanner said:

Sigh. All that work to get the dimensions right and the springs are all floppy at full droop.

All that work, but it retains the same old springs. Wouldn't you end up with a pretty short stroke if you wanted to have the spring remain seated at full droop?

Hint: think longer springs of the same rate with the perches relocated lower.  If you balance it properly you can end up with the desired ride height and no springs falling out at full droop.

Assuming you can get the perch low enough. In the front, you start to contend with the upper control arm. In the rear, it’s the half shaft. 

Once the springs are unloaded, you’re at full droop. Doesn’t matter if the shock has stroke left. 

In reply to Stefan :

That's what I assumed would need to be done, but they kept the same springs that have been used from the inception of the class a million years ago, therefore you would need to shorten the shock stroke . I think.

Or they could run a slider / tender setup to at least keep some load on the springs while drooped.