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Hi all

I have recently bought an NB8A and the suspension seems stiffer than the other NB I have dríven, and definitely stiffer than the NC I drove. I also notice a regular metallic clunk noise from the passenger rear wheel area when going over bumps / potholes. Seems like I will probably need to do some replacing of shocks.

So for a daily driver that will rarely, if ever, see track use, what should I be looking at? I would say my driving would be 70% around the city / 30% spirited driving in the hills. I am reading that 'Tokico Illumina's are comfortable for DDing. Flyin Miata have some FM V-MAXX which seem to get a decent reviews. Yellowspeeds seem to be popular over here, I guess I would be looking at the 'Dynamic Pro Sport's?

Advice appreciated.

What's your budget? Take a look at MCA, they have various series of coilovers, but I think you'd be best to look at the XC shocks. The "C" is meant to indicate a "comfort" valving, as opposed to their other "R" (race) & "D" (drift). Be aware though, when you talk comfort in a MX-5, you aren't talking about Roll-Royce ride quality, it's all relative.

Tein Flex Z are a good price and Tein have a good name. MX5 Parts (Australia) and Fulcrum are selling ATM for about $1250 + fitting. Working well on my NC.

I have the Flex-Z on my NB, a good coil/shock setup at a good price, but they aren't what i'd call comfortable.

I'd not bother with Yellowspeeds, i've been in a few cars with them and they are just terrible. I swear they feel like they're a generic shock suited to a larger/heavier car with MX5 suited mountings on them.

For a more moderate setup, i'd probably look into something like the Koni yellow, or even a set of Bilsteins from an SE (or Japanese RS model) and budget to have them rebuilt.

+1 on the MCA (blues) or Bilsteins from an SE or consider BC's V1/Br's.

Comfort relates to the spring rates, most after market dampers have spring rates above OEM for a more 'firmer' ride. It seems that 'firm' implies 'sports'.

The metallic clunk noise could also be the end links. What is in the car at the moment?

Unlikely that the clunk is your shocks.

Thank you for all the replies. Are end links something that I can replace myself? I am very much an amateur with these things. I installed my new muffler recently but it wasn't particularly easy.

Yes end links are easy, I just replaced mine this weekend, shouldn't take much more than an hour all up.

Jack the front up, remove the wheel, undo the two end link bolts, remove the end links, pop the new ones in, bolt it back up again. Repeat on the other side.

If you get adjustable end links (which is a good idea if you're lowering the car as it allows you take any pre-load out of the sway bar) having ramps will make it a lot easier to get them right. You need to have the wheels loaded in order to set the adjustable end links correctly.

hks_kansei wrote:I have the Flex-Z on my NB, a good coil/shock setup at a good price, but they aren't what i'd call comfortable...

I guess it depends on your taste and set-up. I'm finding, surprisingly, that the NC rides much better. The handling, of course, is greatly improved.