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My NA8 m.y. 96 Will shortly need tyres and shocks. I believe that decent tyres for 14" wheels are unobtainable, so I am looking around for some 15" wheels, preferably stock NB originals. It is my toy car which I've had for 3 and a bit years and 40K of her 250K life. I have done a few track days and enjoy them, but don't profess or expect to be competitive, too old, poor eyesight and lacking both courage and excess funds. I will put a thread on the for sale thread here for wheels and they may come with tyres, if so and they are acceptable, I would use them until they are done. My question, what would you recommend re. tyres and shocks? Koni and Bilstein sound good, but are expensive. Any suggestions for a good,cheaper, alternative for shocks and bumpstops ?

lonesailor wrote:Koni and Bilstein sound good, but are expensive.

Perhaps good used parts might be an option: Mazda MX-5 Parts for Sale Australia on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mx5part ... oup_header

What is your budget?
What is your intended use?

To be honest, if you have been happy with the current (presumably factory) setup, then simply replace with the same.

KYB Excel-G shocks are the equivalent of factory and feel about the same.
Otherwise, you can go for the slightly stiffer shocks like Koni Yellows or Bilstein B6

With regard to cost, Koni do sell other models of shock that are cheaper than the adjustable yellows, from memory they have 3 tiers, Factory equivalent, sporty non adjustable, and adjustable.

From there up it moves into coilovers, which allow for both shock and spring height adjustment. Generally these are very noticably stiffer than factory.




Tyre wise, again, depends on use, and what your baseline is.
https://www.bridgestonetyres.com.au/fin ... Only=false

Looking at the Bridgestone site, they seems to have a few models in the normal NA 14inch fitment.
Although they seem to not have any in the middle ground, it looks to go from the "decent all rounder" models like the Turanza, to the "very grippy" models like the RE71

Otherwise for 15inch wheels, the best value these days seems to be the Bridgestone RE003.
I have these and they're a very good all around tyre, a good balance of wet/dry grip and life.
They're not semi slicks by any means, but they'll meet most people's needs.

I believe the KYB excel-G would suit your stated needs well. Its a very good quality shock made in Japan and is commonly used for road and track by those running NAs and NBs in the standard class. Sensibly priced too.

I like the look of NB8A wheels on the NA and being 15' they give you a lot of tyre options. They are light weight yet strong and are often for sale at very reasonable prices. Just check for cracks and rim trueness.

I run Bridgestone RE 003s as road tyres. Also well priced, grippy, especially in the wet and quiet. They do have a firm ride, however. They can easily be used for occasional track use. If you want more track focus, its hard to go past the Hankook RS4s but they will wear quicker and are a bit noisier on the road. Again, very well priced.

Given the fairly high Kms of your NA you probably should look at replacing suspension bushes with the shocks. You would get a big improvement.