Prep for 2010 Autocross season

[Jephro]

Originally Posted by longuyen88

I ran full stiff on the koni's. Any softer and the shock wouldn't control the spring. Comfort is relative. Compared to stock my setup handled far better, but a lot rougher.

FCM does make an adjustable bilstein, and Bret has adjustable shocks now.

That seems strange with your Konis. Running 700/350 on Jakes he was at about 90% in the front and about 50% in the rear. He was also using the FM solid front and rear bar.

The Variant 2's that Brad got also carry a $2200 price tag for single adjustable or $3000 for the double adjustables and also included springs, coilover sleeves and top hats. If you were to get the Variant 1 (struts only) which are single adjustable (cheapest option) you are looking at $1600. Not really comparing apples to apples when looking at stock re-valved Bilsteins.

[longuyen88]

Originally Posted by Jephro

That seems strange with your Konis. Running 700/350 on Jakes he was at about 90% in the front and about 50% in the rear. He was also using the FM solid front and rear bar.

The Variant 2's that Brad got also carry a $2200 price tag for single adjustable or $3000 for the double adjustables and also included springs, coilover sleeves and top hats. If you were to get the Variant 1 (struts only) which are single adjustable (cheapest option) you are looking at $1600. Not really comparing apples to apples when looking at stock re-valved Bilsteins.

Jake has race revalves right? Koni themselves said the OTS shocks can't handle more than 550lb. I would really love to test drive a 700 lb sprung miata right now.

I am just thinking out loud what the cheapest way to run 700lb springs in the miata? Koni race is $1100. FCM bilstein is about the same. These new Stuwert Development revalved bilsteins for $700 may be the cheapest option unless there are other options I don't know about? Ultimately my goal is to get 700 lb springs without breaking the bank.

And FCM also uses Stuwert Development for outsource revalves so that brings some credibility to the table. Savington has koni race and he drove a revalve biltein setup, stating that it's the best ride he's ever driven. Who knows, all internet talk anyways.

And all this talk is by no means saying that Koni's aren't good. I love my koni yellows. They're the best shock for DD/light racing duty. I have had two different sets. I just want to try a different setup right now. Plus, the r-package cars came with bilsteins stock, so I'd like to keep it that way for the R-nostalgia.

[Jephro]

Originally Posted by longuyen88

Jake has race revalves right? Koni themselves said the OTS shocks can't handle more than 550lb. I would really love to test drive a 700 lb sprung miata right now.

Jake and I both ran Koni Yellow OTSs with his setup being the spec miata setup (700.325) and my setup being 650/450. I wish I could tell you how much I was running on mine, but all four of my Koni's adjustment tabs were siezed when I got the car and I have simply been dealing with it ever since. Jake will be on the same Koni yellows with his same springs next year if you want to take a ride, you can also take a ride in mine hopefully next month before I put on the Advance Design monotubes if you want to even though they have the 650s.

The yellows normally shouldnt be run past 550lb springs... but these are miatas afterall. They're significantly lighter than the majority of the cars so we get a little bit of give. But with the 700s you are very close to the edge.

Scott does run the Koni Races all around though and runs 650/400. Something was off with his car last year though (we think the hollow bar was too much for the r-comps, but we'll see if it works better with the softer sidewall street tires in STS this year). The other advantage to the Races is the shorter rod to give you better suspension travel.

Cheapest way to run 700/450s would definitely be to find a used setup. Mine would cost you the price of 4 rebuilds and you could get your valves set how you want, but I am sure if you posted up on SCCAForums someone probably has a set of koni+gc laying around that wouldnt need a rebuild. For turning your setup though you definiately want to have the height adjustment so make sure you get a set of coilovers in one form or another.