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Ok guys, I have a NA6 riding on some heavy 17's +40 offset (which way about 17kg for a rim and tyre) with HKS Hipermax II coilovers (front spring is 6kg and rear is 4kg). Now I am not getting the most comfortable ride as most of you could imagine... even though I have played with the settings on the coilovers. I have probably set it to the best ride I will get however the car feels unstable over small bumps. I don't have any bracing on the car, it does have upgraded NA8 brakes.

I hope to be receiving some 15x6.5 wheels soon, however they will also be rather heavy in weight at around 9-10kg a rim...

What should I do, change spring rates and / or rims?

I want to get the handling right before I drop in my new engine.

Bracing is a must.

lightweight wheels. (like 5-6kg)

soft (and low jerk) damper rates are more important than soft spring rates.

Make sure you have enough free travel in the suspension before it hits bumpstops (don't lower it too much)

Matty, bracing being the three support braces for the underside of the car right?

as far as a know there is only 2 subframe braces. one front and one rear. you can get them from mania for about $40 or $50 each. click the link at the top of the page. the 3rd brace is a seatbelt tower brace , which obviously goes between the 2 seatbelt towers inside the cabin. you can get an oem mazda one second hand, usually for about $130. you could try mania or mx5 plus or mx5 factory to find one. or there are aftermarket ones, benny ( i think) has one in the for sale section at the moment.

then there is the strut tower brace for the engine bay, again there are various options. i don't think these actually do very much tho, i haven't bothered with that.

but yeah, adding bracing really stiffens the car up nicely. i did the subframes and there was a noticeable improvement . then put a rollbar in (which does the same job as a seatbelt tower brace, with the bonus of rollver protection) and again i noticed a good improvement in stiffness.

oh and yeah, you are heading in the right direction by getting 15's. good idea. but those are too heavy at 9 or 10 kg. you can get much lighter rims than that, pretty cheaply. again try mania , or tempe tyres in sydney. have a look at the starcorp ones, for example.

bark wrote:Matty, bracing being the three support braces for the underside of the car right?

Yes. Front and rear lateral subframe braces are easy to get and very effective. Rare are the longitudinal ones that are fitted to >'94s, in fact I don't think anyone sells aftermarket ones any more.

I'd also consider the Flying Miata frame rail braces based on reports on them.

I found the dodgy suspension braces completely useless. I think the best thing you can do as far as handling goes however is get a good wheel alignment that is far from the factory specs of positive camber. A decent alignment will transform the car!