Suggested coilovers for daily driving

Wheels, Suspension, Brakes & Tyres questions and answers

Moderators: timk, Stu, zombie, Andrew, -alex, miata

User avatar
sleeptec
Driver
Posts: 48
Joined: Fri Jul 26, 2013 10:19 am
Vehicle: NB8A
Location: VIC

Suggested coilovers for daily driving

Postby sleeptec » Tue Aug 27, 2013 7:46 pm

Hi guys. I tried really hard to just do my own research but I really would appreciate some up to date advice.

I have a stock NB8A that I want to lower (and eventually put some work meister cr-01 on) and is purely a daily driver.

When I first thought about changing suspension I was semi decided on YSR dps which are currently just above the $1,000 mark. Then I started looking into other suitable alternatives and came across BC Racing BR series for around the $1,300 mark and was reading how people were pleased with both of these coilovers. Basically after a few days of doing the searches for the relative keywords on here as well as on club roadster, I now can't decide on any of these two coils, or whether to now go for HSD HR, Tein Street Advance, or even Bilstein PSS9.

I'm sure someone here can school me in 5 seconds with what an ideal coilover would be for my situation. I never intend on taking my car to the track or drifting or anything like that, but I like the idea of having the ability to adjust the height and also maintain a level of comfort while having increased handling performance and looks. My level of comfort would be similar to what my current OEM shocks provide.

Thanks in advance for any help.

sailaholic
Speed Racer
Posts: 3511
Joined: Thu May 19, 2011 3:38 pm
Vehicle: NA8
Location: Brisbane

Re: Suggested coilovers for daily driving

Postby sailaholic » Tue Aug 27, 2013 7:53 pm

Best coil overs is........none. No one can say what is best. Unless you want semi-infinite adjustment of ride height, there is really no point spending money on a fancy body when you could get better valving instead.

Spend the money on a good shock and spring combo.

narita
Racing Driver
Posts: 657
Joined: Sun Dec 02, 2012 7:27 pm
Vehicle: NB Roadster

Re: Suggested coilovers for daily driving

Postby narita » Tue Aug 27, 2013 8:12 pm

oem coilovers for daily
NitroDann wrote:No one cares for your faux JDM posh lifestyle.

Dann


WINTON PB - 1:57.4000

User avatar
shuey
Racing Driver
Posts: 1014
Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2013 3:23 pm
Vehicle: NB8B
Location: Melbourne, Victoria

Re: Suggested coilovers for daily driving

Postby shuey » Tue Aug 27, 2013 8:19 pm

.. or just get some lowered springs with the OEM shocks
2001 Sunlight Silver NB8B - SOLD - 23/6/16 :frown:

User avatar
NitroDann
Forum sponsor
Posts: 10280
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2009 12:10 pm
Vehicle: NA6
Location: Newcastle NSW
Contact:

Re: Suggested coilovers for daily driving

Postby NitroDann » Tue Aug 27, 2013 8:34 pm

Except thats unlikely to do anything for performance.

Dann
http://www.NitroDann.com

speed wrote:If I was to do it again, I wouldn't even consider the supercharger.

User avatar
davekmoore
Speed Racer
Posts: 4681
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 1:53 am
Vehicle: NC
Location: Esprick, UK

Re: Suggested coilovers for daily driving

Postby davekmoore » Tue Aug 27, 2013 8:39 pm

Despite being adjusted way lower than standard the Teins on my SE are more comfortable than OEM setups on my previous NAs and NBs. I have no experience with other coilovers.
UK since return: Standard NC2 (horrid), C200K, ND2 BBR, NC2 BBR200 (loved it), NC BBR300 (better than BARMY), V-Special, turbo NB8B (my 84th car)

User avatar
StuwieP
Fast Driver
Posts: 439
Joined: Thu Jun 21, 2012 6:54 pm
Vehicle: NA6
Location: Melbourne

Re: Suggested coilovers for daily driving

Postby StuwieP » Tue Aug 27, 2013 9:48 pm

just given the spring rates for the YSRs and BCs, and the damping you'll need to run to avoid looking and feeling like you're on pogo sticks, I doubt what you'll achieve is OEM-ride comfort.

Alternative is to spec custom (lower) rates but then the shocks will probably be over-damping, though I suppose you could just run them on their softest settings. Haven't heard of many people running low spring rates on these ^ coils

I think a lot of people here use king springs and koni shocks but then no height adjustment.

No experience though I'm afraid, so grain of salt for the above from me.

Cheers
Stu
My NA6/SE build
Engine #1 RIP 04/07/2020

User avatar
PaulF
Racing Driver
Posts: 1807
Joined: Fri Jan 28, 2011 5:55 pm
Vehicle: NA6
Location: Newcastle, NSW

Re: Suggested coilovers for daily driving

Postby PaulF » Tue Aug 27, 2013 9:55 pm

Konis and Kings are a tried and tested combination. If you're willing to fork out for the PSS9's, they get rave reviews on this forum from everyone who has them and they run softer springs than most aftermarket coilovers so they're probably nicer on the street.

Of course, you need to be aware that what you're asking for is a "no compromise" situation. You want OEM comfort with better-than-OEM performance at a lower-than-OEM height. I'm not saying it's impossible, but you're not going to get it with a set of Yellowspeeds, that's for damn sure.

User avatar
NitroDann
Forum sponsor
Posts: 10280
Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2009 12:10 pm
Vehicle: NA6
Location: Newcastle NSW
Contact:

Re: Suggested coilovers for daily driving

Postby NitroDann » Tue Aug 27, 2013 9:58 pm

:BROADY:
http://www.NitroDann.com

speed wrote:If I was to do it again, I wouldn't even consider the supercharger.

User avatar
plohl
Racing Driver
Posts: 1922
Joined: Wed Oct 14, 2009 12:13 am
Vehicle: NA8
Location: Brisbane

Re: Suggested coilovers for daily driving

Postby plohl » Wed Aug 28, 2013 12:09 am

Mca golds :)


Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 4
Cheers,
plohl

User avatar
davekmoore
Speed Racer
Posts: 4681
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2009 1:53 am
Vehicle: NC
Location: Esprick, UK

Re: Suggested coilovers for daily driving

Postby davekmoore » Wed Aug 28, 2013 1:35 am

davekmoore wrote:Despite being adjusted way lower than standard the Teins on my SE are more comfortable than OEM setups on my previous NAs and NBs. I have no experience with other coilovers.


I'm not a suspension tuning expert (or any kind of expert for that matter) but it feels like the comfort (on the "softest" settings) comes from rising rate damping and springing so the first small movements are fairly loose and the more there is movement the more there is resistance and increased damping to avoid the springs over reacting. There, I did say I'm not an expert.
UK since return: Standard NC2 (horrid), C200K, ND2 BBR, NC2 BBR200 (loved it), NC BBR300 (better than BARMY), V-Special, turbo NB8B (my 84th car)

sailaholic
Speed Racer
Posts: 3511
Joined: Thu May 19, 2011 3:38 pm
Vehicle: NA8
Location: Brisbane

Re: Suggested coilovers for daily driving

Postby sailaholic » Wed Aug 28, 2013 6:19 am

plohl wrote:Mca golds :)


Sent from my GT-I9100T using Tapatalk 4


Haha, yup. These coil overs will do exactly what your looking for


















But be prepared to spend more then a SET of yellow speeds PER CORNER.

User avatar
slug_dub
Racing Driver
Posts: 1228
Joined: Fri Jun 19, 2009 11:02 pm
Vehicle: NA8
Location: Brisbane
Contact:

Re: Suggested coilovers for daily driving

Postby slug_dub » Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:32 am

plohl wrote:Mca golds :)


Is that what you have Shane? :D
The American wrote:hella sic stance flushing pard harker yolo something something.

OurCognitiveSurplus
Racing Driver
Posts: 692
Joined: Sat May 09, 2009 2:40 pm
Vehicle: NB8A
Location: Canberra

Re: Suggested coilovers for daily driving

Postby OurCognitiveSurplus » Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:44 am

I like my Ohlins.

In my limited experiance this stuff about 'soft settings' is pretty BS. On the 'soft' settings it just feels way under-damped and ends up being more uncomfortable than a 'harder' setting. I think there's a 'right' setting, or at least a 'right zone'. And 1-click soft is not in that zone.
Image
NB8A - Twilight Blue

User avatar
MattR
Racing Driver
Posts: 1305
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2009 11:26 pm
Vehicle: NA6
Location: Brisbane

Re: Suggested coilovers for daily driving

Postby MattR » Wed Aug 28, 2013 9:59 am

Any off the shelf solution will be a compromise, some better compromises than others.

Your final choice will also come down to personal preference. For some of my cars I have run spring rates, and had dampers valved to suit, that are approximately double what everyone else with the same car was running at the track. For other cars, OEM was fine for what I wanted for the car and it's use.

In terms of the MX, my NA6 runs BC V series coilovers, the softest damped coilovers they sell, and the cheapest. The spring rates are the same as the BR and Er series, but the damping is a lot softer and I find better matched to the spring rate and the car. My car is a lot softer than most, but it works well at the track, is comfortable on the road and it is set up how I prefer. Others might find that my car is then horrible to drive for them, that it wallows around compared to their car that is what I would consider too hard in the damping if running the same spring rates.

In your case I would be leaning to an OEM equivalent set up as I believe that the MX needs to be softly sprung and the dampers relatively soft to get the best out of what is a relatively light car, especially the earlier models.


Return to “MX5 Wheels, Suspension, Brakes & Tyres”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 263 guests