{"id":2332,"date":"2013-04-25T22:40:33","date_gmt":"2013-04-26T05:40:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rallyways.com\/?post_type=specialty&p=2332"},"modified":"2019-08-07T11:29:43","modified_gmt":"2019-08-07T18:29:43","slug":"mazda-mx5-miata-nc-essential-mods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rallyways.com\/2332\/mazda-mx5-miata-nc-essential-mods\/","title":{"rendered":"Mazda MX5 Miata NC 2006-2015 Essential Mods"},"content":{"rendered":"
The NC Mazda MX-5 Miata, or 3rd generation (MkIII) produced between 2006-2015, has been around long enough for owners to have truly uncovered the bare essential modifications this car needs.<\/strong><\/p>\n In this feature we’re not going to look into heaving modding like adding a turbo or a supercharger<\/a>. This article is focused exclusively on the bare essential mods that will take the Mazda MX-5 Miata NC from good to great. The information in this article comes from more than a year of research and lots of discussions with hardcore Miata enthusiasts. The personal research done on this car is so vast that oftentimes we can differentiate between something as simple as what transmission oil to use – as not all synthetics are created equal – and not all of them yield the best results.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So here we go. We’ll list them in order to make going through each mod a lot easier and more manageable.<\/p>\n Here’s the deal, the stock suspension on the NC Miata is not that great. Sorry, if I burst your bubble if you thought you were paying an extra $550 for the factory suspension package. I do have good news for you though. You do want that package anyway. The money’s in the LSD that’s included with that package, not the suspension itself.<\/p>\n The stock suspension is too soft for anything other than cruising around town or freeway driving. Not to mention the car looks much better lowered at least an inch. But, if you are not the lowering type, performance-wise you would still want to upgrade anyway. The stock NC Miata has a lot of body roll and feels sporty only because it’s a small 2-seater roadster. Otherwise, the body roll, dive under braking and squat under acceleration is reminiscent of a Buick.<\/p>\n Fortunately, correcting the problem is a rather easy affair and can be as expensive as you want it to be. Without counting installation costs, as you might be keen on doing the work yourself, upgrading can cost you as little as $300\u2026 or a bit more at $1,200\u2026 or you can go all out and spend $3,000. Let me break that down for you in easy-to-swallow bite-size options.<\/p>\n Option 1: The bare minimum – sways.<\/strong> This option involves doing something as simple as only replacing the stock sway bars for a beefier set from Racing Beat<\/a>, Progress Technology<\/a> or Flyin\u2019 Miata<\/a> for example. Switching out the sway bars will correct some of the body roll. A lot of guys are perfectly happy spending less than $300 to upgrade the front and rear sways and they’re done. This will of course only improve the suspension by reducing body roll, but will not improve ride quality, dive or squat. It might make the ride comfort a little worse – performance over comfort. It will also not reduce ride height. You can get a good set of sway bars, front and rear combo for around $300.<\/p>\n Option 2: Add lowering too.<\/strong> This option assumes you’re also doing option 1. Add another $200 and install lowering springs on your stock shocks. This is something that works pretty well with the stock Bilsteins in the NC with Suspension Package. While less than high-performance and ideal, it is quite cheap. We’re talking $500 for reduced body roll and ride height while reusing more of the stocking suspension components \u2013 so, less waste.<\/p>\n While this option is far less performance oriented than the higher-end options we will discuss, it’s good enough for some very respectable people. For example, Brian Goodwin from Good-Win-Racing<\/a>, who’s a Miata guru in San Diego California has a setup of just sways and springs on a his 2012 MX-5 GT PRHT. This is a guy who has many Miatas, and runs Ohlins on some of his track cars. If he reckons this simple setup is good enough on a DD, that’s a lot to say. We recommend the Progress springs if you are going this route. Note however, the suspension geometry is a little different between the NC1 (2006-2008) and NC2 (2009+) – this is specially important for the heavier PRHT cars. If you choose the wrong springs you might end up with reverse-rake (front higher than back). Luckily, this problem was discovered a while ago and Progress Technologies designed different springs for both models. I claim part of the fame for the recommendation of that setup to Goodwin Racing, although officially somebody else beat me to it.<\/p>\n There is more information on the development of the NC2 Progress springs on this page of this thread.<\/a> Note of caution<\/strong>, you can easily be lost for days reading that thread and then turn around and spend a crapload of money.<\/p>\n Option 3: Sway, shock and spring upgrade.<\/strong> I believe this to be the best value option\u2026 the one that offers the best bang for your buck. It’s not as cheap as just doing springs and sways, but it offers the biggest improvement over stock shy of spending $2,000+ on a good set of coil-overs. This option involves upgrading your anti-sway bars with a set of Progress Technologies, Flyin’ Miata or Racing Beat sways, and choosing a spring and shock absorber combo. Some popular options include our preferred choice of Progress Springs with Koni Adjustable Sport Shocks. This option will set you back around $1,200 for the full combo of sways, shocks and springs. Another popular combo is using Flyin’ Miata springs with Tokico HTS adjustable shocks. Flyin’ Miata even has various level packages with and without sways. These packages range from $729 to $1,099. This will save you a tad bit over our preferred Racing Beat \/ Progress Technologies \/ Koni option.<\/p>\n You can find all the options for our recommended Progress Technologies springs, Koni shocks and Racing Beat or Progress sways on Good Win Racing’s NC Suspension catalog<\/a>.<\/p>\n Option 4: Coilovers.<\/strong> This would be the daddy of all suspension upgrades, but of course it depends if you buy quality or not. It used to be that coilovers meant expensive-quality, but nowadays there are cheap crappy sets out there selling for less than a decent set of springs and shocks. Unless ride height-adjustability is absolutely essential for you, it’s generally better to invest in a good spring\/shock combo, like Progress\/Koni than to spend the same amount of money in what would equate to a lower end set of coilovers.<\/p>\n Ride height adjustability aside, you’re looking to start at around $1,200 for a nice set of H&R Coilovers for MX-5 Miata or $1,500 for Tein Flex coilovers. But, to really get going on some really good coilovers you need to look at $2,200 for a set of KW Suspension<\/a> Variant 3, $2,200 Fat Cat Motorsports Coilovers<\/a>, $2,400 Bilstein PSS10<\/a> or all the way to $2,600 for the very amazing Ohlins<\/a> Road and Track DFV MX-5 Miata coilovers. Of course there are other higher-end options like Penske or Motons, but these are usually way too expensive for what most non-racing Miata drivers are looking for.<\/p>\n For coilovers setups, sway bars are very subjective. You need to make sure what coilover setup you’re buying and what you intend to do with the car (DD, canyon carving, autocross or track) and decide on the sways accordingly. Some of these setups are recommended with upgraded sways, some with only an upgrade at the front and some with no sway upgrade at all. So, keep that in mind.<\/p>\n As you can see, you can spend a little or a lot on coilovers and they can truly be the best option for ultimate handling. However, if you simply don’t want to spend that much, you’re better off with a good spring\/shock combo than cheapo coilovers. Unless you just want to slam the car and vibrate your teeth out of their sockets. In that case, more power to ya. We respect all aspects of car culture.<\/p>\nSuspension<\/h3>\n