Originally Posted by CGaud

I only offered up Raceland as an option because they are giving me an opportunity to test out a new line of coils they've been developing for the EM2 chasis.

Originally Posted by rustycivic

If you ran the standard 10k front, with say 7-8k rears, it would be pretty comfortable.

Originally Posted by CGaud

My Buddy Clubs are F:10k R: 14k (kg/mm) and I thought I saw somewhere that 1 kg/mm = 55 lbs/in.
So if that conversion rate is correct... Buddy Clubs are
F: 550 R:770 (lbs/in)?

Originally Posted by GolNat

but when your spending less then $100 a corner for a coilover I just don't know where they are making a profit.

Originally Posted by sdaidoji

actually, i would not recommend that - see his spring rates (higher for rears) - he would need to retune all again with sway bars if he did that setup you suggested. no hard feelings, it comes with the generation differences - I think you have the 5-6th?

Originally Posted by CGaud

They claimed that they reuse the stock top has because of comfort but I wonder if it also saves them on manufacturing costs.

Originally Posted by GolNat

^ Love that double wishbone front and back. They don't make them like they used to

Originally Posted by Tragedy

They are not the top of the line.
So I got curious and ordered a set. I only drive 20-30 miles a day on my 14 year old civic, so we will see how they hold up. I will post review.

Originally Posted by mr72

If you do a search there is tons of discussion about them here. Other forums have even more discussions with even more useful information in some cases. If I can summarize, it seems the internet experts suggest Raceland shocks are underdamped especially rebound in the rear and the spring rates are far from ideal for best handling. If you don't remove the rear sway bar and make significant alignment adjustments then you may wind up with a lot of oversteer.

If you really want a car to go fast on the track, then Raceland/Rokkor is going to be a waste of time and money. If you are purely driving on the street and you just want an improvement in feel or ride height adjustability and can live with the tradeoffs, then the Raceland/Rokkor may be worthwhile.

I can give a personal testimony: I chose Rokkor since they have slightly better spring rates but the same Raceland shocks and I've been driving them on the road on my car for probably over a year now, every day. My car has an open diff and I do think this makes a real difference in suspension setups. Just driving on the street, not any kind of racing or really hard driving, but commuting mostly and fast-enough-to-be-fun corners on the road, I have no complaints. The ride is far more firm than stock and there is pretty much zero body roll under normal circumstances. With no rear bar and stock front bar, same tire pressure all around, the handling is very neutral and it will power oversteer and also gently oversteer on throttle-lift and it's very easy to control and smooth to transition from oversteer to understeer. The high spring rates give the car an extremely quick transitional feel with almost no perceptible squat, dive or body roll, very different and kind of old-school compared with the more popular (and probably more effective, if you're going fast) setup with an LSD, softer springs and a really big front sway bar. On the road it feels like a go-cart, and frankly I love it.

Seriously, for a street-driven car that never ever sees a race track, and you are not counting tenths of a second, but you just want a very firm and "sporty" feel for a daily driver, there is nothing at all wrong with the Rokkor IMHO. However, I wouldn't recommend the Raceland unless you are going to change the front springs (stiffer) or use an aftermarket big sway bar. Actually the Raceland shocks with softer rear springs may be a very good compromise on otherwise stock suspension. The normal Raceland will switch your Miata from slightly understeering stock to bigtime oversteering, and if you are not careful this can put the car into a guard rail in a heartbeat. You must do something to remedy that.

IMHO besides longevity, the Rokkor setup is at least as good as the factory stock suspension in terms of on-road/DD performance, and the improvement in feel (not track times!) is more than worth it.

If I wear these out, I don't think I'll replace them with another set of Rokkor/Raceland. When I was spending big money on engine, clutch, paint, interior, etc. all at one time, there was no question... my budget didn't allow for $1K+ on suspension. I needed something to last 12-18 months. But in a year I will probably dump the Rokkor and switch to something else, something still unpopular on miata.net for sure, but not quite so hated as Raceland. I'll probably keep the Raceland rear springs, go with stiffer front springs, and shocks with a whole lot more damping.

Others here are likely to tell you about better shocks at 2x the cost or more, and they are right. They also will tell you that you need a LSD and big front sway bar for the car to go fast, and probably about a 2:3 front-to-rear spring rate ratio. And again, they are absolutely right. But in the end you will spend 3x as much to gain lots of on-track performance that you may not notice or appreciate on the street if you are just driving to work every day like I am. I know my car is not fast, but I like it anyway.