Mazda Talk Forums

Brian,
Regarding a 2012 NC PRHT with 65k miles, original factory Bilsteins (toast), and RX8 red/yellow sways. Street only car, no track or autocross. I'm not really worried about adjustability, nor lowering, though a small (0.5 - 1.0") drop would be okay as a byproduct. I'm also not wanting to lose much of the reasonable comfort my current setup had before the shocks went south.
Living in Florida our pavement is generally pretty good (except concrete transitions which of course can be quite harsh), but the long sweeping undulating curves that we generally have here have always upset the car. (The sways do help a lot with that).
Bilstein B6/B8 series are being recommended by my shop (Global MX5 Cup team that does a lot more track work than street), so with this background my question is: Given the RX8 sways add some effective spring rate, do you think the Bilsteins damping characteristics would match better B6 with stock springs, or B8 with your slightly firmer Progress springs? My intuition says the Progress springs will control the Bilsteins better, but your opinion is?
Off topic, after five years I'm still really happy with your catted street header and Q muffler!
Thanks in advance!
Fred

Hi Fred

I like a spring upgrade on the Bilsteins, that shock is over damped for stock springs, they always seem to work better with some more spring rate.

Thanks Brian.
In your opinion do the B8s work well with your Progress springs on the NC, or do they need more spring than that? Your thoughts, please.
Thanks again!
Fred

I like the Progress Springs more than stock springs on Bilstein, they seem to better match the damping.

Brian wrote:I like the Progress Springs more than stock springs on Bilstein, they seem to better match the damping.

Sorry to intrude, however I couldn't help but wonder - I know adjustibility wasn't a concern - but how does this setup fair compared to the Meister's you tested a while back?

(Bearing in mind they might be quite a different price point - not to mention focus? Although I did think Meisters were reasonable price wise for a coilover? As well as offering a softer "street" setup?)

Perhaps the garage in question doesn't have as much experience with the Meister - I believe they originated from a group that also participate in a Mazda cup? (UK based iirc?)

Again, sorry to intrude if it seems like unwanted "advice", however I am genuinely interested as to how they stack up if nothing more...

See our comments on the Meister stuff we tried in the Budget NC Racer. In brief, the CRD didn't do much for me, but I liked the ClubRace enough that they are still in the car, got numerous top time of day results at local autocross events, very effective for the money. But this whole discussion is just a million miles from the talk of mild springs on full length shocks, apples to oranges, not really much cross shopping between these items in our experience unless the customer is really confused about what they are trying to accomplish. If you want mild street setup, that's mild springs like Progress springs on Bilstein or Koni....but that is NOT a race setup. If you want to autocross or track the weekends, that's certainly NOT Progress springs and we are instead talking the ClubRace or another coilover. Different tools for different jobs.

Brian wrote:See our comments on the Meister stuff we tried in the Budget NC Racer. In brief, the CRD didn't do much for me, but I liked the ClubRace enough that they are still in the car, got numerous top time of day results at local autocross events, very effective for the money. But this whole discussion is just a million miles from the talk of mild springs on full length shocks, apples to oranges, not really much cross shopping between these items in our experience unless the customer is really confused about what they are trying to accomplish. If you want mild street setup, that's mild springs like Progress springs on Bilstein or Koni....but that is NOT a race setup. If you want to autocross or track the weekends, that's certainly NOT Progress springs and we are instead talking the ClubRace or another coilover. Different tools for different jobs.

Sorry again for the derail - hadn't realised you were still running the Meisters & so thought they might have slipped your mind.

Admittedly, I'm also a little disappointed to hear the CRD failed to impress - I'd just assumed you preferred the more track focused variant due to the nature of the NC project, rather than the actual performance of the CRD...

Either you got the wrong guy as I've never yet been in a car with Meisters, or you're talking to Brian?

Fr3ed wrote:Either you got the wrong guy as I've never yet been in a car with Meisters, or you're talking to Brian?

The guy that jumped into your thread with questions that are not well related....LateNights

No problem.
Brian was able to answer my current question, and Im pretty sure I'm going to have another one soon.
Thanks Brian!
Fred