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Seeking recommendation for replacement shock absorbers for an 89 JDM NA6C running the original springs and sway bars but fitted with Flying Miata rear top hats and Flyin’ Miata bump stops front and rear. Easily available options are (in order of cheapest to most expensive:

KYB Excel-G/GR-2
Monroe Sensatrac
Sachs
Pedders

The difference between them is only a 20% increase from cheapest to most expensive which is not a concern.

Any recommendations on which to select?

Erm, none! I’d go koni adjustables or Bilsteins from somewhere like Mx5 Mania for around $1000 but team them with some slightly stiffer springs and an alignment from a MX5 Specialist.
If budget doesn’t stretch then the kyb is probably the best of those you mentioned.

For a street car/daily driver go the KYB. Pedders seem to be overpriced for what they do.

are Konis stil considered decent? Wow.

Custardtart wrote:Erm, none! I’d go koni adjustables or Bilsteins from somewhere like Mx5 Mania for around $1000 but team them with some slightly stiffer springs and an alignment from a MX5 Specialist.

Everything I've read indicates that Bilsteins in the NA spec design aren't desirable.
I'm not looking for a lower vehicle or harder ride and am happy with the factory spec setup for my purposes which does include some dirt roads.

Custardtart wrote:If budget doesn’t stretch then the kyb is probably the best of those you mentioned.

They're the cheapest of the bunch so that's a double bonus.

My NA6 had Bilstein dampers and a mix of King / Tein springs when I bought it. Really harsh ride, even after raising the ride height to stop them bottoming out at the rear.

My use is street only, including B roads as often as not.

I fitted a lightly used set of Excel-G dampers with Eibach springs and FCM bumpstops (seller was moving to an MCA setup) Handling was not quite as razor-sharp, but ride quality improved significantly. Wouldn’t go back to the earlier setup for love or money.

If you're happy with the standard spring/shock setup (and many are) then the KYBs are fine.

If you're installing them yourself then pay particular attention to the recommended torque settings for the top nuts. The metal in the main shaft is quite soft and the top nut strips the thread surprisingly easily if you exceed the recommended torque.

manga_blue wrote:If you're installing them yourself then pay particular attention to the recommended torque settings for the top nuts. The metal in the main shaft is quite soft and the top nut strips the thread surprisingly easily if you exceed the recommended torque.

Good tip, thanks. 31 - 41 Nm according to my manual.

StanTheMan wrote:are Konis stil considered decent? Wow.

I’ve dríven an NA8 Clubman on circuit and road with Koni adjustables and uprated springs and it was pretty much the perfect street/track set up. Capable of 64 at Lakeside but not at all harsh on the street. The car also took out the Qld Sprint championship.

I got Pedders Extreme Sports Ryder's fitted to my Clubman back in June 2010 primarily to lower the car. I was going to go with lowering springs and top hats but decided to go coilovers in the end. The coilovers replaced the Bilsteins. That was 35k km's ago.

The Pedders are set to a softish setting. The car rides really well, very comfortable for street driving. I think much better than the Bilsteins, but I can't really remember.

No problems to report, very happy with them. I don't race or track my car so I can't comment from that point of view.

All the peddles parts are interchangeable with BC’s.

The greatest impact on ride quality is spring rates, more than likely they will be 9/6 rates which are almost 3 times more than OEM. Without a doubt you will have a ‘harsh’ ride on rough roads. Think about asking for spring rates closer to OEM ones.

Another think to consider is the rears (even with NB top hats) still have limited bump/rebound so the bump stops will come into play more. When you go onto the bumpstops in the rear the spring rates increase exponentially and the car will become tail happy on quick direction changes.

Setting them up correctly will be important.

Magpie wrote:The greatest impact on ride quality is spring rates, more than likely they will be 9/6 rates which are almost 3 times more than OEM. Without a doubt you will have a ‘harsh’ ride on rough roads. Think about asking for spring rates closer to OEM ones.

As my my original post I am staying with the stock standard springs.

Magpie wrote:Another think to consider is the rears (even with NB top hats) still have limited bump/rebound so the bump stops will come into play more.

As per my first post I’m using Flyin’ Miata bump stops and rear top hats to increase the suspension travel.

I was happy with Monroe's and standard height King Springs with FCM bump stops in my NA with standard NA top hats. Can't really comment on outright handling as I don't push that hard but it was comfortable - especially nice as we use our MX-5"s for touring holidays - and always dealt well with whatever I threw at it. Was also was convenient as I could just go into Autobahn and buy it all!

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KevGoat wrote:standard height King Springs

Out of interest, why did you replace the OEM springs?

twr7cx wrote:

KevGoat wrote:standard height King Springs

Out of interest, why did you replace the OEM springs?

The previous owner had cut the existing springs to a ridiculous height...

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