Today was absolutely beautiful outside. So being outside I decided to change the oil in my NA. I look to my passenger suspension setup and notice one of my coils is broken on the lower half turn. I didn't super upset me just put me on the radar that I need to replace them soon because my suspension is 100% stock and still very tight. So this piqued my interest and I jacked up the rear end of the car and noticed my passenger rear coil is busted in the center. I have owned this car for about 6 years and about 60,000 miles and it runs and drives fantastic and considerably tied to the ground. It does however have a slight vibration at certain highway speeds that come and go no matter which wheels I put on it. I recently bought an LSD for this and was going to do a full bushing kit for the entire car while I'm at it. I just assumed the old bushings for the vibration issue.
A friend of mine is trying to sell me a set of yellow factory bilsteins. I would love to have them but I have no need for them as of now (stock power/ brakes).

My question to all of you is: which replacement coils would you replace them with the mindset of maintenance?
Sport thought process?
Coilovers ?

Thanks in advance! Troy

 

Which bilsteins?
Read this for more info.

 

He has the stock bilsteins off of a 99 10AE. My dampers are in good condition so I don't need the bilsteins. (yet) However I need to replace the coils. I have a set of stock replacement fronts off my spare 1990.
My question is: what coils would you run on stock dampers? Dump the stock dampers for bilsteins/coilovers?

Side note: I own a 1994 honda delSol w a factory optioned b16 on fully adjustable tokico coilovers. Love the handling but HATE THE RIDE!!!
My NA is my DD. I'd like it to be somewhat reasonable.

 

Well, if you want to use your friend's coils, you need to use his shocks and upper mounts as well. The springs are a different shape between the NA and NB, and thus, so are the lower (on the damper) and upper (on the tophat) perches as well.

By itself, this is an upgrade. Forgetting about the Bilsteins, the design of the NB upper mount is far superior and provides greater suspension travel.

If you're looking for a super-cheap solution (not sure how much your friend is asking for the Billy package), you could explore this thread: https://www.miataturbo.net/suspensio...-thread-78451/ It deals with installing ultra cheap, eBay-sourced coilover springs onto OEM dampers. Be warned that the stock dampers can't deal with substantial increases in spring rate.

 

Thank you for the input.
He doesn't have the coils or tophats for the bilsteins... It's ok minus the click when initial right hand turn while the tires are stationary. Time to save for a new set up. (as I look around my house and garage I remember the 7 other miata upgrades that are already in the works. ) yay projects!!!

 

If you're just looking for a cheap set of springs to throw on your stock dampers, there aren't a hell of a lot of options.

You could browse around the WTB / classifieds sections looking for stock take-off springs from someone who has upgraded an NA, obviously.

There are a few low-priced alternatives in the aftermarket. Racingbeat springs are way too short relative to their springrate, and you'll be riding on the bumpstops. FM has a decent springset that fits OEM shocks, though the springrate on it is kind of a weird compromise between too high for stock dampers and too low to take advantage of good aftermarket dampers.

Beyond that, if you prowl around the ebay thread I lined to earlier, you may be able to assemble a package of springs and sleeves that will have a low enough springrate to work reasonably well on stock dampers while still giving you enough static ride height to stay off of the bumpstops.



949 Racing

 

Awesome thanks for the info. I'm going to be researching a ton so thanks for the jump start.